InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ One Can Only Wander For So Long ❯ Frozen ( Chapter 21 )

Disclaimer - Of course, I don't own the Inuyasha characters.

 

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One Can Only Wander for So Long

By Alesyira

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Chapter Twenty-One - Frozen

 

Kagome took another sip from the water bottle Inuyasha had found in the bag they'd left outside. It was really sweet of him to think of her comfort... `Well,' she thought wryly, `right after he so mercilessly destroyed said comfort with his silly teasing...'

 

She sighed and stepped towards an empty bookshelf, running her fingers along the dusty, weathered wood. From the slightly less-dirty spots along the various shelves, they could easily see that many things had been organized here recently, but nothing of importance remained. There was a pile of worn cushions in the corner, as well as an empty table along another wall. Strangely enough, there was no sign of food storage or running water...

 

`Did she even eat or drink?' she wondered. `She must have been terribly old for a human.'

 

Inuyasha stood in the doorway, his arms folded across his chest as he waited for her to finish her `search.' “Do you sense something?” he asked.

 

“No, why do you ask?” she replied, looking up at him curiously.

 

“You've been eyeing the same spot on the floor for a good five minutes,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. She glanced back down at the spot she'd been staring at during her short zone-out and noticed the strange layout of a particular section...

 

“'X' marks the spot,” she said quietly, kneeling at the edge of what could very well be exactly what they'd come for. She ran her fingertips along the edge of one short plank and carefully pried it up, revealing a hollowed-out spot containing a single, leather-bound book. “Well, I'll be...” she said, looking back up at Inuyasha with a small grin of triumph.

 

The book appeared to be a journal of sorts, judging from the way the pages were labeled, but all of the entries were completely unintelligible. Kagome couldn't recognize any of the slightly messy script, so they decided that it was very possible that it had been written in some sort of private language or code.

 

Kagome wanted to stay longer to see if they could discover anything else that may have been concealed - that is, until Inuyasha cracked his knuckles and wholeheartedly agreed, adding that his method would involve the destruction of every wall plank and floorboard to speed up the process.

 

She rolled her eyes at his destructive nature, deciding against any further searching of the abandoned home. She slipped the book into her small bag before pulling the strap over her shoulder.

 

“What do we do now?” he asked, motioning for her to climb onto his back.

 

“I think we need to see everything they removed from her home. Any one of those objects may hold a clue to this strange journal, or we might find something more useful.”

 

“How do we go about doing that?” he asked, knowing that she would remember the less-than-warm reception from the local police.

 

“It's almost dark. Let's sneak into town under the cover of night and wing it from there.”

 

He turned his head to look back at her in obvious amusement. “Wing it?”

 

She grinned sheepishly, “Yeah...”

 

“What if they decide to shoot at us?”

 

She waved her finger at him with a stern expression before replying, “You'd better not let them see us, mister.”

 

They proceeded slowly in the direction of the city, while Kagome once again set her focus on searching out the edge of the barrier. Minutes turned into an hour, and just when Inuyasha was certain that the single hour was going to become many, she cried out, “Stop!” ... and he froze mid-step.

 

“Phew!” she exclaimed, sliding off his back. “I almost didn't sense it in time.” She walked two feet in front of him and stuck her hand out, waving it slowly back and forth as though something was there.

 

“You almost... didn't...” he trailed off, disbelieving his own ears. “What?!” he jerked her backwards to look at her critically. “Woman, were you not trying hard enough? Did you fall asleep or something while I carried you?” he asked with a scowl, pointing a thumb to his back in emphasis.

 

“Of course I was trying! I've never been through a barrier... Actually, I've never even been near a barrier before today!” she shouted at him, jabbing him in the chest with an index finger. “Ooh, I should just leave you here!” she said in frustration, turning to walk through the barrier by herself.

 

“Wait!” he said, grabbing hold of her jacket. “I didn't mean to tear up your skills... It's just... That barrier hurt like a bitch when we entered it last time, and I really don't want to be surprised with that again, that's all...”

 

She sighed in frustration at his apparent mood swings. `That's probably as close to an apology as I'll get,' she frowned to herself. “You need to have a little faith that I'm doing my best,” she said quietly. “I'll be back in a moment,” she announced before walking toward the barrier again.

 

He made no further move to stop her as she passed through the strangely liquid air. She had slight difficulties breathing during the time it took to get beyond the barrier's thickness, as though it wanted to keep her out, but couldn't do more than slightly hinder her movement. She wondered about the strange conflict she felt in the energy that enveloped her. She knew that the normal townspeople would not be able to feel the barrier's presence as she could, but she could not attribute the sensation to her practically untapped miko abilities, either.

 

Kaede had mentioned the colors of their auras at their last visit, and the connection she had with Inuyasha's spirit could be the biggest explanation for everything that happened out of the ordinary. Kaede had also already told them of how they would be able to help one another by sharing energy to heal, or to take away pain through touch, both of which she could relate to their spiritual connection... as well as the dreams they had when they were in contact with one another.

