Chapter Two: Chains and Names

Grumpy was kind of an understatement of how he felt when he left home this morning.

Inuyasha yawned and received a harsh look of reprimand from the girl next to him. He didn't blame Kikiyou because this was probably his fifth time doing it. It was just so boring. He thought that they would have went straight to the Dark Priestess Exhibit, but no, they had to learn about different tools from history. What people use to wear and what other super interesting things. Paired with the lack of sleep and how the thought of hanging himself seemed far more entertaining, he was tired. Kikyou, on the other hand, seemed so happy to be here.

Her face glowed whenever they got on the topic of old priest and priestesses and when they showed that old bow and arrow, she was practically elated.

"The bow and arrows that were made back in those times could easily hold spiritual energy." He heard her whisper as they looked at the bow and arrow that was in a glass case. The holster was made with different animal skin and the arrows were made from a now extinct bird, or so the description said. It was more for decoration than actual practical use. The plaque went on to say, "It's harder for spiritual energy to go through bows and arrows now; it's probably because of the material that they are made of."

Inuyasha yawned again and received a slight hard jab to the side from Kikyou, "I'm sorry, am I boring you?"

He chuckled. She was so upset with him he could see her brows furrow, "No, it's not that. I couldn't fall asleep."

Her anger quickly subsided and her face relaxed, "You couldn't sleep? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah…Just something was on my mind." It wasn't a lie. For some reason, his brain wanted to know everything about the Dark Priestess, but it was mostly speculation and fables. Nothing real concrete. The Moon Calamity was completely out of nowhere. She and the demon who did it appeared out of now where and then disappeared into complete thin air. Kikyou looked at him for a minute, trying to study his face, but resigned to not push further than what he told her.

She turned around to look at the other displays, "Well, I hope whatever it was, you can give your future the same amount of thought."

Inuyasha sighed. There she went back to being mad at him. He looked packed museum, another reason why he was grumpy. He hated packed places, it wasn't good for his nose or his ears. It was like a thousand of people were yelling at him directly and the mashup of scents clouded his nose. This was pure hell for someone like him, but looking over to Kouga and his fanclub, they weren't posing any better. Kouga sat down on a bench looking as though he was trying to recollect himself. Ayame seemed to be doing a bit better, or she was completely obsessed with Kouga's wellbeing that she didn't give a damn about her own. The other two, Ginta and Hakkaku, couldn't hold it and were obviously annoyed, as they held their nose.

"It's extremely packed." Inuyasha said out loud causing Kikyou to stop her stride and turn around and give him a questioning look. Inuyasha just shrugged, "I mean she's dead…Do you think that everyone here to see a dead girl?"

Kikyou stopped as she thought about her next words, "She's not just any dead girl. She's the apparent spark of the first demon and human war, and the cause of the Moon Calamity. She had a demon take out an entire village and threw the Midoriko Way into great disarray."

He caught it, the way she said the way she talked about Midoriko. There was a hint of anger like she was personally effected by the destruction of a group that was over 500 years ago. However, like she didn't push him to ask why he was so tired, he wouldn't ask why she was so upset. He didn't dare to ask. Kikyou was a woman of mystery. Inuyasha turned away as he tried to focus on something else, anything to get his mind off the tension she had slightly built.

"The Dark Priestess Exhibit is now open. All those interested, please gather at the exhibit entrance." The intercom announced, "I repeat the Dark Priestess Exhibit is now open. All those that are interested, please gather at the exhibit entrance."

Kikyou that broke the silence, "I guess that means we are all meeting up. Let's go."

She shot him a smile and he knew everything was okay. Pushing aside that moment of tension, with her smile he instantly went to her side.

"Fudoki students! Please over here all Fudoki students!" Mukade stood out to the side of the exhibit, and she was surrounded by students that were dressed in their uniforms. Inuyasha grew concerned as he watched people flood into the exhibit. There were so many people that were interested in seeing her today. Mukade begun to do a head count of her students, "Alright that's all of us, please let's go guys!"

