"It's not easy to change one's fate..." A voice trails off as I turn to see a bright light flickering in the darkness.
"What do you mean?" I ask while seeing Midoriko appear in the light.
"A death that is already set in motion is hard to prevent, I should know," Midoriko answers, making me put on a confused expression.
"I already said I was going to change his fate. So, why does it sound like you're trying to deter me now?" I ask, but the light coming from Midoriko begins to blind me.
"Legendary Priestess Midoriko... Your Sacred Power is so powerful thanks to the Purity of your Soul." A raspy voice rings out, making me open my eyes to see an old lady dressed in black pointing at me.
"Purity?" I ask as an eerie chuckle sounds out from her.
"However, that will ultimately lead to an untimely death..." The old lady answers, causing my eyes to widen.
"What?" I question as she narrows her eyes at me.
"For not only you, but someone close to you as well in an unforetold war." The old lady states, but then begins walking away, causing me to hold out my hand.
"Wait!" I call out as I rush after her, but she disappears in a cloud of smoke.
"Our deaths were prophesied, but I didn't take her words seriously..." Midoriko's voice rings out as I quickly turn to her.
"Our?" I ask as Midoriko turns away from me, as a scene begins to appear before me.
"I was ordered to fight the Demons that continued to grow in number, but at the time, I hadn't realized they sent me into an Unforetold War as the Old Woman prophesied," Midoriko answers as I begin to see a horde of Demons encircling Midoriko.
"Even with my abilities, the War had dragged on for 7 days and 7 nights." Midoriko made known as my eyes widened.
"That's a long time to be fighting..." I trailed off as a huge chunk of demons were suddenly wiped out.
"Midoriko!" A voice rings out as I see a man with black hair and Red eyes begin rushing towards her.
"I warned you not to come, Aoki." Midoriko insists, as it looks like she lost focus.
"How could I not when those bastards obviously sent you here to die!" Aoki proclaims as he slices up another demon as it gets in front of him.
"Even with Aoki's help, it wasn't enough to draw back the Demons, and right before night fell-" Midoriko was cut off as a see a giant Demon get its fangs into her.
"Oh no," I whisper as she turns to me.
"With the last ounce of energy I summoned what was left of my Spiritual Power, but at the same time my own Soul was forced out while imprisoning both myself and the Demon inside it," Midoriko informs, causing me to turn to her.
"You did what?!" I exclaim.
"Midoriko?! Midoriko!" Aoki's voice roared out as he rushed towards Midoriko, but her body no longer moved as he began weeping. However, Aoki looks over to see a glowing Jewel a few feet away from him.
"So, you're telling me the Sacred Jewel is your soul and that you imprisoned yourself and the Demon within?" I question her, and she falls silent.
"My battle is not over until my Soul disappears from the world..." Midoriko trails off as the scene before me disappears, and I stare down at the black abyss under me.
"What happened to Aoki... Didn't the old lady prophesize his death as well?" I asks causing Midoriko to slowly look over at me.
"My Soul started to become the thing Demons yearned for, so in the end. Aoki, who did everything in his power to protect it, was killed thanks to my selfish decision," Midoriko answers as I let out a sigh.
"So, that's the reason you're so desperate for me to change his Reincarnation's Fate... I won't take it back. I will save him, and I won't endanger the people I hold dear no matter what." I specify, causing a slight smile to appear on Midoriko's face.
"I hope you fare better than I, (Y/N)." Midoriko points out and then disappears as my eyes slowly open to see an unfamiliar ceiling. "Where am I and what happened?" I wonder as I lift from the bed I was lying in and begin looking around the room.
"Kohaku..." I trail off as I see him sitting beside the door with a vacant expression. "He's reduced to nothing more than a Puppet." I think as I get up and make my way over to him.
"I'm sorry." I apologize as I throw my arms around him. "I wish I could've taken you with me and reunited you with your sister." I think as I pull away to see him with a confused expression.
"(Y/N)?" Kohaku asks as light returned to his eyes.
"I'm so glad!" I cry out as I pull him back into my embrace.
"You're s-suffocating me." Kohaku stutters, making me quickly let him go.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I was just happy to see you weren't forced to forget me..." I trail off, but something began to feel off. "Why doesn't this feel like Naraku's usual castles?" I wonder as I stand up and look over at the door.
"It feels... Pure?" I question as I go to walk out of it, but Kohaku grabs my hand, and I look back at him.