 

Kagome was a miko by nature. Lack of training or knowledge would never damper the basic energy that she possessed. Inuyasha, being a half-demon spiritually linked with her could mean any number of extraordinary things; if the barrier was focused on keeping out demonic energy, like the traces skating along her soul from their partial connection, then it would push against her, maybe even try to cause her pain - anything to keep her from passing. But the holy power that ran though every fiber of her being would nullify any harm that could come to her... Which explained why she could feel only a slight resistance as she continued along her way.

 

The barrier was about thirty feet thick, giving it ample time to completely destroy any youkai if it tried to break through. `Now the big question,' she thought as she turned around to make her way back to Inuyasha, `is how to get him through.'

 

She had an idea by the time she returned to his side. “Inuyasha, what happens if you try to touch the barrier while I'm not in contact with you?”

 

He looked at her with a frown and shrugged. “I don't know, I'd imagine it would seriously hurt like it did last time?”

 

“I know you don't want to do that again, but I need to see if I'm right... Can you reach out really slowly and try to touch the barrier with just a finger?” she suggested. He responded with an incredulous look, and she felt the urge to reach out and take his hand in comfort. “I don't know if what happened when we were in the car was because I was touching you or not. This should answer that question, as well as give us a hint as to whether my idea will work or not.”

 

He definitely didn't want to get his arm burnt off just to test her theory, but he understood the need to know exactly what they were dealing with. “All right, I'll do it.” He stuck out his hand and pointed a finger in front of him, looking at her for guidance.

 

“Shift forward just a little bit.... a little bit more....” she paused for a moment as he complied, and the moment his finger touched the barrier, a bright blue spark shot out and he jerked his arm away from the source of pain. Kagome rushed forward and snatched his hand up, examining his still-smoking fingertip. The burn wasn't very bad, but she still felt remorse that she had caused him pain. “I'm so sorry,” she murmured, rubbing his hand against her cheek.

 

He blushed and tried to tug his hand away from her grasp. “It's ok, it's not that bad.” He cleared his throat and turned his attention back to the barrier. “So what was your idea?”

 

She looked back at the barrier as well, smiling lightly. “We got you through this barrier without too much trouble when we were in the car, but that was only because I was holding your hand. I think that if we try a slightly different approach, both of us will be able to pass through safely and without any discomfort.” His eyebrow rose in skepticism, but he nodded for her to continue speaking. She bit back a grin as she lift her arms up to him, as a small child would show her desire to be picked up.

 

Although confused, he still leaned over slightly to wrap his arms around her waist, lifting her to rest flush against his chest. She wrapped her arms and legs around him and nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck. “Now, don't read too much into this position,” she whispered. He chuckled and hugged her tight, savoring the feel of her body against his. “Now, trust in me, and focus only on the idea that you are here to prevent further suffering at the hands of whoever has that knife and the objects related to Kikyo's past. If you can focus only on the good we're trying to do, then the combination of that, along with your trust in me to protect you... It'll work.”

 

“You'll explain this better when we have more time, right?” he asked, rubbing his cheek against her hair and taking a step forward.

 

“Yes, just remind me about it so I don't forget,” she responded, relaxing his in grasp. From the little they'd encountered so far, she knew that they were on a possibly never-ending mission to save the world from the evils that lurked just out of sight. The water-like sensation came back to her as he entered the barrier, and she let out a sigh of relief. “Are you all right?” she whispered, threading her fingers through the hair at his nape.

 

“Yeah, feels a bit strange, like I'm swimming.”

 

“It ends in thirty feet, and then we need to go to the police station to bother them for a few answers,” she said, enjoying the moment of closeness.

 

He emerged from the barrier without incident, but didn't bother to adjust her position before leaping off into the rapidly darkening afternoon. There was only a small amount of light left in the day when they found themselves situated on top of the police station, a two-story high building in the middle of Manona. “That's strange,” she muttered, looking over the edge of the roof in confusion.

 

“What is?”

 

“There's... hardly anyone in there. You'd think a police station would have shifts of police officers, some on patrol, some doing paperwork in their offices, one at the dispatcher's desk, and maybe one or two in the part where they keep people they've arrested... But there's...” she paused for a moment, tilting her head slightly as she focused on an unseen point in the distance. “Two people in there. That's it.”

 

“Two? In the whole station? That should make it easy to find what we're looking for, then, with no one there to know we've snuck in...” he pushed up his sleeve and made his way to the rooftop exit.

 

“No, no, we can't go sneaking around in there looking for what they confiscated,” she said, chasing after him to catch hold of his shirt. “I don't think they would keep her things in a town like this. They seem to be adamantly superstitious toward anything that might even possibly be evil...”

 

“I suppose so... So then, what do we do?”

 

“We need to talk to whoever ran the investigation of the murders. That person will be able to tell us where to find the confiscated items. Set me down on the ground level and I'll go in and ask...” He nodded at her suggestion, grabbing her around the waist and leaping from the rooftop. The streets were completely empty, which seemed a bit strange for it being barely dusk. He brushed his thumb across her cheek in affection before leaping back up to wait for her return. Kagome straightened her jacket and climbed up the short set of stairs leading up to the glass door entrance of the police station.

