Chapter 04 – Identity Of The Lord
How can this be? How is it even possible? I stared at the screen and then ran upstairs to my room as fast as possible, trying to repel the break down which was right now almost unavoidable. I ignored the startled faces of my family members as I left and once I was in my room, I collapsed on my bed. I couldn't believe to what I just saw.
Naraku. How could he be here? How could he stay alive? How dared he to change my home into his twisted reality? I tried to throw all the blame at him, but it didn't help me in any way. He was responsible for what happened, but right now I was more broken than angry.
We killed him. We were certain he was dead and there was no reason for doubts. After we defeated him there was no trace of him left anywhere. The wind tunnel in Miroku's hand, the curse placed on Miroku's grandfather by Naraku and transferred on his descendants, it was gone.
It was the most trustful sign of Naraku's death and yet, he was here. In my era. Ruling over the humans as well as demons. How could he do it? And how did he become full-fledged demon without the Shikon no Tama?
I knew there was no way how could I fight with him and stay alive. We had a hard time to defeat him with our whole group and at that time he was just a half-demon, and since I didn't know what happened and how did he manage to stay alive and get such power, I could do only one thing. Be a good girl and do what everyone were expecting me to do.
I had to avoid Naraku at any cost. If he found me and recognized me, he wouldn't hesitate to kill me. I had no idea why he preferred priestesses over other humans but I was sure he would do an exception in my case.
But that didn't mean that I would admit his victory. No. I would pretend that everything is how it's supposed to be but in the process, I would be going to find out as much as possible about him, his past and his plans. There must have been something I could use as my advantage against him, but until then I would have to blend in with the crowd and don't attract too much attention to myself.
I heard knocking at my door and I quickly sat up. I wiped the tears, which started to fall unconsciously right after I've got out of sight of the others, away and tried to put a smile on my face. The theater begins.
"Come in." I said as calmly as I managed. The door opened and mum stood there, uncertain expression on her face.
"Are you alright Kagome? Did something happen?" She asked. I shook my head hoping that my smile looked at least a little naturally.
"I'm fine. Don't worry. I'm sorry I startled you." She examined me for a while and then smiled.
"Ok, I guess it must be because of that injury that you are acting so strange. I hope it will fix soon. Maybe you should go to sleep, you need to rest." I am not acting strange. It's this world what is wrong here. That's what I wanted to say at first but I knew I had to control myself if I was to succeed in my task.
"You're right. I guess it will be the best what I can do now." I said sleepily and added one forced yawn. She smiled and left the room. I was alone again. Left to my thoughts.
I knew I wouldn't be able to fall asleep. There was too much things to think about. I went to the shower and the running water calmed me a little but once I returned back to my room, all the dark thoughts returned back to me immediately.
I remembered my plan about going back to the past and when I was sure everyone's sleeping, I sneaked out of the house and went to the shrine. The well was closed but with some effort I managed to push the cover aside a little. I quickly jumped in, trying to get out of this world as soon as possible, but nothing happened.
I landed at the bottom of the well and when I looked back I could still see the ceiling of the shrine. I can't go back! I am stuck here, and I didn't even bring a ladder with me. I frowned. I had to climb up again without any help, but this time I could at least see, so in the end it wasn't that bad. I returned to my room and laid on my bed.
Tomorrow I would have to go to the school and I wondered how different it would be there. I was sure I could have easily asked mum to let me stay home, but the uncertainty would be probably even worse than the reality. I was afraid to go outside and see the consequences of Naraku's rule but I would have to anyway some day, and the sooner the better.
I wondered about my friends. Ayumi, Eri, Yuka. Are they my friends here too? And if they still are, how will they act towards me? According to Souta, priestesses had higher status than other humans. Could it affect our friendship somehow or was I just too paranoid already?
Nothing made sense in this world and I was getting frustrated. And I was here hardly one day. How could someone expect me to live here, under Naraku's rules, like if everything was alright? It was crazy and I thought that my life got complicated when I started to travel into the past. But that was nothing compared to this.
When I was in the past, no matter what happened there, I had always the place where I could return. My home. The place I knew the best. But this wasn't my home and now I couldn't even return to the past for some help. I was broken and helpless. Who would help me anyway? I was the only one who knew how this world should look like. Or am I just imagining it? Could it be that it's really me who is wrong?
No! I mustn't think that way. I know I'm right, even though that everyone else says the opposite. I must keep myself sane at any cost. I must keep my memories about my reality and do everything to return it to normal. That's the only thing I could do now and only with that thought I would be able to live here and don't get mad.