The Magic Prince
There once was a king who was adored and respected by all in his lands. He ruled his people fairly and with compassion for all. One day the king fell in love with a lovely and kind travelling sorceress. The woman was as powerful as she was beautiful, and after they were married the people learned to adore her as much as the king. A couple of years later the king and queen had their first and only child, a beautiful boy that would become the prince of the kingdom.
As the baby became a child it was discovered that due to his mother being an vastly powerful sorceress, he too possessed a unique and powerful ability that dwarfed hers in comparison. The child could alter things around him into whatever he wanted. At first the prince's power only effected inanimate objects, but was still considered amazing. He could turn a pen into a fork, or a sword into a feather and his power grew every year. When the prince became a teenager his powers blossomed and he discovered that his abilities could effect and alter living things as well; plants animals, and even people, he could alter them all to whatever he wanted, like an artist with a wad of clay. With his creativity and vast imagination he learned how to alter people to where he could improve upon their features and make them beautiful. Soon hundreds of people flocked to the kingdom to visit and have the magical prince make them into beautiful works of art; nobles were the first, and then commoners and soon the rest of the people followed.
But all was not well when the prince reached adulthood. It was at this time that the king had fallen ill with a terrible disease that even the queen's magic couldn't fix, and with his dying breath the king told his son to look after the kingdom and make the people happy. So that's what the prince did, whoever came to the castle wanting to be bestowed with his power and made to look lovely, he would grant it to them, molding the men, women, children and even the trees and flowers in the land into ecstatic beauty.
However as the years passed the prince started to grow bitter from all the selfish people coming to him wanting beauty bestowed on to them, and it wasn't long before their greed and vanity began to generally disgust him to the point where he stopped granting their requests. The people were shocked that the once happy and generous prince had become cold and indifferent to their requests to be changed. It got to the point where they would beg on their knees to have the prince make them beautiful, but the prince was so repulsed and fed up with these people that instead of making them lovely, he transfigured them into horrible, disgusting and nightmarish beasts. The people were shocked by the ugly monsters they were turned into and begged the prince to change them back, but he consistently refused. It wasn't just them, but even the forests and lands were transformed into twisted nightmarish visions, a reflection of the prince's hatred and anguish.
So the people went about their daily lives in the kingdom as horrific beasts and monsters, never truly learning their lesson. The prince remained in solitude and seclusion in the castle, no one never came to him anymore for requests to be magically altered after what he turned the people into, and even his mother had left him after he refused to undo this supposed punishment on the citizens. The prince was completely alone and his bitterness, his disdain for the people in this world and everything beautiful grew even more.
Five years later the people having believed they suffered enough came to the prince, whom no one had seen for all those years, to see if his heart had changed for the better. They dragged their writhing and horrifically distorted bodies up the steps of the castle and requested an audience with the prince. The beast-like people were led into the court yard where the prince stood on the balcony clad in a black hooded cloak and bandages covering his face leaving only his yellow eyes staring down at them. They begged the magically gifted prince to change them back to what they once were, but the prince made a deal with his people instead. He would change them back to their normal forms they had before he ever altered them in exchange for the years of servitude under him. The people having no better option agreed and began their lives in service of their overlord and like he promised every year he would slowly reverse the transformations little by little for their work. No one ever saw the prince's face for he always kept it hidden, it was rumored that he used his powers on his own appearance, but as for why he kept what he looked like secret was a mystery and it remained that way for many years.
Kagome closed the book she was reading, it was a book of folk tales her father had written. This specific tale called The Magic Prince was never finished. Her father passed away before he finished this book, but this story Kagome remembered was left unfinished on purpose. She always asked her dad why when she was a little girl and he told it to her before bed, but he said he didn't know why the story didn't have an ending. Maybe the people that made it up didn't know where to go from there, maybe the story doesn't need an ending and is just a cautionary tale about vanity, or maybe the magical prince was still alive and the story was still going, her dad would often say, which was a ridiculous excuse she realized when she got older and figured out there was no such prince.
