Chapter 8

A bright pink light engulfed Kagome when she jumped through the well. It wasn't the blue light she was used to and knew right away something was wrong.

Gripping Ashi tighter so she wouldn't lose him, she only had to wait a moment before she felt her feet touch the ground on the inside of the well. Looking up there was no usual sky or inside of a well house. Instead she saw a mix of a soft pink and white, swirling together beautifully.

Climbing to the top of her portal that had taken her somewhere else, she noticed she was nowhere she recognized, in fact she didn't think she was even on earth anymore.

Trying to not freak out, the miko took in her surroundings. She felt oddly calm here. It was peaceful. In front of the well there was a path, like walking through a traditional Japanese garden. But either side of the garden was a drop off into the pink abyss.

Taking the path that was her only choice, she looked for anyone she could get some answers from. She walked for what seemed like forever until she came upon a red bridge over a koi pond. On the other side was a gate. It was beautiful, each Kami was carved into it across the top. Pushing open the large gate doors she looked inside, and gasped.

There sitting on a throne of gold, atop a small grassy hill, was no other than Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess. "Hello my daughter." she greeted with a beautiful smile. Walking in and to the feet of the Goddess Kagome fell to her knees and bowed low, as did Ashi, for even he knew who sat before them. "Rise child, I have been waiting for you," spoke the Kami. Looking up and not believing her eyes, she wondered if she fell and hit her head in the well. "You have not been injured, I set the well on this path for you, we are in a realm I created to speak with you," the Goddess answered, reading her thoughts. "It is an honor to meet you, but why am I here?" Kagome asked curiously. "You are here to learn your destiny. The path you were born to follow," she replied with a smile. Kagome shifted into a seiza and gave the Goddess her full attention.

"I have much to share with you but first I'll start at the beginning. You are born of a part of my soul. You are still your parents' child but I had a hand in choosing your soul," she explained. "You were born to restore peace to Japan, to keep an evil from spreading and devouring the world. You are not just a miko nor a reincarnation of anyone. You are pure, you are my light," reassured the beautiful Goddess. Kagome had confusion written on her face.

"I'll explain further," the deity said, reading her thoughts. "You are not just a miko for you are far more powerful, you are a light of a soul of Kami." "Pardon me for not understanding Goddess Ametarsu but I'm not that powerful, I'm an average miko, maybe Kikyo..." Kagome drifted to silence, doubting herself. "My daughter it is you who I speak of, your full powers are sealed and will remain until I break the seal," explained the powerful Goddess with a smile. "So I am made of a piece of your soul?" the miko asked, shocked and honored if this was true.

"Yes my child, you were made to fight great evil and bring peace to the world that would otherwise parish. In doing so, you will bring original order allowing demons and humans to live side by side into your birth time," finished The Awesome being in front of her.

"When I release your full power, I will also release your knowledge of how to use it. As well as unlock your immortality. You cannot die of natural causes," she explained, still smiling patiently. "I-I can't be so important. I'm nobody, just an average girl, sort of, just a jewel detector," Kagome said looking down. "No my daughter, you are so much more, you are my light. You are made to purify dark evils," she said reassuringly, rising from her throne and walking to the young woman. "The Kami chose you as a gift to right your world and you can do it," The beautiful Kami leaned down and kissed her forehead.

Kagome felt a rush of pure light release inside her like a dam bursting. The light burst from her body surrounding her in pink so brilliant it was blinding. She was lifted into air, feeling herself change while she hovered just above the watching Goddess. Drifting slowly back to her feet she was presented a mirror from the sun Goddess.

Kagome gasped at her new appearance, she almost didn't recognize herself. Her hair now reached her hips, still black but softer than she ever felt before. Half of it was piled atop her head with golden Kanzashi that had gold leaves at the end holding it in place while the rest fell in gorgeous waves. On her forehead was a crescent moon of pink and gold swirled together. Her vision and hearing seemed to amplify, it was so clear that she felt she may as well have been blind and deaf before. Her skin was porcelain perfect and slightly more pale, though not in a sickly way. Her lips were a beautiful shade of dusty rose and her body had gotten curvier. She looked like a fully grown woman now, with slightly larger breasts and supple hips. She was graced with a new set of miko garbs that hugged her curves nicely and were not much different than her old ones. These were made from the finest silks, power coursing through each tread. On the hems of her sleeves and collar were intricate golden leaves. At both sides of her hips rested two pouches of some kind.

Most shocking to the woman was her new eyes. They were the most alluring green she had ever seen, like looking into a lush forest after a storm with the sun glistening off the raindrops.

"This can't be me," replied the shocked miko. "But it can and is," the wise mother of all spoke. "I have further explaining to do about your new body and powers. You are still a human, you will need to eat and sleep, though you will not die if you do not, you will become weak," she explained sitting on her throne again. "You can, however, use your powers to enhance your body as you see fit. Your new garments are your armor, they are strong and self repairing, and the material will repel anything that seeks to soil it. Any other clothing you put on will appear with golden leaves stitched into it, as it is a symbol of your status," the proud Goddess spoke.

"The pouch at your left side will store all you need, it has a spell on it that will hold anything you put inside, without the added weight. To retrieve what you've stored you need only reach in and think of the item and it will come to you," she explained, pointing to said pouch then the other one and continuing, "The water skin on your other side is very much the same; it can hold large amounts of water without the weight."

