Chapter Four

Sesshomaru Pov

For the next two days the miko slept. A servant filtered in and out attending to her while Akira worked on healing her.

Akira believes she is still unconscious because of the head injury, it was understandable.

Even though she looked dead each night her aura pulsed with life.

On the third night it grew stronger, pulling the Lord from his study. Upon inspection he found her room filled with a pink and purple light that pulsed in time with her heart beat. It was mesmerizing.

The west had been in an uproar since the miko arrived. The servants fear and distrust the presence of a holy being inside the shiro. And worse, Mother. The current Lady of the West. Her constant nagging about picking a mate and producing an heir has been grating atop the mikos arrival.

Rin has taken to sitting with the miko and has even missed lessons becauseof it. Lately, she prefers to talk with the miko, eat with her and keep her company as well. She even tried to sleep next to the miko but was quickly corrected.

Despite the disarray, finally the Lord found a quiet moment to sit down and catch up on the pile of scrolls that gathered while he was away.

Knock, knock.

Sesshomaru faught the urge to sigh. "Enter."

"Mi' lord, this lowly servant was sent by Lady Mother to inquire if you had looked at the list of females that have recently come of age and were suitable for future mates?"

Sesshomaru growled, causing Jaken to hide himself halfway behind some furniture.

The young Lord pressed two fingers into his temple, attempting to ward off the annoyance.

"No, This one has not and will not." he replied. He knew the females on the list were not worthy. They all wanted nothing from him but the title he could provide.

"But Mi' lord, Lady Mother has demanded-"

"Silence! This one will provide an heir when this one sees fit. Leave me," Sesshomaru roared.

Jaken screeched and fell to the floor, bowing profusely then rushed out.

Akira barely sidestepped the toad as he fled.

"What is it, Akira?" Sesshomaru asked as he returned to his work.

"Mi' lord," she bowed. "You had said you wanted to be informed of the mikos' health?"

"Has her condition changed?"

"Yes mi' lord, she is fully healed. I think her reiki worked to speed things along. She still hasn't woken up but her color is returning."

"Do you know when she will wake?"

"No, with her head injury it is hard to be certain."

"Hn. Is that all Akira?"

"May I ask what you plan to do with her when she wakes?"

"That does not concern you, your job is to keep her alive," he replied without looking up.

"Of course, my apologies sire," she said with a deep bow.

"Hn, dismissed."

Kagome Pov

The young woman felt as if she were floating. Like her body and mind were not one. She had no idea where she was, all she could see was pink, purple and blue mists swirling around her like a cocoon.

"Kagome," a voice called from beyond the cocoon. She turned her body, trying to see who it was. "Who's there?"

"Come, my child, come follow my voice. We do not have much time."

The voice came from all around and nowhere. Suddenly, the cocoon of colors dispersed, causing the girl to fall into a beautiful meadow. There were so many different flowers in many colors. It was a beautiful sight.

She kneeled down to touch one and it felt real yet this place felt like a dream. But it couldn't be, right? Confusion laced her mind. To her right she saw a path and began walking down it.

When her path became blocked she stopped. Standing before her was a gorgeous woman dressed in a warrior's uniform with her back towards her.

This all felt so bizarre so she thought she'd asked the woman for help. "Excuse me, can you help me? I don't know where I am."

"I have been waiting for you."

"Did you call me earlier?"

"Yes, dear Kagome, it was I that called you. I was wondering how long you were going to hide in that cocoon of yours," she stated with a smile, as she turned her body towards me.

"Priestess Midoriko"

Am I dead?

"No, Kagome, you are not dead."

"Then how is this possible?"

"You don't remember, do you?"

"I don't remember what?" Pain suddenly pulsed from her head. Slowly she raised her hand to her head and felt something wet, when she pulled her hand down she saw blood. Instantly it all flooded back to her.

FlashBack

"Kagome, Ka…Go…Me," cackled the sinister voice far behind her. "You're not getting away from me, I'm coming for you."

I was forced to watch myself relive the attack. It was horrific. A sob tour through me as the memory changed.

As Kagome scooted back in fright as the figure snarled; revealing sharp, white teeth.

Slowly the shadowed man started moving towards her.

No, no, this couldn't be happening. I just finished school, I was supposed to help the gang fight Naraku. Would this be it? I fell to my knees when another memory hit me even harder than the last.

As she plummeted to the raging waters below the moon taunted Kagome. She envied its safety and beauty. It was a nice last view to have as she fell into darkness.

Panic wracked her, she couldn't breathe. This couldn't be how it ended. Kagome curled into a ball, crying harder. Inside, her reiki turned erratic. Boiling over and turning almost violent. In a desperate attempt her soul crushed her reiki attempting to put a block on the power.

Midoriko Pov

The poor child, it would seem it was too soon to remember her attack.

Midoriko felt guilty, all of this was her fault and this poor girl was suffering from her mistakes.

The ancient priestess approached the poor girl to try and help calm her. She needed to tell her important information about her journey to come. She wanted to clear some things up for the girl and help her learn her reiki.

Before she could reach the young woman her reiki exploded uncontrollably.

Midoriko gasped. The girl was young and untrained but this was shocking. It would seem she was going to try and hide again. This time it looked like she had completely locked herself away. The flowers around the girl even changed to match her distress. Suddenly, powerful winds and a strong barrier surrounded the girl making it impossible for Midoriko to reach her.

"Kagome, please stop this, you cannot run from this. If you continue you will forever be lost in your pain or worse."

The ancient priestess tried to force her way inside but failed and was attacked in turn by the very fear Kagome ran from. She fought and did her best to get to the woman who was unresponsive in her grief. "Kagome!"

Kagome Pov

Kagome lay curled up on the ground crying from the pain of the memories. She relived the assault over and over again. A voice drifted to her ears but she couldn't focus on it.

"Kagome, you need to get up, you need to fight this. You cannot run."

This she heard.

"No, I can't … I don't want to, it hurts too much."

"Yes you can, you are strong. Think about your friends, do you think they would want you to quit now?"

No, they wouldn't want me to quit, she thought.

Kagome's mind barrier warped and suddenly Inuyasha was there. "I-Inu?"

The hanyou didn't hear her.

"Inuyasha, please help me, I'm so scared. I don't understand what's happening," Kagome begged. Her reiki wasn't acting properly there was so much fear and confusion. She was seeing all new sides of her power. Parts she'd never seen before.

Inuyasha suddenly jumped away and this was the girl's undoing.

Midoriko Pov

The ancient priestess did her best to get to Kagome. She was shocked this much of her power was suddenly unleashed; it was too early. She had not yet mastered it and Midoriko hadn't even had the chance to explain that Kagome had an attached piece to her soul. It was false that Kagome was a reincarnation of the past protector of the jewel. In fact it was Kikyo's soul who clung to Kagomes. Now Kagome's reiki was behaving erratically, it was even attacking Kikyo.

This couldn't happen, Kikyo was to be reincarnated but if her soul was destroyed now, it would be impossible. Kikyo's soul shouldn't have been attached to Kagome but they were going to safely detach it at a later time when it was safe. There was only one thing she could do. She needed to separate Kikyo now, which would mean bringing her back since it was too soon to reincarnate. It was the only way to save her soul.

Midoriko apologized to the young priestess then ripped the small soul from the large erratic one. Kagome screamed and power burst from her body along with Midorikos to aid the weak soul as it flew up toward the sky.

Midoriko sighed, "The rest is up to you my child, you must face this on your own. I will be here when you are ready." With that she sat and waited for the young woman to calm.