 

Once inside, she noticed a single police officer sitting inside the dispatcher's booth. He was in the middle of speaking into a headset and writing notes on a yellow pad of paper when she stepped up to the speaker and waved to catch his attention. “May I help you, miss?” he asked politely.

 

“Yes, I'm here to collect information on the recent murders that happened outside of the city limits, and I was hoping to speak to the officer in charge of the investigation?”

 

“That would be the police chief,” he responded. “He's not in this evening, but I can take a message and have him contact you when he gets to the office tomorrow.”

 

`We need to get this information sooner than that...' she thought to herself, trying to think of any reason that might persuade the officer to help her sooner. “We're on the trail of a suspect that might be related to these murders, and I really need to speak with the Chief as soon as possible, so that I can get back on the road before we lose the progress we've made so far...” she said, giving herself a mental pat on the back as the officer's eyes widened.

 

“I understand. Here's a card with the Chief's home phone number on it, you can reach him there. I hope you catch the suspect,” he said, handing her the small business card before turning back to a radio to relay reports coming in from other police officers on patrol. Kagome thanked the man before leaving the building, walking around to where Inuyasha had set her down.

 

“I've got information on who ran the case, let's go find his home and talk to him,” she said aloud, knowing he would hear her. He leapt soundlessly through the city from rooftop to rooftop, both of them noting the strange silence that blanketed the area. The only moving objects they noticed seemed to be the entire police force on patrol in the streets, in vehicles and on foot, a few on motorcycles and even one riding a bicycle. “It seems like... like...” she started, trying to find words to express the oddity that they were witnessing.

 

Inuyasha picked up on what she was trying to say, finishing her statement for her. “It looks like they're waiting for me to try and come back,” he said, turning his head to flash her a smirk. She laughed a bit and agreed, although she found it not-so-amusing that the entire city was on the alert for Inuyasha's possible presence.

 

“You don't think they have orders to shoot you on sight, do they?” she asked tentatively.

 

“They might, so we'll just have to remain unseen.”

 

Once the city's buildings began to spread out some, Inuyasha took to the trees, following the street signs until they finally located the Chief's house. It stood apart from the neighboring houses, surrounded with a number of trees to provide a measure of security and less of a chance that Inuyasha would be seen from any passing patrol officers. Kagome slid off of Inuyasha's back and stepped up to the front porch, waving at him to stay back and out of sight. The last thing the two of them needed was for him to be caught in the town that really didn't want him there.

 

She rang the doorbell once, and within a few moments she could hear the soft thumps of what sounded to be a heavy-set person walking toward the door. The heavy wood swung open, revealing (much to Kagome's surprise) a thin man that looked to be about fifty years old, dressed in bright blue flannel pajamas. “Can I help you?” he asked, giving her a stern glance for having been disturbed so late at night.

 

“Sir, I'm here in search of information that will help me track down and stop a dangerous man that may be related to that awful mass murder incident,” she said, hoping her quick explanation would be accepted by the aging man standing before her.

 

His bushy eyebrows rose in disbelief as he appraised her slight form. “I see.” Kagome had to seriously focus on not breaking into a grin when she heard his extreme Mid-western accent. “Judging from the hour of your visit, I take it that this information is needed as soon as possible.”

 

“Yes, sir. As soon as I find out what I need to know, I'll be back on the road again. We need to stop this man before any more innocent lives are lost,” she replied, her voice serious. `Well, it's all very true, that we do need to stop him, but it's scary to think that we have to dig through a deceased black miko's possessions to find a possible clue on how to get a hand up on him...' she thought, ignoring the urge to twist her ring in nervousness.

 

“All right, what information can I give you to help?”

 

“When the cabin at the scene of the murder was searched, where was everything taken? I'm guessing, from the barrier around town, that objects such as those would not have been brought within city limits.” Since she and Inuyasha had worked their way through the barrier together, that thought had been bouncing around in her head as a major possibility. If these people were so protective of their town, then they surely would not want to have such potentially dangerous objects within reach of their people... Which would mean that they probably had everything shipped off to a safe location elsewhere-

 

She was proven right, yet again, as the man frowned and nodded slowly. “That's right, we don't want to take any chances with bringing in potentially dangerous items of that nature. Before I go on, may I ask how you knew there was a barrier?”

 

“I come from a long line of mikos,” she replied with a half-smile. “I don't have very much experience in many of the finer, more complicated skills, but I'm quite adept at purifying things and noticing things out of the ordinary.”

 

“Ah, then I understand. Those evil objects we found in the old witch's house were taken up north, to an old cathedral one of the boys in the precinct used to attend. There is some sort of underground facility there that is equipped to handle exorcisms and special seals. We sent the murder weapon to a lab in Colorado to have it analyzed, since a friend of mine owns the forensics lab there, and has an interest in rare things like that knife. We also believed it to be possessed, but we sent it along with strict instructions regarding its handling,” he said before looking down at the floor momentarily. “People never take information like that seriously, and I think the murder of that poor lab technician proves my point.”

