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Chapter 14 - Assignment

"Now I understand why you are so weird. You are that priestess who was traveling with my brother." Nori said right after he opened his eyes. I wasn't sure if I should be happy or feel offended. I was so scared that I made a mistake, that I hurt him, or even killed him by my stupid order. Now I knew he was alright and he even remembered just like I told him.

"Weird? What do you mean by that?" I asked. I tried to pretend to be angry, but the tears of happiness gave away my true emotions and I threw myself at him, happy that he's alright and that I finally had someone I could freely talk to about anything I wanted.

"This is exactly one of the cases what I meant by weird." He commented calmly and I just laughed lightly. The outcome of the situation made me so relieved and I suddenly felt very tired.

"Please, take me back to my room." I whispered. I could barely find enough strength to talk, and I closed my eyes.

"Sure." He replied just as quietly, and then I felt him pick me up from the well and carry me back to the house. It was very eventful day and I fell asleep before we even reached my room, allowing myself to dream peacefully for the first time since I came here.

I woke up, but I didn't open my eyes yet. I was in my bed, sleeping on my right side and I felt good. It's been a long time since I felt this good and I wanted to enjoy that feeling for as long as possible. I felt as if someone was watching me and when I thought I couldn't take it any longer, I opened my eyes.

I screamed and immediately stood up on my bed with my pillow in my hands as a weapon. Logically, I knew it would be useless and slowly I was starting to realize that I didn't even need any weapon at all.

"What are you doing? You scared me to death!" I hissed when all my thoughts settled down. Nori was still sitting in the same place, right beside my bed where he was still staring straight into my face.

"I was watching you, waiting for you to wake up." He said simply, and I sat back down with a snort.

"Well, you didn't have to be so close." I stated irritated and fell back on the bed, holding the pillow, tightly in my embrace. Nori laughed shortly and I raised my eyebrows in question.

"I just found it funny." He stated. I thought about his answer for a bit and then I frowned.

"Wait a second. Are you trying to say that I'm funny?" I asked suspiciously, narrowing my eyes as I was waiting for his reaction.

"I never said that. Only your reactions are sometimes hard to comprehend." He explained, but that didn't make me stop frowning.

"So, basically, yes. You do find me to be funny." I stated blankly, but decided not to dwell on that matter much.

I didn't want to start to think in the lines that it was easier to get along with him before his memories returned, because technically, it was. On the other, and better, side, it lightened the air between us and I didn't mind a bit of bickering. Actually, it reminded me of the good past I spent with Inuyasha and the others, so it felt rather natural.

"Kagome!" My mum's voice reached me from behind the door. "Kagome, are you awake? You were just given an assignment, so you need to wake up!" She continued and I sighed.

"I'll be right there, just give me a minute!" I shouted back and got up.

"An assignment?" Nori asked and I nodded as I was searching for the clothes to wear, which in this case would be the traditional dress of priestesses.

It was one of the regulations to wear this on assignments, mostly so that no one would get mistaken. It also served as permission to get into places other people wouldn't normally be allowed to enter.

"That's right, it seems that some kind of demon is causing some trouble and I'm supposed to deal with it." I explained shortly, and thought about how it came to this in the first place.

Right after I graduated, I was placed to the Order of priestesses, which was the main and only acknowledged organization responsible for all the priestesses. Everyone who was in this organization had to follow a certain code, which was also part of our studies. They had to fulfill the assignments they were given, just as I was about to do.

The organization was divided into different branches, each specializing in something else. There were some dedicated for healing purposes. Another focused on creating and keeping up barriers of all kinds. There was even a branch which specialized in dark arts. I was placed in the branch for exorcisms, for my good agility, sharp mind and good aim, as my teacher described it. I didn't protest, it was after all really the one thing I was good at.

I've been on missions before, even on such where our goal was to capture the certain demon alive, which were usually performed in groups. Those were the demons, who stood up against Naraku in any way. Then there were cases of demons, who were just acting according to their nature, Causing mischief wherever they went. I was usually sent alone and it was up to me to decide how to deal with them. I could either capture them, if it was possible and if they were worth the capture, or I could just exterminate them.

During the whole time I've been doing this, I've never chose the first option, even though there might have been cases where some of the others would. I just found it a better option to kill them than to bring the fate of becoming slaves upon their heads. I could live with exterminating them, but I knew I wouldn't be able to live with it if I knew that I somehow supported the system of this society.

"You can wait for me downstairs, I'll take you with me. Even though I should be able to deal with it without trouble, it's always easier when there's two for the job." I told him and with a nod he left the room. I finally found the dress and quickly changed, before leaving the room as well.

We were coming closer to the construction site I was told about, and I could already see some older man standing in the entrance. He looked pretty anxious and I wondered what kind of demon I would face. I wasn't given much information about the situation beforehand, but it wasn't that unusual. The people calling in rarely had any useful information as they usually said just something along the lines, that strange things are happening at their place.