"You can't!" Kohaku calls out to me, making me turn to him.
"I'm not trying to leave." I made known, but Kohaku narrows his eyes at me.
"Kohaku, I won't leave or let Naraku hurt you or anyone I care about again." I insists causing Kohaku's eyes to widen as I hold up my pinky finger out to him.
"(Y/N)?" Kohaku asks, and I smile as I intertwine my pinky with his, but he looks down at it with an embarrassed expression.
"With this, I seal my promise to you," I answer, making Kohaku look up at me with a slight smile. "There's something definitely wrong with this castle." I think as I turn away from Kohaku and begin walking out of the room. My eyes widened as it didn't look like a castle at all, but a giant, misty shrine. I continue my path as Kohaku follows after me.
"Ah, I see you're finally awake miss..." A voice trails off, making me look over and nearly scream as I see what looks like a mummified monk sitting in the inner sanctuary.
"W-who said that?" I question as I look around, but then I hear something, and I look back over to the Mummy's yellow eyes, which peer into mine.
"It was I, Saint Hakushin. It's nice to meet you, Twister of Fate." The Mummy responds, making my eyes widen. "How does he know that? Wait! More importantly, how is a Mummy talking to me?!" I wonder as I keep staring at it.
"You're the reason it's so Pure here, aren't you?" I ask, causing the Mummy to close its eyes.
"(Y/N)..." A soft voice rings out, causing me to look over and see Kanna standing beside Kohaku.
"Kanna," I say as she stares up at me, but then turns away from us and begins walking. "That must mean she wants us to follow her." I think as I take one last look at the Saint and then walk after Kanna, while Kohaku follows after me. Suddenly, Kanna stops beside a sliding door, making me look over at Kohaku, who looks pretty nervous. "I may not be able to sense his presence, but I'm sure Naraku's through here." I think as I put on a determined expression.
"Stay outside the door and don't come in, no matter what, okay?" I request Kohaku, who slowly nods as I turn back and slide open the door. I walk into the dimly lit room, but the door closes behind me. I keep it from letting it bother me, while continuing forward when I come to stairs leading down and begin to descend them.
"You've come." A voice I knew all too well rings out, and I stop for a moment.
"You summoned me, did you not?" I question as I walk over to a figure sitting up in a futon that barely has any presence. "Inuyasha and Sesshomaru must have done a number on him." I think as his red eyes glance over at me.
"Yes. I'm merely surprised you came of your own will." Naraku made known, causing me to sigh as I look up and meet his gaze.
"I did, but I don't remember what happened after getting into Kagura's Feather with Kohaku..." I trail off, causing Naraku to look away from me.
"You fell unconscious and, for some unknown reason, had been that way for a couple of months... I tried many ways to wake you, even had the Saint heal you, but it was to no avail." Naraku informs as he weakly gripped the blanket. "Does he care for me that much?!" I wonder as my eyes widen, but I look down at the floor.
"Thank you..." I trail off as Naraku looks over at me with wide eyes, but I quickly clear my throat.
"For returning Kohaku to normal in my presence, but I won't be a prisoner here, Naraku," I add as Naraku stares at me for a moment, but then looks away.
"I knew you would say that, fine." Naraku insists as he turns to me and holds up his hand. A chill runs down my spine as a purple aura surrounds my body, making my eyes widen as I quickly glare up at Naraku.
"What did you do?!" I exclaim, but Naraku slightly shakes his head.
"Do not fret, it's just a precautionary spell; it'll only activate if you go too long outside." Naraku points out as my eyes widen.
"Activate if I go outside for too long?" I ask, and Naraku nods.
"My Miasma will begin to spread through your body after a certain amount of time, while being outside of this mountain barrier. However, if you're inside the barrier, it won't spread." Naraku explains, causing me to stare down at my hands with a scared expression.
"Why?" I question as I quickly look back up to see Naraku's red eyes narrowed at me.
"You know very well why, but that doesn't mean I trust that you won't betray me, (Y/N)," Naraku responds, making me stand from the floor.
"That's reasonable..." I trail off as Naraku looks up at me.
"You may do as you please, but I will soon start sending Kohaku on missions; other than that, he will still be appointed as your guard," Naraku informs as I turn away from him.
"I got it," I say as I begin walking away. "I can't counter anything he's said, but why does it hurt knowing he doesn't trust me?" I wonder as I make my way up the stairs and out of the room to see Kohaku standing there by himself with a worried expression.
