Chapter Eleven: Powers of the Jaki

Well, I guess I have to add another chapter. Somehow this story is getting a little pointless since Kikyo is having way too many adventures already. Looks like I'll correct it. Please review to correct me if I'm straying too far from the original storyline. Thank you.


Chapter Eleven

The moonless night was lit with the light of the red lanterns. Every villager was enjoying the happiness of the festival spirit. The children of the village, including one-eyed Kaede, made a small dance around the wooden tower that had been erected for the sake of the festival. It was a joyous atmosphere for every human despite the darkness of the new moon.

"Kikyo-mikosama," the priestess heard someone called her name. She turned to see one of the few young adults in front of her. Kaori had approached the priestess with some curiosity implanted in her. The human Inuyasha, distracted by Kaori's disturbance, turned to look in Kikyo's direction too. (A/N: Yes, I'm going to create a character not anywhere.)

Kikyo greeted the young villager with a small bow. Looking up again, she looked at Kaori and questioned, "Kaori-san, what is the problem?" The shoujo made a small giggle and re-opened her eyes to look at the emotionless priestess.

"Is that your lover with you?" She presented her question to Kikyo. Knowing that most mikos did not really keep their vow of celibacy, it was obvious that a man next to a priestess would mean that it was the latter's love interest, usually. Inuyasha made a shocked expression as his face went a little red. Kikyo, on the other hand, continued to maintain an emotionless expression on her face, with the exception of her lips which had shaped into a small smile.

A priestess' duties are to maintain the shrine and protect her people. She should not have any other emotions at all times…

"We're just friends," came her reply as she bore in mind what her late master had once told her about the proper discipline of a priestess. Inuyasha looked at the priestess with no emotion expressed too. Kikyo looked at Kaori again, whose focus was now centred to Inuyasha. "Are you interested in him?"

"Er…well…" Kaori replied, with a little flushing in her cheeks too. She held her hands together, looking down at the ground. The folk songs continued to dominate the sound scene as the young girl continued to remain silent for a moment. "I didn't know they had good-looking boys in the next village…"

"Hey! I'm not from a ningen area…" His impulsive interruption was only to be covered by Kikyo's hand signal. She turned a small angle to look at the human Inuyasha for a while before turning back to see Kaori. "…that is nearby."

"So you're from afar?" The shoujo questioned the dog demon under the curse of the new moon. He looked at her with his violet eyes that were soft enough to make any female human melt. Kaori flushed for a while, which also caused Inuyasha to produce the same effect too. (A/N: I know there's a rather big lot of fluffs here, but just hang on with it!)

Kikyo walked away from the centre of the village. Inuyasha would be far too busy looking at the villager Kaori. The priestess herself had never expected the person she had invited to leave her behind as she walked to the Shikon-Tama shrine. It was quiet in the area as everyone had gone to the festival area to celebrate. Suddenly, a great presence once again surrounded her.

Jaki…Tsubaki's here again?!?

Kikyo climbed up the stairs to find a black haired woman standing in front of the shrine with her back facing the priestess. No doubt, it was her senior again who had come to create havoc at the village. Discovering she had left her bow and arrow in her hut, Kikyo quickly turned to get her bow and arrow as she prepared to hurry down the stairs.

"There is no need to get your bow and arrow," Tsubaki's voice screeched out. "Don't you wish to greet your senpai?"

Kikyo's eyes widened as soon as she had heard the words out of the dark priestess' mouth. The strength of the jaki was strong and the priestess was unable to resist it. Knowing that there was no way out, she turned back to face Tsubaki's back again.

"The senpai I know is dead," she spoke back daringly to the dark priestess. "For she had been killed by all the jaki that surrounded her." She took more courage to talk back to the fallen miko. "And it is impossible for an evil being to possess the Shikon Jewel too."

"That's very good Kikyo," Tsubaki replied, with this time turning to reveal that she was holding a mirror with crystal décor. Her eyes were more evil this time, probably polluted by the large mass of jaki surrounding her. "Your fate is sealed."

That mirror looks highly suspicious…

"Just as I thought," the dark priestess spoke again, knowing that Kikyo was looking at the mirror. "A wonderful chance for me to test the powers of the mirror." From Kikyo's view, the mirror began to absorb the violet-looking jaki which began to show an image, which revealed itself to surprise the holy priestess standing on the stone path leading to the shrine.

Okaasan…?!? Is this a trick?

The image of her mother had materialized in the clear mirror. Unknowing to the priestess, the mirror was using the darkness in her heart to harness the spiritual powers. Staring closer into it, the contraption was beginning to take her in like a unique black hole in space.

