A1969: thank you, my readers, for the reviews!

Miroku: she's still giddy from getting them.

A1969: sorry for the late update, though. Computer crashed…darned machines.

Sango: aw, don't be like that. Everyone knows you can't live without your computer.

A1969: like Miroku can't live without his…adult stuff on the internet.

Sango: WHAT?! –rounds on Miroku- what was that, monk?!

Miroku: no, Sango! It's not what it seems! She's lying! Ack! –runs away- Help!

A1969: Er…don't own Inuyasha!

Chapter Thirteen: Shinsei

CoCoCoCoCoCo

Clara stared numbly at Kikyou, hardly daring to believe what she had heard. "Wh-what?" she asked, disbelievingly. "Where did you say we were?"

Kikyou gave her a long look. "Midoriko's grave," she said quietly, turning her attention to the cave entrance. "You have no doubt heard her story…This was where she died, battling a demon formed from a countless number of demons…all determined to bring her down…" Kikyou's voice trailed off and she looked at Clara, who was contemplating the cave with both interest and dread. The young woman looked at Kikyou and, as Kikyou expected, she looked at her with dread and disbelief.

Clara pulled her eyes away from Kikyou's and she looked at the cave. Strange feelings suddenly seemed to rise within her. She felt as if the place was indeed familiar…that she had been there before and that something horrid yet astonishing had taken place in this very cave…Midoriko's death and the birth of Sacred Jewel. She shuddered. It was strange, this feeling that suddenly seemed to take hold of her. It seemed frightening and yet quiet fascinating to be in the place where she had died in a former life…

"Why did you bring me here?" Clara asked, after a long moments' silence.

"You will find out when we get inside," Kikyou said as she approached the cave's entrance. She stopped when she realized that Clara was not following her. "Clara?"

The young woman hesitated. "Kikyou…I dunno…" she began.

Kikyou gave her a stern look. "Come…" she insisted.

Clara bit her lower lip and followed Kikyou into the cave. The moment she approached the barrier, the feeling of familiarity grew even stronger. The barrier in front of her…she realized with a shock that, aside from the difference in color, it was similar to the barrier she had created in the modern Era in which she had temporarily imprisoned Sesshoumaru.

Strangely, she felt a small smile form on her lips when she thought of it. She pushed the thought from her mind and concentrated on the barrier in front of her. It seemed that Kikyou wanted her to go first since the shrine maiden was looking expectantly at her.

"Well?" Kikyou asked. "Are you going in or not?"

"I was hoping that…you could go first," Clara said, not knowing what she would find inside.

"No," Kikyou said. "It is only right that you go first."

Clara bit her lower lip and knew that it was quite useless to argue with her. She approached the barrier which pulsed even more at each step she took. She took another step towards it and another until she was an arm's length away from it. She hesitated. What would she find in there? Would the barrier let her in? She turned to Kikyou.

"I can't," she said, fear in her eyes but not in her voice.

"I know it can be hard," Kikyou said soothingly. "But you must do it."

"But—"

"Trust me," Kikyou said. Clara looked at her and realized that those were the very words that had made her come with Kikyou in the first place.

Clara turned her attention back to the barrier, which was now pulsing more than ever. Occasionally, a pulse of whitish-blue light flashed across the surface of the barrier. She took a deep breath as if she were about to take a dive and then she stepped over the barrier and into the cave. The moment she made contact with the barrier, her head suddenly throbbed with pain. As she stepped into the cave, she placed a hand to her head, a wave of pain engulfing her.

What's…what's happening? she thought as she knelt on the ground, a hand to her forehead. Images suddenly seemed to her mind, memories so vague and distant yet familiar. Scenes from the past which had been buried within the deepest recesses of her soul suddenly seemed to play before her very eyes…

She was running.

Behind her she could hear the roar of a demon as it gave chase. She was not running because she was afraid, she was running so she could trap it.

The scene changed.

A cave came up, a familiar cave.

She heard it following her; she could hear its roar just behind her. If she stopped to catch her breath, it would surely get her.

She ran into the cave. She continued running until she came to a dead end. A high vaulted, rocky chamber which was to be her grave suddenly rose before her. She spun around just as the demon came. She did not try to fight it—she was too exhausted. Instead, she let the demon take her into its jaws. She felt the jaws at her feet, felt its tongue tighten around her arms, her waist, squeezing her…

I must purify it!

