RISE OF THE DOLLMAKER
CHAPTER 1: NIGHTMARES OF THE PAST AND PRESENT
The prince and lord of Lunaria walked down the stone path of the cemetery dressed in black mourning robes. His destination, the royal crypt. Unlocking the doors he walked in and made his way to his father's tomb. Inuyasha approached his dad's final resting place and set the flowers down in front of it. His mother stood behind him offering a silent prayer. He had almost forgot that she was there, so lost in his own thoughts.
"To think it's been five years only", Izayoi said next to her son.
"Feels longer", Inuyasha said solemnly. Five years ago his great and strong father was killed in a most terrible way. Ryukotsei, a trusted friend, ally, and once commander of Lunaria's army secretly poisoned the king then lead a rebellion against the kingdom with a group of rogues from another land while the country was leaderless. Inuyasha took control, stopped the invasion. When he stood over the defeated Ryukotsei, the man just laughed and confessed that he was the one who assassinated the prince's father. Instead of killing the bastard Inuyasha used his power to turn him into a large hideous dragon and had him chained up deep under the mountains.
After a few more quite solemn minutes in front of the late king's grave, his son and wife left the crypt, locking it shut behind them. As they left the cemetery they were accosted by a group of citizens from the city. Inuyasha tried to ignore them, not at all in the mood to deal with these people today.
"We offer our condolences your highness and milady", one particular bold citizen bowed.
"Thank you", Izayoi said. Inuyasha didn't say anything, the wound of his father's death always felt as fresh as the day it happened on the anniversary. Lately he had been feeling the pressure of managing the kingdom and the near constant pleas of the citizens that wanted to be transfigured into more attractive visages was only worsening his mood. Inuyasha had never been one to act much on his anger, his father taught him better than that, but he was getting close to his tipping point.
"Is everything alright my lord?" Another bold citizen asked seeing that Lord Inuyasha had yet to speak a word. The prince didn't respond and began walking away, however was stopped by an obviously very thick man who couldn't read the situation.
"My Lord, it's been a while since you've accepted our audience", Inuyasha recognized this man, he was the newly appointed mayor of the city that he ruled over. Basically a representative of the regular citizens that met with the Lord to discuss any grievances or problems that the people had. He had no real power and was just an elected figure head.
"I won't be transfiguring anyone for a while", Inuyasha said flatly, the people didn't know how much of a toll it took on his spirit whenever he used his power on other people. Having to look into another person's soul and, what they wanted to look like, feeling their inner most wants and desires, and then transforming their physical form based on that, was not as easy as it sounds.
"But my lord, my daughter is about to turn eight years of age and I was hoping for her birthday that you could make her look beautiful", the mayor pleaded.
"Are you saying that you think your own daughter isn't beautiful?" Inuyasha asked with disdain.
"Oh no, she's quite lovely, but I was hoping she could become even more beautiful through your power my lord", the man said with a smile. Inuyasha scoffed at that. The nerve of this man, here he was trying to mourn the loss of his dear father and this man could only think about what he and his family could gain.
"We'll see", Inuyasha said trying to placate the man enough so he could be left alone for the rest of his trip back to the castle. Unfortunately the people around him misinterpreted his response and assumed that it meant that he would return to transfiguring people into what they desired. They surrounded his highness and began asking, or more accurately demanding.
"Could you make my son into a handsome young man that no woman could resist?" One man that got a little too close to the lord asked.
"What about me? I could stand to lose a few wrinkles", a woman shoved her way forward to stand in front of the crowd. Inuyasha was extremely uncomfortable surrounded by so many demanding citizens. No one seemed to notice that he looked like he was going to be sick.
"Please if you could just leave me…", the prince said calmly only to cut off by a very loud man.
"My wife needs some years taken off! I want her to look like she used to!" He shouted.
"If everyone could just let me…", Inuyasha tried to get through the crowd but they wouldn't move. He couldn't even hear what they were demanding anymore, it was like an ocean of screaming voices at this point.
"I want to look as good as my brother!"
"Just leave me be…", Inuyasha still tried to remain calm, but his temper was hanging on by a thread.
"Can I look as beautiful as a doll?"
"I wish to look like my teenage daughter!"
"Enough", Inuyasha said quietly.
"What about my daughter, I still haven't gotten your answer!", the mayor shouted over the other yelling citizens. Inuyasha finally had it, he singled out the mayor in his rage filled haze.