After her father died, Kagome decided she would finish the book for him in his memory. That way other people could read her father's genius writings and his final work. Her father was a writer, a very famous writer in this country, everybody enjoyed his works of fiction. This book he was working on entitled Magical Folk Tales was his most recent work, an anthology of folk stories and fairy tales from other countries. After some research and going through her father's notebooks and journals from his travels Kagome figured out where this particular story of the Magic Prince originated from and was traveling to that country to find out how the rest of the story goes so she can finish the book for her dad.
She arrived by train to the old lands of Jutaria, to a rather large village town called Arinstar. She decided to check into an inn before conducting research; Kagome's best bet would the local library.
LATER
Kagome sat at the table in the library wanting to pull her hair out in frustration. She found several books with several different variations of the story of the Magic Prince, mostly in title and in language, but each and every one left off in the same exact place. It's like no one even bothered to finish the legend.
"Did you find everything you needed dear?" the old woman who owned the old library asked.
"No not quite", Kagome sighed.
"You were looking for the story of the Magic Prince correct, well I think I know where it original came from", the old lady said pulling out an old map of the country.
"I don't understand, I thought the story came from these lands?" Kagome looked at the old weathered map on the table.
"Yes, but at one time the country of Jutaria was divided into four countries, Latenaria, Vastorion, Sistoria, and Lunaria. Now the country of Lunaria, known for its long moonlit nights, was where the story originated from before it spread to the other kingdoms and a century later all countries were united under Jutaria", the woman explained in a brief history lesson.
"So where would this Lunaria have once been?" Kagome asked.
"Well it would have made up the north quadrant of Jutaria, however there is one territory of Lunaria that was never assimilated into Jutaria", she said.
"Why is that?" Kagome looked up from the map.
"Well that region is very difficult to get into because of the terrain is so treacherous, but not only that the weather became so terrible that no one ever visits the villages there", the old woman pointed to the location on the map.
"There are people still living there?"
"Oh of course, no one has ever left that place and no one ever goes in there. That's the town the story of the Magic Prince came from", the elderly woman smiled.
"Wait a minute, if no one ever leaves or goes there, then how did the story get out?" Kagome looked at her skeptically.
"At one time people did come and go, but due to the terrain suddenly changed because of the quakes and the terrible weather that followed no one does now, some of the people that left the region before that occurred took the story with them", she explained.
"Can I draw a copy of this map?" Kagome asked getting that adventurous look in her eyes.
"You can keep that map dear, and take this other one too, it was made by someone who tried to map the dangerous terrain, it may be of some help to you", she said giving her another rolled up map.
"Thank you Misses Izayoi", Kagome said gathering her notes and putting them in her bag along with the maps.
"It's no trouble dear, just make sure to dress warm for the north", the old lady said, walking her out the door.
"I will!" Kagome called walking down the steps.
'Maybe you can change his heart', Izayoi thought before closing the door.
THREE DAYS LATER
"This is awful", Kagome thought riding her female black horse named Rin. Kagome found her the young mare at the village that would be her final stop before she made her way into the dangerous Northern region of what was once Lunaria. She was the cutest horse Kagome had ever seen, it didn't take long to buy her and the two of them bonded almost instantly. Now they headed up the abandoned trail while getting pelted by the icy wind and snow.
"How you holding up Rin?" she asked her horse, petting her neck. The horse made a light noise in response.
"Yeah I'm cold too", Kagome said back, she buried herself deeper into her white fur coat. She had even bought a fur blanket to put over Rin. After many long hours and several rest stops they finally made it through the chaotic mess called a terrain. What was odd to Kagome was that the rocks and boulders looked too deliberate to be from a quake, it almost looked like someone did it on purpose. It seemed like forever traveling through the snow when Kagome spotted a light in the distance. She sped up until she could see multiple lights emanating from a large town, upon reaching the edge she dismounted her horse and walked along the streets looking for a place to stay.
