Divine Love by Mistress DragonFlame

The Curse

"Kikyo, what are you doing here?" InuYasha was the first to recover from the, very abrupt appearance of the dead miko. She gazed at the group with a smirk on her face.

"InuYasha..." Her eyes traveled from his surprised face, to Sango. Sango had grasped her boomerang, and was prepared to throw it. A quick glance at Miroku proved he too was in a fighting stance. Her stare drifted to the Kagome and her smile grew. "So good to see you again..." The odd drifting fog that always seemed to follow here while she was in a forest floated about, making everything around them seem very creepy.

"State your business." Miroku was glaring at the walking worm feed, his staff in front of him and standing in front of Sango, who was already in a fighting stance, her boomerang out and ready.

"I come to take my place." She stated simply, as if it was obvious. "And to get rid of the false me."

"I won't let you harm Kagome!" InuYasha finally took into action, bringing out Tetsusaiga, after being in a neither fighting, nor defending pose before.

"Well, that's good, because I won't." Her smile grew, getting even more mysterious.

"What? Didn't you just say you were going to take my place, and then dispose of me?"

"I did say that, didn't I?" Kikyo raised her arm and the fog suddenly thickened around the group, before it solidified into her soul stealers. They wrapped their bodies tight against everyone, keeping then from moving in the slightest.

The Dark miko quirked her finger towards her, and her faithful servants brought Kagome floating before her. She pulled out a scroll, unrolled it and began to chant. "Duday valknes kahnak. Senshlv snowvelk kenalenvsh..." What came past her dirt lips sounded, to Kagome, a mixture of German and English.

"No!!" Miroku shouted from his location of a few yards away. "You mustn't cast that spell! You will kill us all!"

Kikyo just smirked, waved her hand, and a slimy body gagged Miroku. Dark, thick rain filled clouds billowed in unnaturally, and soon lighting and thunder snaked and sounded across the sky. "Davelk shith malkvt! Shementat gact dovek! SHEMINAKT KAMI-SAMAS!"

Lightning, thick as the god tree's trunk, struck both Kagome and Kikyo. Then, light filled the clearing, blinding everyone.

*~~~~*

Kagome's head pounded. What the hell happened...? Oh yeah, that bitch of an undead miko cast a spell, doing... what? She couldn't remember what the spell was supposed to do at this moment, but she wasn't exactly trying to hard. Whatever it was, it didn't matter because besides the headache, she felt better then ever. ...Besides not being able to take a very deep breath, and her head weighing more then normal. She was lying on her stomach, and whenever she moved slightly, she heard a soft tinkling sound.

She sat up with a groan, and heard people gasp. OK, so her friends are fine too. The spell had no effect. Good. She couldn't sit Indian style, so she settled by sitting on her heals. She brought up a hand and put it to her throbbing brow. Wait a minute. Make up? She didn't wear make up in the feudal age, and she never wore this much. Ok, time to open her eyes.

Once they were open, she was not the only one to gasp. Around her was at least 40 full-blooded yokai. They all were in either simple servant state of dress, or priest and priestesses robs. She tensed, and heard lightning strike outside. She was on a platform in a large wooden room. A red silk drape was under her, and it rolled off to her side. The yokai spiritualists were near her while the servants were lined against the far wall. She scanned the crowd until she saw someone she never thought she would. SesshoMaru was sitting on his heals like her, staring directly at her! He was the nearest to her, but still some five feet away off of the platform. He was kneeling on the red drape too, and sitting next to him was another dog yokai (she couldn't say how, but she knew) in a completely black priests outfit.

"Welcome, your Highness." The unnamed demon bowed low, until his black-capped head touched the ground. "We have been expecting you. I am Kazzan, High priest of the Western Lands. This is the Lord of the Western Lands, SesshoMaru."

Kagome said nothing, and didn't even acknowledge him. Her gaze was fixed to the golden-eyed Western Lord before her.

Kazzan, realizing she wasn't going to reply, sat up. "We hope tha..."

SesshoMaru cut him off, his voice soft, unassuming, but commanding still. "Look around you." Kazzan turned sharply at him, as if he was defying some unknown ultimate power by speaking.

Kagome was too scared of him not to listen, so she scanned the beautiful room. She noticed she was in a very, very, very nice kimono. No, it wasn't just nice--it was aw inspiring. Gorgeous white flowers with a brown center skimmed a pink background, their green leaves sharply contrasting it, the edges a deep sky blue. A green and yellow-checkered obi wrapped her waist and pooled on the ground. The stunning piece of clothing looked to be hand made by the gods themselves.

