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Hope Lies Hidden
Chapter Five- A Long Forgotten Memory
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Sesshomaru looked out from the balcony of his palace, his cold gaze sweeping over the lands he ruled as he did. There was something different, something he could not quite place his finger on…
"Ah! Stop that you infernal mortal!"
"But I want to see Lord Sesshomaru!"
"No! Ah! Wait…!"
Sesshomaru turned around to see his subordinate, Jaken the toad-demon, wrestling with the small human child he had taken in, Rin.
"What are you doing Jaken?" he questioned in a flat voice, one that he typically reserved for those he considered to be the scum of the earth…but yet again that was pretty much everybody…
"Nothing, Lord Sesshomaru…" said Jaken, quailing at his look. "I was just trying to keep the young one from bothering you…"
The "young one" in question had made it past Jaken's grip and was now firmly attached to his robes. Sesshomaru fought down a smile as Rin glared at Jaken. He didn't know why this child, and a human no less, was able to break down his cold barriers so easily, but she was. He knew that he could never let anything happen to her, and wanted her to be happy…
"Was there something you wanted Rin?" he asked, his voice still flat, but far less domineering.
"I wanted to see if you would come out into the garden with me, my lord. I wanted to go pick some of the newest flowers…"
Sesshomaru kneeled down next to her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Maybe when I return. I have to go take care of something first." He said. Rin nodded and let go of his robes so he could leave. He stood and began to walk out of the room.
"Make sure she is well provided for while I am gone." He said to Jaken, who scuttled alongside him.
"Wa…What? You're not taking me with you, my lord?"
"No Jaken. Stay here and care for Rin. I shall return soon."
Sesshomaru left the stuttering toad at the doors to the palace. He sighed as he headed for the gates. It seemed like he not been home for a day, and now he was having to leave again…
But there was something strange going on out on his lands…some new power that was growing in strength…and it was something he needed to figure out…
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Akina fluttered her eyes for a moment, unsure of the world around her…it was light…far to light…Where was the dark of her Tokyo apartment room?
Suddenly it all came flooding back to her. The well, the fall, the other world…the demon. She sat bolt upright, scared out of her wits and ready to fight. She felt a couple pairs of hands latch onto her, keeping her from getting up entirely.
"Calm down Akina-chan…you don't want to hurt yourself…" she heard a familiar voice say. The room around her cleared, and she could see a worried looking Sango in front of her, and hear Kagome's voice from behind her.
"It's okay…just don't get up yet, you got really banged up back there."
Akina rubbed the back of her head and grimaced slightly. "What on earth happened?"
"After you fought with the demon you passed out. He got you pretty good, you were really beat up when we brought you in…but you healed amazingly fast. Even Kaede was surprised!" said Sango, releasing her, and then draping a blanket over her shoulders.
Akina smiled sheepishly at Sango. "I never did stay down to long." She smiled as Sango laughed, and then thanked Kagome when she handed her a cup of tea. "So how long was I out for?" she asked, taking a sip of her tea.
"Almost three days." Answered Kagome. Akina nearly chocked on the steaming liquid.
"Three days! But what about school! And how am I going to explai…" she trailed off. She had been about to say, how could she explain where she had been for four days to her mother, when she remembered…
"Well I barley go to school at all, but I still manage. I've stayed here weeks before!" said Kagome bracingly.
Akina smiled, but it was a feeble one at best. She wasn't even really trying to mask her sadness anymore. Fighting had made her forget for a while. This feudal era had made her forget for a while. But nothing would ever make her truly forget. She grasped the blanket closer around her and got up, walking outside to try and escape the melancholy feeling.
"And where do you think you're going?" asked Inuyasha behind her as she walked out. She ignored him though, and continued to walk towards the woods. She didn't care if he'd get pissed off …She just needed to be alone for a while…
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Kagome watched her walk out of the room, a sinking feeling in her heart. She sat in silence for a moment, before Sango rose and excused herself, saying she needed to find Miroku and Shippo. After a moment more, she too rose and walked out of the hut, a saddened expression on her face.
"You gonna be okay?" asked Inuyasha, while leaning up against the side of the hut.
Kagome sighed. "Yeah…I just feel so bad for her…losing her mom and all. I don't know what I'd do without my mother…" she looked over at Inuyasha, and smiled. "So do you trust her now?"
"No."
Kagome stared at him in disbelief for a moment before beginning to yell.
"What! Why not!"
"Because she's still hiding something from us. I can't put my finger on it, but there is something she is not telling us."
"Inuyasha, sometimes you are sooo….ohhhh…" Kagome half growled at him as she turned on her heal to storm off. She felt his hand close around her wrist, keeping her from running off. She stopped for a moment, surprised by his s actions. He normally just let her go.