Kagome nodded, taking in all the new information surprisingly easy. "Forgive my intrusion Lady Goddess but what of the jewel?" Kagome asked, wondering what part it had in her destiny. "The Shikon was a mistake that was not meant to happen. When you return you will seek out the remaining shards, there are five left to collect including the wolf demon's. When you have the rest, you will seek out Naraku. When you are near him, you will be able to summon the part of the Shikon no Tama he has. The jewel will seek to be whole and join with your body. Once your body absorbs it, it will cease to exist. Naraku will be easily taken down after," foretold the Kami. The young miko only nodded at this.

"There is another matter you should know of," started the Goddess. "You will not be able to complete your destiny without your full soul." "So Kikyo will have to die for me to get the rest of my soul back?" Kagome asked, fearing how that battle would go and how Inuyasha would take it.

"The deceased miko will die but not for that reason, you are no one's reincarnation as I said before. When she met her untimely demise she burned the jewel with her body. The angry part of her soul turned dark from betrayal, clinging to the jewel when the rest moved on," explained the deity. "It was the joint decision of the Kami to put the jewel into your body to be brought back to this time when you came. When the jewel was cut from you, her piece of soul held on to yours seeking your power that lay dormant," Kagome's eyes were wide at the story she was hearing. "When the evil witch called the passed miko's soul from you it tore away a small part of power it managed to siphon," the Goddess went on. "The power she holds now is but a small fraction of yours and it is being depleted every day. It will not last much longer," the great Goddess finished.

"Now what do you know of mates?" She asked. "Mates are how demons get married right?" the innocent woman replied. "In a way, yes, but much more powerful and binding. In a mating, two souls are bound together to share a life span as well as emotions," the Sun Kami explained. "A soul mate is a much stronger version of a mating, it is two souls fated to be one," explained the Great Deity, studying Kagome's reaction carefully. "So you are saying I have a fated soul mate?" the miko asked. "Yes child, your soulmate is Lord Sesshomaru of the western lands," She said, eyes never leaving hers.

Kagome took a moment to process this news. In a way, she was happy, she had to admit she cared for the demon lord and could definitely come to love him but she also thought it was unfair to him. "But Lady Goddess, it is unfair to tie Lord Sesshomaru to me if he doesn't love me and he does not," Kagome said sadly. "You will see in time that he does," She replied. "You must not tell him yet of your mating, it would not end well. You must wait until he is ready then tell him and he will understand," clarified the Goddess.

Ametarasu took this moment to pull a sword from her sleeve that seemed to appear from nowhere. "You will give him this when you return. Tell him it is a gift from the Kami to protect that what belongs to him," She informed Kagome, handing the sword to her. Kagome took this opportunity to try out her new travel pouch. The sword slipped in as if the bag was never ending. Kagome smiled and turned back to the Sun Goddess. "Thank you for your generosity Lady Goddess, I am sure he will take good care of and make good use of it," Kagome said while bowing low.

"Rise, my daughter. I wish to test your knowledge of your power," The Goddess commanded, walking from her hill to a small meadow filled with flowers that materialized as she walked. Kagome and Ashi followed after the powerful being and stopped in front of her. "Take this seed and grow an apple tree," Ametarasu instructed. Kagome took the seed and instinctively knelt on the grass and dug a tiny hole. She then placed the seed inside and covered it up. Putting her hand over the planted apple seed the miko closed her eyes and let her power flow from her hand into the ground. A moment later, she felt something poke her palm and let her hand rise with the growing tree.

Kagome slowly raised her body with the now waist high apple tree keeping her hand against it. In a few more moments, a large apple tree stood before them. The Kami walked to a low hanging branch and plucked the red fruit from its stem. "You have mastered your power of growth. Next, I would like to test your power of protection," she said, then waved her hand to summon a bear demon that charged toward the mikos companion.

Kagome chose to materialize a bow and arrows from her reiki and wasted no time in destroying the demon. "Well done, now I would like to test your power to heal." At this request, the Goddess summoned a doe with a broken leg. Kagome went to the injured animal at once. The poor female deer was startled at the summons and afraid of the approaching human. Kagome released a calming aura towards the doe who seemed to relax and lay down. Placing her hand on the misshaped appendage, Kagome healed her broken bone. "Very good," complimented the Kami. "Lastly, I would like to see your power to interact," requested the Lady Goddess, waving her hand to send the doe back. Kagome raised her hand and formed a butterfly from her reiki. She brought the creature to her lips and whispered something to it. The butterfly took flight from her palm and went to the flowers in the meadow.

All of the petals from every flower glided into the air then came to circle around the Goddess of the sun and fall at her feet. "I can see you have complete control of all of your powers. There is only one more thing I need to inform you of," the Kami said, while raising her hand to once again wave it. In the meadow where the flowers used to be, stood the well she used to travel through time. "The power of the well is at its end, there is only enough left to return to the future to say your goodbye then send you back to your rightful era," the sun Goddess said as she started to disappear. "Be well my daughter," was the last thing Kagome heard from her as she disappeared completely from sight.

Kagome sighed a long slow breath of air. So much has changed and now she has to say goodbye to her family. She knew this day would come but she was glad she was meant to be in the feudal era. She felt so out of place and lost in the future and now she knew why, she was not meant for that time. The past was her true home.

Scooping up Ashi into her arms she walked to the well and sat on the edge, looking around at the strange place where her life changed. She smiled a bittersweet smile and turned to jump in.

~End chapter 8~

I believe Kagome was stronger deep inside and this is how I saw it happening :)

Miko-Priestess

Seiza-Traditional style of sitting in Japan

Kami-God or Goddess of Japanese belief

Kanzashi-Traditional Japanese hair accessories

Reiki-Spiritual energy

Ja ne, Peach