Kagome found what looked like an inn, so she tied Rin to a pole outside and walked through the front door, but was completely unprepared for what she would see inside. The room was filled with strange bizarre looking creatures of all shapes and sizes, all sitting around the tables talking and eating like normal people. Some people looked like they were crossed with some animals with the ears tales and furs, while some looked like hideous ogres and trolls straight out of the fairytales. They all stopped and turned to look at her with shock and surprise, a normal pretty human girl would of course catch their attention. Kagome stood frozen in disbelief as they stared and began to whisper about her.
"Who the hell is she?"
"I'd almost forgotten what a human looks like"
"She must be a traveler"
"Does his Highness Know?"
"She looks foreign"
"She won't look so pretty if his Highness gets ahold of her"
"Can I help you miss?" a young man with deer hooves for feet and antlers asked approaching Kagome.
"W-what is this?" Kagome stuttered pointing at the crowd.
"Well that's just the people of Lunaria for you", he shrugged.
"But how, why, what!?" Kagome couldn't believe this.
"To answer your questions we were not always like this, and this is our punishment", he explained like he was talking about the weather making her realize that these people must have been like this for a long time.
"Who would do this to you all", Kagome followed the man to the counter ignoring the curious gaze from the creatures of the inn.
"This was all the design of our lord and master Prince Inuyasha, he rules over this land and all who inhabit it", he explained. "Now would you like to stay the night miss?"
"My name is Kagome and yes. Are you telling me the story about the Magic Prince is true?" she asked.
"Story?"
"I came here because my father was writing a book before he died and he included that story in his work, but it was unfinished so I came here looking for how it ended", Kagome explained.
"Well I don't know how that became a story for the people in the outside world, but to us it's our history, not a legend", the young deer man handed Kagome a key. "Here first night's free, as you can imagine we don't get any travelers", he chuckled rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.
"What about my horse outside?" Kagome said.
"I'll personally make sure it's put in a warm stable tonight", he smiled reassuringly at her.
"Thank you very much", Kagome smiled back taking the key to her room. When she arrived in her room she unpacked a few things taking off her coat and opening up her journal writing down her thoughts on this town. She wrote all of what she had discovered, but also how nice the people seemed to be despite the predicament they have been in for who knows how many years. Kagome wrote about how cruel this prince named Inuyasha must be to do this to his own people.
'You were right dad, this story is still going', were her finally thoughts before she decided to lie down and sleep away this exhaustion.
ELSEWHERE
In the large castle that sat above the town, in the darkened throne room lit only by a few lanterns, a lone figure sat on a throne that faced the large glass wall that overlooked the town.
"Are you awake your Highness?", a man dressed in a dark fur kilt, black cape and armor covering his chest forearms and legs asked. He also had long dark brown hair tied in a loose tail, matching wolf ears on his head and light blue eyes.
"Yes of course I am Koga", the lord said.
"You should really get some rest sir, if I may be so bold. This lack of sleep isn't good for your health", Koga said concerned for his lord.
"Have you ever seen me get sick Koga?" the man spoke sarcastically in a cold voice. Koga could only see the back of the throne and the clawed white sleeved hand on the armrest.
"No milord", Koga chuckled despite his ruler's icy tone. "By the way I came to tell you our land has a little visitor".
"Speak clearly wolf"
"A young human woman to be exact, she apparently wandered into town"
"And you didn't tell the pack to drive her away?" the lord asked dangerously.
"She was no threat, she was completely unarmed too, I saw no reason to drive her away", Koga shrugged.
"Then you might be a blind fool. Everything in these lands is mine to control, I didn't give her permission to enter and that's as good a crime as any", he spoke darkly. "Go to the town tomorrow morning, find the girl and bring her to me, so I can decide her fate", he commanded
"As you wish, Lord Inuyasha", and with that Koga left to get some sleep before the hunt tomorrow, he just hoped the lord wasn't too hard on her when he brought her in.
