Author's Note: I changed my pen name, yet again! But this time I probably won't be changing back. If it caused any inconvenience, I apologized (actually why would it? People seldom notice the author anyways. At least, it's me, lol). The story is now straying so far from my original intent that it could no longer be called by "based on", but rather "inspired by" Romeo and Juliet. There's no Shakespeare's intent in my story as far as I could see, except on the star-crossed lover part. But so far, there's very few romance! But don't worry, the romance will come…Still, I decided that a general fixing up of the story should be done, maybe after it's finished? Anyway, the finals are starting and I probably won't be updating until the exams are over. Thanks to all the readers who reviewed! It's great to know that people are still reading this after so long.
Stepping lightly down the hallway, Sango made her way towards the Emperor's meeting room, hoping to hear news the army general brought back. But as she drew closer she became puzzled, for the great sliding door was shut, and the usual guards by the doors were missing.
Silently she crept to the doors, and by pressing her ear on the small crack in the middle, she could hear the faint voices of two men.
"As I grieve for my daughter but I fear more for my kingdom. The western demons are massing by our borders and the pact with the wolf tribe is not yet secure."
The urgent voice was undoubtedly the Emperor's.
"Then we should make haste in the search for your daughter, Your Majesty, then all would be well…"
The sly, slightly soft voice, surprisingly belonged not to the General but to the Emperor's mysterious adviser, Naraku.
"Naraku! You know I trust your counsel, but on this matter, I will not heed your words. If that is the course we must take, then I would rather she not be found!"
"Consider this carefully, Your Majesty. Victory will be ours if the Jewel of Shikon is on our side, and I don't mean the marriage with Prince Kouga…"
"Enough!" the Emperor's temper snapped, followed by a loud slam on the table, "I will hear no more of this. Prophecy or not, Kagome will always be my daughter, she's NOT the Jewel of Shikon!"
Sango's chest tightened. What could this mean? She heard footsteps coming from behind the door, Naraku's being dismissed. She immediately sprang into a panicked run and hid herself behind the bend of a nearby corridor. Maybe today her footsteps were not as careful as usual, for she heard hear Naraku spoke unsurely to himself, "Who was there?"
After she made sure that Naraku's gone and unaware of her presence, Sango contemplated the secret conversation she had heard. For a long time she thought of the Jewel of Shikon only as a tribute by the people to Princess Kagome, and the Prophecy an old wives' tale. But now she suspected there's are more to it. The Royal Family was hiding something, something that the people had forgot, or perhaps never told in full. It called for an investigation, and Sango knew just the place to go for answers.
By stealth, Sango the came unseen into the Hall of Records. It was a dark and lonely place which few ever came save the old Warden who occasionally went in to clear the dust off the wooden shelves and chase away the moths that were eating away the wood and yellowed papers of the documents of old. The guards by the door had neglected their duties (as usual), leaving the door unopposed to all who wished to enter.
Holding a lit candle, Sango searched through shelves upon shelves of documents, until she came across a thick thread-bounded book labeled "The Royal Family and Heirs".
The book had been made in the ancient time, by the first emperor of Shikon, and its recordings spanned hundreds of years. Flipping to the last written page, Sango read silently the words that were scripted down there sixteen years ago.
For even as the sun shone down upon the trees, the forest looked grim and forbidding. The trees stood tall, ancient, and dark against the sky. A fog of silver always hung upon the forest floor during the cool mornings and evenings, setting a veil over all that walked on that earth. That was the woods surrounding the humble dwelling of priestess Kaede. It was named by nearby villagers the Forest of Phantoms, for it is said that on many a night could there be seen curious creatures and apparitions, silently haunting the woods.
Kagome held tight her herb basket and trod alone on the grassy path deep into the forest. She slipped out right under Inuyasha's nose while he was sleeping. Though she didn't plan to escape anymore, she wanted to be alone, free of Inuyasha's bossy orders and rude remarks.
While checking for the medicinal herbs Lady Kaede requested, a foreboding feeling clouded her heart. She looked up and saw that out of the shadow of the trees, a maiden clad in the red and white garments of a miko came forth, her footsteps made no sound on the grass.
Surreal she seemed, and beautiful. Mist was about her and small silver dragons, the kind which Kagome had never seen before, slithered in the air around her. Her long black hair and eyes were as dark as the night, and her pale skin luminescent. She spoke; her voice was like the tintinnabulation of sacred shrine bells.
"So, we meet, Jewel of Shikon, the one whose fate was written in the stars."
"Who are you? And why are you calling me that?"
"My name is Kikyo, I'm but a humble priestess of the hostile northern lands. I call thee that, for that's what thou art."
"What do you know about the Prophecy?" Kagome asked, alarmed.
"I know a lot, yet not enough. For the wisest cannot see clearly the message of the heavens."
"Could you," said Kagome hesistantly, "tell me about the prophecy?"
Kikyo stared at Kagome, her deep eyes suddenly piercing. After awhile she said, "Aye, it is wise to know one's own doom, though alter it one might not. Listen well, for here is the prophecy of your birth in the original words of the oracle herself.
"Sixteen years ago, on the night of the birth of Her Highness Princes Kagome, as all the people of this land stayed up awake, praying and anticipating…"
"…a great storm came out of the heaves with rain and lightning," read Sango under the faint candle light, "as if we have inflicted the wrath of the Dragon. But as swiftly as it came the storm ended, by exactly midnight, the hour of the Princess' birth. The skies had cleared up, and…"
"…two stars, on opposite sides of the Milky Way, burned unusually bright," Kikyo continued in her soft, almost monotonous voice, her eyes gleaming. "The Cow-herd and the Weaver their names were, their tale was well known, and sad. Their love was all opposed, for one is a maiden of the heavens, the other, a mere mortal. I watched in great shock as their starlit path began to cross. There they would burn, straight out of the tempest, brightest in the sky. Outshine even the last Star of the morn. Does this mean the Princess thereafter will fall in love with one not of her kind, and their union disapproved by many?"
"Then, out of the Darkness of the heavens," Sango's hand shook with excitement, "four meteors of different colours shot forth, brilliant and bright, the likeness of which the people of this land had never seen before. It could only be a sign from the gods for Shikon in the time of need."
"There was no doubt on my mind," Kikyo's voice turned from ethereal and soft to almost authoritative and hard, "That "
" the fabled Jewel of Shikon, ancient guardian stone of the southern lands, was born to us through the Princess. And he who possesses her, possesses the fate of our kingdom."
With a loud and dull "bang", Sango closed the dust-laden cover of the royal book. Though in distress, she didn't fail to notice the small words on the bottom of the page:
"Hereby is written the Prophecy as a message delivered to us by Miko Kaede of the Forest of Phantoms."