"To be able to kill Midoriko, the hundreds of demons decided to merge themselves into one large demon – like the transformers on TV." I stifled a laugh. "And if one study the demonic body closely one can see a human form melted inside as well, if one look behind all the arms and eyes." I shuddered and pulled my coat closet to my body. "But as I said, none can be certain it's true. No miko or priestess is allowed to take husbands or to ever have intercourse as it would take away their innocence and thus they won't be pure. And if a priestess isn't pure she can never use her spiritual powers ever again."
"I'm sorry, but I have to stop you there," I interrupted. "You say you blasted the demon's arm off and seeing you know fairly enough about priestesses, and the fact that you said you look so much like this Kikyou-person, so I just have to ask you – are you a priestess, too?" Kagome nodded slowly and smiled. My mouth made an 'o' again and I let her speak.
"I am and that actually came in handy when or if we had to kill demons," she explained. "Anyway, after Kaede had declared that I looked like Kikyou she removed the ropes around my wrists and ankles and she made me some food. She told me of the story of the Shikon no Tama and Midoriko. But the storytelling didn't last too long as Lady Centipede came into the village and terrorized the huts, destroying many huts. She kept chanting, "give me the jewel" and Kaede told me to run. I did. I ended up back with the sealed half-demon where he had awoken and insulted me for being a weak excuse of a Kikyou." She pouted her lips and I grinned.
"The centipede-demon bit into my hip and flung me up in the air. I felt something pop out of my hip and I thought it might be a bone, but the round piece I thought was my appendage started glowing pink. The demon ate it and InuYasha started struggling in his binds – claiming that the jewel belonged to him. He told me to release him from his seal by pulling out the arrow so he could kill the demon, and I did. InuYasha killed the demon in matter of seconds."
I hummed. "InuYasha was attacked by the villagers who came running into the clearing and he ran towards them, his claws extended. Kaede shot an arrow towards him, stopping him temporarily. She told me to pick up the jewel – knowing that because it came out of my body it would not reject me. I did as she told me." Kagome smiled, "InuYasha was furious and kept insulting me and called me Kikyou. I screamed at him – that I wasn't her. And of course, he said I smelled foul and couldn't possibly be Kikyou – another insult." She laughed.
"A couple of days later, I sat by the creek and took a bath in the freezing water. A crow demon swept down and stole the jewel from me. InuYasha managed to cut off the crow's leg and I shot an arrow towards it. Unfortunately, I sucked at archery at that time so I took the bird-demon's foot and tied it to the arrow. It worked, seeing that the foot had begun to move in the crow's direction. I shot it, but sadly – I managed to shatter the jewel with the holy arrow and sent thousands of tiny shards all across Japan. And that's how our travels started – by collecting shards."
"I see. So that's what you have been doing?" Kagome nodded. I hummed.
Kagome went over to a huge boomerang and sighed. I followed and asked, "did this, too, belong to somebody you knew?" She nodded again.
"It belonged to a member of our group – her name was Sango. She was a demon slayer, a skilled one, too. Her family belonged to a demon slayer clan, which was murdered by her younger brother, Kohaku. Naraku who used a Shikon no Tama jewel shard to gain control over his body and mind, another half-demon who wanted the Shikon no Tama to become a full demon controlled the poor guy. Sango was devastated, but she was determined to find her brother. And in the end she managed to find him. Although, he was dead when we managed to save him, Kikyou had put the last of her powers into the shard in his neck. And so – he was able to live."
"Sounds complicated…" I commented.
"So you think so?" She asked. I nodded. She shrugged.
"Well, in our travels we met several allies. First there was the little fox-demon Shippou, whom I looked upon as if he was my own son. He was so cute – his fluffy tail and his constant bickering with InuYasha. Even though he earned a couple of blows to the head for that… But once I sat InuYasha they would stop – occasionally."
"Sat him?" I questioned. She let out a whole-hearted laugh. "Yeah, you see – when InuYasha tried to kill me to get to the jewel – Kaede gave me a magical rosary necklace and she said that the first command I gave would be his restriction. And because he is half dog-demon the first word I could think of was sit." She laughed again. "It's hilarious!"
I chuckled, "indeed."
"Anyway," she announced and walked over to a staff that hung beside the boomerang, "this also belonged to one of our companions – Miroku, the perverted monk. He is the worst lecher I have ever met in my entire life. And the fact that he was a monk… Forget it." She glared at the golden staff and continued, "When we first met Miroku, InuYasha, Shippou and I were the only one who were a part of our group. He stole the shards that we had collected and ran off. Luckily – we managed to gain his favor and he came along in our little group. His groping never stopped, though. Which angered InuYasha to no end," she grinned. I tilted my head as I examined the staff. It was beautiful. The circle on top contained two golden rings on each side and I could imagine the calm, yet annoying, clinging they would make when he walked.
"Miroku's grandfather had been cursed by Naraku – a curse which passed down to the other generations and ended with Miroku. In his right hand he had a void, almost like a black hole."
"A wind-tunnel…" I murmured to myself, forgetting myself.
"Exactly," Kagome exclaimed. "It could suck in anything except poison. There were incidents where he became seriously ill because he sucked in some of Naraku's poisonous insects." I felt a headache begin to form behind my eyes and massaged my temples. I hummed, "who exactly was this Naraku-person?"
"Oh, it's a long story."
"Make it short," I said and began to trek back to the comfortable couch. I could read for hours and hours – I loved books – to sate my thirst for knowledge, but Kagome's story was all over the place. However, if it was true what she said, I would need to piece things together. I sat down and Kagome followed suit.
"Naraku was originally the human bandit who went by the name of Onigumo. His body had been burnt badly in a fire and Kikyou decided she wanted to heal him. However, she did so in a cave and not in a hut in fear that the villagers might kill the sinner he was. He had raped, murdered and stolen in many nearby villages. Kikyou nursed him daily and the bandit fell in love with her beauty and her kindness. She never talked to him, only nursed him. He could not move – ever – due to the damages inflicted on his body during the fire and so, one night after Kikyou had left, he called upon the demons of the night."
"He made a pact with the demons. If they chose to make him a half-demon, he would lead them to victory and take over Japan. The demons agreed and made him into the half-demon he wished to be. He could change shapes, create demons from his own flesh and he manipulated all those who dare cross him. Even the smallest of human he could use to his advantage. The guy was evil throughout."
I hummed, and crossed my legs as she continued. "Naraku discovered that Kikyou loved InuYasha and became furious. He wanted the jewel to become stronger – a full demon. He took InuYasha's form and wounded her greatly before he went after the jewel. However, the real InuYasha had beat him to it and he escaped. Kikyou believed that the real InuYasha had tried to kill her and seeing the Shikon no Tama in his grasp only confirmed her theory. She pinned InuYasha to the Goshinboku and she died moments later – after she had told her little sister, Kaede, to burn the Shikon no Tama with her body." She drew in oxygen. "That's how InuYasha ended up sealed to the Goshinboku and how Kikyou died," she finished.