THE NEXT DAY
Kagome sat in the tub enjoying the hot water bathe. The people here despite most of them looking like monsters or animals were surprisingly kind to her. It made her wonder how long it's been since they've seen a human being around, maybe that was why they treated her so well.
Outside the deer antlered manager of the inn was arguing with the commander of the wolf pack and leader of the royal guard Koga.
"His highness wants her brought before him, you and I both know the consequences for disobeying him", the wolf said.
"Please, can't Lord Inuyasha consider just letting her leave in peace, she's done nothing wrong", the boy pleaded.
"I know she hasn't, but I have my orders. I'll see to it that's she'll be safe no matter what his Highness does to her", Koga said storming past the deer. Kagome was startled when a man came barging in while she bathed wearing fur, armor and a cape. Koga blushed for a moment seeing the beautiful naked and quickly averted his eyes out of respect.
"My apologies miss, but his Highness Lord Inuyasha has commanded me to bring you to him, please get dressed and be prepared to leave", the wolf man spoke cherry faced walking out the door. Kagome was shocked to know that she would be meeting the fabled magic prince so soon. She quickly got out of the warm bathe water and dried off. Wrapping the towel around her body she headed back to her room and slipped some clean clothes on, grabbing her coat and a small bag that carried her journal, maps and notes. Kagome headed down stairs where she saw the man that walked in on her bathe waiting for her at the door.
"Good morning I'm Koga, head of the royal guard of Lunaria, pleasure to meet you", he bowed quickly. Kagome noticed the dark wolf ears and tale and realized he must be affected by the same magic that transformed the citizens.
"I'm Kagome", she introduced politely, he had been cordial, and so she would be the same.
"I'm sorry for this, but Lord Inuyasha has commanded I bring you to him", he said sadly almost like he didn't want to do this.
"May I ask why", Kagome wondered why the prince would want to meet her.
"I would rather not say, just come along with me please", he headed outside and Kagome followed curiosity peaked. Following Koga down the stone streets she noticed they were meeting up with a group of armored soldiers dressed similar to the commander, they all even had wolf ears and tales like him. Kagome also noticed one of them had her horse Rin.
"Hey girl, are you alright?" Kagome asked patting the side of the black mare, Rin just grunted in response.
"We have nicer stables up at the castle, now let's get moving", Koga ordered while Kagome got on her horse and the two were led down the main stone street that led up to the castle. She noticed that the sky was completely overcast today, like it might rain. Upon arriving at the castle Kagome was awed with how big it was, although the architecture was bizarre. The palace had a gothic style with arches, gargoyles and tall glass windows, but was very asymmetrical and disproportional in some areas making it look kind of frightening. Kagome and her horse were led through the big red double doors and down the many high ceiling corridors. They approached a set of large black intricately carved wooden doors where Kagome got off of Rin and waited as Koga told her while he went inside. Kagome waited patiently a little nervous now that she got here in the castle, she wondered what the prince was like. Would he be kind or mean to her? What did he look like?
"Hey I haven't seen you before", a voice said interrupting her thoughts. Kagome turned around to see a small boy with red hair tied in a bun, green eyes, big for ears on his head and two red fox tails. The boy was dressed in dark green robes, he didn't wear any shoes, revealing his paw-like feet. He stared up at her fascinated by her appearance. "How come you don't look like the rest of us?"
"Hi I just came to this town, my name's Kagome", she said leaning down to look at the adorable child.
"Oh so you're new here, that figures. I'm Shippou, nice to meet you lady", the boy said examining her up and down.
"Hey Shippou, can you tell about those guards that brought me here? "She asked wanting more information to add to the story.
"You mean the wolf pack? Well for starters they were not humans to begin with; at least that's what I was told", Shippou said eyes roaming over the horse besides Kagome.