 

Kagome nodded in agreement. “The man that took the knife from Nehi Labs is who we're after now. We've got to find any information that may help us stop him.”

 

He reached just out of her sight to grab a small notepad and pen before he scribbled some directions on it. “This is how you can get to the cathedral. Tell the priest there that Chief Burnham sent you, and tell him why you're there. They should help you with what you're looking for.”

 

She smiled her thanks at the helpful man, shaking his hand before turning to leave. Inuyasha leapt down to meet her as soon as the front door had closed, and she pocketed the information before climbing onto his back again. The two of them made it back to her vehicle without being spotted by anyone else, and they got back onto the highway for another long drive.

 

They found the cathedral sometime after ten pm that evening, and after locating a decent parking spot, they exited the vehicle. After shouldering the small bag containing the journal, Inuyasha turned to catch sight of Kagome, who was staring up at the towering building with an expression of wonder. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, smiling down at her in amusement. “We can go take a closer look after we're done, if you'd like,” he whispered in her ear. She scooted away from him with a short laugh, brushing the tickling sensation away from her skin.

 

“All right, it's a deal. Let's go inside and see what we can find out.” She took his hand and led the way through the massive front entrance, trying not to be too distracted by the relief sculptures set into the tall wooden panels. The interior of the building was dimly illuminated with a scattering of simple candle-lit chandeliers, giving it the ethereal, warm appearance of eternal sanctuary.

 

She walked slowly through the center aisle, noting the few people who silently prayed in the pews. A priest near the altar turned and smiled before walking toward them, extending his hand to her in greeting. “My child, what can I do for you?”

 

“We're here... about certain objects that were recovered from a terrible crime scene. Chief Burnham said that we would find those things here,” she responded, trying to keep the number of details to a minimum until they were certain of whom they spoke with. The priest closed his eyes and briefly bowed his head in acknowledgement, motioning with his hand to a side door behind a large pillar.

 

“Through here, if you please.”

 

The two followed him through the door, and he guided them to a stone stairwell that spiraled down into the depths below the cathedral. A few lit torches lined the wall, giving the passage an archaic appearance. “Creepy,” she whispered as she took Inuyasha's hand.

 

“We refrain from using modern lighting in these passageways. It is too difficult to keep the wiring stable enough with what goes on below. Fire is easily relit in even the most extreme circumstances.”

 

“So you let anybody come down here?” Inuyasha asked, clearly suspicious of the priest and his completely trusting behavior toward them.

 

“It is easy to tell what sort of person one is dealing with if one is observant.”

 

“Yeah? How's that?”

 

“Your request to see the objects currently in our possession would mark you as either curious travelers with an interest in the occult, or as individuals on a mission for the greater good. Given the fact that you are a priestess and half-demon, at ease in each other's presence, as well as the current time of night, then the answer is clearly obvious that you are here to help rather than hinder. Why should we bother with questioning your intentions when we already know all that is necessary?”

 

“We could always be one of the bad guys, trying to get Kikyo's spell-casting things...” he replied, still wary of the priest.

 

“While we have within our possession many objects that are dangerous to touch and handle, the only one that would have proven useful to those that actively seek to harm others was never brought here.” The priest's response seemed to quell Inuyasha's concern for the moment, as the three of them came to the end of the stairwell in silence. A long hallway met their gazes, stretching in either direction from the opening to the stairs. Sturdy iron doors fell at even intervals along the passage, and Kagome was distinctly reminded of a dungeon.

 

“What you seek is behind the door at the end of that hallway,” the priest said, motioning with his hand down the right passageway. “There is a priest working on reinforcing the seals that should be able to help you. Good evening,” he finished with a light bow, turning to walk back up the stairs.

 

“He felt ok to you, right?” Inuyasha asked her, still a bit uneasy.

 

“Yeah, he was a good guy,” she murmured, watching the priest's robes disappear around the curving stairwell. “I'm kind of nervous,” she admitted, grinning at him before walking in the direction the priest had indicated. The hall was silent and cool; the only sound they could make out was the occasional squick of their shoes against the damp stone floor.

 

Behind the door at the end of the hall stood another priest, his hands hovering in a blessing motion over a bowl set upon a pedestal, while his head remained bent in prayer. His chanted words could be heard easily in the gloom of the dungeon-like space, and Kagome approached him cautiously. “Excuse me,” she whispered, unsure if she should interrupt.

 

The man immediately stopped speaking and turned to smile at her. “How may I help you?” he asked, folding his hands into his billowing brown sleeves.

 

`These people are way too trusting,' Inuyasha thought, trying to bite back a growl of annoyance.

 

“We're here to look at objects that were recovered from an old cabin a short while ago, the site of a terrible murder. We were informed that everything but the murder weapon had been brought here,” she replied, looking curiously at the tarnished bowl. She turned abruptly at the odd choking noise to find Inuyasha staring at the bowl as well, his hand clutched to the shirt at his neck.

