Author's Note: I do not own Inuyasha or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.
Notice: Well, it seems you all enjoyed the last chapter, huh? I thank you for all of your support, and so I have posted the next chapter for you all! (But first, replies.)
The Queen of Water: Cool indeed.
Gry17: These are very good ideas. With the exception of the pillow, I might just consider them. And how Naraku and Tenbatsu met will be revealed eventually.
Guest #1: Interesting thought. The events concerning the wolf-demons will be different, but how? That shall be revealed when it happens.
Elfen Children: Well, here are those exact answers.
Cutepuppy01 and Guest #2: The idea of having the two in love has crossed my mind, but I am waiting for a public opinion before I make that move to either side. If either of you have an idea as to which one I should choose, please tell me.
Princessanime08: I have heard you words, and have.
Guest #3: What do you mean by "good interest"?
And Guest #4: Thank you for the compliment. And while I have heard of Bakugan, I have never actually seen it.
And now, here we go with Chapter 34!
Ch.34 Tragedy
"One thing can be said for certain. Neither of them, particularly the male, are human." Master Seikai said, gazing out at Kikyo and Xiram from behind the trees. Then Kikyo suddenly "You there, Monk." The children gasped and Xiram looked up, instantly on guard. He had no quarrel with monks of priests of any kind, but because of the nature of his curse they often had a fight to pick with him. "I've noticed you've been spying on us for quite some time now," Kikyo continued, looking straight at him. He chuckled, embarrassed, and walked out from behind his cover, apprentice in tow. "You noticed us, have you? Forgive me. I was overcome by your beauty-" Seikai began.
But then Xiram stopped him, saying "Spare us your flattery." Rather than become annoyed over being interrupted, the monk chuckled again. "I must apply myself more. Such an embarrassment," he said. But then he tripped over a small rock in the grass, and made a grunt of surprise. He was able to catch himself and strand upright, but in the process a scroll fell from his robs. We all looked at it, and Xiram's lip curled in distaste once he realized what it was. Noticing this, Seikai smiled and said "Young man, would you be so kind as to gather the scroll for me. The scroll contains a sutra for warding off demons. Should a demon ever touch it, their true nature will be revealed."
Although he had no desire to touch the scroll, Xiram shrugged and said "Very well." He reached down and easily picked it up, wrapping the scroll closed. Seikai's eyes widen, and Xiram held it out. "It's a good thing we have sutras such as these," he said. Seikai looked back and forth from the scroll to Xiram. He touched the sutra, and yet was completely unaffected. Seikai tried to cover his shock and grasped the scroll, when suddenly both of them gasped as a series of images lashed before them. Blood dripping from a sword, a village in flames, Xiram writhing on the ground and screaming in pain… Then the images faded and both pulled back from the other sharply, eyes wide with shock.
"Xiram? Is something wrong?" Kikyo asked. Quickly gathering about his wits, Xiram shook his head and put on a smile. "No, it's nothing. Let's head back," he said. Kikyo looked at him for a moment, before nodding. She and the children stood, and together the group began to walk back to the village. Seikai stood where he had been, frozen. The scroll fell from his hands and unrolled on the ground, but he didn't notice. He placed a hand to his head. "What was that? Such terrible sights," he muttered, before looking down and crying out. "What is it, Master?" his apprentice asked worriedly. "Look at the scroll!" he said. His apprentice looked, and cried out as well.
The writing that formed the sutra gone. In its place was a completely black surface, and on it was a single enlarged character written in red ink. The character for "shadow". "The spell has been replaced," Seikai said, before looking and calling "Young man!" Xiram stopped, as did the others, and he looked back with an eyebrow raised. "I know not what manner of being you are, but I know that you have no place being here. Leave, and be where you are meant to!" he said. "What's he talking about?" one of the children asked, frowning. "Such a strange man!" another said. They resumed their departure, and Seikai watched. He knew it. That young man was no ordinary demon. He was far more powerful, and even more dangerous.