She tried to reach out with her holy powers, but she was too exhausted…

She was now half-way into its mouth and she saw only one way. A bright flash of light…

Her body went rigid as crystal slowly enveloped her and the demon…

A pain in her chest as something shot out…

A glittering jewel was the last thing she saw as life was wiped from her eyes.

"Clara?" Kikyou was shaking her. Clara slowly opened her eyes, realized that she fell unconscious. Kikyou was leaning over her, with a worried look hidden just behind her normally cold expression. "Clara?"

Clara snapped her eyes open. Her wide, sapphire eyes stared at the rocky ceiling of the cave. "K-kikyou?" she said with uncertainty. She slowly sat up. She remembered the scene or dream, whatever she had just seen, quite vividly. She slowly placed a hand on her chest and remembered the pain that she had felt…it had been so real…

"What happened to you?" Kikyou asked as Clara still continued staring around her as if she had gone mad.

"I…don't know," she said. "When I…when I crossed over the barrier…I just…remembered things—things from the past…from Midoriko's past. And I didn't just remember…I saw them and…I felt them…"

Kikyou was now looking at her with a strange look in her eyes. "I don't understand," Clara said, trying to break the tense silence that followed. "How…how could I remember all those things? I mean…Reincarnations aren't supposed to remember their past lives…do they?" She looked at Kikyou with uncertainty in her eyes.

Kikyou was silent for a moment. "Normally, they aren't supposed to," she said. "Kagome is my reincarnation and…I have never heard her recall anything from our past…" her voice trailed off. She remembered, suddenly, how Kagome had seen what had happened fifty years ago, when she was trying to purify the miasma from her body in the water. But, then again, Kagome had forgotten.

"But perhaps being in this place…triggered something," Kikyou said, not knowing the reason herself. "Are you feeling alright?"

Clara stood up. She was a bit shaky from what had happened earlier, but it was gone now. "I-I think so," she said. She suddenly wished they could turn back. She didn't want to see what the cave had in store, fearing what else she might remember. She shuddered as she recalled the pain of something bursting from her chest.

"What…why did we come here?" Clara asked Kikyou, dread clearly in her voice.

Kikyou frowned. "You will know," she said. "Follow me."

Much to Clara's dismay, Kikyou continued walking to the inner recesses of the cave as if nothing had happened. She bit her lip as she followed Kikyou. The cave darkened as they walked even deeper into it. Minutes later, they came to a chamber in a cave. A high vaulted and very familiar chamber…

"This…this is where," Clara stammered.

Kikyou only nodded. She walked into the chamber, confident and unafraid. "Come Clara," she said quietly. "And look."

Clara hesitantly followed and as soon as her eyes adjusted to the dimness of the cave, what she saw made her eyes widened in shock. At the very back of the chamber, there was something that looked like a statue made out of crystal. Clara couldn't make out what it looked like but a feeling of complete dread suddenly rose within her. Memories seemed to flash in her mind, all of the same scenes. The cave, the demon and the miko…

"Come closer," Kikyou coaxed.

Clara shook her head like a child not wanting to do something. "Lady Kikyou…I don't think," she began.

"It is necessary," Kikyou said quietly. "For the object that has brought us here is over there."

Clara hesitantly stepped forward to see the statue, or whatever it was. Her eyes widened. It wasn't a statue at all. Upon closer inspection, Clara saw that it was a demon so gigantic that it coiled itself around the chamber wall several times. It looked as though it had been made out of more demons. But that wasn't what caught her attention. She looked up. In the demon's jaws, she could make out a woman. She might have been beautiful in life but now, she was encased in crystal and her eyes were closed. Clara could make out her armor beneath the crystal. She wore a serene expression on her face as if she had accepted the fact that she was dead in the jaws of a demon. Clara knew who she was.

She was Midoriko.

Clara's eyes widened as she continued to take in the warrior-miko before her. She felt the familiar sensation of pain in her chest but she no longer saw any more flashes from the past. Kikyou stepped up behind her. "Yes," the undead priestess said softly, placing a slender hand on Clara's shoulder. "She is Midoriko…she is who you were before…"

"Freaky," Clara muttered as she stepped even closer. The moment she had seen Midoriko, all of her apprehension seemed to have had vanished.

"This demon was created from many demons," Kikyou said softly. "They anchored themselves to the soul of a man."

"A man?"