"I said…ENOUGH!" With a scream the prince fired his magic from his hand as a red lightning bolt. The mayor was knocked off his feet when he was hit by such powerful magic. The crowd went silent in shock at what just occurred. When the mayor stood back up, it was no longer on human feet. He had no feet anymore, he now resembled a big gross gray slug man. The people gasped in horror at this hideous monstrosity.
"You selfish!" Inuyasha through his magic at the terrified citizens transforming them at random into disgusting visages. "Vain!" He marched through the crowd tossing his power at them as he walked. "Greedy!" Some tried to run but were caught and turned into large rodent faced abominations. "Thoughtless wretches!" Once everyone was transfigured and crying over the hideous things they had become the prince decided to leave them, but not before putting up the hood attached to his robe, hiding most of his face from view.
Despite finally unleashing his pain onto the people that caused it, most of his disdain and anger did not subside in the least, in fact it only increased. His mother followed and could only watch in sadness at her poor son finally breaking from the over use of his transfiguration ability. On his way back to the castle Inuyasha's magical power spilled out all around him like a flood, twisting and warping the land, trees, and building in his vicinity.
When Inuyasha reached his castle he completely ignored the servants and stomped his way to the highest tower. Even the castle's architecture began to change, becoming sharper and more menacing. He stood on the balcony of the tower overlooking the kingdom as dark clouds formed and churned in the skies above him. In his fury he screamed out at the top of his lungs, all the pain and despair had at last caught up to him. As he shouted out his wrath Inuyasha's power gathered around him in a red swirling vortex and shot into the heavens like a spear. A few claps of thunder later it started to rain. This was no ordinary rain though, each drop was infused with his power. All who lived in the kingdom the rain touched would be transfigured into the vile creatures he viewed them as.
The calm and happy prince that believed in peace was no more and the cold, anger filled lord of Lunaria was born.
"Inuyasha", who's voice is that?
"Inuyasha, wake up", who's there?
"Inuyasha", someone called his name again with a warm hand on his face. Inuyasha opened his eyes seeing a concerned Kagome hovering over him as he lay on his back, silvery hair splayed around him. "You were tossing and turning. Were you having a nightmare?" She asked. They were both completely nude on his large bed, with the blanket covering everything from his waist down and Kagome using it to cover her exposed body.
"Yeah", He laid his arm over his sweaty forehead. Kagome gently placed her hand over his toned chest.
"Your heart's beating pretty fast", she commented.
"That's because a beautiful woman is touching me", Inuyasha joked giving her a small smile.
"Cute as ever", Kagome smiled while laying her head down on his chest in an effort to relax him. "What was your dream about?" Inuyasha stared at her for a moment before sighing and looking away.
"A really bad day I had once", he answered remembering that day he turned dark and cold. Inuyasha thought about how lucky he was right now. If not for Kagome entering his life he would still be like that today. "What time is it?"
"I think it's almost sunrise", Kagome said snuggling into his body hoping they could sleep a little longer. No such luck as Inuyasha was already wide awake and decided to go ahead and get ready for the day. After they took a bath together Kagome laid out their outfits. Inuyasha told her that she didn't have to be his assistant anymore, that she could have any job in the castle she wanted, but Kagome insisted that she continue her normal duties, enjoying how close she got to be with him during the day.
"See you in a few minutes", Inuyasha said giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. He was dressed in a black dress shirt, dark red pants and matching vest. Kagome kept saying how good he looked in red.
"Ayame is bringing your breakfast this time, try to be nice", Kagome said taking the sheets. It was normally required that the head of the kitchen staff was to bring the lord his breakfast in the mornings. Ayame was so nervous her first month on the job that she sent someone else to bring his meal, which would normally be disrespectful but Inuyasha understood why she was nervous so he let it slide. Even Koga told him to give Ayame a break.
After breakfast Inuyasha and Kagome walked to his personal office. First thing he went through was the mail where he discovered an interesting couple of envelopes. A letter came from Queen Sango saying how much she enjoyed his presence last week at her brother's wedding, also apologizing for spying on him while he stayed at her castle. Inuyasha wrote a response accepting her apology, not really caring though. He already knew her invitation was merely a ploy to get on his good side and eventually establish an alliance between their two kingdoms. An alliance Inuyasha wasn't sure he wanted yet. One thing he was sure of though is that he had absolutely no interest in an alliance with Jutaria, the country to the south of his.
