Chapter 1: The Creations
Thunder clashed and rain pummeled down hard atop the roof of a dark castle. The black sky indicated that it was night time. In this castle a dark room was lit only by a couple candles.
"My first creation has finally opened her eyes." The sound of a man rang into the ears of a being that was only half there. She had the body of a child was a transparent white color, and had dark, empty orbs for eyes. Her white hair swayed as a small breeze traveled through the room. When she moved her eyes, she could see a man with long black hair and dark attire sitting next to her, watching her intently, as if he were expecting her to do something. But he didn't speak after that, so she simply laid there, watching him in return. After a few minutes of this, he spoke again.
"Rise, if you are capable." He ordered. The naked little pale creature looked forward for a minute before sitting up. She looked down at her abdomen, as if something were there. But she still said nothing. She made a small sound that was barely noticeable. He looked at her abdomen, and reached out to touch her. She watched, without flinching, as his hand seemed to disappear into her abdomen, and pull out a round object that had a strange light coming from it. He kept his arm extended, for her to take the object from him. Her small hands took hold of it, she looked down at it, seeing the object was a mirror. She did not show surprise or fear for what was occurring. She eyed the mirror then directed her attention back to the man who seemed to know more about her than she did.
"You don't seem to experience pain. Can you speak?" He asked.
"Yes." The little girl answered without hesitation.
"Good." He said with a sinister smile, his red eyes narrowing in on her. "Stand for your creator, little one."
The girl looked down at her mirror and then to him. She disappeared for a minute and then reappeared at his side, standing and looking at him with blank eyes.
"Hmmm." He studied her. "Completely undetectable, you carry no scent or aura. It is no surprise there is a nothingness about you. Still, I was not expecting such blind and unchallenged obedience. However, that does not mean you are a complete success. You seem frail."
"What am I?" The little, soft voice made its way into his ear.
"You are my first creation, and I am your master. You may call me Naraku."
"Master.. Naraku." She repeated, twitching her mirror in her arms.
"Your mirror is a part of you, and you will use it to do my bidding. You will learn to use it, and use it only when I order you to."
He watched as the little girl knelt down before him, looking at her mirror. A strange light came from it, sneaking its way over to him. When the light found him, it retreated.
"The mirror steals only the souls of those you will it to." He said to her.
The girl only looked to him again, blankly. He used his hand to turn her head from side to side. She never flinched or pulled away. He smiled a vicious smile, pleased with his work. When he let go, he stood up.
"I will call you Kanna. Come." He said, turning his back and walking in the other direction.
The little girl stood there for a second before she began to follow the man called Naraku.
….
"Upon further examination of my first incarnation, Kanna, I have determined that she is indeed useful. It did not take her very long to learn the full extent of her powers. She can use her mirror to reflect to me the images seen by my saimyosho. These bugs can spy on my enemies, and now I can see what they see. This is a huge step forward in destroying Inuyasha and his gang. Since she has no presence, none of them can know when she is near. I will put this to use eventually. Her mirror reflects attacks, even though she is not much of a fighter.
Kanna is obedient, and does not think for herself. She does not seem to understand concepts such as pain, fear, anger, happiness. I will test out this theory."
Naraku sat cross-legged, looking across the way to Kanna, who was sitting quietly in the corner of the room, looking into her mirror blankly as she often did. She looked innocent yet ominous. He had dressed her in a plain white kimono that matched her complexion, which was almost a useless gesture because the small demon never felt anything.. including cold, or shame.
"Kanna." The demon's red eyes watched her as her head lifted up and her eyes met with his. "Come here."
Kanna stood up and walked slowly over to Naraku. She stopped in front of him, staring into his eyes. He took hold of her arm. "I am going to perform a test on you. Do not move."
Naraku pulled out his sword and steadied it above her exposed forearm. He studied her face, which never moved from its usual blank stare. He carefully ran the sharp blade on her arm. She did not pull away or cry out when he did this. She did not even bleed, as her skin repaired itself after he cut into it.
"Did you feel anything when I did that?" Naraku asked, already certain of the answer.
"No, Master Naraku." The child answered.
"Hmm." Naraku let go of her arm and shoved his sword away. "She seems to have no idea that I could have harmed her."
"So you do not feel anything at all. You are indeed lucky."
"Lucky?" Kanna responded, not understanding.
"Nevermind, there is no point in subjecting you to concepts you will not understand." He said, "Show me what you are looking at."
Kanna knelt down slowly and turned her mirror to face Naraku. He looked into the mirror and saw Inuyasha and Kagome. A vicious smile came over his face.
…..
The small white ghost of a girl roamed around the halls of the castle she had been in for the past two weeks. It had been mostly quiet in the castle, but lately there had been a bit of noise going, which made the empty child curious. Her master had been spending less time looking in her mirror and more time in the basement of his castle. She had been told not to venture down there, and did not know any better to disobey these orders. So she walked in a circle around the door that led to the basement and listened instead. The strange sounds intrigued her.
