Out of the Past by raven_skye_blackhawk

Chapter 1

Out Of The Past by raven_skye_blackhawk

Disclaimer: Not the owner of Inuyasha.

Chapter 1: Prologue

During the times of gods, giants and men, there was once two beautiful twins named Niobe and Thanos. Their mother was one of the wisest of the gods, the great goddess Athena. Their father was Ares, the god of war.

Niobe was a happy little goddess. She brought great joy to her grandfather, Zeus, who doted on her. When she grew up, she had such beauty that any man who looked upon her, fell in love with her......including her twin, Thanos.

Thanos was mischievous little boy who grew up to be a volatile and jealous god. He was deeply in love with Niobe and hated any man who wished for her affections.

One day while Niobe was walking through a forest below Mount Olympus, she met a young mortal man named Timeus. They instantly fell in love.

When Thanos found out, he was furious. He went to his twin sister and begged her not to be with the mortal, telling her that he loved her and wanted her for himself. Pushing him away, Niobe laughed and told him not to be silly for she loved Timeus and she would be with him if she chose.

Thoroughly jealous, Thanos decided to drive a wedge between the lovers, hoping to force his beloved sister into his arms.

The perfect opportunity arose when Timeus was out walking with a young girl from another village. Thanos had discovered that the two had once been sweethearts but had been separated when her family moved to another village.

Thanos managed to bring Niobe down from Olympus, on the pretense of having a surprise for her. Niobe, being naive, went willing with her scheming brother.

They too were walking in the forest when they came upon Timeus and his female companion who were holding hands and laughing.

Niobe saw them and ran away, believing the worst. Timeus and the girl had seen Niobe stare at them in horror and run off. Timeus told his friend to go on to the village. Completely unafraid, Timeus walked up to Thanos and glared at him. But Thanos only smiled. He believed that Niobe would never want to see this young mortal fool again.

Timeus swore that he would get revenge on Thanos for doing this to Niobe. He knew that the evil god had been behind this, making sure Niobe had seen him and his friend together.

After a few months of pining for her lover, Niobe went down to earth to tell Timeus that she had forgiven him. Timeus, when he saw her, snatched her up and told her everything, about how her brother had tricked her into thinking that he had been unfaithful.

Soon after this, Thanos discovered the two together in a field of flowers, making love. Although enraged, he waited until Niobe left for a moment to bathe in a nearby spring. As soon as she disappeared, Thanos descended on his sister's lover and slaughtered him mercilessly.

Niobe, on her way to the spring, felt that something was horribly wrong. Worried, she turned around and headed back. When she saw her brother standing over the lifeless body of the man she loved, she cried out and ran to him, gathering him in her arms. His blood stained her clothing right down to her skin.

She screamed at her brother, who was still holding his bloody sword. Thanos said nothing and could only watch as his sister cradled the young man's dead body in her arms and sobbed violently.

Soon afterwards, when she was able, she went to Zeus and told him that she wished to leave Olympus forever. She wanted to roam the earth, searching for her beloved's soul. When Zeus asked why she would give up her place in Olympus, she told him that she needed to redeem herself. She blamed herself for the death of her lover and that she also wished to never look upon her murderous brother ever again.

Zeus agreed and told her that if she ever needed assistance, to speak his name aloud and he would appear before her.

Shortly thereafter, Niobe left heaven to wander the earth aimlessly until she found her love again. As the centuries passed, she faded more and more into obscurity until all traces of her had vanished with time.

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Present time....sort of.

She had seen it. At least, she THOUGHT she had.

Kaede had prepared the food and Kikyo had served them. So WHY had she eaten what Kikyo had handed to her?

When Kikyo had given her the bowl of food, a small, secretive smile crept on to her cold, dead face. She should have known. So WHY had she even taken one bite? She should have known better.

But that was yesterday. Now here she was, burning with fever and shame for eating the damned food. Kami, she was sick!

Whatever Kikyo had slipped her had just made her sicker than she had ever been in her life.

Today, she had awakened with a massive headache and the feeling as though she were on fire and freezing all at the same time.

And that dream she had......it was just so real! She dreamt of gods and goddess, mortal lovers, jealousy and murder...... It was probably the result of her fever.

Faintly, from outside Kaede's hut, she could hear Inuyasha yell at her to get off her lazy ass and help him and the others find Kikyo. Apparently, Kikyo had gone missing during the night. Of course she would. She had to leave the scene of her crime. Dirty bitch.....

Then there was poor, bull-headed Inuyasha. He was so sure that Naraku had taken the dead bitch for his own twisted ends.

Shakily, Kagome got her feet, praying that she wouldn't pass out here on the floor of Kaede's hut. The world spun madly and it was far too hot.

"Damn it, come on, wench!" Inuyasha snarled furiously at her as she just barely managed to walk upright out of the hut. He dropped down and she climbed unsteadily onto his back. They were off.

"Now keep your eyes open! Kikyo has a shard, so let me know when you sense it!"