As the group walked back they passed the fields, where some of the men who hadn't gathered to fight the giant boar had been working. "Oh, it's Priestess Kikyo and her companion Xiram," one of them said. "We're lucky to have to two of them here in this village," a second and more elderly one said. "Kikyo attends to the sick and plays with the children, and that Xiram helped dispose of that demon," a third added. "Indeed," the first one replied. Both Xiram and Kikyo said nothing, each of them deep in thought. Xiram had not expected that incident with the monk to occur. He suspected that his curse had reacted to the presence of being so close to a source of spiritual power, and those images from his memory were the resulted.
Xiram sighed. He could do without the memories those images provoked, once that he had purposefully kept out of mind for a long time. But as painful as his past experiences were, he knew that he would never want to lose those memories. His past experiences made him who he was, even if he didn't necessarily like what he was. Xiram was broken from his thoughts by a tugging on his sleeve, and looked down to see that one of children, a boy, was looking up at him. Tasuke- that was his name. "Xiram? Xiram!" he said. Xiram blinked, looking down. "Yes?" he asked. "Xiram, promise you won't go anywhere," Tasuke said.
He was surprised, and looked into the young boy's eyes. He could see fear, real fear that Xiram would go. And beyond that was adoration. Xiram saw it now; in just a short time Tasuke had come to admire him and his strength. He smiled, and dropped to one. Placing a hand on each shoulder, Xiram said "I travel alongside Kikyo. So long as she stays here, I will never leave." He meant it too- Kikyo was one of the few people who had accepted him. He would hate to leave her company, and be back to the loneliness that he had felt for years on end. Tasuke smiled, and said "Really?" "Really," he said, nodding. Tasuke smiled and ran off, waving back at Xiram.
He watched him go and walked forward, standing next to Kikyo. Until now he had never noticed, but there actually was a height difference between them- Xiram was an inch taller. He looked at her, finding her expression still in thought. "What are you thinking about, Kikyo?" he asked. "I was think that I could live here, in this village," she said. Xiram blinked. Wasn't she out for revenge against Inuyasha? During the time since they had joined together, Kikyo had felt as if she could reveal what had happened to her both in her previous life and this one. And so she did. Was she willing to toss that desire for vengeance aside, just like that?
Then again, they had indeed only between in each other's company for a short time. If he was just going by facial expression, Xiram had idea what Kikyo was thinking. "I could do it. But the question is, will I be allowed to do it?" she said aloud. He looked at her, unsure of what to say. Then he decided on the truth. "It's your choice," Xiram told her. Kikyo looked at him, and she could see the truth in his eyes. That was one thing she quickly learned. Xiram considered coming up with a lie to be a waste of time and energy, so he simply didn't.
Miles away from the village, Kikyo and Xiram, the team of Inuyasha, Miroku, Kagome, Shippo and I stood in front of a mansion. I was holding Shippo in my arms again, glad to be back in the company of my son, while Shippo was glad to be back with me. "What a huge mansion!" Shippo said. "Is this where we'll be staying the night, Miroku?" Kagome asked. Inuyasha scoffed. "He's probably going to tell them that he saw an 'ominous black cloud' hanging over their estate," he said. "No, I have a legitimate reason for being here," Miroku said. I raised an eyebrow. This ought to be good.
Inside we were ushered into the lord's parlor, where he told us the situation. Apparently the princess of the mansion had just passed away recently, and they had yet to finish the preparations for her funeral. In the meantime her body had remained in her room which was kept cool at all times. But it wasn't her body they were worried about. "A demon that steals the souls of dead women?" Miroku repeated. "Yes. It was bad enough that our dear Princess has passed away. But to have her spirit stolen on top of that," the lord said, sobbing. "Rest assured. We shall do everything in our power to protect the princess's spirit," Miroku said seriously. I blinked, and said "Huh?"