She felt him turn her around, and him pulling her close…she stood shocked for a moment, then returned the embrace. They stood for a moment, holding each other close before anything was said.
"Just be careful, Kagome. I don't want anything to happen to you." Whispered Inuyasha.
Kagome smiled into his shoulder and nodded, enjoying the moment thoroughly.
And then he was gone…walking off towards the other side of the village, to take care of some errand of his own.
Kagome smiled to herself. Inuyasha could be so stubborn sometimes, and even downright mean…but she still loved him. She watched him go for a moment longer before going off to find Sango.
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She could feel something was close…a strong spirit that moved within a still living body…A spirit so strong that it could sustain her, practically return her to the world of the living for years to come…
It could return her from this world of the living dead…the world she had fought so hard against for so long.
Kikyo turned toward this new strength, willing her soul stealers to find this new spirit. She would kill this maiden if she had to. She needed her soul…
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Akina wandered into further into the woods, wanting to leave the world far behind. She hurt so bad…she just wanted it to go away…
The stumbled slightly as tears came to her eyes, tears that she had held bottled up inside for so long…she put her hand out in front of her as she began to run blindly, sobbing uncontrollably as she did. Her palm hit up against a tree, and she stopped, still crying, but now exhausted…she slid down the trunk of the tree, gasping slightly for air as she did.
She sat for a moment, holding the blanket closer to her, clinging to its warmth. She sat there and cried until she could cry no more, and then sat slightly hiccoughing, and dried her face off with a corner of the blanket.
She looked up to see where she had gone, and saw that she was on the edge of a strange clearing. The light that filtered through the trees was slightly tinted red, so that a soft rose color bathed the surrounding area. There was no sound except a slight breeze that rustled the trees above her…but the silence was, if anything, comforting. She felt safe, as if no one in the world could find her.
She got up slowly and entered the clearing, still wary of her surroundings.
"Come, darling, don't be afraid…"
Akina looked wildly around for the source of the voice…but there was no one there. She stepped further into the clearing and the light began to lose its rosy hue, shining an almost blinding white after a moment.
"Come, sit down and let me tell you a story."
Akina did as she was told, sitting on the soft grass. There was some thing so familiar about that voice…
"What kind of story Grandma?"
The light became less, and she could see a young girl, no older than six, sitting in front of an elderly woman with brilliant green eyes…Akina stared in shock. The old woman was her grandmother, who had died long ago of the same disease that had killed claimed her mother.
Her Grandmother placed a beautiful necklace in her hands that seemed to sparkle with an inner light. It was wrapped in thin gold wire that made it look almost magical to her young mind.
"Oh Grandma, it's so pretty!" she gasped, holding it lightly.
"This my dear," began her grandmother with a smile, "Is a shard of an ancient jewel, shattered long ago, back when demon still freely roamed the earth."
Little Akina settled herself in more comfortably and listened to her grandmother's story intently. She loved to hear her fairy tales…
"It was a Jewel called the Shikon no Tama, it was sought by many who sought power, for it could grant demons almost unlimited power. But it could also purify, something that no demon ever really understood. A priestess named Kikyo watched over it, guarding it from all those with ill intentions. But one day, a Hanyou named Inuyasha tried to steal it…betraying Kikyo's trust and giving her a fatal wound in the process. With the last of her strength, the miko bound Inuyasha to a tree with a sacred arrow, preventing him from using the Jewel. For if he had used it to become a full demon as he desired, he would have ruined the world of men completely.
Fifty years later, another young miko arrived, and freed Inuyasha. The miko, whose name was Kagome, was in possession of the Sacred Jewel, but he could not take it from her. Instead, Inuyasha was bound to protect this woman.
But one day a demon stole the Jewel, and as they fought to get it back, it shattered, scattering its shards through every corner of the land.
One of the pieces fell into the hands of your ancient ancestor, whom guarded it with her life. She passed the jewel down to her daughter for safe keeping, and the girl had it cast in gold thread and made into a necklace, which she passed on to her daughter, and so on and so forth, until it came to me."
She smiled at the wide-eyed attentiveness of the young Akina.
"And some day, it will be your mother's, and then, eventually, yours."
Akina smiled at her grandmother, and went back to playing with the necklace, lost in a fairy tale world of half-demons, young mikos, and long lost magic…
Akina opened her eyes and gasped. She had forgotten! She knew about he jewel, and where it came from, even…
"Kagome…Inuyasha…" she whispered in shock, breaking the silence of the woods around her.
She got up and ran to find them, to tell them all that she knew, not even noticing that the glade she had left behind was suddenly as normal as any other patch of forest around.
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