Candlelight danced across the ancient pages of the Book of Shadows, casting shifting shadows as Heather searched for any mention of the Shikon Jewel. The attic of Halliwell Manor had always hummed with supernatural energy, but tonight the air itself seemed to breathe with an otherworldly pulse.

"Those pages will reveal nothing," a voice like wind through temple bells whispered.

Heather looked up. A spirit materialized - unlike the volatile ghosts that often haunted the manor, this presence radiated an ancient, profound serenity that immediately calmed her racing thoughts.

"Kikyo," she breathed, the name rising from some forgotten memory.

The priestess's spirit settled beside her, wisdom and sorrow weaving through her ethereal form. "You bear a burden that echoes across centuries," Kikyo observed, her gaze drifting to the window where Inuyasha stood sentinel, silver hair gleaming in moonlight.

A furious energy erupted before Heather could respond. "Stay away from her!"

Spiritual power crackled through the attic as Kagome Higurashi burst through the doorway, a sacred arrow nocked and glowing with barely contained rage. Her school uniform seemed incongruously modern against the ancient magical backdrop.

"Inuyasha." Kagome's voice broke slightly.

His ears twitched, catching a symphony of emotions. "Kagome."

The tension stretched like a bowstring about to snap.

"I know exactly how the jewel works," Kagome spat, directing her fury at Heather. "I protected it. I sacrificed everything. And now you just... appear?"

Kikyo's spirit moved between them, a barrier of ethereal calm. "The jewel chooses its path. Always has. Always will."

"She doesn't understand what it means!" Kagome's arrow trembled, magic crackling along its shaft. "The responsibility, the danger-"

"Perhaps," Kikyo said softly, "that is precisely why she was chosen."

The subjugation beads around Inuyasha's neck pulsed, responding only to Heather's magical signature. A detail that did not escape Kagome's notice.

"Sit, boy!" The command burst simultaneously from both women.

WHAM!

Inuyasha crashed into the floorboards, the beads obeying only Heather's voice - a clear declaration of a new magical order.

Kagome's face burned with humiliation and something deeper. Loss. Betrayal. "This isn't right," she whispered, tears spilling. Before anyone could move, she fled, her spiritual energy leaving a storm in her wake.

"Some battles belong to priestesses," Kikyo murmured, her spectral hand briefly touching Heather's shoulder.

Inuyasha pushed himself up, looking torn between following Kagome and staying. His golden eyes met Heather's - a look that promised complications, danger, and something far more complex than simple protection.

"The jewel is more than a magical artifact," Kikyo began her lesson. "It is a bridge between worlds, between destinies."

Beyond the manor's walls, darkness gathered. The spider demon that had begun this impossible convergence was watching, waiting, gathering its forces.

The night was far from over.