"Really?"
"Yeah, they were a large pack of wolves that lived in the forests around the town, Lord Inuyasha turned their alpha leader into that humanoid form and made some sort of arrangement with him, now they're all his soldiers, they guard and police the town", the fox boy explained.
"What's this Lord Inuyasha like?" Kagome finally asked, she would meet him soon, but wanted an idea of what she was in for.
"Best way to describe him would be with a riddle. How is Lord Inuyasha Like a Typhoon?" Shippou asked with a grin.
"I don't know", Kagome played along.
"Both are powerful, cruel, indiscriminately destructive, but the typhoon doesn't mean to be", the boy's smile dropped into a frown at that last part.
"Is he really that awful?" Kagome's anxiety grew with each passing second.
"Anyone who curses his own people like this has to be a cruel monster", Shippou argued.
"We got what we deserved", a new voice spoke, Kagome turned to see and old woman hunched over walked towards them. Her wrinkled skin looked like it was made from wood and her hair was like moss, she also appeared to be missing an eye.
"Hello miss my name is Kaede", the tree lady said.
"Hi I'm Kagome", she introduced herself, Kagome was starting to get used to the bizarre creatures the citizens were transfigured into.
"What do you mean we got what we deserved?" Shippou asked angered.
"It was my parents and all of them back then, my generation that pushed his highness and made him the way he is now. Our despicable vanity is what cursed us all", Kaede explained.
"I didn't do anything, I was born into this curse like many other good people here, his highness is just crazy and cold hearted", Shippou defended.
"You should be careful how you speak Shippou", Koga said appearing from the throne room. "You don't want his highness to punish you again", the fox boy shut his mouth at that.
"Alright Kagome come inside", the guards held the door open for her and Rin to walk through. "Word to the wise, don't mention anything about his appearance", the wolf commander whispered into her ear. Kagome slowly approached the large throne that was faced away from her towards the large glass wall that overlooked the town. A flash of lightning brightened the dimly lit room for a moment followed by thunder crashing in the distance. A pale clawed hand reached out from the left side and began to lazily twirl his finger in the air. Kagome couldn't help but notice the dark clouds outside began to churn and twist with the lord's motioning finger.
"I'm sending a hail storm to the outer villages below, they failed to complete the harvest. Koga make sure they are told that", the prince said flicking his finger and sending the storm towards his target.
'He can control the weather too', Kagome thought nervously, glancing from the back of the throne to the commander of the guard noticing how he wasn't going to say anything about attacking people with a hail storm.
"Excuse me your Highness, but doesn't that seem a little mean?" Kagome finally spoke as politely as she could after swallowing the lump in her throat. Koga looked at her like she just grew a second head, which could very well possibly happen with how she just questioned his lord. Slowly the throne began to rotate until it was completely facing her and Kagome could finally get a good look at this magic prince. Unfortunately it was not meant to be as the prince wore white and red loose robes with a hood that shrouded his face in shadows, the front was left slightly open revealing the bandages that covered his chest all the way up his neck and face. The only thing Kagome could see were the big golden yellow eyes staring into her chocolate brown ones filled with so much hate and disdain.
"Interesting how a trespasser thinks she has the right to tell me how to rule my subjects", he mused dryly.
"Maybe you don't have the right to treat them like this", Kagome said not one to back down from an argument especially when she believed she was right. She mentally kicked herself for being so stupid right now. The lord rested the side of his cloaked head on his knuckles, Kagome wasn't sure if that meant he was either amused or pissed.
"Leave us", he said dismissing his commander. Koga glanced at her worriedly one last time before walking out the main doors. Kagome stood there stock still and intimidated by Lord Inuyasha's powerful gaze. "What is your name woman?" he asked startling her.
"K-Kagome Higurashi, your Highness", she gave a quick bow respectfully, best not to piss him off more than she already has.
"Why have you trespassed on my lands?" the lord asked.