The next thing I knew we were all sitting in the dining room, female servants bringing in plate upon plate of food. The amount of rice in the bowls was such that they resembled small mountains. Shippo looked at the food uncertainly, and then at me. "Hey, Mom? Is it okay for I eat this despite that fact we didn't do anything?" he asked. While on the outside I maintained a calm expression, on the inside I was smiling widely. Shippo was actually remembering the lesson I was trying to teach him. It made me feel all warm inside. "Well, we are going to be doing work later in protecting the Princess…" I said. Shippo smiled hugely, and said "Awesome!" before grabbing pair of chopsticks and digging in. I let my smile out and ate my food too.
Beside me Inuyasha muttered "I knew it! It's always the same." "Well, we can't be very good guards on an empty stomach," Miroku pointed out. While that was absolutely the dumbest excuse I had heard since the phrase "I thought it was free" there was nothing I could do about it. I would just have to take the hand dealt to me and work with it. Later in the night we had decided to take shifts watching the Princess's body, and Kagome was chosen to go first. But when it was time for Miroku to take over, Inuyasha walked in and saw that she was still there. "Hey. Anything happen with the Princess?" he asked. "Hmm? No, nothing yet," she told him.
"I see. Where's Miroku? It's his shift," Inuyasha said, sitting down next to her. "He heard that there was another princess here, so he decided to go check on her," Kagome said. Inuyasha looked at her. "What?!" In the halls of the castle Miroku walked behind the lord, with Shippo and me behind him. I knew the moment Miroku heard about another princess he would volunteer to "guard" her, and so I was here to keep his lechery to where it wouldn't end up with the castle guards chasing us. "The young princess is terrified," the lord said. "Please leave it to me. If the other princess's appearance is anything like her sister's, then she should be beautiful as well. Ah, I love my job," Miroku said, that last part to himself.
"Miroku, are we going to protect this princess too?" Shippo asked. I snorted. "Not if I have any say in the matter," I said. "Actually, she might be nervous upon seeing a demon for the first time. Perhaps you should transform into something, Shippo," Miroku suggested. "Transform? Into what?" the fox replied. "Oh, I know! The princess could say 'A bunny! Of, I've always wanted to hold one!' See?" the monk told him. I stared to him, jaw unhinged. If he planned to use my son in his attempts to pick up woman, he had another thing coming. "I don't get it," Shippo told him. "Perhaps once you've grown a little more I'll explain things to you," he said.
I glared. "If you think someone with your set of morals is going to teach him anything-" I began. But then we reached the princess's room, and it was then that the shoe was put on the other foot. The princess did have black hair and pale skin like her sister, but the resemblance ended there. Her face and body were so bloated that it looked comedic, and barely clearing five feet in height. The instant Miroku saw her his smile faded, and was replaced by panic when the lord said "Princess, a monk has come to guard you from the demons taking souls." The Princess looked up. "Really? Oh, thank you so much!" she said, running over to us. Miroku cleared his throat. "Well, you seem to be safe. I should head back and check on the dead princess," he said, trying to sound formal.
"Oh, why would we need to do that? This princess needs to be guarded as well, and you did volunteer," I said, grinning. "Yeah! You did offer to be her guard!" Shippo said. Miroku looked at us before back at the princess, who was clutching the front of his robes fearfully. "Oh Buddha, why?" he asked himself. In the other room Inuyasha laughed, having heard every word. "That monk finally got what's coming to him!" he said with a smile. Then suddenly Kagome leaned against him, and he looked at her. "What are you doing?" he asked. "She's creeping me out. Like she could move any minute!" Kagome said, looking at the dead princess. "Oh, is that all?" Inuyasha said.
