"The Shikon no what?"
"The Shikon no Tama, my girl. The Jewel of Four souls."
"You don't actually think tourists are gonna buy these dumb keychains do you?"
"That is not just a keychain! That crystal there at the end is a replica of an Ancient Jewel which…"
Kagome yawned, dangling the keychain in the air for her fat cat Buyo to bat at while her grandpa prattled on about history this and ancient that. Tomorrow was her birthday; she should be upstairs in her room picking out what outfit she was she was going to wear after school for her party with Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi, not sitting in the storehouse listening to another one of grandpa's old stories.
"…Besides bestowing immense power to whoever possesses it," her grandpa's withered voice continued, "The Shikon no Tama has the ability to grant wishes."
"Well then I know this one's a fake," Kagome mumbled, poking the crystalized sphere out of Buyo's paws. She'd already wished a dozen times that she could skip to tomorrow instead of sitting through the rest of this lecture.
"But there are dark energies swirling within the jewel as well as light," her grandpa didn't seem to hear her grumbling, "It is often said that wishing on the jewel can just as easily bring about tragedy instead of fortune. Only the right wish will purify the jewel and erase it from this world for good."
Kagome rolled her eyes and tossed the keychain to her cat, now bored with that game as well. These stories might have been interesting to her when she was younger, but she was about to turn fifteen! She was too old for all of these kid stories about magic jewels and wishes!
Wait a sec, Kagome suddenly thought, a sickening sense of déjà vu washing over her, I remember this. Tomorrow is my fifteenth birthday. That's the day that Souta asked me to go find Buyo in the well…when I went in a demon appeared…Mistress Centipede…she pulled me down the well and I ended up in Feudal Japan…that's where I met…
"…Inuyasha!" Kagome suddenly gasped, her eyes widened in terror. They'd been in Naraku's body, Naraku separated Inuyasha from the Tetsusaiga and used his demonic aura to bring out Inuyasha's demon half. He'd turned to face her, her beloved hanyou's eyes glowing red with madness and then…
What happened?! What's going on?
"Inuyasha!" Kagome stood up and shouted his name, "Inuyasha where are you?"
"Kagome?" her grandpa's eyes narrowed in confusion, "Kagome, what's the matter? Who are you talking to?"
"Grandpa," Kagome looked down at him, "I'm not supposed to be here! Inuyasha and the others are fighting Naraku, I need to go back! I have to help the-" Her voice died off in a strangled cry. Her grandpa had begun to float apart as though he were made of water. He continued to talk to her but his voice was too muffled to be understood. When she reached for him his body vanished completely.
"Grandpa!?" Kagome screamed, and turned around. The storehouse had vanished. Everything was gone. She turned in circles only seeing darkness at every turn, as though she stood in a great black pit. Even the ground beneath her feet looked as same as the void around her. She ran forward, heart pounding in terror.
Where am I?!
"Hello?" She called out, "Is anyone there? Inuyasha?!"
What's going on?! Where did everyone go? What happened to Inuyasha?!
Worry and terror gripped her heart, it was only magnified when she tried to reach out with her miko senses. She was completely surrounded by malefic energy, the void where she stood was spilling over with evil demonic energy to the point where she almost felt as if it were choking her. Kagome was unable to hold back her frightened sobs, trying with all her might not to give into hysterics.
"What's the matter Kagome?" a quiet silky voice called out from the darkness, "Don't you recognize this place?"
"Who's there?" Kagome said, unable to hide the fear in her voice. She glanced all around and saw nothing. She reached behind her to look for her bow or arrows and nearly screamed when she discovered that she was unarmed.
"Don't you remember me?" The voice asked, "We were together for a long time, you and I. Right up until your fifteenth birthday."
"Wha-" Kagome's voice dropped off when she turned around and the darkness had disappeared. She stood in the shadows of the well house back at home. Her eyebrows shot up in confusion when she looked towards the entrance and saw herself standing there arguing with her little brother Souta.
"I'd always known you had a great destiny awaiting you, my dear sweet Kagome. It wasn't until that day though that I finally saw how to lead you towards it."
As her younger self strolled towards the well to search for the cat, Kagome noticed a small circle of light shining within her abdomen. Waves of translucent pink energy reached out from the sphere, almost like fingers, and brushed against the well. Suddenly the building shook and a horrendous monster, Mistress Centipede, burst from the well and grabbed the younger Kagome.
"Don't you see? It was I who brought you to this world."
"Then…wait," Kagome's eyes widened, fighting her disbelief as the truth dawned on her, "You're…you're the jewel?" She turned around to search for the voice and saw that she once more stood in the void, the well house dissolving like mist.
"Very good. Yes, I am the Shikon no Tama, born again into this world alongside you. I've been with you every day of your life…that is until you shattered me into a thousand pieces. But I've long since forgiven you for that. After all, split apart like that I had the opportunity to bring together all the necessary pieces to help you reach your destiny."
Kagome blinked and suddenly she stood next to the shoe lockers at school. Students milled about, gathering their things and leaving for the day. She saw herself again, laughing merrily as she walked out the door with her friends. On her way out she accidentally brushed against two other students, both times she did a shard of the jewel fell from her bottled necklace and landed at their feet. She didn't notice, completely distracted by whatever story Yuka was telling her.