"Well I was just passing through", Kagome said calmly.
"Don't lie to me, nobody simply passes through here. I made the terrain specifically, so I know the only someone person who would come would be someone who seeks this kingdom. I'll ask you again Kagome Higurashi why are you here?" he spoke louder this time.
"Forgive me your highness, but I came looking for a story", Kagome spoke the truth this time.
"Story?" Lord Inuyasha's eyes looked interested for but a moment. Kagome smiled and reached into her bag and pulled out her father's notebook containing all his work on his new book before he died. She flipped open to the story of the Magic Prince and walked over to the throne handing it to him. Lord Inuyasha read the story that was based off is very life and history. He looked a bit intrigued as his eyes scanned the pages before his eyes hardened back to their normal state.
"So this is what I've become to the outside world, a simple fable", he said distastefully while slamming the book closed. He then tossed the book at her feet. Kagome quickly picked it up carefully, this was her only copy, sure there was all of her dad's research back home, she could easily rewrite the book, but this notebook belonged to her dad and was more of a keep-sake than a notebook.
"I came just wanting to finish the story", Kagome said putting the book in her bag. "If I could just have some time with your people, I could get enough information and then I'll leave for good".
"No I'm afraid you won't be leaving anytime soon. If you want the information then you'll have to work for it. It's your choice, you can work here in the castle or out in the crops", Lord Inuyasha didn't plan on giving any information for free. "You work for me now, and when I've decided you've earned it then you can have your precious story", he spat with disgust. Kagome just looked shock at his disrespect and cold attitude, she had never met anyone so nasty in all her life.
"How can you be so, so…cruel!?" Kagome shouted at him having enough with his despicable attitude. Inuyasha just glared daggers at her while the tension in the room increased tenfold.
"Cruel am I, no I'll show you what cruel is", he raised his hand as it glowed a bright green before shooting magical bolts from his fingertips. The target was not Kagome however instead it was her horse Rin that came in with her. Kagome stood watching horrified as the magical energy engulfed Rin, she screamed and cried as her body was lifted into the air by Lord Inuyasha's magic, the green bolts continued to fire upon her.
"Stop it", Kagome pleaded watching her horse being attacked.
"Stop", Inuyasha continued.
"STOP IT!" the magic finally ceased leaving a cloud of smoke where Kagome's horse once stood. She felt like crying after seeing the horse that she cared for magically tortured and destroyed when a noise caught her attention. The smoke cleared revealing a little girl with messy black hair unclothed sitting on the floor. The girl had black horse ears on her head revealing her identity.
"Rin is that you?" Kagome looked down in awe, before Rin could even speak Lord Inuyasha cleared his throat.
"Kaede get in here!" he ordered, the tree-like woman Kagome met earlier came hobbling in.
"Yes my lord", the old woman bowed.
"Take the little one, get her some clothes and put her to work in the castle, preferably somewhere far from this her", he said pointing at Kagome. Kaede picked up the girl quickly covering her exposed body with her apron and leaving Kagome with Lord Inuyasha alone.
"And as for you, I think I have the perfect job", she could almost see his eyes smirking at her and had to suppress a nervous dry swallow. "You will be my personal servant and maid".
This was a little idea I had awhile back, I worked on it little by little. I actually forgot I had this until recently.
It was sort of based off a project from my creative writing class years ago, the idea was to create your own fairy tale. Mine was sort of like a reverse of Beauty and the Beast, the whole idea about inner beauty. If anyone would like me to continue this let me know via reviews if you like it. Also Sesshomaru is not going to be in this story, as much as I like him I couldn't make him fit in this one, since Prince Inuyasha is an only child in his back story.
Originally I was going to have Sess be the magic prince, but the character eventually changes his personality to be more kind later down the road, so I couldn't see him do a 180 with the way he is. Also I'm such a huge fan of the Inu X Kagome pairing that its difficult to deviate from that.
Thanks for reading.