"You are in my castle," SesshoMaru's deep voice broke her from her reverie of her outfit. "You are here as an honored Guest. Everyone around you will do anything you ask of them. We are here to help you." And then he did the one thing she never could have pictured him doing; he bowed to her. Not just a dip of the head, but a full-blown out bow, his head nearly touching the ground. Everyone else in the room bowed with him, but their heads all thumped the ground with the force they put to be quick in their bowing.

Kagome was speechless. "Um... T-Thank you?" No one moved, so she struggled, finally standing up. She sweatdropped as everyone stood up with her, but his or her heads were all bowed; even SesshoMaru's, though not as deeply. She took a step towards the only door, and everyone took a step as well. "No!" She flinched as they recoiled. "I mean I'll be fine. Um, I'll call you if I need anything. D-Don't follow me, ok?" A resounding hai sounded, and everyone bowed at the waist.

Kagome only tripped five times before she made it out the door into oblivion.

*~~~~~*

Kagome walked without her knowledge. She was still in a lot of shock from waking up to see SesshoMaru staring at her, and then talking to her! Her cloths trailed on the ground at least three feet behind her and she couldn't breath very well; yes, this was a very well made kimono. She turned, and opened a door. It was then she actually realized she had, apparently, been walking to a sitting room. She walked in, her eyes wide at the beauty of it. It was a little small, only about ten feet by ten feet. The tatami mats smelled heavenly and creaked ever so softly as she walked. There was a trunk on the left side of the room, if you were at the door. Next to the trunk was a wooden oak wardrobe that was taller then her and was long enough for her to be able to lie down on its floor with room to spare. A shoji screen wall to her right; the sun came in from it, proving it faced the east. A miniature Zen garden, fully equipped with pitch-black rocks, sand that was whiter then snow, and wooden Zen sand rake. It was big enough for two sitting pillow sets on the side and one on the front to fit comfortably around it. It was positioned a foot or so from the door. A small deer scare trickled and clicked merrily away in the near corner on the right, the water appearing and disappearing from nowhere.

A quick look at the far wall proved that it did have a futon in it. It was a pretty design, one of a white background and purple thorny vines with yellow flowers dancing across the surface. Kagome slid closed the door to the hidden shelf within the wall before exploring the room again. On the walls were various decorative scrolls, but not enough to be over bearing. More so, to compliment the simplicity and quiet stile of the room. The scrolls had two main colors in each of them, purple and yellow, and black and white. They pictured different scenes, like a warrior, bloody from battle gazing hungrily at a young woman, who was, apparently dead and was a ghost, yet held the air of peace and tranquility. She looked at the much older man with kind, loving eyes.

The other one, the one that fashioned with purple and yellow, showed the same flowers and vines as the futon. They twisted and curved, bloomed and withered, seemingly forming a shape. But no matter how long Kagome looked at it, she couldn't make out what the shape was; yet it was on the tip of her brain.

Shaking her head, she tore her gaze from it and walked to the unknown door. She slid it open on well-oiled hinges, and gasped. She walked out unto the wooden porch like attachment and eagerly took in the surrounding area. Before her lay the mountains that the castle laid nestled in. Beautifully green and holding a wild hint to it. Birds called happily to one another in the trees, unseen. A continuous rain had started, and the raindrops hit the slanted roof and dripped off, giving the illation of a barricade, blocking her from disturbing the tranquil forest, and the valley that lay after it. Wait a minute, wasn't she on the fourth floor? How was the ground so close? Kagome looked around and realized this castle was built on a cliff, and it was made so that her room was given this beautiful natural garden. If she squinted, she could see the wall hiding in the tall trees about a mile or so off, so not to ruin the view.

She glanced back, and made up her mind. She went back into the room, holding the kimono up so she could nearly skip in. She sat down at the Zen garden, the set farthest from the door, and looked up. The imagery was perfect. The smell of the rain and wilderness, the sound of the deer scare and nature, the sight of the Zen garden and the untouched garden of nature, the feel of the moist air gently blowing on her face from a light breeze, and the taste of peacefulness. It was perfect. Nothing was wrong in the world. All was right, and just. Kagome never knew how long she just sat there, in her many-layered kimono, soaking in the beauty. All she knew was that this had now become her favorite place. If she died, and went to heaven, this would be it. Just... to sit here for eternity.