"Feel the power of the mirror, Kikyo," Tsubaki gave an evil snigger as she looked at the miko whose focus was only concentrated on the magical mirror. "Let it absorb your mind into it." Within moments a ball of white flame had emerged from the priestess' mouth and left the body as it entered the mirror. Soon after, Kikyo collapsed to the ground.

"Kukukuku," the dark miko looked at the unconscious priestess lying on the ground. "With you in an eternal sleep, I shall claim the Shikon Jewel as my inheritance." Hiding the mirror in her white hakui, Tsubaki proceeded to the shrine but felt a presence before she could venture into it.

"What have you done to her, you stupid wretch of a priestess?" She heard an aggressive tone from behind. Turning back she saw a human Inuyasha looking at her with the fiery flames in his eyes.

"Ah, so it is the hanyou Inuyasha," she spoke back sarcastically. "Oh, but I forgot, you're human today because of your accursed lineage."

"Shut up!"

"How rude of a young boy to the next keeper of the Shikon Jewel," she spoke back with a taste of irony in her tone. "Do you want to see your beloved Kikyo?" The dark priestess revealed the mirror's image, which displayed the portrait of the priestess inside.

"Why you…" Inuyasha was growling angrily but he had no power to make a demonic one to scare off the dark priestess.

"Kukuku," she laughed sinisterly. "Work for me, and I'll make sure your wish to become a youkai will come true."

The only sane thing left to do was insane. Inuyasha lunged at her only to be pushed back by a certain ninja who appeared the other night.

"Thank you, Onigumo."

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The sharp edges of the shuriken pinned Inuyasha to one nearby tree trunk. Onigumo stood beside the evil Tsubaki as they stood outside the shrine's tightly closed wooden doors. The injured demon under the new moon curse struggled to get out, but it was no use. It seemed that the shuriken this time had a spell cast on it to make it difficult to remove.

"Get me out of this, damn bastards!" He shouted out as he attempted to remove himself from the hard texture of the tree trunks. Tsubaki turned behind to look at the hanyou under the new moon curse.

"I'm so terribly sorry that you had refused to work for me," she pretended to be sympathetic to the dog demon. "You won't get a single part of the Shikon Jewel." As soon as the fallen priestess was finished with her words, she continued into the darkness of the shrine with Onigumo melting into the darkness with her.

To think I harboured such darkness to take the Shikon Jewel…

Inuyasha lowered his head again to stare at the grass. He cursed himself, knowing that the priestess who had always approached him was of evil intention. His thoughts simply flew through his closed mind. Suddenly, he noticed a figure coming up to the shrine. It revealed itself to be a girl in a yukata.

"I was wondering what took the both of you that long to come," Kaori spoke as she approached the pinned Inuyasha. With little effort, she pulled off the shuriken surprisingly. "Looks like there is something sinister here."

"Kikyo…" The half-demon's weak voice trailed off as he collapsed to the ground as soon as all the shurikens had been taken off. He pointed to an unconscious figure on the ground nearby. "…she's been captured…"

"I see." Came Kaori's unfazed reply. The young villager turned to look at the unconscious priestess lying on the ground. "No doubt, it's the work of the jaki."

"How did you know all of this?"

"Inuyasha," she suddenly turned to him as she mentioned his name. "I'm not just a simple village girl to reckon with only." Kaori's mannerism had suddenly changed. It was this time not of a shy, flushing girl, but that of a courageous person.

This Kaori…she is so mysterious…

"So I see that a certain shoujo has come to play heroine?" The dark priestess replied back as she emerged from the shrine again. In her hands was the prized Shikon Jewel which hung from it through a string of feathers. Inuyasha responded with an aggressive growl despite his human form on this moonless night, coming down on all fours.

"Release Kikyo-sama from that mirror of yours," Kaori spoke as she stood firmly on the ground, locking stares with Tsubaki. Mysteriously, she could also sense that Kikyo's soul was locked in the mirror held by the dark miko.

"Defeat me, and your request shall be granted," the dark priestess sneered back in response. Beckoning to Onigumo who had appeared behind her, the ninja jumped into the air throwing his famed shuriken at the young village girl. Kaori gave a slight smile, and took out something dark to reflect the deadly weapons back at the surprised ninja.

"Dark priestess and her pawn," the village girl had mysteriously taken out a shiny silver sword with a pattern at its handle. She lowered her hand to rest the sword's tip on the grassy ground. "I'm not just a village girl as you had seen me as."


Done for now. I guess I'd try to write for the next chapter soon. Until then, goodbye!

Glossary:

Shoujo : Young adult girl