Kikyou pointed to the base of the demon and Clara went nearer. She could make out the head of a man which protruded from where the heart was so supposed to be.

"Who is he?" Clara asked. "And why…and why did he allow the demons to control him?"

Kikyou frowned. The story was so similar to what happened between her and Inuyasha and Onigumo fifty years ago that she hesitated. But Clara was now looking expectantly at her. "Tell me about her, Kikyou," Clara begged. "Tell me about her…about how she created the jewel…how she died…Inuyasha and Kagome told me a bit about her but…I want to know more."

Kikyou looked at her. She sighed. "Very well," she said softly. "After all, you, of all people, deserve to know of your own fate in the past—"

Clara shuddered at this.

"—a fate that no one deserved," Kikyou said quietly. "Midoriko was a powerful priestess—possibly the most powerful one in history. She was different not only from other priestess, but from other humans. This was because she had a perfect and positive balance of the Four Souls within her heart—Aramitama, Nigimitama, Kushimitama and Sakimitama. With this balance within her heart, she was able to seize the souls of youkai and purify them, thus making her a formidable adversary. She traveled throughout the land, purifying and killing off demons. The very weak demons all fled at the mere sight of her and the great demons—they all despised her."

Kikyou was suddenly silent. "However, she ran afoul of that one being who is easily vexed by women," she went on. "A man—a young lord, some say—lusted after her." She indicated to the head of the man in the area where the heart was and frowned, remembering what had happened fifty years ago. "The man lusted after her but Midoriko easily spurned him. He could not do anything. He could not kill her for she was as strong as a hundred samurai. He could not claim her, for, as I have said, she devoted her life to chastity. In his frustration, this young lord allowed demons to come and anchor themselves to his soul so that he might gain powers that would make Midoriko his—he would force her if he had to."

"And so, from that union with demons, this one was created, a powerful demon, the first of its kind. The battle between Midoriko and the demon lasted for seven days and seven nights. Exhausted, Midoriko realized that she could not kill the demon and as she was drawn into the creature's massive jaws, she seized the spirit of the youkai and bound it with her own, killing both of them and creating the Shikon Jewel, which burst from her chest along with her heart."

All this time, Clara was silent, contemplating the sad fate that Midoriko had to go through. "How awful," she said quietly.

"It is," Kikyou said quietly. Both of them looked at the crystallized Midoriko with reverence. "She was the most powerful priestess yet." She turned to Clara. "You were her."

No, Clara thought, not bothering to answer. I am me and no one else. She frowned. Most people, Takeshi among them, referred to her as Midoriko. Would she be living Midoriko's shadow from now on? Silence reigned between her and Kikyou for a long time.

"Lady Kikyou," she said, breaking the silence, "you haven't told me why we're here."

"Take a close look at Midoriko," Kikyou said. "Do you see that sheath at her waist?"

Clara went even nearer. Her eyes strayed to the warrior-miko's waist where—amid the crystallized tongue of the demon and a sharp number of teeth—she could make out the sheath and the hilt of a sword. "A sword?" Clara asked. "That's why we're here? You want me to retrieve Midoriko's sword?"

"Yes," Kikyou said. "Her sword is called Shinsei and it is rumored that it was given to her by the gods themselves—that is only a rumor however."

"But why?" Clara asked. Taking a sword from Midoriko's grave seemed like an act of grave-robbing.

"Midoriko was very skilled," Kikyou said. "She was highly skilled with all the arts of the priestesses and her skills with Shikigami were legendary. She was a master swordsman but she was a very poor archer…probably why you are not at all skilled with the bow."

Clara gave Kikyou a sheepish smile. "This sword, Shinsei, was once Midoriko's…but it is as good as yours," Kikyou said. "After all, you are Midoriko's reincarnation."

"B-but why should we take that sword?" Clara asked, not wanting to go anywhere near Midoriko. "Can't we just get another?"

Kikyou shook her head. "No," she said. "Midoriko often channeled her spiritual energy through her sword. And, as you know, Midoriko's skills were quite exceptional. If you were to channel your spiritual energy through another sword, the sword would break. It is best if you retrieve Shinsei."

"Couldn't…couldn't you get it for me?" Clara asked to which Kikyou gave her a look.

