InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Staring You Right In The Face ❯ Chapter Two: Or Is it? ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter Two: Or Is It?

 

I awoke to the thunderous roar of a thousand demons. Where am I? Where are InuYasha and the others? I stood up from the hard and jagged ground only to trip again and fall crashing to my knees on the crystalline terrain. When I rose and brushed myself off, I looked at my surroundings and realized I must be inside the Sacred Jewel. Overhead loomed the perfect sphere of the Shikon, its soft pink glow diffused by the presence of an evil and ominous miasma.

It was then that I heard the distinct sound of someone clearing their throat behind me. I slowly turned around with the dawning horror that I was completely unarmed. There stood the form of a beautiful, yet battle weary woman. She was dressed in the Traditional garb of a Miko, with the addition of a set of scarred and ancient Samurai armor. I threw caution to the wind and asked the figure of the woman, “Who are you?”

“Child, I am Midoriko, priestess of the Shikon-No-Tama. I have been waiting for you for a long time, Kagome.” She said over the roar of the Yokai.

“But… how do you know my name?” I asked. The priestess only chuckled in response, making her old and worn armor rattle in the thickening fog.

“I know many things about you, Kagome. Your fate and mine have been entwined for centuries.” She replied.

“What do you want from me?” I asked uncertainly.

“I need your help. I have been trapped here in this battle for so long now, and I am tired of fighting. You are the only one who can save me.” She said with a soft sigh.

“What can I possibly do to help you?” I asked, staring into her lonely eyes.

“Purify us and set me free. You are the only Miko in existence to have such a strong balance of the four souls in your heart. You are the only one spiritually strong enough to dispel the evil within this Jewel. Quickly, there coming again.” She said with slight tremble of fear in her voice. “I don't know how much longer I can hold them off.”

Just then a hoard of demons came at us with all the ferocity of a hurricane. I yelped and sank back down to my knees as they streamed all around us.

“Kagome, please I can't do this on my own!” she yelled.

Slowly I stood, facing the accumulating mass of demonic forms, and I tried to fill my heart and mind with the same feeling of love and triumph I had felt before falling into the jewel. Ahead of me Midoriko swung her sword, releasing her holy purifying energy from its rusting tip. The front line of Demons perished only as more joined in at the back. Focus Kagome, Focus, I mentally berated myself.

“Kagome, you need to picture the thing you love the most,” She said in-between swinging at the onslaught closing in around them. “Please Kagome!” There was now an urgency and a pleading in Midoriko's voice that Kagome couldn't ignore.

Ok Kagome, think! Damn it, focus! I closed my eyes tightly and tried to picture the thing I loved the most. First I thought about my mother and how no matter what, she was always there to support me. I thought of Jii-chan and how he got that special twinkle in his eye whenever he told someone about the history of our Shrine. I thought of my brother Souta, who always remembered to pick up my homework for me, and who was always willing to protect my secret. At this point the same bright light that shone from the Shikon started shining forth from me.

“Keep going Kagome, your doing it!” she shouted against the clank of metal on hard flesh.

My focus didn't waiver for a moment this time. I thought of Sango, and how she had become a sister to me. How we could tell each other anything, and it only stood to strengthen our friendship. I thought of Miroku who had taught me to harness my spiritual powers, and also how to laugh in the face of adversity. Kirara, who was always a source of protection and comfort, and little Shippou, who just loved me for me, no matter what. The light within me intensified to the point where my closed eyelids began to burn in its radiance.

“Kagome, you're so close. Hurry!” she said while swinging her sword in a broad sweep.

I looked deep within myself and conjured the vision of InuYasha standing triumphantly in the glow of the setting sun. His eyes were before me, shining like honeyed amber, his silver hair blowing in the wind. I felt the love and passion that I had held in my heart for him spreading and filling my body to overflowing. Yes, thisfelt so incredibly right. He is what I loved the most. Any doubt that clouded my aura vanished without a trace and I was filled with a euphoria I had never felt before. The energy pulsed inside of me and grew even more intense. I couldn't contain it any longer.

“Kagome, NOW!” She screamed.

“InuYasha!” I cried. And with that cry came forth all of the energy that had filled my mind and soul. It shot out of my body with the force of a tsunami, wiping the demons within the Jewel into the realm of inexistence.

The last thing I saw before I lost consciousness was the form of Midoriko. “Thank you,” she whispered. Then all was darkness.