 

“I recognize that... she shouldn't have still had it; I thought it was destroyed when her house had collapsed...” he said, a pained look crossing his face. At Kagome's questioning look, he continued, “She used that bowl to help cast the curse on me.”

 

Understanding lit in Kagome's eyes, and she stepped a bit closer. The priest stepped back, giving her room to circle the pedestal. “We've been working on sealing the dark energies that cling to this object, for it was the most heavily tainted object to come to our facility. We do not have the ability to purify it.” She nodded at his explanation, seeing white strips of paper placed at various places along the bowl. Each had a strange set of words written on them, which she figured to be their attempts at sealing in the dark magic. “The seals have made it moderately safe to touch, but we're unable to make it completely harmless to innocents.”

 

She took a deep breath as she continued to walk around the pedestal. She could see the thin tendrils of violet and black energy reaching out at odd intervals, and she pursed her lips in thought. `They can't purify it, and the seals don't look very stable...'

 

It didn't take her more than a moment to come up with a solution to their dilemma, and she reached out to lift the bowl from the pedestal. Of course, the priest made no move to stop her, as the seals should have been adequate protection from any previous threat it may have posed. But upon contact with her fingers, the white strips of paper burst into flames and fell to ashes, releasing the energies they had been working to contain.

 

The twirling mass of energy leapt from the bowl to her skin, meshing immediately with her own power. In the time it took for Inuyasha and the priest to react to the incineration of the seals, it was already over. The bowl fell to the stone floor, completely harmless, and Kagome slumped against the pedestal, her eyes drifting shut.

 

The dim room fell into the deepest black, the ambient noises of dripping water and even the sound of her own shallow breaths faded into stark silence. She could feel nothing but the cold rush of power settling into every fiber of her being. It was a completely surreal experience to be enshrouded in such strong pulses of power, yet remain limp and motionless. She felt as though she were lying in a bed of snow, the freezing chill seeping into her skin and stealing away her life.

 

~-~

 

Once Kikyo had discovered how to see outside of the ring, she found she couldn't stop watching everything that happened. She was immensely happy to no longer be confined to complete ignorance of everything that was going on. She felt mild curiosity as to why the police had found it necessary to move all of her old belongings to the old church, but an interesting side-effect of being contained in Kagome's ring was the ability to see the colorful swirls of energy that surrounded certain people and things.

 

She was unsure where that specific power originated, but she took advantage of the new insight, drinking in the mesmerizing shifts in Inuyasha's aura, as well as the bright glimmers that emanated from the holy people residing within the cathedral walls. She was slightly displeased when she discovered she couldn't see Kagome or her aura, and the curiosity grew the longer she spied upon the strange couple and their conversations.

 

She snapped from her musings as her gaze fell upon the bowl she'd remembered using for countless spells. The dark energy that seeped from the splits in the sealing papers made her shiver in strange anticipation. She found her eyes riveted to the dull gleam of the bowl as Kagome circled the pedestal, but she managed to jerk herself out of the vision as Kagome's fingers reached out to touch the metal.

 

Her first, frightened thought was the still-fresh memory of how much it had initially hurt when she'd been rejoined with her residual energy, and she forced all of her concentration into seeking out the red-haired spirit. She appeared in front of him, but the look on his face told her that he'd expected her near-frantic visit. “Sit, now,” he ordered, giving her no time to argue. He reached out and took her hands within his. “This might be rough,” he smirked. “So relax, and do as I say, and it'll be over quickly.” She nodded in quick agreement, and he continued speaking: “We need to help her compensate for the energy she's consuming to purify the power washing through her system. Focus on release, focus on mingling the energy stored within this ring with her own, envision the power seeping out through the metal to warm her soul....”

 

Instead of the horrible feeling of being run over that she'd experienced the last time, the sensation was similar to the gentle exhale after taking a deep breath of air. There was no massive wave of power to knock them over, just the careful release of energy that had been building steadily since her first encounter with Inuyasha. She could feel it seep into the near-frozen expanse of Kagome's soul, warming it from the inside out.

 

~-~

 

She slowly became aware of strong hands wrapping around her, tingling trails of heat chasing away the frozen touch of death. The strange rush of power was fading as well, slipping away in small increments as her soul worked furiously to purify the taint lacing the energy. Most of the excess power trickled back down her arm like thin rivulets of water, soaking into the ring on her finger... the rest escaped her skin in the form of soft pink light. The glow reached out to enshroud both Inuyasha and the priest, blanketing them in energizing warmth.

 

“Kagome? Are you all right?” Inuyasha asked, brushing his fingers across her cheek.

 

“Mmm...” she smiled softly, her eyes fluttering open to look up at him curiously. “What happened?” she asked, realizing that she was draped over his lap as though she'd been asleep.

 

“You were so cold, your skin and lips turned blue, and you were barely breathing! I thought you were going to...” he stopped mid-sentence and hugged her tightly. “You're all right now?”

