InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ She Who the Prophecy Foretold ❯ Deciphering the Prophecy and Connecting the Dots ( Chapter 22 )

Chapter 22 - Deciphering the Prophecy and Connecting the Dots

 

 

Miroku and Sango had dragged Inuyasha back to Kaede's hut. Kaede had not yet returned so they treated his wounds as best as possible. Now, hours later, he was still unconscious and the monk and slayer were sitting around the fire pit with the elder priestess talking quietly.

 

“Kaede, did you notice something different about Kagome when she returned?” Miroku asked while sipping his tea.

 

“What are you talking about Miroku? Why didn't you say anything?” Sango sounded upset. Too many odd things were happening, and they were all in the dark once again.

 

Kaede nodded. “Yes monk, I did sense the difference. Sango, we did not mention it because Kagome was not yet ready to share.”

 

“Yes, when I looked at her she made her begging eyes at me, so I kept my mouth shut. I noticed something else earlier today, though. You know the mark on Kazue's face, the little pink tear drop? I also saw it on all of Sesshoumaru's pups. When we were returning to the village I noticed it on Shippo's cheek as well, but I am sure it had not been there this morning. And that howl right after Kagome jumped in the well. I think that was Sesshoumaru, although I can't figure why for the life of me!”

 

“Yes, ye are correct. The heartbreaking howl that was heard was indeed from the great lord of the west. I believe that he is connected in some way to Kagome, although he does not bear the same mark. The pink tear drop you saw on the others is Kagome's mark. They have bonded. I believe that both Sesshoumaru and his pups may have marked Kagome as a pack member. Somehow, Kagome also bonded with the pups and young Shippo. Did ye not sense the holy power in them? It is weak but it is there. All who bear her pink tear drop now carry a portion of her power. I suspect it has made them immune to holy powers. It may also have given them some ability to wield the power, but I know not for certain.” Kaede hadn't needed to be close to the young lords and Shippo to know. She could feel the new power in each of them from right where she sat.

 

“She gave them her power? Well, I understand her marking and being marked by Shippo, but Sesshoumaru's pups? And if Sesshoumaru marked her as pack, that is a serious thing. He would be able to sense if she is in danger and share some of her feelings. That makes sense though. When she went through the well the bond must have been cut and that only happens when the person marked dies, which explains that howl.” Sango finally understood and her knowledge of demon traditions was finally being useful.

 

“But then, when would this have happened? I didn't sense it that last time we saw her which means…it means she lied to us about where she had been. She had to have been with Sesshoumaru. But why would she be with him and why lie about it?” Miroku's question hung in the air for a few moments before Kaede merely smiled at them.

 

“That is for Kagome to say when she is ready.” She looked pointedly at the still unconscious hanyou and the others took the hint. Discussing this further was not a good idea just in case Inuyasha woke up. Hearing talk of his brother and Kagome would only send him back out looking for a fight. Sango and Miroku then did their best to settle down to sleep. It had been a busy day, and Sango slipped into a peaceful rest rather quickly. Miroku, though, had a hard time falling asleep. He knew there was more and Kaede knew and was hiding things from them. Never before Kagome's disappearance had he ever gotten that feeling from the old miko and now it was driving him crazy. He felt like the answer was right in front of him and he just couldn't see it. When he finally managed to find sleep his dreams were a swirling mass of questions and pink teardrops.

 

 

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Kouga had reached his den in the late afternoon hoping and praying that one of his wolves had found her and she was there waiting for him. What greeted him, however, was a very depressed pack. All who had been sent out to search had returned empty-handed or pawed. They all loved Kagome who they had accepted as a pack sister. Ginta and Hakaku were especially upset, both sitting around a fire just staring into the flames. Kouga checked in with each wolf individually, hoping that one may have found some hint or clue to where she could be. After hours of disappointment he finally gave up and sat down next to Hakaku, staring into the flames as well.

 

“So you didn't find anything either, Kouga?” Ginta asked softly.

 

Kouga shook his head. “I don't think so. While I was searching the west I thought I had smelled her but then Lord Sesshoumaru showed up and kicked me out of his lands. Now I'm not sure if I had really smelled her or not. And we need to do something about Ayame. Even the ice lord thought she was my intended. How in the world did he hear about it? Is she sending out announcements or something? I don't know why she can't understand that I am not interested in her! All because of one stupid thing I said years ago, too, and she was just a kid! How do I get her off my back so I can focus solely on my Kagome?”

 

“Yeah, she refuses to take no for an answer. Ayame must really love you.” Ginta let out a little sigh. He wouldn't mind mating Ayame, but she didn't even look at him. No, she only had eyes for Kouga who had absolutely no interest in her. It kind of reminded him of how Kouga could only see Kagome even though it was clear, to him at least, that she only saw him as a friend. But no matter how many times he tried to give him a hint Kouga merely ignored him.

