Author note: I'm going along with this idea, it started off as an odd note on my sidekick, and I swear this is the second time it's happened. I haven't been writing fan fiction a lot, actually I haven't been writing since middle school, and guess what? I'm a senior now, my writing has gotten a little better, my vocab has improved, and its whole different mind set *g*

You don't need a disclaimer to know the truth riiiiight?

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001

Her Righteous Path

At first, it had come as a whisper, an idea to play around with in the back of her mind as she milled around throughout the day. But as hard as she tried to fight it, temptation was winning. And Kaoru found herself slowly submitting herself to accepting this heinous act.

She herself, was a pure being, enriched with the will of the gods, and their powers, she enforced the barrier between demons and the common people. Since her sixteenth birthday, it had become duty bestowed upon her, and her ancestors before her. As a child she was drilled in the ways and rituals of a priestess, and unwillingly shirked most of her childhood and adolescence for this cause. Bitter as she had become about it, Kaoru had no regrets. Being a woman at the age of eighteen, suitors were bound to come, but yet many of those inclined for her hand found themselves too 'unclean' for her touch. She contented herself with this fact on bad days, knowing that many girls in her city were sold or arranged to marry men they had never met.

Yet the world that she was surrounded in was encased in the supernatural, thus, a life of simplicity and normalcy would deem to be difficult. Her lands teemed with demons, in the forms of humans, animals, and sinister objects. And her family was chosen out of the few, to perform these righteous tasks. "Kaoru!" her father would reprimand, as she frolicked with the other girls in the village, "remember your duty!" It was these small realizations strung together over the years that this was her path, and reincarnation had granted her a gift in this life that many would pay for.

And as the years had swiftly passed, the gods taking both of her parents due to sickness and old age, she was the lonely yet esteemed priestess of the city. "Too young," the elders would murmur as she walked past, pitying the girl to experience such hardships. Knowing this, Kaoru would give her most sincere smile, and continue the daily blessings of the city, reinforcing the barriers upon her city walls. She had never dealt too nicely with pity; it had made her feel weak that the sacrifices that she had wrought were for nothing. And sure enough, Kaoru was not going to have it.

In retrospect, her temptation came in the form of a sealed amulet amongst her family's most precious shrine artifacts. It was neither coveted nor feared, but tucked away safely amongst the articles in a uniform cloth. Countless times, she had pondered such a mysterious origin, and what was sealed within. Yet, she could not bring herself to unseal it, in fear that the effect would result in opening Pandora's Box, forcing to reseal the demons and spirits that would run amuck and wreak havoc on the unsuspecting inhabitants of the city, creating all kind of disasters that would result in a very large headache.

Kaoru chewed her lip thoughtfully as she ran her fingers over the paper seal wrapped tightly around the amulet. The amulet itself was a beautiful example of artesian craft, set with glittering rubies and amber stones, and cut so flawlessly, that she had even contemplated that it belonged previously to the imperial family. She shook her head at such a frivolous thought, surely such a beautiful and priceless object would be sought, and most of all, she doubted the fact that in all places, it would be here in Kamiya shrine.

As a child, she could remember the many times she had sat on the shrine steps, after finishing her morning duties, watching the light gleam and reflect in the engraved stones, how she traced the ornate grooves and the unnamable seal, her tiny fingernails sliding under the thin paper of the amulet ever so slightly. In this moment, she still felt as she did as a child, staring in wonder and curiosity, her mind reeling at what the possibilities could hold. In an essence, she had changed, she knew now what she didn't back then, she had the power and ability to unseal it.

The priestess gave a sigh, brushing off the feeling that she was being watched, and slipped into the depths of the shrine ground, slipping the cool amulet into her robes. She was in dire need of a prayer.

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End Notes: Honestly, I wanted to crank this out as fast as possible to get some type of reception from you guys. I'm running a lot on this idea, and am getting an outline together as we speak. Well you guys, you know what to do right? Click that damn review button for me. I want to know what you think.

*What the hell does Muryou mean?

- it means free in Japanese, I'm horrible at titles. Sorry. I need a new title. Help me out?

Looooove,

Robyn ~ chuuu!