"Why else would I do that?" Kagome said, realizing what he meant. "Hey, get your mind out of the gutter! We've got something important to do," she told him. "Gutter?! Yeah, right! You're the one who started pressing flesh!" Inuyasha yelled. "Aha! So you did have your mind in the trash!" Kagome replied. "I was not!" he countered. "You were hitting on me," she said. The two of them glared at each other, but something else interrupted them entirely. The corpse of the princess started rising into air, hovering gently. Kagome shrieked and held tightly onto Inuyasha. A long white demon with reptilian features, red eyes and long spindly legs flew in, passing through the wall as if it weren't there.
"So it's here!" Inuyasha said, drawing the Tetsuaiga. The soul of the princess drifted out of her mouth and the demon caught it. "Die!" Inuyasha called, slashing own and cutting it in two. The demon hissed before fading away, and the soul flew back into the princess's body. Slowly it descended, until it landed back on the bed. Kagome sighed in relief. "She's safe," she said. "But I don't think that's it," Inuyasha said. It was then that Kagome gasped. "You're right! There's something outside!" she said. They both ran out, seeing over a dozen more of the same demon they had just killed flying off, souls in their possession. "There's so many of them!" she said in shock.
"And every one of them I carrying a human soul!" Inuyasha said. "Guys!" they heard me call, and they turned to see me run up to them. "So, you sensed them too, Yume?" Inuyasha asked. I nodded. "Where do you think they're going though?" I asked. Miroku sped past me, pointing his staff at the demons. "After them!" he yelled, before looking back and shouting. He leaped off of the edge, and the other princess reached out to him. "Don't leave me!" she called. "So, Miroku having woman troubles?" Inuyasha asked. "I think she may be a demon, and not a woman at all!" Shippo said. But then the princess held onto him, saying "Little fox, why must you treat me so?"
Very carefully I extracted my son from her arms, and the demons flew off into the night.
In the village where Kikyo and Xiram were staying, Sayo and Tasuke were lying awake in bed. The rest of their families were asleep, but they were unable to reach that same state. "Kikyo seemed a bit sad," Sayo muttered to herself. "It must have been because of what that monk said to Xiram…" Tasuke told her. "I know not what manner of being you are, but I know that you have no place being here. Leave, and be where you are meant to!" Seikai had said. Both of them covered their ears, trying to block the words out. Tasuke sighed. "I can't sleep, Sayo. Can you?" he asked. "No," she replied. They looked out through the doorway into the street, but when they did they saw Kikyo pass by.
"Kikyo?" they both said. They rose out of bed and walked over, looking out from around the edge of the house. She was walking briskly down the road that led to the exit of the village. "Where could she beheading this late in the evening?" Tasuke asked. "I don't know. I hope she doesn't intend to leave us," Sayo replied. "Let's find out," he said. They both followed Kikyo, moving from the cover of house to house. Eventually their efforts led them to a river, where Kikyo stopped. Standing by the edge was Xiram, sitting on a rock and using a whetstone to sharpen his sword. "Have they arrived yet?" she asked him. Xiram looked up at her, before sheathing his sword and standing. "Any second now," he said.
As if on cue a shape appeared in the air, before manifesting itself as several of the demons ho had been at the mansion. Soul Collectors. They flew down and surrounded the two of them, one flying right in front of Xiram. He smiled and ran the back of a nail along its length, causing it to let out a coo not unlike that of a pigeon. That he stopped, and said commandingly "Give the priestess your bounty." The Soul Collector nodded, flying towards Kikyo. It released the soul it had in its possession, which hovered in front of her. More and more did the same, until she was surrounded by spirits. "There, there. Come to me, the souls of tragic women," she said.
Tasuke and Sayo watched terrified. Xiram was commanding the demons, and Kikyo was taking possession of the souls they had taken. Kikyo untied her hair and tossed the band aside, held one of the souls of her hands, prepared to take it into her body. Then, drawn by demons, from behind the monk Seikai and his apprentice appeared. "Are you unable to cross over? You are one of the dead," Seikai said. Xiram sighed; so their activities had been discovered. Kikyo looked back at him. "Can you not overlook my existence? I merely want to live peacefully in this village," she said. "If you desire to live, why must you sustain yourself with the souls of the dead?" the monk countered.
