The Oracle Reveals
"Good morning dearie. Did you sleep well?"
Ok, I know that that is a rather common thing to say to someone in the morning, but I swear that the oracle said it just so that she could see me blush. She must have known what kind of sleeping arrangement I had the previous night, and she was trying to embarrass me. It worked, of course, because after her little comment all I could think about was who I had been sleeping with, and then that thought was immediately followed by what that person had done to me once I awoke.
He kissed me! Mr. Hates-all-humans and Doesn't-have-a-non-icy-bone-in-his-body actually kissed me! And apparently that had not been the first time, but I'd rather not think about the first time because I wasn't really around to experience that one. I mean who kisses someone when they're out cold? Well, at least I know he didn't get very far with that advance; what with getting thrown away from me by some unknown energy that has decided it doesn't like Sesshomaru kissing me. Serves him right.
Then again, from what I did get to experience, it might not be such a bad thing if he were to try and do that again. What am I thinking? I don't want Sesshomaru to be kissing me…do I? I mean sure he's good looking, and yeah he has a great body (Except for that one missing appendage. But he sure knows how to make someone forget that he might be missing a piece of his equipment. In fact, when he had me in that hot spring, I'm pretty sure that his arm was not even on the list of equipment that I was thinking about.); but his personality could really use some adjusting.
It just isn't healthy from someone to be so distant and aloof all of the time. I think he could really do for some loosening up. It's not like it would kill him or anything. Or maybe it would. I guess that he is so feared by so many because of that icy image; so maybe people, or demons, or whatever, just leave him alone because they would rather not be on the receiving end of that icy glare (not to mention the poison claws). I guess I can understand that. I've been on the wrong end of that look one to many times and I can definitely say that it is not something that makes you dream happy little dreams afterwards. But that kiss…yeah that is something a girl could get used to.
What am I doing? I keep going back to that. Not like I'm trying to avoid it or anything, well maybe I am. The guy hasn't left me alone for five days now, and if I have to continue putting up with him, it would not be a good thing if every time I looked at him I blush because the thought of him kissing me would pop into my head. I bet he just did it so that would happen. He was sick of listening to me yell at him, and figured that if he distracted me with a very, very good distraction I would be quiet for a while. Well if that's what he thought he is so wrong because I think it is physically impossible for me to be quite for any length of time.
But while I'm speaking of that kiss, I have to ask what happened. Why would Sesshomaru and I be thrown away from each other after doing something like that? What could have caused the reaction? It's not like I've never been kissed before. I may be innocent, but I'm not that innocent! I've kissed Inuyasha before. Granted, that was because I figured it was the only way to bring him back to himself, and it worked, but that's beside the point. And the whole miko/demon thing doesn't hold argument either because of what we learned from battling Hoshiomi and his Magginata of Kenkon.
There must be something specific that has caused this to happen, but I haven't a clue what that could be. I guess that's why Sesshomaru brought us to the oracle. He must not like being in the dark on things any more than I do. Of course, there's always the possibility that he wants to find out so that he actually can kiss me without being thrown across a room, but I'll deal with that when it comes. I am only capable of focusing on one problem at a time, and since I have started my experiments my problem scale has been tipped heavily on the unsolved side even more than usual.
For the moment though, I think it's time for the oracle to start giving some of those answers that have been promised.
I made my way over to the table, made a decided point not to even look at Sesshomaru who was already seated comfortably, and sat down. The old woman shuffled over to the table, bringing with her a pot of tea.
"Would you like some tea dearie? It's fresh."
"Thank you," I replied, "Tea would be nice."
I reached out to take the offered cup, but before I could even pick it up, the cup had been snatched away. When I looked to see where it had gone, I saw that it was being held by Sesshomaru.
"Well if you wanted some, you should have just asked!" I huffed.
But he ignored me in favor of glaring at the old woman.
"Tell me, old woman," he demanded as he proceeded to melt the cup and it's contents into nothing but acidic fumes before my eyes. "Why should I not kill you?"
"Forgive me my Lord," the oracle responded in such a way that it really didn't sound like a sincere apology. "I simply wanted to give her a taste for poison."
"Poison?" I asked. "The cup was poisoned?"
"Oh, don't worry dear." She chided me as though I was a child whining about not getting his favorite toy. Well I'm sorry if the mention of poison in MY CUP gets me a little on edge. "The poison wouldn't have killed you, only made you less vulnerable to other kinds of poison."
"But why would I need that?" I really had no idea where she was going with all of this, but I figured that since she was an oracle and all I should at least try to understand what she was trying to do. "Is someone planning on poisoning me?"
She didn't answer my question, she simply smiled and poured another cup of the liquid and set it before me. I gulped and looked down at the steaming cup nervously. It certainly did smell good, but then a lot of things that can kill you come wrapped in a pretty little package, or a drop dead gorgeous one. Speaking of which, I glanced to Sesshomaru to see if he had any suggestions as to whether or not I should trust the oracle.
He was glaring at the old woman in a way that made me very glad that I was not on the receiving end of that look, because it was a look that promised death.