Speaking of which, the next letter was from the parliament of Jutaria, specifically from the man he met in Queensland. Miroku his name was, his letter was similar to Sango's, saying what a pleasure it was to meet him, the usual ass kissing. His letter also contained and apology for the bad blood between their countries and wished to invite him to Jutaria so the rest of the parliament could apologize to him in person. Inuyasha scoffed at that and wrote his response, refusing to meet with them. They refused to send aid decades ago when his kingdom was in danger, despite being allies in the past. Inuyasha personally tore up the treaty himself after Ryukotsei and his army was defeated and sent the pieces to Jutaria as a message telling them in a more symbolic way 'Go to hell'.
"You know you could at least go to Jutaria to hear their apology in person", Kagome said watching him write an aggressive letter to this Miroku person.
"I'm sorry Kagome, but this is something I will not budge on", Inuyasha said while he continued to write.
"I'm not trying to convince you to be friends with them, but what if they truly are sorry for what their grandparents did?" Kagome brought up an interesting point, but Inuyasha just chuckled at that.
"Kagome, I love you, but the political world doesn't work like that", he said putting his letter in an envelope. "That Miroku person has probably already told his parliament about my abilities and now they want me as an ally to either use me and my people as a weapon against their enemies or at the very least to keep my power from being turned against them", Kagome looked at him sadly, his argument made pretty good logical sense. "Trust me when I say that they are not truly sorry, but they'll say and do anything necessary to get me on their side".
"Well what about Queen Sango?" Kagome asked wondering if it was the same with her.
"Of course she wants the same thing, but she's more subtle about it", Inuyasha said writing a response to Sango. "I don't have any issues with her or her kingdom, but as it stands I'm not looking for an alliance with anyone right now", his country just became accessible to the world again and he had a hard time trusting people that he didn't know.
"What if they take offense to your rejection?" Kagome asked with concern.
"I don't really care what they think of me", Inuyasha said almost immediately. "I've got more important things to worry about, like making a guest list for our wedding", Kagome laughed at his playful remark.
"I don't recall saying yes yet", she said with a mischievous smile. She remembered his proposal, it was only just a week ago. She didn't say no, but she didn't say yes, what she told him was that she needed time to say yes. Kagome wore the hand crafted ring he gave her as a sign that she still loved him very much even though she hadn't agreed to be his wife yet.
"Yet being the word here, I don't think it will take long to win you over", Inuyasha smiled at her.
"I'm not that easy", she said back playfully.
"No your just really stubborn", if that wasn't the pot calling the kettle black than Kagome didn't know what was.
"So what are your plans for the future?" Kagome asked getting serious.
"Perhaps an alliance with Queensland would be beneficial, but I absolutely refuse align myself with Jutaria, it will be a cold day in hell before that happens", Inuyasha said getting angry at the last part.
The rest of the day passed like normal. Inuyasha finished his work, went around the castle to check up on things, and met with his second in command Koga. In the evening Inuyasha and Kagome had dinner together in the dining hall where they talked as if they'd know each other for years.
"When do think your mother will come visit again?" Kagome wondered already missing the former lady of the house.
"She likes to travel around, but she promised to come back frequently", Inuyasha said taking a sip from his wine. Kagome thought back to the story she eavesdropped that Izayoi told him when they were alone that day. Inuyasha and Izayoi got their power from their ancestors being blessed by the moon goddess. It made Kagome wonder if there were other descendants out there in the world.
"Inuyasha, do you think there might be other people out there like you?" she asked poking at her dessert.
"Like me how?" Inuyasha questioned taking another sip.
"You told me that the children of the moon are born from the original women that were blessed by the moon goddess. I was just wondering why no one has seen or heard of more of them around", Kagome brought up an interesting topic, that he had already thought of himself.
"Unfortunately", Inuyasha sighed looking away. "My mother wondered the same thing, but in her traveling and research she has yet to find another descendant in the world. They all died out a long time ago".
"That's so sad", Kagome was told by Izayoi how the women could only give birth to one child only. As if by cruel irony, each child was born female. According to his mother, Inuyasha is the only male ever born of their race and so is not cursed to only have one child.
"Maybe it's for the best", Inuyasha said looking at her seriously. "There's too many people out there in the world that would just manipulate and abuse their power towards their own benefit", Kagome looked at him sadly. While it was true that Inuyasha had changed a lot from when she first met him, he still harbored a bit of resentment towards people as a whole and didn't have much faith in them. "Perhaps its best there are no more people like me, our abilities put a lot of strain on our spirits and sometimes our minds. I'd hate to know that more children of the moon are out there suffering like I did", he said deciding he didn't want desert after all. Kagome looked at him lovingly while she gently took his hand. There were some more wounds in his heart that still needed healing.
