Chapter Three

The Girl in the Well

Kagome knew something was wrong from the moment she kicked off to jump. Her body twisted as it left the support of the Well. Something just pulled me. It felt like a yank, forceful and deliberate on her right hand. She tried to compensate for her fall by pulling her body backwards, in opposition of the force. Feeling her weight tip too much, her body flipped. She was no longer jumping head first and confidently into the Well, she was falling on her back; a distinct feeling of vulnerability spread across her exposed belly. The force was there again, dragging her down to the pit of the Well with a vengeance. This couldn't be the Well's doing. She was sure of it. She knew the Well's magic as intimately as she knew her own reflection. The magic she knew was comforting and swirled around her like a warm embrace. This was different; this energy was pregnant with danger, like the tip of a loaded gun held to a temple.

The force was there again. She was being sucked towards the bottom of the Well. The darkness of what awaited her felt cold and reaching against her back. A scream tore from her throat in desperation, "Sesshoumaru!". She saw the faint glimmer of his silky white mane flash into view in one second. Illuminated in the moonlight above he reached out for her over the ledge of the Well before he faded into the black nothingness that consumed her.

She screamed until her throat felt sliced with pain and her vocal cords grew weary and strained. She was the Shikon Miko. She didn't feel helpless. She was powerful and strong and had the unrivalled magic of the Shikon itself within her. And yet, she was scared. She felt erratic and unfocused in her panic. She blasted her magic around her in a brilliant display of futility. She had no real target in mind, just the unfounded hope that she would hit something in the darkness. Maybe she would see something. Anything.

This is my evil. It has to be. It- it's everywhere. Fuck, I can't fight this. What is this? Where am I? her mind raced, struggling to catch up to her overwhelming sense of panic and fear. But still she kept falling. Her blasts of purple light waned until she couldn't even create faint sparks. She clasped her hands in frustration. Her magic was spent. And now, she would have to face this demon…whatever it was unarmed.

Calm down, Kagome. Your magic isn't gone. It just needs rest. It'll come back. It always comes back.

And she kept falling…and falling…and falling… It didn't feel like she was ever going to stop. She couldn't scream anymore; the void had stolen her voice. The anxiety made her chest run cold. She shivered. No that wasn't just her anxiety. Wherever she was the temperature had dropped a few degrees. Ripples of goosebumps broke out against her skin. There was no sign of life or existence anywhere around her, just the threatening beginnings of coldness. Kagome blinked her eyes shut, wishing for some spark of light as she furiously fluttered her lids open and closed. It was a lightning strike of hope that quickly dissolved when still, the darkness continued. She strained her eyes to stay open and felt up her body towards her face. There was a sting as her dirty hands connected with the delicate tissue of her open eyes.

My eyes are open. Have I been blinded? This darkness is everywhere.

The darkness felt oppressive. It was like clumps of static electricity clustering over her exposed skin. She started to clap her hands, tried to scream again, clucked her tongue against the roof of her mouth but there were no sounds. There were only noiseless vibrations stinging against her skin.

I can't see. I can't hear, she thought as the thrills of fear slowly gave way to clarity. What is this place? Maybe…maybe it's not a place?

Kagome tried to still her mind. Her magic was slowly regenerating but she didn't want to waste what little she had. Her reiki rose around her, a little shaky given the state of her nerves, but still controlled. She felt the darkness lift from her skin and then return as her reiki contracted in on itself.

Whatever this is, it's corporeal, she thought, believing that she couldn't have imagined the distinct change in pressure against her skin where the darkness returned. Something moved off of me when I flared my reiki. It responded in some way. It hasn't hurt me either. Well not really. Aside from the force that is pulling me down, I haven't been hurt. Yet. Is it trying to communicate? Maybe it's trying to say something.

She tried to reach out with her mind, to feel in the darkness for some sign of sentience. She begged it, whatever it was, to stop her from falling. She asked it what it wanted, what it sought from her. The silence continued, ringing loudly in her ears. She tried again, refusing to give up. If this was her fight, she had to forge forward in spite of her fear.

What can I give you? Are you in trouble? Do you need help? Please stop this. Just tell me what you want! Kagome felt as though she was screaming in her mind, begging the thing, the entity to communicate with her.