"Fine, fine, I'll get it," Clara said. She approached the crystallized demon and wondered how she could get to Midoriko. Obviously, she would have to climb the demon until she reached Midoriko. She looked closely at the demon to see where she could grab a hold when something grabbed hold of her attention. Hidden beneath the tentacles of the demon, hidden beneath fallen rocks and debris, lay the body of another demon. Unlike the massive demon that had fought Midoriko, this demon had a human form. She knelt down for a closer look. Like Midoriko and the demon, it was crystallized, but she could see that it was a man. He wore splendid armor, which had been destroyed by the crystal that encased him. By studying his armor Clara could make out that he probably had been a general. For a moment, she forgot about Shinsei, forgot about everything else. This man, this demon, was so familiar…

"Kikyou," Clara said as she stood up and faced Kikyou. "Who…who is this?"

"Hm?" Kikyou asked as she drew near, but not near enough to see it clearly. Her eyes narrowed. She had never seen the other corpse before. "I do not know," she finally said. "It does not matter. He was probably another demon who confronted Midoriko. Now, get that sword," she added.

Clara looked one last time at the crystallized man before she gingerly placed a hand on one of the demon's tentacles and hoisted herself onto one of its massive coils. The crystal that encased Midoriko, the man and the demon was smooth beneath her feet and she slipped slightly as she carefully made her way to Midoriko. She grasped one of the horns on the demon's head and hoisted herself up to its jaws and face-to-face with Midoriko.

She was not prepared for the feelings that she experienced. Immediately, the sense of familiarity engulfed her. She shook her head to clear herself of her thoughts and then opened her eyes and looked at Midoriko. She was so close to her, she could easily reach out and touch her.

No wonder the young lord lusted after Midoriko. She truly was beautiful, even when she had been crystallized. Her eyes were closed and her face had a serene expression on it as if she were merely sleeping. I was her before, Clara thought as feelings raged through her. She gently reached out and caressed Midoriko's cold and lifeless cheek, the crystal smooth beneath her fingers. How unfortunate that she had to die the way she did.

She was lost in thought for a moment. "Clara?" Kikyou called. "The sword?"

"Oh, right," Clara said as she removed her hand from Midoriko's cheek. She turned her gaze to the sheath at Midoriko's waist. Like Midoriko, it was encased in crystal, all the way up to the hilt of the blade. Beneath the crystal, Clara could make out that the hilt was of excellent—and possibly divine, according to the rumors—craftsmanship. Gripping the horn of the demon tightly, Clara bent forward in order to get a better view of the sword. Though it was encased in crystal, the crystal seemed to be considerably thinner and was easy enough to break if she would just twist the sheath vigorously enough.

She gingerly grasped the sheath, feeling the smooth hardness of the crystal beneath her fingers. She tried tugging at it…

The ground suddenly shook. Clara lost her grip on the sheath and staggered slightly, clutching the horns of the demon even tighter to stop herself from falling. "An earthquake?" she asked herself.

Kikyou, who felt the tremor, narrowed her eyes. "Clara, get away from there!" she said urgently.

"What?" Clara asked. "But the sword!"

The ground shook again, this time even more pronounced than before. Clara's feet slipped on the smooth crystal and she held the horns of the demon even tighter. "What's going on?" she muttered as she righted herself.

"Get down now!" Kikyou ordered. "The Shikon no Tama you carry is awakening the demon!"

"Wh-what?!" Clara immediately let go of the horns just as another tremor shook the ground. She slipped on the crystal and fell to the ground with an unpleasant bump. She looked up and her eyes widened in shock. The spirit of the demon was slowly rising from its crystallized body. "How can that be?" Clara asked with astonishment. "I thought you said that Midoriko sealed the spirit of this demon inside the Sacred Jewel!"

"It isn't the spirit of the demon, but the spirit of the demons that combined themselves to create this demon!" Kikyou said. To Clara, it didn't make any sense.

The spirit of the demon was now fully awakened. It loomed towards the cave ceiling, nearly touching it. "Run!" Kikyou called out.

Clara stood up and tried to run, but she felt something wound itself around her ankle. Looking down, she saw that it was one of the demon's scaly tentacles. It didn't even feel like a tentacle at all, it felt like smoke that had wound itself around her ankle. She tripped and fell to the ground with a groan.

"Clara!" Kikyou shouted as the demon poised its great jaws over the young woman.

CoCoCoCoCoCo

A1969: sorry if it's short.

Sango: we forgive you.

A1969: but have you forgiven Miroku?

Sango: no

Miroku: eh…

A1969: review please!