I decided that the cup was best left on the table. What? You didn't actually think I would drink it, did you? Give me a break! Hey, here's and idea, why don't you drink the cup of poison and tell me how it tastes? Bet you don't think it's such a good idea now.
"Oracle," Sesshomaru was speaking to the old woman, his tone laced with ice. "No more games. You will give us our answers."
"Of course, of course," she sighed. "No one comes to simply visit an old woman anymore. All the young ones just want their business attended to."
She settled herself in her seat by the table and began her telling.
"Shall we begin with the enemy? I think that is the best place to start. You will be able to draw him out, but be warned children; the demon you seek is devious. He will be expecting you. You must be prepared. You will need all friends of the pack on your side to stand against him. But still, that will not be enough. You, girl, must find a way to balance yourself, or the enemy will never be brought down."
"Balance myself? What's that supposed to mean?"
"You are not whole, child. You are missing that part of yourself which brings balance. Without it, you are only one half of a whole. You are purity without corruption, but that which is so pure may not stand in the path of darkness without being broken. When one force meets the other, only chaos shall result. Your feet must be solid on the ground, or you shall be thrown away."
"Ground…like electricity." You know, bringing up modern day technology in the middle of the feudal era is just bound to receive you a multitude of strange looks, and this time was no exception. But I ignored the looks and continued with my own reasoning brought about by the oracle's revelation.
"You're saying that I am basically the embodiment of purity, and that without a piece of the darkness within me as well; I can not stand to face my enemy which is the embodiment of that darkness. When light and dark meet in the world, there is always an explosion that follows; like when opposite electrical charges meet, they produce lightening. But lightning can be deterred from bringing damage by forcing its energy through a ground. The ground serves to dissipate the energy because it is neutral and can accept either a positive or a negative charge without producing an explosive effect."
"The Shikon no Tama was created of both purity and light, and darkness and malice. It was made from the combination of both human and demon energies. When it was within me, it served as a ground to the purity of my priestess blood. But now that I no longer possess it, I can not be intimately exposed to a true youkai because they possess powers which are the polar opposite of my own. The resulting blast from such an encounter would affect me as much as it does them."
"I am not whole. I've known that for a long time. I used to think I was missing a part of my soul, but now I realize that I was missing so much more than that. The jewel isn't only my duty to protect, but it has been protecting me as well. It has given me the ability to be whole, to see both sides, to make decisions on my own without being influenced by the calling of only one side."
"You seem very certain of this dearie."
"I am…I mean…aren't you?"
"I can never be certain of my prophecies my dear. What I reveal is only that which can be accomplished by those I give my telling to. What you do with the information is entirely your own decision."
"Is that all you have to tell us oracle?" Sesshomaru questioned.
"That is all I have to tell you my Lord. However, I wish to speak with Kagome alone for a moment. Nothing you would be interested in," she winked at him, "Girl talk, you know."
Sesshomaru stared down the old woman for a moment, but after apparently discerning something which was totally beyond me, turned to me.
"Do not be long," he ordered, and then he unfolded himself from his sitting position and strode out of the room.
I watched him leave. I wanted to yell at him for leaving me alone with the oracle. The woman had tried to poison me after all. But I realized he probably wouldn't listen anyways, so I took a deep breath and turned back to face the old woman. She was no longer seated at the table; instead she was standing and looking at me in a peculiar manner. After a time she spoke.
"Ah young love," she sighed. "It is such a treat for these old eyes."
"Love? You can't be talking about…No…No. No. No!"
"First of all Sesshomaru is not young. In fact he's probably older than my great, great, great, great grandfather. And second of all, we are not in love. He's been stalking me for the past five days, but that hardly constitutes love."
"Perhaps dearie, but you don't seem to mind his particular brand of stalking."
"Of course I…" I really hated the fact that she was right, but I wasn't about to tell her that. "What do you want from me old woman?"
"You are even beginning to sound like him I see. Well it is to be expected."
Expected? Expected of what? I wanted to question her about her cryptic comments, but she interrupted me before I could.
"Drink the tea dearie. There is more poison in that one than you may think." She turned to exit the room, but before she did, she called back to me. "Perhaps, you could be the one to find the antidote."
And then she left, and I was in the room alone with the cup she had offered me.
I stared down at the steaming liquid for a long time, but eventually I made my decision. It may have been a poor choice, it may have been my last choice, but there was something about the way she had spoke to me that gave me reason to believe she had seen more than she had let on. The oracle knew something that she was holing back from us, and that was why she had offered me the cup.
I reached down and took hold of the cup. Slowly I lifted it to my lips. I could smell the sweetness of the liquid and feel the steam that rose from within brush against the sensitive region of my lips.
I closed my eyes and drank.
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Yeah! I have ideas again!
Thank you everyone who reviewed and shared their ideas with me. If it wasn't for all of you I would have been stuck on this chapter for a long time. But because of you I've had some wonderful inspiration. So now the story is back on track, and everyone is happy :)
Until next time.
ShadowsWeaver1
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters I am about to weave into my web of chaos. Any and all definitions have been taken directly from Wikipedia the online encyclopedia because I am far too lazy to do any further research to support my Inuyasha obsession.