Crowded would be the understatement of the century. When they entered the room, he was already squished. People were brushing against others, and it was hard to maneuver through the crowd. Mukade was trying to guide the students, but after a few seconds she was lost and it was obvious that she gave up holding the sign for the class. Kikyou had latched herself to Inuyasha side as he tried to maneuver through the crowd and he felt pure bliss. It was seemed nearly impossible to get to the stage where there was something was covered by a huge sheet. The podium was empty but the light shined perfectly in the middle

"I can't see anything back here." Kikyou complained as she stood on her toes

"Let's see if we can get closer to the stage." Inuyasha said as he used this chance to grasped her hand and pull her deeper in the crowd. As he pushed through the crowd, Kikyou constantly said excuse them to everyone they moved past. They finally made it near the front and he couldn't help but be proud of himself. The only thing that was blocking them now was a couple. The woman firmly attached to the man's arm, and she wore enough perfume to fucking down a cow. Inuyasha couldn't help sniffle a bit as he rubbed his nose. Though that caught the attention of the man that was in front of him.

"Sorry, can you guys see?" He asked, the woman that was on his arm looked behind her and smiled at Inuyasha and Kikyou. "Do you mind we can give the kids the better view."

"But it took us forever to get up here." The woman scoffed a bit and the man only smiled, and Inuyasha could tell this man was dangerous. Everything seemed to be well placed, from the head on his hair to his outfit. For some reason Inuyasha thought gigolo. That was only thing he could think that a man his age that didn't even seem to be in his 30s had a woman that seemed to be in her late 40s on his arm. Whatever complaints that she seemed to have about giving up her spot to two kids melted when she stared at the man smile. The woman huffed a bit, "Miroku, I swear you are too soft sometimes."

"I promise that you won't be thinking that soon." Miroku chuckled as he pulled the woman in the opposite direction, leaving Inuyasha feeling dirtier than he felt in his entire life, and he was the type of child that played in mud. However, they got to the front with no problem. The lights in the room dimmed as the museum curator got on stage to the crowd applause.

The man got to the podium and smiled at the crowd, "I'm honored to see this turn out to the public reveal of the Dark Priestess. I'm Naruku Kumo, and I find it an extreme pleasure to be in front of you all."

Naraku Kumo was a strange man with a weird aura around him. His hair was long and wavy, and it cascaded down his bac. His red eyes were sharp and distinct, and his face was flawless with a dash of purple eye shadow and winged eye liner to make his eyes pop. Even when Inuyasha did research on the Dark Priestess it all led back to Naraku. He seemed to have this air about him that made it feel as though he was the type to poison the drinking water of an entire village and watch the result. Something about the man was just down right creepy.

"Before the reveal of the priestess, I would first like to tell what it means for us to reveal this today." Naruku smiled, "First this is a huge step to understanding what led to the Moon Calamity that happened 500 years ago. From what our records say, the dark priestess appeared and disappeared like lighting. Although, now that we have her in this perfectly preserved state, we know now that she was encased in amber. The amber that was used is a rare amber that hasn't been around for at least 200 years."

"Our final discovery will hopefully be reveal to the public in the coming months: the remains of her apparent demon partner."

The crowd gasp. As they talked amongst themselves, Naraku couldn't seem to help the Cheshire cat smile that appeared on his face. "Yes, when we found her there were demon bones that were wrapped around her. At first we thought it was a ton of different demon bones that was wrapped around her. However, upon closer inspection, we realized that it belonged to one large demon."

"What type of demon was it?" A woman yelled out from the crowd.

"Well that will be a secret until the reveal, but for right now we are have a very confident idea about what type of demon that did it."

For some reason, Inuyasha felt a sudden wash of tension roll over him. Since no one knew what demon did it, then it was harder to place the blame to one group. The only thing anyone knew was that it was a powerful demon. A powerful demon caused the Moon Calamity and such powerful demons should have checks and balances. However, if Naraku said was true then it was only a matter of time before the demon world would throw into chaos.

"Alright without further hesitation I will like to introduce you to the Dark Priestess!" Naraku walked to the sheet and yanked it off revealing a woman encased in amber.

The feeling he got from the pictures couldn't compare the feeling he got now. It was like his whole body just stopped functioning for a millisecond. His throat felt as someone was stabbing it with needles and for a second as he stared at her. He couldn't breathe, or more so he forgot to breathe. What was this? Why did his whole body feel as though it was being chained down to her? Who was she?

The Dark Priestess laid there in her amber case as if she was just sleeping. She looked so peaceful in her casket, the way her knees were situated close to her chest, and in her arms, was a sword. Her priestess garb was red and white and not a single thing was out of place. Even her hair that seemed to spread to her side seemed almost as if someone took the time to make sure that her hair never covered her sleeping face. If the demon that was found with her did this, then this went above and beyond a pact, but love.