Kagome mumbled a reply. Damn, her head hurt.

After a few moments of tearing through the forest at break neck speed, Inuyasha skidded to a halt. "Where is she? Can you sense her shard?" he asked impatiently.

"N-no. There's no shard anywhere." Kagome was near to tears and desperately tried not to become sick all over his back.

Angrily, Inuyasha dropped her mercilessly on the ground. Kagome landed hard and whimpered in pain. He turned on her, golden eyes blazing with hatred.

"You are so goddamned useless! I've protected your worthless ass so many times and I ask for your help this ONE time with something really important.....and this is how you REPAY me? You aren't even TRYING are you?!"

The world tilted and she fell on her side, hot tears sliding down her face onto the ground below. "Inu-yasha......please....help.....me," she whispered helplessly.

"Hell no! Never again, you pathetic loser!" he spat at her, before dashing off into the forest, crying Kikyo's name.

Kagome began to sob weakly. She barely managed to pull her legs up into a fetal position.

****************

She didn't know how long she lay like that on the forest floor.

As the afternoon wore on, she knew no one would come for her. She finally managed to get to her feet and make her way slowly back the way she and Inuyasha had come.

Kagome reached the village at long last, where she spotted Miroku hitting on one of the village girls. He was so busy chatting her up, that he didn't realize Kagome was present until Sango cried out.

"Kagome-chan! Daijobu?" Sango yelled out, running to her. Miroku whirled around, guilt plastered to his handsome face.

But when he took one look at Kagome's fever-flushed face, the look changed to horror. "Kagome-sama!" he cried and caught her as she stumbled dizzily into his arms. He put a hand to her forehead and immediately drew it back. "Sango, she's burning with fever."

"Let me get Kaede!" Shippo's small voice piped up from Sango's shoulder.

"Iie. Please.....just let me.....go home," Kagome whispered.

Miroku and Sango looked at each other and nodded. Miroku gathered Kagome in his arms while Sango retrieved Kagome's yellow backpack. Then she, Shippo and Kirara followed Miroku and Kagome to the well.

Gently, he set Kagome on her shaky feet as Sango and Shippo came up behind them.

Kirara was prowling around a little and stared off into a group of trees. She growled slightly but no one listened to her.

"Will you be alright, Kagome-sama?" Miroku asked quietly.

Kagome nodded and took the bag from Sango. "H-hai," she said weakly. "Thank you all so much.....for everything."

Sango gave her friend a shaky smile. "Don't talk like that, Kagome-chan. We'll see you soon."

Kagome sat down on the rim of the well. "I....I need to rest....for a moment, I think. Please, don't let me keep you from your supper."

Shippo jumped onto Kagome's lap and hugged her. "Ii, Kagome! See you soon and I hope you get better really quick!"

Kagome hugged him back. "Thank you, Shippo-chan. Don't worry, I will get better soon," she said quietly.

Miroku and Sango waved at her before all four of her shard hunting companions disappeared into the darkness.

Kagome hated to have to do this, but she knew she had to. She couldn't take his hatred for her. She knew she would never see anything but the hatred he threw at her earlier in his eyes. He hated her. He really hated her.....

The tears fell again and she unhooked the slender gold chain around her neck that held the nearly completed Shikon no Tama. It didn't belong to her. It never did. She was not its true protector, for she was useless, worthless and a loser. She did not deserve to be its protector.

Not like Kikyo. She was not like Kikyo. She would never be like Kikyo....powerful and beautiful and still able to hold a man's heart even after her death.

Carefully, she laid the jewel down on the rim of the well before she turned around, poised to jump into the well for the last time.

She looked around her for one last time. Suddenly, in her line of sight, a tall, slim figure in white stood not far from her.

"Miko," the figure intoned flatly, "why are you leaving?"

Kagome stared without fear at Sesshoumaru. "I failed," she whispered, before dropping into the well.

****************

Kagome floated through that beautiful, silent space back to her time. When she finally reached her end of the well, she crawled painfully up and out of it, dropping her heavy pack on the outside of the well.

Was it sealed? She didn't know, but she had to make sure. Slowly, she lowered herself in and jumped down. The ground met her hard.

Silently, she thanked Kami and began to weep.

She had sealed the well.

**********************

Meanings:

Niobe - fern

Thanos - noble

A/N: If you guys know anything about Greek mythology, you'd know that Athena and Ares never did the deed or that Athena never had children. (at least i don't think she did) Remember this is fanFICTION. I chose Athena because I really like her. She and Hestia were the smartest ones of them all, in my opinion. I picked Ares for the father simply because I needed to have the desire to maim, kill and slaughter run in Niobe and Thanos' blood. How Athena and Ares two hooked up....well, I'll leave it your own imaginations. The story isn't really about them. Maybe they had too much ambrosia one night or something...

This should be an interesting ride, guys. And if this story has been done already, PLEASE PLEASE let me know. Okay?

Thnx,

raven_skye_blackhawk