An hour later, her Master surfaced with something in his arms. It was larger than her, but it was covered with his white baboon pelt so she could not see what it was. Naraku looked to Kanna as the door that led to the basement closed. He looked tired, and haggard. His eyebrows tightened as her dark empty eyes stared daggers into him.
"What do you want?" He said, with an angry tone.
"Want?" The little girl responded, not sure what he was asking her.
He forgot his angry disposition and let out a menacing smile, but she did not notice. "Pathetic creature. You don't even know how to want. That is most reassuring that you will never cross me. Out of my path, Kanna."
The little demon moved aside as he carried whatever it was in his arms into a nearby room. Kanna watched him carefully. Before he disappeared through the doorway, the little girl thought she saw a thin, delicate hand hanging out from underneath the pelt. She watched through the blinds as his shadow placed the thing he was carrying down gently on the ground.
A few moments later, he exited the room. He turned back to the door and placed a black seal on the door. "That should keep you in if you should awaken." He mumbled to himself.
When he realized that Kanna was still watching him, he turned to her.
"Do not open these doors."
Kanna nodded and he began to walk past her, towards his chambers. Halfway down the hall, he looked back to see the white creature still staring at the room with a blank expression on her face.
"Kanna. Come." He called out to her.
She turned to look at him and then back to the door. She did this a couple times before slowly walking down the hall to follow her Master.
…..
The very next day, Kanna was walking around aimlessly in the castle, staring into her mirror as she often did. She watched what the saimyosho watched, as she had nothing else to do with herself until Naraku decided to give her a task outside of the castle. She did not care whether or not he did, but until then it was a good way to waste her time here. She looked on as the simyosho went past rolling hills, big rivers, and fields of pretty flowers.
Kanna kept walking around not looking until she found herself by the door that she had been told not to enter. The black seal Naraku put there had been moved and the sliding door was open an inch. Kanna stepped closer to the door and peered inside, curiously.
Inside she could see Naraku sitting over something, with a tool she had never seen before in his hands. It did not look like a tool to fix something, or kill with. Instead it was a fine, soft tool. One perhaps to decorate with. He expertly dipped this tool into a red jar.
"Kanna, I know you are there. Enter." He said, not turning to look back at her.
Naraku seemed to be the only being that could sense her presence. There was a boy Kohaku that Kanna had seen a few times and he never noticed her until she showed herself. Neither of them were big conversationalists, so they merely acknowledged each other in passing.
She slowly entered the room as she watched Naraku lean over whatever he was working on. She slowly started to see features on this unknown creature. Two dainty feet, laying there very still. When she saw the figure in its entirety, she kneeled down by Naraku. It was a woman. Kanna looked at her big eyelashes, her small pointy nose, and her small yet full lips. Naraku leaned in with the tool and expertly brushed the red paste onto her lips. Kanna was not too naïve to notice that this woman was an incarnation like her- a creation built from the parts of demons Naraku had taken into him. But there was great differences in them and she noticed. The woman's skin was pale, but not white and transparent like hers. Her hair was black, with loose curls hanging around her shoulders. The kimono she wore was colorful, and hugged her hips. Kanna took notice to the red stripes, the blue and yellows that wrapped around this strange woman.
"Who is she?" Kanna asked, looking up at Naraku.
"She is your sister." Naraku answered, placing the tool away. "And she will be awake soon."
"This second creation has taken me a lot more time then the first. She will be stronger, and much more useful in battle. But by making her stronger, I run the risk of having her turning on me. I must be careful with this one."
Naraku leaned in to move the woman's kimono away from her chest. He let his hands slide in gently, and he pulled out a red orb. Kanna's eyes watched him as he did this. He looked at the glowing red orb for a moment before putting it up his sleeve.
"Her heart must be removed for two reasons. If she is hit in battle, her heart will not destroyed. So she can be put back together." He said, looking at Kanna. "I also must make sure she cannot turn on me."
"Why would she do that?" Kanna asked quietly.
Naraku did not answer her, he merely turned to look at the woman. He extended his hands and moved the kimono back in place.
"I will call her Kagura, of the wind."
"Kagura.." Kanna repeated, looking down at the woman.
"She stirs." Naraku interrupted, his red eyes piercing into the woman's face. "Perhaps she is awake."
Kanna watched carefully as the big, dramatic eyelashes on the woman twitched and moved. They began to make way, and two big red orbs could be seen under her lashes. The newly opened eyes stared blankly into the ceiling for a moment. But then her face turned to them, and her scarlett eyes focused on Kanna.
Naraku let out a malicious smile as he watched his second creation come to life before him.