Love….

Why did he think that? That was the second time he looked at her and thought of love. A love that he never experienced but seemed so familiar when he looked at her. It seemed like he knew it like the back of his hand. The more he looked at her, he felt the chains that wrapped around him and threaten to link him to her. Chains that he couldn't fight, or more so something inside him didn't fight. It was almost like a darkness was approaching and his mind was screaming to get out. His body refused to fight it.

"Yasha…" Someone was calling out to him, "inu…ya…sha!'

Someone was calling and he had to answer! Inuyasha felt his heart pound in his ear. God damn it, answer the voice. It wasn't until he felt a sharp pain on his ear that the trance was broken and he finally looked away from the priestess. Kikyou looked up at him with so much concern that she began to gently rub the part she pulled.

"Sorry, you looked out of it. Is everything okay Inuyasha?"

"Yeah." It was almost too quick on how he brushed her off, but again she didn't push it any further. He would apologize later as he felt the pull to look back at the priestess. His head was swimming as his eyes dodged around the crowd. Anything, anything to get his mind off her, to not look at her, but somehow he felt his eyes fall back to her almost like it was the most natural thing in the world. Was this the power of the dark priestess? Inuyasha looked in the crowd for anyone suffering like him and no one stood out until he looked over to Kouga. Kouga that seemed to just stare blankly at the priestess in front of him. Ayame was filled with concern as Kouga had this blank stare. Even as she pushed and pulled him, he wouldn't react. Inuyasha looked back at the priestess in amber. Was she dead?

"I will allow a quick Q and A, and then you are free to touch the amber. I request for you to do it gently." Inuyasha felt his heart lurch in his chest. Touch her? They got to touch her? Why? This whole place was a 3-year-old's worst nightmare in the practice of impulse control. And now they are going to allow them to touch a dead girl casket.

"Is it safe?" A girl asked, the light fell on her and what stood out next to her long brown hair was her tailored suit that made her look ten times older than what she probably was. "She was a dark priestess, and who knows the reaction she'll have on people."

If that wasn't a call out for the demons in the crowd, then Inuyasha didn't know what was. Though she didn't seem phase from the demon that stared at her, but Naraku just smiled as if he wasn't fazed by the question.

"I ensure you, she's dead." He stated calmly, "We are allowing it because of the cool touch of this rare amber and the reason why she stayed this way over 500 years. So please anymore questions?"

There were a few like how old was she? Did anyone know what her life was like before the Moon Calamity? What caused it? Why did she do it? All those answers no one, not even Naraku knew, but he had enough charm to somehow circle around the answer. Though it came time to line up and touch Kikyou was first to pull Inuyasha by the arm.

"We have to do this at least once!" Kikyou exclaimed as they got in line.

"I really thought you'd be against it." Inuyasha voiced his concerned, "You know the whole like, dark priestess thing. Don't you guys have something against that crap?"

Kikyou shook her head as she giggled a bit, "Nope, and if she is alive then, I'll give her a nice one two and protect you from her charm."

Inuyasha smiled but it quickly fell as they began to move. Was that the case? Was it charm that he was feeling? Or was it something else. Even now he could feel the invisible chains pull him to her. If he gotten any close that he would fall into the amber and drown alongside her. And the scary part of that thought was that a little voice wanted to do just that. It rumbled against the chains that he held it back, getting a little louder and louder to touch the amber as the line got shorter and shorter.

"Excuse me, you two are Fudoki students, right?" As Naraku neared the two, he passed a long glance that Inuyasha didn't like over Kikyou before looking at Inuyasha, "Ah by the uniforms that's a yes?"

"Yes sir, thank you for inviting our school to this wonderful exhibit." Kikyou bowed slightly, "We are truly honored."

Naraku smiled, "Such manners, thank you, but that's not what I'm here for. I want to ask how you feel about the dark priestess. 500 years is a long time ago, but I want to know how the young ones feel about her and you two seemed like the prime target to ask."

"It's just such an honor to be able to connect with the history that we lost 500 years ago. The Moon Calamity was a terrible event and to know that someone like her held that power to manipulate a demon really puts everything into perspective." Inuyasha couldn't help the creeping feeling that this was somehow rehearsed, but it seemed enough for Naraku who nodded his head in agreement.

"It's your turn next milady, please go on." Naraku ushered her on stage and she went, and that was when the whole emotion changed. Naraku's eyes fell on him like a predator and it made him feel uncomfortable, "Now what about you? How do you feel?"