Her body stopped suddenly, and she was suspended in the void that surrounded her. There was no gravity, no more force dragging her down. For a moment, she felt relief. Before she could contemplate what this strange new sensation meant, something flung her about in the darkness. She felt like prey; a small animal caught in the frothing jaws of a rabid dog being shaken and tossed until it died from the fear. It was a feeling utterly devoid of control. The pores around her body raised painfully and a sinister tingle clawed its way up her spine. She felt herself wretch in the unpredictable motions she was subjected to.

When she felt she couldn't take violent flinging of her body anymore, the force dragged her down again. Without warning she stopped falling, her body jerking like a stutter forcing its way out of a reluctant mouth. There was a ripping where her heart should have been, as if something was being torn from her very being. The jewel in her chest felt uneasy and warm. She fell, and stopped, fell and stopped until she was dizzy with the snapping of her body. In her fear addled mind, she started seeing the form of a woman each time her body jerked to a halt. For some reason, she felt certain it was her, illuminated pink outlines of her body spanning before her like echoes of her soul- the only light in the everlasting darkness.

Is that… me?

This was a strange and erratic magic.

Is this the Well? Is it attacking me? Why- why would it do that. What did I do wrong?

Without notice, her back collided with something solid. Her head cracked against the hard, uneven surface and pain blinded her further. She blinked, feeling the sensation of light shining down on her. She squinted open her eyes, brightness invading her corneas as she blinked rapidly. Letting her yes adjust, Kagome rolled on the rocky floor. Rocks? She reached up to touch the back of her head. She looked down at her fingers. No blood. She pressed her hands together, needing to make sure they were real. She touched the floor beneath her. Felt the rough, uneven texture of the rocky soil. She tried to get up, slowly.

"Where in de' righteous fock did ye fall out from?" an unfamiliar voice called behind her. She spun around suddenly, tipping over and falling to the floor once more. She expected her head to smash into a rock, but instead she continued falling through the earth. Then the darkness came again. Kagome released a scream that rivalled a banshee's, her voice echoing in waves through the darkness. The waves repelled, flying back into her body with a shock as she lay there, suspended once more.

And then the horrors began. Images flooded her. They weren't in her mind. They were out there, in the void, slowly crowding themselves around her. It was an out of body experience, seeing herself from the outside looking in. Kagome watched herself, flitter about in hundreds of thousands of benign images, but they didn't feel like her. They weren't memories, but they were something else. She saw herself, morbidly obese, struggling to get out of bed. She saw herself holding a dead baby in her arms, rocking it back and forth as it lay motionless. There was a muscled hand that reached out to hold her shoulder. She was laughing, laying in the sun on the beach, wrapped in the strong arms of a man. She was in a hospital, in a full body cast, unable to move.

The images shifted. They no longer only included her. She stood; arms crossed in her living room while her little brothers fought. Souta pushed Seiki and he fell back, hitting his head as Kagome watched herself lunge forward to save him. Then there was Ji-chan. She stood over his gutted corpse, his eyes empty staring away from her. She saw herself crying over the wound of a bloodied Sesshoumaru. She watched as this other-Kagome ripped the clothes off her back and pack them into the oozing, bleeding wound. She reached out to touch the image and it rippled to life, sucking her in until she was no longer on the outside looking in but very much a part of what she was seeing.

Sesshoumaru lay in her arms, heavy. He coughed and spittle of blood flew from his mouth, staining his perfect lips red. He weakly lifted his hand to cup her face.
"No, please don't do this. You can't leave me. Please. Please don't go. I-I love you. There I've said it. I love you, Sesshoumaru. Please don't leave me," she heard herself say.

He opened his mouth to respond but it was lost. The image changed again. She stood alone in a blood-stained field of bodies under a vivid, red moon. It glowed in the sky, casting everything in its unearthly light. Beneath the moon sat a beast, larger than her eyes could comprehend. A dragon-esque creature the reached for the moon, plucking it out of the sky and swallowing it whole. The ground rumbled and spikes of ice shot up near her feet. The field grew cold and dark. The beast's menacing, glowing yellow slit of an eye stared at her, its irises contracting. A massive, clawed hand crawled towards her. She darted to run in the opposite direction but stumbled in the darkness. It was no use. The beast pinched her body from the floor with ease, lifting her high above its head. It unhinged its jaws, mouth wide and ugly with a hundred thousand teeth staring at her. Kagome felt the heat of its breath as it dropped her into its mouth, swallowing her alive.