Xiram stepped forward. "We have no quarrel with either of you. The priestess' desire is simply to remain in this world, and I wish to exist beside her. After all Kikyo has done, can you not at least grant her wish?" he asked. Seikai looked at him, before slowly shaking his head. "I am sorry, but that I cannot do. She is dead, you are a demon, and I must fulfill my duty," he said. Then suddenly he reached into his robes, and pulled out a sphere decorated with the design of two intertwined dragons. Xiram sucked in a breath and jumped back, drawing his sword. "You don't want to do that," Xiram warned. But Seikai didn't listen, and instead said "Forgive me!" He held up the sphere, and it blazed with light. The light took the shape of two real dragons, a black one and a white one, which each proceeded to grab Kikyo and Xiram.
Xiram shouted as the white dragon wrapped itself around him, and grabbed his throat with a clawed hand. The black one did the same with Kikyo, who gritted her teeth in discomfort. "You cannot escape my demon-binding spell! I will extinguish your lights, and save your souls from eternal misery!" Seikai called. Xiram stopped his struggles ad glared at him. "A demon? You accuse me of being a demon?!" he yelled. Beside him Kikyo said "A wretch like you seeks to save my soul?" A light surrounded Kikyo while Xiram's body crackled with electricity. The light exploded, as did the dragon, while Xiram roared a the clouds rumbled, before a bolt of lightning shot down and struck the dragon ensnaring him.
The claw that had been holding Kikyo's throat flew through the air, hitting Seikai and piercing his throat. He yells in pain, falling to the ground. The dragon sphere fell from his hand and rolled across the ground. Once it stopped it cracked and shattered, causing the remains of the dragons to dissipate. His apprentice watched in horror. "M-Master Seikai…" he said, before screaming and running away. Xiram watched him go, and sighed. It had been necessary, but it was a shame the monk had to go like this. He hardly deserved it. Kikyo walked to stand over the fallen monk. "You might have been spared, had you not interfered," she said.
Seikai reached forward and used his last strength to grasp her ankle. "Just… what are you trying to do? Time goes on for the dead; they carve out their futures with each passing moment. However, for the dead time stands still. Thus the dead and the living cannot exist together. And yet… you insist on trying. How tragic," he said, before finally dying. I looked down at him, and after a long moment I dropped to one knee. Slowly I turned him over and positioned his body so that he was lying on the ground with his hand crossed over his chest. I pulled his rob up so as to cover the wound, and said "May you rest in peace." As soon as I finished that sentence there was the sound of a snapping twig.
Kikyo and I both gasped, looking in that direction. "Who goes?" Kikyo demanded. I looked closely, and saw that it was Sayo and Tasuke. While Kikyo relaxed and said "Sayo, Tasuke…" I didn't do the same. I could see them both trembling in fear. They had been watching. "Did you… see all of that?" Kikyo asked them gently. Kikyo walked over and knelt in front of them, and I could see their trembling increase. "Children…" she said softly. But when she reached forward, they flinched away, closing their eyes tightly. In what emotions I had left I felt a stirring of grief. These children had idolized us, and yet they were exposed to this kind of scene. Kikyo withdrew his hand, hanging her head sadly.
"Forgive us. We did not mean for you to see such a sight," she said. She stood and turned away, and they both opened their eyes to watch. Kikyo passed by me and I looked back at them, before following. The children stood, saying "Wait, Kikyo! Xiram!" We stopped, and looked. "Sayo, Tasuke, forgive us. Farewell," I said, and Kikyo nodded. We kept going, and they watched as we walked out of the village, and out of their lives.
Kikyo and Xiram have come back fully now, but the Inuyasha crew is looking for Soul Collectors! Will their paths cross?
Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding… or am I?)