 

“Love me? No, she only wants to mate me because her grandfather thinks it would make the packs stronger. She does anything the old wolf tells her.”

 

Hakaku merely shook his head. He had seen the way she looked at the wolf prince when he wasn't looking. Ayame was definitely in love with Kouga. There was no doubt in his mind. “So, you thought you smelled Kagome in the western lands?”

 

“Yeah. It was odd though. For a minute I thought I smelled that kit that follows her around too. And when I met up with her friends and the mutt back at the village the kit wasn't there. It couldn't have been them, though, because Sesshoumaru would definitely have smelled them both and removed them from his lands. You know how he feels about his brother. I doubt he would allow anyone who travels with the half-breed anywhere near his palace, or really anywhere at all in the west. He would have made me take them away with me. I had to have been imagining it. You know, maybe my mind was playing tricks on me because I wanted to find her so badly.”

 

“I hope sister is alright somewhere. She has been missing for a long time now, and none of us found any trace of her at all.” Ginta really was worried. Kagome was nice to him, to everyone really. She didn't deserve to be kidnapped or even worse eaten by demons. And if Naraku had found her?

 

“Well, I'm going back to the village tomorrow to let them know that no one found her. I guess we will decide what to do from there. I don't care if I have to search every inch of Japan myself. I will find her, and I will find her alive. I don't believe that something could have happened to her. I refuse to even think that she could be dead. No, my Kagome is too strong for that. She's out there somewhere.”

 

 

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It was dark when Kagome finally woke. She felt awful! Her eyes burned from all her tears, her chest and back hurt from her sobs, and to top it all off, she was hungry! Checking the time she found that it was nearly midnight. Surely everyone was in bed. She was not in the mood to see anyone right now. She opened her bedroom door quietly and crept down the stairs into the kitchen. She didn't turn on any lights, in hopes of not waking anyone. When she opened the refrigerator door, however, the light illuminated her grandfather, sitting quietly at the table. Letting out a sigh, Kagome grabbed a snack and sat down across from him.

 

“Your mother said you were quite upset. You must understand, Kagome, we did not wish to keep this from you. It was necessary.” Her grandfather's voice was low and serious, a change from his happy and noisy persona.

 

“So, you were in on it too, huh? What about Souta? Does he know too?”

 

“No, Souta does not know, and he does not have to be told if you prefer. Or we can explain things to him later, when you return to the past. You have to understand, Kagome. We were not even sure that the prophecy spoke of you until you had been pulled into the well. Things were laid out in a specific order, as you read in the scroll, and you could not know before it was time, or things would not have taken place as they should, and all could have been lost.”

 

“Yeah, I know. I just wish I could have known. I spent two years blaming myself for breaking the jewel, and now I find out I was supposed to? It would have been good to know, don't you think?”

 

“While it may have made you feel better, it would have also changed your experiences during that time. The hardships you lived through have made you stronger. Tell me, Kagome. Did you understand everything in the scroll? I am here, you know, to try to help you interpret it.”

 

Kagome nodded. “Yeah, Gramps, thanks. I think I know who courage, knowledge, and friendship are, but love? That made no sense. I have no idea who that might be. And the three things that I apparently have experienced so that you could give me the scroll? What were those?”

 

“My dear, the three things I can help with, but the love, well, that is something that will become clear with time. You just need to keep an open mind and remember that first impressions are not always everything. The three things, now let me help you. The seven treasures give a love before unknown. In the last week or so, when your friends thought you were missing. Where were you really?”

 

“I was helping Inuyasha's brother, Lord Sesshoumaru. His pups had been cursed and I was the only one who could save them.” Kagome paused for a minute. “His seven pups…they wanted me to be their mother, then each marked me as pack, look!” Kagome lifted the spell and rolled up her sleeve to show her grandfather the seven lines. “That's what it is, isn't it! They are the seven treasures and they gave me the love they would have given a mother, but they never had one before!”

 

“Yes, my dear. Now, what of the second. A great power gives the gift of the night sky. This lord of yours, he is powerful, no?”

 

“Yeah, but a gift of the night sky? Sesshoumaru gave me a dog, a black dog, but that can't be it.”

 

“Is that the only gift he gave you?”

 

Kagome unbuttoned the first three buttons of her shirt and looked at the mark left by Sesshoumaru. She found herself staring at “the night sky” she whispered, more to herself than anyone. “He called it a gift when he marked me as pack, and his mark is the night sky.”

 

“And the third, granddaughter? The blue flame of Seven Treasures burns bright?”