She slammed to her knees with a crack. She had stopped falling. There was a solid platform in the darkness. The beast was gone. She was alone in the void again.

"I can't take this anymore!" she screamed, beating her fists against the unknown surface beneath her. A soft pink light bled into the darkness. There was a girl, small and glowing on her knees in front of Kagome. The pink light flowed from the girl's eyes and mouth. The girl was dressed in a yellow floral dress that tickled a distant memory in Kagome's mind. It was a dress she had seen so many times in her childhood pictures. Her family had recounted the day she wore that dress so many times that she could no longer divest what she remembered from what she was told had happened. It was the day she had gotten lost in a crowd, separated from her parents in the ebb and flow of people consumed in their own lives.

That's me…

"Can you help me?!" she wailed. The sound echoed back at her from the little girl's mouth.

"Please help me, I'm all alone." the little Kagome screamed, "I'm all alone. Something bad is going to happen. Please help me."

The little Kagome flickered in the darkness and changed. She was old, eighty years old or so with greyed hair, still on her knees. Then she was young again. Kagome saw the thing in front of her morph into an older version of herself, clad in armour, blood streaming down her face. Without a thought, she reached out to touch her doppelganger's blood-soaked face and saw the being reach towards her in kind. Their fingers were a few centimetres away from touching. A pink light exploded between, forcing Kagome backwards. The other Kagome was flung in the opposite direction, drops of her blood streaming in her wake. Kagome felt her back collide with a hard surface. She crumpled to her feet. Her eyes were wild, taking in her surroundings. She was back in the Well. The familiar wooden walls enclosed her. She glanced up and saw the ceiling of her family's shed. She was back. She was home.

Kagome tried to steady her hands as she clambered up the vines in the Well. She needed to get out of the Well before it sucked her back into the void. The blood was deafening in her ears, but she didn't mind. It felt good to feel her senses again. She slipped, nearly falling back into the unwelcomed depths below. Holding on for dear life, she struggled to pull herself over the lip of the Well. Feet firmly planted on the ground, finally, her knees gave out. She scrambled away from the Well and pressed herself to the walls of the shed. Her eyes felt as big as saucers as her breathing raged.

What the fuck just happened to me?

Slowly, the feeling of control started pouring back into her. She was no longer helpless, no longer weak. She was back in her element, on solid ground. The Well had attacked her. There was no doubt in her mind about it anymore. She had felt it's magic at the end, in the being that had copied her. The Well was to blame for it all and it would pay for the suffering it had wrought her. Her mind zipped, adrenaline and fear rushing through her brain. For years, she had suffered at its hands, shuffled through time like an unlucky trump card for good. She battled countless demons, saved innumerable lives. But it was never enough. Still, her suffering continued and continued and continued. And now…she had seen the beast that awaited her. The great evil she was destined to fight, and it was terrifying. She was terrified. Worst yet, if the visions in the Well were to be believed, she was going to lose that fight. She couldn't face that failure. She wouldn't. It all led back to the Well. It was not a friend to her. It was not the vessel of her destiny. It was a portent of darkness. And she would be the one to stomp it out.

Filled with a renewed sense of confidence and strength, Kagome shed her simpering and stood tall. A sharp pain erupted in her shin as she kicked the Well. She let all her frustrations and pain out; fifty-six combined years of torment at the hands of the Well. She kicked it violently and incessantly, making no noticeable indentations on the strong, aged wood.

You will never hurt me again.

She tried blasting the Well with her magic but all that came out of her fingers was a pathetic splutter of purple light. Her eyes scoured the shed and landed on Ji-chan's machete. Without a thought, she started for the weapon. She was going to cut the Well into tiny pieces and burn it all to ash. She raised her blade to strike and brought it down with all the force her weary body would allow. Before the machete could connect with the wood, Kagome was blasted back into the walls of the shed by the pink magic of the Well. The machete dropped from her hand with a clang.

It knew. It knew and it protected itself from me.