Both students turned to look, and the moment they did the jewel shards at their feet suddenly lit up and sparkled. They both picked up a shard and held the pulsating jewel fragment in their palm as they looked in the direction Kagome had left.
Kohana and Ronuku.
"You…you were the one that brought them here?" Kagome asked. The locker room disappeared and left her in the void once more.
"Of course. I recognized them, reincarnations of two warriors that long ago used their power to battle a demon and unwittingly tapped into my depths. I brought them here for you, to help you reach your destiny."
Instead of comforting her, the jewels words only seemed to heighten her fear. Kagome had spent years cleaning up the tragedies caused by the jewel shards interfering with whoever they came in contact with; everything in her screamed at her not to trust it.
"You keep talking about 'my destiny,' what exactly do you mean?" Kagome asked, pleased that she could hear a hint of anger in her voice instead of trembling with fear, "What was so important that you had to interrupt everybody's lives?"
"Not just yours. Mine. Ours."
The void before her peeled away, the blackness receding as though it were ink falling down a drain. A hum of growling and voices suddenly hit her ears and Kagome's eyes widened as she found herself face to face with hundreds of demons.
"We've been waiting for you."
Kagome screamed and backed away, but when she turned around she was met with even more demons. They surrounded her, ancient vile faces with hatred and sorrow gleaming in their eyes.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed, "Please, take me back to Inuyasha!"
"I'm afraid I can't do that," a figure stepped out from within the demons. It was shaped like a man though his faceless body appeared to be made from violet smoke, "Naraku is looking for you, if he finds you he won't hesitate to kill you. I cannot allow that."
"Then where am I?" Kagome shouted, "What is this place, why did you bring me here?"
"Don't you get it?" The figure strode towards her, and when she tried to run Kagome suddenly found that she couldn't move. He approached her and reached out, caressing her abdomen right over her scar from where the jewel was ripped from her body.
"Just as I was born within you, you are now within me."
It was as if Kagome were struck by lightning.
I'm…inside the jewel?!
"How…," she uttered, "How no…I was with Inuyasha inside the spider…"
"Yes and that brute would've used Inuyasha to tear you apart," the figure withdrew his hand but he didn't step away from Kagome. "Naraku is a fool, he wishes to use my powers for mass destruction, still throwing a tantrum because Kikyo did not love the bandit Onigumo. Fortunately I still had enough power to rescue you at the last second. You can thank your friends for that."
Like a curtain the demons in front of her parted and Kagome gasped. Behind them knelt Ronuku and Kohana, their wrists bound by a black light that ran between the two of them. Their eyes were clouded over and they sat slump and unmoving.
"What did you do to them?" Kagome shouted, all of her fear forgotten in her fury, "Let them go!"
"You misunderstand," the figure chuckled, "Unlike you, they chose to obey me, willingly surrendered themselves. Physically their bodies are still outside channeling energy, but in here is where their souls reside." He strode over to Ronuku and stood behind him, placing his hands on his shoulders.
"The boy was a simple case. A failure, he was always letting everyone down. A useless fool. All he ever wanted was to do right by someone, but when his wife and child needed him most," he knelt down as though he were whispering directly into Ronuku's ear, "he wasn't there. Just like always, he was never able to help anyone. He will never amount to anything."
Ronuku shuddered, as though he heard the jewel's words but he said nothing.
"The girl though," the figure stood and moved towards Kohana, "She was a bit more interesting. Always trying so hard to be noticed, always doing her best to make sure everything was perfect so that maybe someday somebody might actually think she was worth something. But what sort of human gives her heart to a demon and expects him to return her love?" He ran his fingers through her hair and knelt next to her.
"She found her son butchered in the woods, daddy didn't bother to save him hm? Abandoned, just as her own father would have done to her. But that's okay," the figure caressed her cheek, "She got her revenge when she buried the demon under that mountain, didn't she?"
Kohana hung her head and sat in silence.
"Stop it!" Kagome shouted, shaking with rage but unable to move towards them, "You're lying to them, none of that is true and you know it! Kohana! Ronuku! Don't listen to him!"
"Don't bother," the figure stood and returned to Kagome, "They've already agreed to obey me, they can't hear you."
"Let them go," Kagome scowled, "You said you wanted me, right? Well now you have me, why do you still need to torment them?"
The figure laughed.
"Oh Kagome. You're but one piece of the puzzle. I'm not finished until I have the rest," he gestured to the demons above, "I was created when these demons entered battle with the priestess Midoriko. Their fight lasted for decades, as a last ditch effort the priestess cast out her soul…you know the story don't you?"
Kagome glared, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of an answer.
"Well my dear, the jewel maintained its power because of the constant battle within. But nothing lasts forever. Midoriko's powers have waned, centuries of fighting has worn her away. The demons don't have much longer left, they're tired of fighting. If I'm to continue, I need the powers of good and evil to wage war from within."
"I have the priestess," he grabbed Kagome's chin and tilted her head downwards. They stood in the sky, far above the village and Naraku's colossal spider. Kagome saw a dark semi-circle surrounding everyone to one side: Naraku, the villagers, the demons and everyone who fought back. Inuyasha and all of her friends were down there.
Kohana and Ronuku both stood at opposite ends of the semi-circle. As if on cue they both raised their hands towards the sky. The power that ran between them stretched out, filling out the other half and creating a full circle around the area.
"All I need is the rest."