 

She nodded in response, sitting up slowly. “That was really strange,” she admitted, looking around the room.

 

Inuyasha growled up at the priest, who was standing a few feet away, looking at her with a sense of awe. “Priest, you said that bowl was sealed -- that it wouldn't hurt anyone.”

 

“It was sealed, but I'm unsure of how it failed like that...” he said, stooping down to pick up the now-harmless bowl. The papers that had been sealing in the energy had been burned away in the exact spots Kagome had touched the metal, leaving two perfect hand-shaped marks. “May I see your hands?” he asked, kneeling beside her.

 

She held her hands out for his inspection, but aside from slight traces of ash, they were perfectly fine. “The seals serve two purposes, one of which was really unnecessary, considering the nature of the object. The first purpose was to seal in the dark energy and prevent it from escaping. If dark power like that were to come in contact with the average person, any number of unfortunate things could happen, from unexplained illnesses to partial insanity. The other function is to prevent any more dark or demonic energy from coming into contact with the object, which keeps the object from becoming more of a threat than it already is. The seals are capable of seriously burning anything of that nature, but will remain in place regardless of how many times they are tampered with or activated. To see them burn away like that...” the priest trailed off, examining the bowl and its remaining seals for possible flaws that he'd overlooked.

 

“I think I know why it happened,” Kagome started. “I thought about this earlier when I came into contact with that barrier surrounding Manona. I don't know if I'm right, but the idea seems to fit: Inuyasha and I are partially bonded, and as such, he has a portion of my energy, and I have a portion of his. Both the barrier and the seals were designed to repel demonic energy - even the small amount I now possess - but my own power prevents any resulting harm, due to the holy nature of the attacks. The seals must have burned away because I couldn't be harmed...? That's my theory, at least.”

 

The priest nodded at her explanation. “I suppose that's entirely possible.” He began to strip the remaining seals from the bowl, smoothing each one flat and stacking them neatly.

 

“What are you doing?” Inuyasha asked in confusion.

 

“The bowl is completely free of any dark energy. The seals are no longer required. How long have you been able to purify things of this nature?”

 

“This is only the third time I've done it,” she admitted, shuddering once at the memory of the biting cold. “It was so strange... I had so much power overwhelm me, but it was like... like the exact opposite of the energy that naturally flows through me. I couldn't hear or see anything, and I felt like I was on the verge of freezing solid... but then everything slowly thawed and warmed back up. I really don't like that sensation.” She stood, brushing her hands on her shorts. “I'd hate to see what happens if I hold onto that god-forsaken knife we're after...” she chuckled nervously, pushing a stray lock of hair from her eyes. Quick to change the subject to something less morbid, she stretched her arms out above her head and gave Inuyasha a warm smile.

 

“Well, now that that's done with, let's have a look at the other, less evil objects that were brought here... Unless... you didn't have to seal any more of those things, did you?” she asked, flashing the priest a wary glance.

 

“No, we have not had to seal anything else. We've assigned someone to work on translating a few of the texts, but the rest of the items have been blessed and organized in an adjoining room.” He stood as well, motioning for them to follow as he moved to a side door. “ We have reason to believe the bowl's excessive taint was from numerous performances of various blood-spells, which is the darkest form of magic we've ever encountered.”

 

The door swung open to reveal a woman working by candlelight over an old book, writing notes on a small pad of paper as she turned the aged yellow pages. “The bowl has been purified,” the priest announced as he stepped toward her hunched form. She pushed a set of glasses up the bridge of her nose, turning to look at the three that approached her table.

 

“Excellent,” she replied, pointing to an empty shelf nearby. “Put it there, I'll have it taken care of tomorrow morning. I take it these people are here for more than a tour?” she asked, a small smile on her lips.

 

The priest rolled his eyes and turned to Kagome. “She'll show you the books as well as where everything has been stored. If you need anything further, I'll be behind the second door on your right,” he said, pointing at the exit that presumably led back into the dank hallway from before.

 

“All right.” Kagome smiled her thanks to the priest as he left the room, closing the door behind him with a soft click. She turned to take a look over the other woman's shoulder at the strange book, noting the resemblance between the old script and the handwriting of the journal they'd found. “Have you made any progress with this?” she asked the older woman.

 

The woman sighed and shook her head, still scribbling notes on her small pad of paper. She stretched her fingers out before standing, pulling her glasses from her face with a tired expression. “No, I've been working on this for days with no real progress. I've tried matching patterns and symbols with references we've collected, but it doesn't resemble anything I've ever seen before. I'm considering having it sent to a linguistics lab on the east coast to have it scanned and processed electronically.” Kagome and Inuyasha shared a look of displeasure, realizing that they would probably not get any more information about the strange writing until some time had passed. “Everything else is over here,” she continued as she walked toward a set of shelving units. “We have everything categorized according to a system developed here some time ago, so try to remember where everything goes, will you?” And with that, she turned around and walked back to her work on the book.