SOMEWHERE FAR AWAY
That very evening the citizens of Queensland, the kingdom ruled by her majesty Queen Sango were out in the streets celebrating. The fall festival was a weeklong festival of entertainment and fun where people dressed up in costumes. And what luck that the traveling circus known across the lands as The Circus of Dreams would be here at the very capital of Queensland for the entire month of October. The giant tent was set up on the outskirts of the city along with the caravans, but the performers were allowed to parade on Main Street, with the queen's permission, and put on shows in the city square.
"Mommy can we get closer so I can see the clowns?", A sweet little girl asked her mother. She clutched her teddy bear tightly, she never went anywhere without her best friend.
"I'm sorry honey, this is as close as we can get", the mother said regretfully. They were in the back of a large crowd of people in the city square. A group of clowns that were part of the circus came and started putting on a funny show out in the open for everyone.
"Oh, that's okay mommy", the little girl looked sad, but accepted the fact that she would get to see any clowns up close today. Just then she heard the sound of bells jingling, it sounded awfully close. Turning to the left she spotted a white gloved hand sticking out of the nearby alley a couple yards away. The hand was holding a wooden stick with what looked like a kitty cat's head with golden bells for eyes on the end. The hand shook the stick again as the child smiled at the silly toy. Slowly a head poked itself out from behind the wall of the alley. It appeared to be a silly clown that made the girl giggle in joy at the ridiculously colored hair, painted face with a wide toothy grin and of course the big red nose. The clown nodded its head at her then quickly moved back into the alley taking the bell toy with it.
"Where are you going?" The girl asked as she walked towards the alley. Unfortunately her mother was distracted trying to spot her husband who got lost in the crowd, and didn't notice her small daughter wander off into an alley. The little girl wandered the back alleys looking for the clown, getting further and further away from the people. It was getting late, the sun had just gone down making it difficult to see. The child was starting to get scared with only the moonlight to guide her in the dark alley way and her teddy bear to give her comfort. She wanted to go home, she wanted to see her parents again. Before she began to panic she heard the jingling of bells again directly behind her. Whipping around she thought she would see the clown.
"What?" Instead of the clown it was a small bright red box with a tiny metal crank on the side just sitting there in the middle of the alley, but it wasn't there a moment ago. Common sense overridden by curiosity the little girl approached the box. When she was but a couple steps away she placed her teddy bear on the ground and took the remaining few steps forward then kneeled down to get a look at the box.
Gently gripping the small crank the child turned it a few times, hearing a pleasant melody with each turn. The little girl smiled and turned it a couple more times until…BAM! Out popped a jack in a box. To her surprise the jester on a spring suddenly came to life and started dancing around to the music play on the box making the girl giggle in excitement at the funny toy.
Behind the unsuspecting girl the clown stood stock still watching her be amused and more importantly distracted by his jack in a box. With a few silent twitches the clown's form and visage peeled and fell away revealing that it was nothing but a façade. The last thing to go was the colorful face, falling away like paper, now in place of the clown stood a tall hooded figure. It wore a brown tattered cloak with gray fur lining the inside, its face was hidden by a pale porcelain mask resembling a dolls face. Its pale long spider like fingers were covered in metal pieces that each held a different tool for each finger. Scissors, pliers, tweezers, needles, and surgical blades made the hands look horrifying and dangerous. Clicking every few seconds as his fingers twitched.
The stranger silently stalked towards the still clueless little girl. It paused when it spotted the child's teddy bear on the ground. The stranger tilted its head as if the stuffed animal sparked an idea. The girl finally noticed the bizarre clicking noise coming from right behind her and turned around wondering if someone dropped another toy.
The last thing she ever saw was a white mask face and two hands with fingers ending in bizarre tools lunging at her. No one could hear her short scream of terror over the laughter of the crowd in the streets, nor did they hear the woman shouting for her missing daughter.
The sequel to The Tale of the Magic Prince is up. Fair warning this one is going to be a bit darker than the first one. Pinch of murder dash of mystery sort of thing. That's why I wanted to post the first chapter in October.
For those that might be confused, this takes place right after the trip to Queensland, before the last chapter in the first installment. Inuyasha hasn't allied himself with Sango's kingdom yet nor has he agreed to meet with Miroku's peers yet. And yes those two will have more of a role in this one than the last story where they just showed up towards the end.
That last part was my attempt at writing horror. I don't know how Stephen King does it. Do you think clowns know they freak people out? And that's why they do it, for their own sadistic amusement.
Anyway Thanks for reading.