 

“I'm not sure. The pups didn't do anything with flames, let alone blue flames. That sounds more like Shippo's.” She rolled up her other sleeve, showing her paw print in fox fire.

 

“Kagome, Shippo's name means seven treasures.”

 

Kagome's jaw dropped. “It's just…it's…so… surreal! To read about things that have happened to me on a scroll that had been written hundreds of years ago, and every detail is right!”

 

“The prophecy was given by an ancient seer, and has been guarded by the descendants of Midoriko for nearly one thousand years, and now it has come true, just as it was written. You are, without a doubt, the new great priestess, destined to defeat the great evil and redeem Midoriko's soul.”

 

“Gramps…you and Mama had to of known about the marks, but no one has seen them before now, besides those who gave them to me. How did you know?”

 

“Your mother is a priestess herself and could sense the marks. She also had been checking in on you. Ask her tomorrow and she will show you. Now, you should be off to bed, granddaughter. Much lies ahead of you and you will need your strength.”

 

Kagome nodded before placing her dishes in the sink and padding softly up the stairs to her room. She fell asleep quickly, this time with a smile on her face. It was comforting to know that everything was going according to plan, even though she had never known there was one.

 

 

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Sesshoumaru was having a very strange dream. He was sitting in the garden with his mother at her favorite spot and she was talking to him. The strange thing was that he couldn't hear all the words. There were blank spots, where he could see her lips moving but there was no sound.

 

“Sesshoumaru, do you remember…I told you when…just a pup? About the dream I had right before…your father? It will soon be time my… you to find… buried for her.”

 

He was staring at her sitting there looking as beautiful and perfect as ever, just like he remembered her. But why couldn't he hear everything she was saying? He couldn't understand what she meant. Too much was missing. “Mother, I cannot understand you. What is it you are trying to tell me?” She reached out and touched his hand. “What is buried where?”

 

She simply smiled and continued on. “I am so happy that you finally…love her as you…to. It's here my son… to find it. I couldn't believe…but then I…in your hand. It was…had been described. I am so glad that…your place in her heart.”

 

“What was in my hand? Are you speaking of Kagome?” He was getting really frustrated now. If she had something important enough to tell him from beyond the grave then he wanted to know what it was! He wanted to hear every single word! It had been so long since he had heard her voice.

 

“You are the fourth...keep her safe. Find the scroll…Akihiro…hidden in the…shelf. It will explain…the human child…to find. The miko will…blood from each of…the kit as well. I believe you will…the changes it will cause.”

 

“What scroll am I to look for? Akihiro? What about Kagome and blood? Nothing is making any sense!” He was getting increasingly aggravated.

 

“I am sorry for that. I am…strong enough to…you need to know. I know you…stand eventually. Sesshoumaru, my son… obstacles but I know…them. You are more powerful… anticipated. The priestess was right.” She stopped talking then and rose from the bench. She slowly started to walk away.

 

“Mother, wait. The priestess was right about what? What obstacles? Don't go yet. Mother.”

 

She turned back and looked directly into her son's eyes. “She…about everything. I love…son. I love you.” At her last words she faded from solid to see through until she was gone completely.

 

Sesshoumaru woke with a start. `What the hell was that?' Had that really been his mother? Was she really talking to him from the other side? What had she meant? She said so much but none of it made any sense. He had tried to read her lips when he couldn't hear her words but it didn't work. Things didn't line up, as if sound and sight were working at different speeds or something. He tried to remember everything he had heard and spend the next few minutes trying to make any possible sense of it but he got nowhere. Finally he looked around and noticed that it was nearly dawn. He had been asleep for much longer than he had thought. He pushed the memory of the odd dream out of his mind and instead thought about the miko he missed so much.

 

The whole well thing was really bugging him. Where could the well possibly take her that the mark would be cut off? He could feel the magic in the well, but where could it lead? Where was she really from then? This explained why she had never shown him her home or her family but instead only things from here. He knew she had come upon his brother by accident, that she had been lost, but nothing more. There had been no mention of her mother and father or of any siblings, but she had said she had a brother on their flight to return her to the village so he knew now that she at the very least had one. He wondered why the well was such a secret that she wouldn't tell him, at least until he remembered that until a short time ago he had been considered an enemy and even though she now called him a friend did not necessarily make her trust him completely.

 

He didn't know how long it would take her to return, though the monk had said two to three days. He wasn't sure he could wait that long. Ever since the first moment he gave her his youki he had been able to at the very least feel her presence with him. But now he was alone, completely and utterly alone. He couldn't feel her at all, as if she had never been there at all. The lingering scent of her in the clearing was the only reminder of her existence. And it just wasn't enough.