 

Kagome turned around to take a look at the seemingly random collection of things that had been taken from Kikyo's home. “I wonder what could be of use to us here...” she muttered, glancing around at the assortment of objects.

 

Inuyasha reached behind a glass bottle and picked up a set of bracelets that had been tied together with a single white string. “These look just like that paralyzing charm we found.” Kagome blushed in remembrance of the strange impulse she'd had to put on the debilitating jewelry. “Half of this stuff looks like useless junk,” he complained, pushing aside a jar of severed bird feet. “I thought she was a manipulator. Why would she need all this spell-casting stuff?”

 

Kagome shrugged. “Maybe she didn't know how to really tap into her powers without this stuff to help her along. She was old enough to have figured out how to use her abilities, but if she learned to rely on all this stuff when she was young, then she might not have bothered with the more natural methods.” She looked around at a few sticks of incense and strange wooden carvings before catching sight of an old mirror. “This looks promising...” she said, reaching for its handle.

 

“I know what that is,” Inuyasha breathed, looking down at her scratched reflection. “Kikyo had it with her one day. I think she was using it to... track me down...” he trailed off, looking up at her with a strange light in his eyes. “If we can learn how she used this... it might be able to lead us to the man that has the knife!”

 

“You're right... Kaede said that she was unable to see who he was... but that's because she's a seer. And she said that one of the spirits that I spoke with the other night is a watcher, and so I should be able to tap into that power and find the knife. Kikyo was a manipulator, so maybe she had a spell that gave her the power, or the knife held a similar spirit that she could use to find you with...”

 

“This smells like old blood,” he said, looking down at the mirror with a frown. He leaned closer, his nose nearly touching the cool surface as he tried to get a more precise fix on where the scent lingered the heaviest. “It's strongest right in the center, and the other parts don't seem to hold the same scent. I think she used some more of that creepy blood magic to make it work.”

 

Kagome bit her lip, knowing she wasn't willing to go that far into unknown territory just to find the man that would eventually be hunting them down. “Look here, there are a series of small blemishes in the mirror, right where you say the blood was concentrated. Maybe she was poking it with that knife to get the magic to work?”

 

“Yeah, there are a lot of small scrapes there. It's the only explanation I can think of... Unless there is something else sharp like that around here that she may have used instead?” he suggested, searching the shelves for anything they may have overlooked.

 

~-~

 

Kikyo opened her eyes to the mild euphoria that swept over her in waves. “That was...” she murmured, stretching out lazily along the ground.

 

“A rush,” he finished, smirking down at her.

 

“Yeah.... How often does something like that happen?”

 

“I haven't experienced it for almost a century now. Kagome is a channel for our power: energy is absorbed through her and added to the ring, and since she has a pure soul, the energy is always converted to align with her own power before it passes on to us. If she takes in too much dark energy, then she has to expend just as much of her own power to shift the alignment, and in extreme cases, it could possibly overwhelm and kill her. Once the energy is completely purified, the newly aligned power is restored to her body as though her own was never consumed. We assisted her by consciously lending her the energy from the ring, and like a self-charging battery, it came back to us afterwards. The ring gains several things from this usage: a higher limit for stored energy, as well as a smoother connection with the host, Kagome. In time, she'll be able to draw power from the ring without us assisting her.”

 

“So what was all that nonsense about us being at risk for destruction, then? If we can guide the ring into releasing energy, then what threat was there to us?”

 

“In an ideal situation, Kagome would have been perfectly safe to have never used the ring. She would have slowly built energy over her lifetime, allowing the ring's capacity to shift and expand as necessary. But the danger to her life forced the ring to latch onto the nearest being that could protect her, and through that... well, you already know that much.”

 

“The story of my life,” she muttered, trying to ignore the annoying questions bouncing around her head. When she'd first arrived, she'd been under the distinct impression that the mysterious red-head was sneaky and evasive, and definitely not a source of extensive information... `Why the change?' she wondered to herself. Over the horribly lengthy amount of time she'd been trapped within the ring, he'd only visited her a few times, and each had ended with her either enraged beyond belief or completely depressed and miserable....

 

Yet this time, she'd sought him out for his assistance in what she knew could have been a potentially painful, existence-threatening experience... And now he was spouting answers to any and all questions she'd pondered over since her arrival. She glanced up at him, curious if she could determine -by sight alone- the reason why he'd opened up, why he'd gotten so close to her earlier...

 

`You know, when we're sitting right next to each other, you can't really think to yourself...' he said, then leaned over her so that their faces were mere inches apart. `And I like being close to you, because you get flustered and confused.'

 

Kikyo gaped up at him, realizing two things: he hadn't moved his mouth with those statements, and she sure as hell hadn't been saying those errant thoughts aloud...! He smirked down at her, tilting his face forward to touch his forehead briefly to hers.

 

He vanished and reappeared, standing on her right with a strange expression. “You know, this ring had meant to secure protection and a new source of energy by binding the hanyou to Kagome... but I think that connection may be just what we needed to free ourselves from this imprisonment and a way to destroy this relic... as well as any others like it. These objects hold the potential to cause far too much harm to the world, and should never have been created...”