"Nothing." It was quick; he didn't like this. First the priestess and now this guy. What was this weird feeling that was trying to choke him? "She caused the Moon Calamity, right? She probably ran away and sealed herself because she knew that she was in deep shit if anyone found her."

Naraku chuckled a bit as he pushed back his hair, "You not as eloquent as the company you keep, now are you?"

"Do I need to be?" Inuyasha couldn't hold back a snarl and Naraku didn't seem phased.

"If I told you her partner was a dog demon, how would that make you feel, because you obviously are one right?" Naraku asked as he eyed Inuyasha up and down, "Though to be fair it's been about 500 years, the domestication of demons have become more worrisome."

Inuyasha eyes widen, "What do you mean by domestication?"

"Not a good student, are you?" Naraku laugh was almost as grating as the actually hearing nails on chalk board, "I'm just saying, the half breeds such as yourself and the demons that walk around today are domesticated. All the things you are blessed with are just for show, but back to my original question. If I told you that her partner was a dog demon would that mean anything to you?"

"…. I couldn't care less. Dog demons are a rare commodity nowadays, right? So, if it happens to be a dog demon, what will they do?" Inuyasha asked as he watched Naraku study him, as if his answer held something more to it, but after finding that there wasn't he just left it alone.

"It's your turn. Please enjoy the rest of the exhibit, umm." Naraku stopped mid-sentence, "What is your name?"

"Inuyasha." Inuyasha answered and for a minute the always façade drop like a damn brick. Naraku eyes widen and his smile turned into a disgusted frown, but he shook his head as he left.

"Of course it is…." He heard him mumble.

Inuyasha turned around and rushed to the amber encased girl. The quicker he got this over with the faster he could go home and return to his daily life. He can put this whole mess behind him: the feeling that she gave him and stupid Naraku. He could go back to worrying about stupid shit and that's it. Though as he stood in front of the giant amber case, he felt himself hesitate. The pull was still there, as if he would touch the case and he would just fall into it with her. Now, looking up at the stone, he realized how huge it was. Who needed this much amber? Looking at her, she was so small and she looked so delicate. And that sword. Was it hers? So many questions, so many damn questions and he knew none of them were going to be answered.

So, the best thing he could do was just touch it and go, but why was it easier said than done? Inuyasha even now was just looking up at her. This was the woman that caused the Moon Calamity and was the catalyst of the first human demon war. This was the woman that basically made the world what it was today and here she was, not a single part of her seemed disturb by that fact. She looked as though she was truthfully just sleeping away.

He finally reached out and touched the amber and, at that moment, his whole world turned to white. Everything and everyone was gone, even the amber that he had reached out and touched was gone. He couldn't breathe! The hell was going on? And that was when he felt it, small arms snaked around his waist as he felt someone press up behind him.

"Beloved…." The voice called out to him, "I've been waiting."

The grasped around him felt so tight, "I've been waiting for so long…."

And at that moment he lost all control of his body and he turned to meet the person that had hugged him. The girl stared up at him with dark grey eyes. She looked almost as if she was on the verge of tears, but, still, she stared up at him with a smile. He reached and cupped her cheeks. It was warmer than he expected it to be. Although this wasn't him! This wasn't what he wanted to do, but he felt as though he was forced out of his body to watch himself do these weird actions! He yelled at himself to stop but it just kept going. His body brushed her tears away and planted a kiss on the woman's forehead before embracing her in the tightest hug that he could ever give.

"I've finally returned to you, Kagome…." He said.

And almost as instantly as his world turned white, it went black just as quickly. Though in that darkness, the woman stood there and glowed as if she was the sun itself in the arms of someone that wasn't him, and yet at the same time was.

Kagome…

What a strange name…

Was his final thoughts as even she disappeared…

Author Note: And the Gods decreed let there be a new chapter! And a new chapter did come. This chapter was the hardest to write because its more so a set up chapter than anything and the Gods know that I hate set up chapters. I was kind enough to my editor to not make this chapter long as hell, so instead of 4,000 plus words its only 3,846! Yeah that 200 word differences! Welp on to the next one that will be probably done on Wednesday of the coming week or sometime next next week, because even as a senior in college I've got those finals to care about.

Special shout of to those who favorited and followed the story, high tier appreciate it! See you guys in the next chapter!

-Magical Rum