She couldn't win. If she couldn't destroy it, she certainly would make sure she never returned. Picking up some loose kamifuda that Ji-chan had lying around, Kagome rushed for the doors of the shed. She burst outside, happy to feel the sunlight shine down on her. She shut the doors of the shed behind her, watching the Well disappear from her sight. There was no time to hesitate. She blessed the kamifuda with the little spiritual energy she had within her. She lay the wards on the entrance of the shed and watched solemnly as they glowed and set in place. No one but her would be able to break these wards. No one but her would ever be able to enter.

Kagome let out a breath.

"Kagome, is everything okay, my jewel? You look spent. Did you do it? Did you defeat Naraku? Are you free now?" Ji-chan's voice came from behind her. She jumped, startled by the sound of his voice.

"I'm good, Ji-chan," she said unconvincingly. Her eyes met his pleated face and rest on his wobbly old cane. He was getting old, she knew. His heart couldn't take much of her ludicrous adventures anymore. She had to protect him from the truth.

Be more convincing.

She steadied her breathing.

"I'm fine, Ji-chan. Everything is fine."

The look in his eyes showed he didn't believe her. But he wouldn't press her for information, that much she was sure of. He trusted that she would tell him in her own time.

"Hmmm. Let's go into the shed. I was working on some new oufuda to protect the grounds from any lingering youkai in this era. What do you say? I could use your expertise," he coaxed, making his way towards the doors of the shed.

"No!" she bawled out, placing herself between him and the shed.

She gripped his shoulders firmly.

"Ji-chan. No. Promise me you won't ever try to go in there."

"Kagome, what? I don't understand."

"Ji-chan!"

Her eyes pleaded with his.

"Ji-chan, please trust me. I need you to promise me you won't go in there. Promise me, Ji-chan! Swear it!"

She was nearly shaking him in her desperation. His steady hand found hers and gently removed them from his shoulders, releasing her firm grip.

"I promise, my jewel. I swear it to you."

He was looking at her trembling hands with concern.

"Let's go inside and sit for a bit, hmm? I bought a lovely new tea from the market. A lavender blend, good for the nerves. What do you say, hmm?"

Kagome nodded, allowing him to lead her into the house, her eyes lingering on the glowing wards of the shed, praying to every kami she knew that they would hold.

Author's Note:

Word used:

Oufuda- In Shinto and Buddhism in Japan, an ofuda (お札/御札, honorific form of fuda, 'slip [of paper], card, plate') is a talisman made out of various materials such as paper, wood, cloth or metal. Ofuda are commonly found in both Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples and are considered to be imbued with the power of the deities (kami) or Buddhist figures revered therein. Such amulets are also called gofu (護符). Certain kinds of ofuda are intended for a specific purpose (such as protection against calamity or misfortune, safety within the home, or finding love) and may be kept on one's person or placed on other areas of the home (such as gates, doorways, kitchens, or ceilings). Paper ofuda may also be referred to as kamifuda (紙札), while those made of wood may be called kifuda (木札). Omamori, another kind of Japanese amulet, shares the same origin as and may be considered as a smaller, portable version of ofuda. (taken from Wikipaedia)

We've only just begun…

Special thank you to Smiling Fool on for all your reviews and encouragement. It means the world.

Hope you enjoyed. The next chapter will hopefully be up in a few days, once time permits. The first seven chapters or so set up the major arc of the story so bare with me if you think it's moving a bit slow. – xoxo SITM.

Up next: Chapter Four- Evasive Manoeuvres.

Sneak Peak:

Hojo rolled his eyes at Kagome's poor attempt at a joke.

"Usually, I'm a pro 'run away from the things that cause you trauma and pain'kinda guy. But I'd be a shitty therapist if I didn't advise you directly against that."

Kagome snorted.

"For the last time Hojo, you're not my therapist. I couldn't afford you even if I wanted to."

Hojo grinned at the compliment.

"I give my service free of charge, like the magnanimous best friend I am. Besides, are you really going to pay someone to say 'Hey, I'm having night terrors about the visions I saw in the magic Well in my backyard'? They'd throw you in the psych ward like that," he said, snapping his fingers.

Kagome pondered on his statement.

"Huh, maybe I should tell someone. A psych ward seems like a fun little vacation, don't you think?"