 

She sat up in a partially reclined position, looking at him with a curious expression. `Free ourselves...' She bit her lip as she pondered the bright possibility of escaping this silvery prison, but she couldn't begin to understand what that would mean for her red-haired companion. He'd been confined within the ring for countless centuries, and it was a miracle that he'd had the willpower to remain active over all the years of solitude. “You told me to practice... what exactly should I practice?”

 

He looked down at her with an expression akin to disbelief. “You're a manipulator, what else would you practice? Sewing?”

 

“I'm sorry, I'm a what?”

 

He blinked in momentary confusion, sitting down beside her again. “You really don't know any of these things, do you?” he asked, though his tone suggested that he didn't expect an answer from her. “All right. You know that you have innate miko abilities, right?” At this question, she nodded, remembering some of the things her mother had taught her at an early age. “And you also have the ability to manipulate things. Now, consider this, miko energy is neutral upon birth. If one is raised in a good home, then the energy shifts to the light and can be used to heal injuries, settle violent emotions and purify the evil taint in creatures, like Kagome can. If one is raised in a not-so-good home, like you were, then the energy shifts to the dark and can be used to cause pain and suffering, as well as suck the life out of good creatures.”

 

“When you add onto that the abilities you possess as a manipulator, you can do any number of tasks. With good energy, a manipulator can become highly proficient in healing serious afflictions, by quickly mending complicated injuries and fixing potentially life-threatening problems. With evil energy, a manipulator could force people into performing horrible deeds, curse individuals - like you did with Inuyasha, alter and destroy objects in the pursuit of whatever you desire... So now that you know this much, you must also keep in mind that since you've come here, Kagome has pushed you far from the dark end of the energy spectrum. In fact, you're close to being easily classified as a `good miko.' There is much that you can do, but you'll have to discover the simple points of that on your own. My abilities aren't quite the same as yours are.”

 

“What are yours? Talking indefinitely without pauses for breath?”

 

“I know and see things that usually remain invisible to most,” he answered, a small grin playing across his lips. “And need I remind you that you don't actually need to breathe in here?”

 

She narrowed her eyes at him in slight annoyance before sitting up straight next to him. She wrapped her arms around her knees and placed her chin upon them, staring sightlessly into the gray mists that went on forever. “So, how do I practice these skills in here?”

 

At this question, he smirked slightly. “You can't, really, aside from meditating.”

 

She frowned immediately, glaring daggers in his direction. “You pompous jerk, what the hell--”

 

“Close your eyes, look outside...” he interrupted.

 

`Oh... damn,' she thought to herself in dismay. She closed her eyes and tried to regain the image of Kagome's surroundings. The mists around her shimmered and warmed slightly, and she found herself looking at the organized shelves of her old belongings. “Right, well... it worked. Now what?” she asked, clearly nonplussed. She felt rather than saw his smile of amusement before she became aware of his body settling in behind hers. “Now what are you doing?” she asked, annoyance creeping back into her voice.

 

“Helping,” he replied, and she felt his hand guide hers into an outstretched position. “They are searching for something to help them find the man who has taken your family knife. We will help them in a moment, but first, you need to get a grasp of how you can use your power... Do you see the flame of the torch that lights the wall, over there?” he turned her palm up, directing her hand toward the flame. “Feel the heat, picture it moving at your will. Make it bend and dance as you see fit, or draw the heat from the torch toward your hand so that the flame goes out...”

 

She frowned in concentration, trying to figure out how the hell she could make a fire halfway across the room move. He sighed, obviously picking up on her thoughts again. “Kikyo, there is no `how it works', you simply have the ability to make it work. Understand that you have the power to make life bend to your will...” She felt his fingertips trail lightly up her forearm, and her hand twitched from the tickling sensation. She didn't miss the obvious waver in the firelight that followed the direction of her movement, and her eyes widened in mild amazement. She tried again, pushing her hand down slightly as though she were repressing the fire, and it diminished obediently to a slight flicker. Lifting her fingers, she willed it to grow brighter, and it flared briefly with extra illumination.

 

“Hey, she has my mirror,” Kikyo said, her attention shifting suddenly from the dancing flames to the dully gleaming surface.

 

His quiet chuckle came close to her ear as he leaned forward, taking each of her hands in his. “Here's where it's going to get tricky...”

 

~-~

 

Author's note - I'm working on another story right now to give myself some time to simmer about the current progress of Wander. I'm not stuck in a ditch yet, I just need some time for the ideas to flow about what's happening next. The storyline is starting to shift to the big conclusion as I type, and I'm trying to figure out how I can write the next few chapters without making it feel too rushed... I've made some hefty progress into the next chapter already, but it may be a bit before I post it, depending on how well my evil villain cooperates. I don't expect character death, but you never know. (*evil laughter*)

 

Thanks for your support, guys, and happy reading until next time.