"Did ya miss me?" I ask with a smile, making Kohaku look up at me, while scratching his head.
"N-no, anyways you're pretty hungry, right?" Kohaku questions, but then my stomach sounds out in response.
"I guess so," I respond to Kohaku, who smiles.
"Let's go eat!" Kohaku chirps, and I nod as we begin heading back to the room I awoke in. Once there, I saw a bunch of food set on the table, causing me to walk over to the table along with Kohaku.
"Let's dig in," I state as both Kohaku and I begin eating the food. However, it didn't take Kohaku long to pass out after eating, and I bet he was under a lot of stress from Naraku's control over him. "At least I don't have to explain my action to him." I think as I let out a sigh, while covering up Kohaku with a blanket, and then walk over to the wardrobe to find several yukatas, but one caught my eye.
"It's the same..." I trail off as I grab out the short one that was purple with pink flowers on it, making a sigh ring out. Quickly, I changed into it and made my way out of the room, while trying not to wake Kohaku. "I need to find out how long I can go until I absolutely have to return to this place." I think as I walk through the misty Shrine, until I come to a staircase and begin to walk down it.
"So you're finally awake, are you?" A voice I knew all too well rings out, and I see Kagura sitting on the wooden fence.
"Yeah, but it's kind of hard to believe that I just fainted." I insist, causing Kagura to scoff as she holds her fan over her face.
"Believe it or not, I don't care. I'm more surprised Naraku's letting you run about as you please." Kagura made known, making a slight smirk appear on my lips.
"I'm not as free as you think I am, but I guess a little more than you are." I declare as she glares at me.
"What was that?!" Kagura exclaims.
"Anyways, I have no time to stand here and bicker with you. See ya, Kagura." I wave as I jump down and make my way out to see and feel the warm light that awaits me. "I wonder how Kagome and everyone are doing..." I think as I begin making my way down the mountain.
"I chose this path." I sigh, but then a cold feeling overwhelmed my feet, making me look down to see water up to my ankles. "It's a little Misty, so maybe I should follow this Stream." I think as I begin to follow the stream that was flowing. Soon, I got used to the cold water and started to hum while walking in it.
"This goes a pretty long way down..." I trail off as I then see the stream run into a pretty decent-sized pond, but I then stopped in my tracks as I felt the presence of a Sacred Jewel Shard, making my eyes widen. "A Sacred Jewel Shard this close by to the barrier? Who other than Kohaku possesses one shard?" I wonder as I get out of the pond and begin walking beside the lake
"It should be right up ahead," I whisper, but then pieces of what looked like armor and a Kimono on the ground made me put on a confused expression."Could they be injured?" I wonder as I look up to see a dark figure in the mist, and my heart nearly jumps out of my chest.
"Is someone there?!" A deep voice rings out, causing my eyes to widen. "Oh shit!" I think as I rush over and hide behind a giant rock.
"Weird, I could've sworn..." The voice trails off as I glance over to see a man with long black hair grabbing his clothes, which makes me quickly look away. "I'm so stupid. That guy was taking a bath in the pond... Wait, does this make me a pervert?!" I wonder as I put on an embarrassed expression. Suddenly, a pain begins to form in my wrist, making me look down to see a purple spot appear on it, and my eyes widen.
"Shit, I need to get back," I whisper as I glance back over only to see the man was gone. "Wait, where did he go?" I wonder as I walk out, as I look around, but I still feel the Shard's presence, causing me to put on a confused expression.
"Wish I could've gotten a closer look at his face... Nevermind, I really have to get back!" I declare as I begin running, while following the stream.
(To Long black haired man)
"A woman, huh... I wonder who she was?" The man asks as he begins to braid his long hair with a smirk.
(To (Y/N) )
I was in front of the barrier as I looked down at my wrist to see a ring of purple formed around it. "So it doesn't take long to start, and my purification powers don't work on it either." I think as I then walk into the barrier and quickly look down to see that the purple was gone, causing me to sigh.
"Damn it..." I trail off, but I then quickly look over to see Kohaku standing there.
"So that's the condition, is it?" Kohaku asks, and I nod, but then smile up at him.
"Don't worry, it's nothing I can't handle," I answer as I place my hand on his head.
"Let's go back." I insist as I walk past him. "I really hope that guy didn't see me and think I'm a pervert... I kinda hope I see him again for some reason." I think as we begin heading back up the mountain.