Kagome shivered, breaking her peace. She blinked and stood up. No matter how wonderful it would be to stay where she was, she was still in SesshoMaru's castle. She sadly closed the door to the outside, and walked to the trunk, tripping at least twice on the long dress. She opened the wooden lid and saw that only obi's were in it. She blinked again and ruffled through it, snagging the least expensive looking one; black with gold stitching. She then questionably went to the wardrobe and opened it. Her eyes widened. It was chock full of very expensive looking kimonos. She blinked yet again before swallowing nervously. These things looked like something you had to make payments on them! She ruffled through the soft fabrics, seeing some designs that would match some of the obi. She got out a white under-robe and a matching deep purple kimono for her chosen obi. It had a golden five-toed dragon flying across a sky, roaring at the black crescent moon, blood red clouds used as stepping-stones for its feet.

Kagome struggled with all her might to get out of all the layers. It took her probably half an hour to get to the last layer, which she happily removed. Red marks were all over her body from where the ropes holding the outfit together cut into her skin. Rubbing them away, she put on the simple white under robe, put the purple outer layer on and quickly tied a sash to keep it together until she got the obi on. She then wrapped the black obi around her, using a trick she had learned that allowed her to put it on all by herself. Normally, you needed at least one other person to put it on, but with this technique, it took a while, but it worked. Once it was tied, she put the padding under the black sash so to complete the attire. She grabbed a red rice paper umbrella with black five toed dragons on it from the wardrobe, so she wouldn't drown in the rain.

Kagome folded the old kimono's fabric together and put it all in a corner, far away from the splashing water of the deer scare. She winced at the thought of taking this outfit, but she didn't have her cloths with her and she wouldn't be able to escape with all those layers of the other outfit, and it probably was a much more expensive attire. Finished with her task, she sneaked over and opened the outer door again. Outside the room, she silently closed the screen and turned to face the water prison bars. If anything, the rain had increased, yet she didn't mind; it would erase her scent. For some reason, she knew that no one was near, so she slipped through the rain, into the forest, and away from the castle.

*~~~~~*

"ARE YOU MAD???" Screamed Kazzan, who was beside himself with worry about Kagome being by herself. "You could have just condemned the world to oblivion! Leaving a..."

"Something was off about her." SesshoMaru was still gazing at the door Kagome had just exited through.

"Off? OFF?! That's blasphemy, my lord!" The priest paced in a circle, giving the slight illation of chasing his tail, which trailed behind him ever so slightly. "We have to keep an eye on her or we're all doomed!! The gods will not be happy with us!" He was practically sobbing now.

"She was terrified. Terrified of her surroundings. Terrified of her self. Terrified of me. Her eyes when she gazed at me held only the fear I see when this SesshoMaru is about to kill someone. To follow her now would be more destructive then to not. Or, did you not realize she created a thunderstorm upon seeing me?" SesshoMaru raised an eyebrow at his head priest, and glanced at him. The priest held silent, and stopped his pacing.

"But I still think we should not leave her on her own devices..."

"She said, 'If I need you, I'll call.' Did she not? So, all we need to do is wait for her to get into something that she does not think she can handle, and then convince her to keep us around. You forget," SesshoMaru walked to the door and opened it, stepping outside. "She and I are connected, as it was I whom signed the contract with the gods regarding her." He closed the sliding screen door behind himself, and it hit the wall with a click.

*~~~~~~*

Well, how do you like it so far? I think this is my best imagery fic out there. I love the sitting room Kagome found.

Filia: ~sweatdrop~ I noticed you used yellow and... ~twitch~ purple a lot... Those two colors do NOT go together.

Xellos: ...~staring at the Warrior/Ghost scroll~

MDF: What? I like those together. ~mumles~ mainly because of you and Xellos, but...

Filia: What was that?!

MDF: Nothing, nothing!

Haku: What are you looking at, Xellos?

Xellos: This scroll... it seems... so familiar... like... I don't know, but there's something to it...

Haku: ...~stares as well~ You know, you're right...

InuYasha: ~walks over~ Hey guys, what're you... ~stares at scroll~

SesshoMaru: ~sigh~ He doesn't even know why they are looking, but does it because they are.

Deep-Sea-Dolphin: I know what it's about!

MDF: What?

DSD: ~leans in and whispers the answer~

MDF: Very good. You get a cookie.

DSD: Yay!

MDF: If you can figure out what that scroll is about, you get a cookie too. ^.~

This story, all of a sudden, I posted. I only have this chapter written, and I am not sure I will write more. (This was supposed to be a challenge, but...) I have an ending, the next chapter in my mind, and some bits and pieces, but no real plot. Do you have any ideas? Please read & review! Rating is a good thing too! Oh, and this story will only be posted here, as a gift to Winter-sama-oka-san, patroning her website and boycotting ff.net, if only a little.