Disclaimer: As much as I wish he were Inuyasha is not mine, I just borrow him for some fun, the poor guy.

Authors note: I love you guys I was feeling really shitty after posting last ime but I woke up to like eight unexpected and encouraging reviews, which made my day and so as a reward I'm posting a day early. Reviews make me happy which makes me want to post, so thanks guys.

When Good Mikos Go Bad

Chapter 12 Meeting With the Elders

"What do you mean 'you already knew'?" the inu hanyou snapped at his travel companions. Okay maybe it hadn't been the best idea to hide their suspicions about Kagome being alive, but it was probably worse to have told Inuyasha they hadn't told him.

"Relax Inuyasha, we'll have Kagome back in no time." Shippou's confidence at the news of his 'mother' being alive had him in a state of exceeding bubbly optimism. He even risked jumping up to catch a ride on the hanyou's head, surprised when said hanyou didn't pound him into dust for the action.

"Yah, whatever." It wasn't like Inuyasha was going to let it show that he was just as giddy as Shippou on the inside, nope, not him.

Sango and Miroku watched as the two bantered around it was obvious the two were beyond happy. The monk and slayer were more concerned than anything else, any leads or scents would be long gone by now and Naraku probably had a better idea where to find Kagome. They were just running blind, without an inkling of how to find Naraku or Kagome. Something else was troubling all but the youngest of the group.

If Kagome was alive, and they were now positive she was, why hadn't she come looking for them? Inuyasha had two theories 1) something had happened and she was being held prisoner, again, or 2) She had finally gotten sick of him and decided to go out on her own. It didn't matter either way; he was determined to either save her or demand to know why she couldn't tell him she didn't want to see him anymore herself. The others had a more rational theory; she was in hiding from Naraku and had no way to contact them without drawing his attention.

In a way they were all right; the only detail they were missing: Kagome didn't even know who they were yet alone that she was in danger.

"Hey Inuyasha," the innocent kitsune piped up from his place on Inuyasha's head. "How are we gonna find Kagome anyway?" Inuyasha crashed to the ground as if he had just been sat, and the others, even Kirara, sweat-dropped. How the hell had he not thought of that?

When both Tari and Kagome entered the stone temple Marianne rushed to greet them, ushering them into the group of gathered miko; all of whom had confusion plastered to their faces. "Come sisters we have been waiting for you." Marianne led them toward the elders' table.

The elders consisted of three ancient miko, Kagome had heard tales about them but never before had she laid eyes on them herself. Each one radiated wisdom and spiritual, so much so the hair on Kagome's neck stood on end and her own energy spiked in warning. They all wore heavy robes that covered their hands and every inch of skin and thick veils shielded their faces, had it not been for their spiritual energy it would have been easy to mistake them for a pile of laundry. "Chika-sama, Daichi-sama, Hiroto-sama, this is Sister Kagome." Lady Marianne introduced motioning for Kagome to step foreword. She did so warily, unsure of what Marianne was thinking.

"Do you distrust us child?" a raspy voice ask from behind the cloth.

A gruff voice in the back of Kagome's head was telling her to stay calm, to hide her fears and show no weakness to these women. This voice was oddly familiar yet she couldn't place it, but it didn't matter, she trusted the voice without question; blanking her face and cloaking her mind and fears with an undetectable barrier, before answering, "Its just…I don't know you and people who hide their faces tend to be hiding more than that." She explained

The three elders chuckled briefly, then the middle miko spoke for them all "Wise words for one so young."

Deciding it was best to just cut to the chase the young miko twisted to face Marianne, "What's this all about Sister Marianne?" Alerts were going off in Kagome's mind, like chimes striking repeatedly as time went on.

"That is not my place to say." Kagome's eyes widened in shock, Marianne never showed inferiority to anyone, she was above all the sisters in rank, yet here she was bowing and scraping to these elders.

The one to the left spoke, answering a small part of the demand, "Do you know what it is that you wear around your neck?" When Kagome didn't answer the one to the right continued, "You know nor understand the power which you keep." The middle elder interrupted firmly, "Sisters we are not here to judge her we are here to enlighten her." The other elders nodded behind their veils. "She is after all the most powerful priestess we have ever come across." A smirk could almost be heard in the strained voice.

Marianne-sama looked offended yet remained silent. This was getting creepy, Kagome felt as if she was about to go on trail, the insistent growling in her head wasn't helping either. She was wound tighter than a fully retracted bow string.

Despite the elder's insistence upon her being a 'powerful sister' Kagome couldn't help the chill that ran down her spine at the head elder's next words, "What do you know about the Shikon no tama?"

Something clicked in Kagome's mind around the stupid growling, which was growing louder the longer she remained in the presence of the elders; this jewel was important it the world and her past and she wore it around her neck, it was hers to protect. She thought about the small shards, at least she wore some of it anyway. "I sense them…jewel shards I mean. She didn't know where the words came from but she knew them to be true.

Nodding the elders remained silent; they had expected something like this. The elders now knew exactly who this miko was; the traveling priestess in search of the shards, the one who could purify the jewel with a mere touch, a powerful ally indeed. The only problem now was keeping her from remembering so she could gather the shards for them, and keeping her friends from reclaiming their shard detector. Hum perhaps the time has come to give our newest sister a memory. Kagome's sense of foreboding only grew stronger as the silence stretched on, as did the snarling in her head.

Authors note//: Okay so that's it be happy for the early update I'm going to focus on writing new chapters as I only have up to 14 written so I need to get a head before I update again. In the mean time Review I'll answer question and if you ask give you a sneak pick at what's to come.