his intoxication

7

I would think you three of all people should know that appearances can be very deceiving, wouldn't you agree?"

The tension in the room swirled thick and heavy as they all processed just what exactly she could mean by those particular words spoken in that particular order. Kagome couldn't help but relish it for just one sweet second. This invitation HAD been an effort to pick apart her motives, if she could have a little fun and clear her name with them at the same time, then why not? Elena seemed to be the one to come to the right conclusion first.

"You... you know... you know that we're... "

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't have any idea what you are, I just know you aren't completely human."

"How?"

"I guess I'm not completely human either. Look, I know what this dinner invitation was mostly about. You want to know why I moved here and you want to know that I'm not here to cause you all any trouble. An inordinate number of non humans and beings of magical nature seem to congregate to this particular town. I'm going to guess that many of them like to wreak havoc once they get here. I can sense them, I know who they are. I sense souls and read auras and purify evil. I'm a miko, a Shinto priestess. I've been sent here to keep trouble from happening, not cause it. That's my job. And in case you were wondering, no, Shippo is not human. Neither are Inuyasha or Koga, though Inuyasha is technically half human. Kikyo is human but she rarely leaves the house so I don't think she counts anyway. So, any more questions?"

Damon stared intently at Kagome as she gave her spiel about herself and how she knew that they weren't exactly as human as they she knew they were something "other." Something about that bugged him. Most people wouldn't just agree to be alone with a bunch of strangers if they had any suspicions that they weren't completely normal.

"If you knew we weren't humans, then why did you agree to come here alone. You aren't afraid we might try to hurt you?" Even asking that out of pure curiosity caused an uncomfortable twist in his heart. The thought of hurting her for any reason was already completely unfathomable to him.

"Damon, there is one supernatural being on this entire planet who poses me any real threat, and I call him brother. My abilities as a miko leave me perfectly capable of defending myself against anyone with a magic soul, even if the nature of that soul is such that I can only incapacitate them for a while. For instance, Inuyasha is half human. If I needed to, my powers could strip him of his magical aura and render him totally human for a short period of time. Fortunately or unfortunately, my power is useless against normal humans. And in any case, I can read the intent in a person's soul, and I can tell none of you mean me any harm. You're all pretty swell."

"Wow," Elena breathed in wonder. "I didn't think we had souls anymore." Kagome tilted her head in confusion. Damon had to remind himself that she didn't know what they were yet, that they'd all technically died to become this way.

"Why wouldn't you have a soul? If you didn't have one, I wouldn't be able to sense you at all, but I can. Would you like to know what it looks like?" Elena appeared almost ready to cry. She shook her head eagerly and Kagome obliged her with a type of soul reading he'd never heard before.

"It's yellow, soft and bright. There's a dark core, that's probably your nature as a... whatever you are, but it's very strong and warm. It's lovely." She smiled kindly and reached out to cover Elena's hand with her own, a reassuring gesture to the girl who was obviously struggling with how to process that she wasn't the soulless monster that she must have thought she was now. Damon resisted the urge to roll his eyes; Stefan must also just love the sound of this.

"What do you mean 'dark core' and that it must be our nature?"

"Just that some beings have an innately darker soul than others, Stefan. It doesn't mean you're evil or anything, just that you may have a pension for violence or trickery or even bloodlust to a degree. Youkai are that way, that's what Shippo, Koga and Inuyasha are. There's a naturally darker aspect to them that leaves them more prone to bloodlust or mercilessness. A youkai is more apt to completely destroy someone they find to be a threat, and feel little to no remorse for it. As opposed to humans, who are, usually, more apt to give someone a second or third chance, even if that's not always the best idea. Anyone from any species is capable of good or evil though. I've met some vile youkai that I had no problems turning to ash. But I've met some that were better people than any human, darkness in their soul or not."