"Hello, my name is Kagome and I was sent here by the Order." I introduced myself and the man looked at me with relief in his eyes.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're finally here. Please follow me." He said hastily and already turned around to lead the way. He looked really distressed, maybe even scared, and I held back a sigh. It was always this way and the problem I was called for was usually something minor. I often wondered how would they be acting if they were in some real trouble.

We've arrived at the back of the site and the man stopped and turned around. He still kept watching his surroundings as if he expected something to jump out at any moment. I didn't feel any strange presence at the moment, so I stayed calm.

"It's here. This is the place. It didn't hurt any people yet, but lots of our stuff keeps going missing from this place. It cost us so much money already, we can't afford any more of this. Please help us." He explained

I raised my eyebrows, before answering. "Stuff is disappearing? Isn't it rather a work of some thief?" I asked suspiciously, but the man quickly shook his head.

"No, I'm sure it isn't. We thought that too at first, but then we confirmed that it isn't the case. There's something here. Something supernatural. You must believe me." He almost pleaded. I raised my hands to calm him down and nodded in agreement.

"Okay, I trust you. Just leave it to me. I'll come to you when I'm gone. For now, I request that you leave. I don't know what is the cause of this, so I don't know how dangerous it could actually be." I told him calmly and he bowed in thanks. I could swear that for a second I saw him having tears in his eyes, but I just brushed it off.

When the man left, I scouted the area carefully and when I didn't find anything suspicious, I turned to Nori.

"I don't sense anything strange. What about you?" I asked him, but he just shook his head.

"It doesn't seem that something is here, but it's possible that my senses have become dulled over time. If it is some lower demon, I might not be able to catch its presence. Even in the past, I wasn't particularly paying attention to the demons who were of too low status. They would usually avoid me rather than crossing my path." He explained and I sighed.

"So, are you trying to tell me that whatever is, or was here, is just hiding somewhere because you're here?" I asked.

"It is a possibility." He answered and I thought about it. I had to get this job done and I didn't really need his help. Moreover, it seemed that I couldn't really do the job with him around, so I decided to just send him away for the time being.

"We might as well try out this theory. Just wait for me at the entrance for the time being and I'll see if something will make an appearance." I suggested and with a nod, Nori went on his way.

When I was alone, I was looking around, but everything was still as calm as before. Nothing changed about that fact for several minutes and I started to lose hope, thinking if there was anything at all in the first place, but just when I was starting to lose patience, I felt something grabbing at my ankles.

I yelped and tried to jump away, but I couldn't move at all and when I looked at my legs to see what it was what was holding me, I couldn't believe my eyes. Both of my legs were covered in some living mud and the mud was slowly rising up my legs, trying to completely engulf me.

I tried to shake it off, but its hold was surprisingly tight. I realized that I was slowly starting to sink, and that was the point which brought me back to my senses. I focused my energy on my legs and released it at once so it would hit all the mud already holding me. It had instant effect and as I was freed, I quickly jumped back, watching the ground cautiously.

I noticed that there was a circle of a bit darker ground, which I assumed was the form of that mud demon. After I escaped, it was slowly coming closer to me. Its progress was really slow, and it gave me the time to think a bit.

I realized that even now, when it was so close to me, or even when it held my legs before, I could still hardly notice its presence at all. That showed how weak it was, but I knew better than to underestimate it. It already got a hold of me before and someone else could be in real trouble if it happened to them.

I decided to deal with it quickly, and I pulled out one of my arrows. I aimed straight at the center of that dark circle. I hit the mark without trouble, but as the energy flew out of the arrow, the dark mud just seemed to inflate at the center, and without any further effect the arrow disappeared in its midst.

"Now I get where all the stuff went." I stated with a nervous chuckle and made a few more steps back. If the arrow didn't work, what would? My energy repelled the mud from my legs before, so why was the arrow now useless? I was confused, but I wouldn't give up. I couldn't allow myself to be defeated by a lump of mud.

I noticed that the mud was wiggling strangely, and it kind of reminded me of having an upset stomach. Maybe that energy it just swallowed had some effect, but there just wasn't enough of it to actually destroy it. I gave it about two more seconds of thought and then I prepared another arrow.

It took four more arrows to get some results, but I could see the progress after each arrow I fed it. Every time, it moved more vigorously and with the last arrow, it looked like a volcano just before eruption.

To my dismay, it really kind of did explode in the end, spitting out all the stuff it ate during it's life, including my poor arrows. There were timbers, rods, ropes, wires and all other material flying all around. I had to hide behind the closest wall so I wouldn't get hit by anything of it. When everything calmed down, I came out and saw that the mud was still moving.

Don't tell me it just threw everything out and now it's going to start over. I thought, but after a few more seconds, the mud demon burst and everything's got covered in that substance, me included. I frowned at my appearance and then sighed knowing that there was nothing I could do about it. At least the job was done and I could now return home and take a long bath. I certainly needed it. With that, I turned around and left for the entrance.