We all sit in a line next to one another in a medium sized room with a deceased princess ahead of us. She's beautiful, even in death, her long black hair scatters about her body on top of the thin mattress she lies on. A solid white kimono blankets her, and on top of this, a tanto blade rests on her chest. Beside her sits an uncomfortable man who looks to be a possible servant of the princess who's passed away. He keeps his head bowed when he speaks to us, uncertain whether or not he should bring his eyes to us.
"So the demons carry off the souls of dead girls?" Miroku asks.
"Yes, as if losing our princess weren't upsetting enough! I cannot have her soul stolen."
Apparently, from what this man has said, that those who die – mainly females – have been having their souls stolen by demons, and requests Miroku's, and our help, in stopping this from happening to their princess.
"No such thing will occur. Rest assured that we shall protect the princess' soul from these demons." Miroku promises sternly.
When I glance over to him, his expression couldn't be more serious.
Nightfall takes over the mansion, and I have been left to watch over the deceased princess. The silence in the room is numbing, leaving a ring in my ears. The door behind me slides open and in comes Inuyasha, "Everything looks clear outside, anything unusual in here?"
"No, so far everything's good."
He takes a seat next to me, crossing his legs and arms as he rests against the sliding door he entered from. "So where did Miroku get to?"
"It sounds like there's one other princess living here, so Miroku said he wanted to go and make sure she was safe."
"Oh, sure!" Inuyasha shouts. "He's some player. Too bad he has everyone convinced he's a saint, otherwise I'd give him a good stomping."
I glance up at Inuyasha, and his angered expression. He really takes this sort of thing seriously.
I look back down at the body, whose face is now covered by the blanket. It's very creepy sitting next to someone who's departed. The stillness of her corpse, the silence she brings to the entire room. It really puts life in perspective. But then I notice something odd. A twitching coming from where her hand is. I lean in to get a closer look, and when I do, her entire body springs up into the air, hovering in the middle of her bed with her eyes and mouth open. I fall back against the sliding door. Her body pulses, destroying some of the screen walls around us, and letting in a long serpentine like flying creature, with tiny six arms and fins where ears should be. My heart jumps in my chest and I fly backwards against the screen door.
"Time to work!" Inuyasha growls, he tugs on Tetsusaiga to unsheathe the blade, and as he does, the woman's mouth opens wider, releasing a white light that could only be her soul. The serpentine creature takes a hold of the soul with its tiny arms, and flies out the broken window with it.
Inuyasha and I both get up and follow it outside, where up in the sky we see three more serpentine-like creatures flying off with souls in their little arms.
"There was more than one of those demons!" Inuyasha yells in surprise.
"They're carrying spirits of the dead!" I point up at them, "There are so many, where could they be going with all those souls?"
"Quick after them!" Miroku calls out midst running to us with his robe partly exposing one of his shoulders. He comes to a stop in front of us, grabbing hold of the railing that lines the porch and sticks his foot on top of it. Before he leaps off, he looks down the porch from where he came and there, comes rushing down a woman wearing a heavy pink kimono. She's pale and well put together, but not a beautiful sight. She's obviously the other princess. Without another word, Miroku leaps off the porch and continues his chase of the serpentine demons, though I think he really is just trying to escape the princess.
"Please, stay with me!" The woman cries. She grabs hold of the railing around the porch and clings to it as she watches Miroku disappear off in the distance.
Behind her, Shippo runs up to us huffing and puffing, his little body so tiny against the contract of the heavy kimono he passes as he makes his way to us.
"Miroku having woman troubles again?" Inuyasha asks.
"I think she may be a demon, and not a woman at all." Shippo whispers, but the princess turns her attention to the little fox demon and grabs ahold of him in her arms and hugs him close.
"Little fox, how can you treat me so?!"
We sit on a rocky slab on the bank of a river, a blanket beneath us and food spread out in front of us. We made chase after the serpentine ghosts the night prior but they got away from us, we've been following the river ever since.
Miroku drinks from a can of green tea, his eyes closed and focused on whatever he is thinking about while Inuyasha and I peer out over the lake. Shippo sits on top of the large yellow bag, licking away at the lollipop I gave him. It's quiet and serene, something we're not exactly used too.
"Where do you think they went?" I ask.
From my side, I can see Inuyasha shrugging to my question, his sword resting against his shoulder from in between his legs.
"Those demons disappeared without a trace. We wouldn't know where to start searching." Shippo says between licks.
"And there's certainly no point in returning to the mansion, is there?" Miroku replies.
"Yeah but you have other reasons for that opinion, as in, a certain princess whose fondness for you was a little obvious?" Shippo glances slyly over to Miroku.
Inuyasha looks bored and agitated, something clearly is bothering him. "You look bored, are you not interested in this case?"
"Case? It's not as though we'll find a jewel fragment." Inuyasha grumbled irritatingly.
"True, but it still nice to help." I sigh.
"That's what I'm tired of, helping people all the time. I'm gonna be a demon someday, so why should I waste my time rescuing humans?" He looks more agitated as he speaks. "Look, I'm not interested in helping anyone, so count me out."
While he's talking, I hear the sound of swooshing coming from the river. I peek over curiously to find a man floating on top of a basket in the middle of the river.
"Hey, look!" I point at the man whose clearly unconscious. When no one does anything but get up and stare. I quickly get up and rush to the edge of the rocky bank, leaping into the water as Inuyasha calls out after me. When I reach the man, who clearly looks like a monk now that I closer to him, I check to see if he is still alive. He is. Thank god, swimming after a dead body would have been the worse. Grabbing him from behind, I wrap my arms around his, and swim back to shore where the boys wait.
"That was very courageous of you, Keara," Miroku compliments as he helps me pull the man out of the water and onto the rocky bank. I didn't realize that his basket got caught on his clothes, and swam with us. I unhook the basket and set it down next to the man, and then I fold up the blanket we were on previously on, and lie it beneath the man's bald head.
"Thankfully the monk is only unconscious and not drowned." Miroku comments. He takes a seat next to the monk, crossing his legs and arms, Shippo follows suit and sits next to him.
The man groans, his hands fidgeting at his sides as he starts to come too. When he opens his eyes, they warily dart at each one of us, but when they land on Inuyasha, he sits up swiftly and scampers back away. "Demon!"
"Well, half." Miroku points out.
"Shut up, monk!" Inuyasha growls.
"There is nothing for you to be afraid of," I start, "we're friendlies."
The monk breathes deeply, and nods his head. "It's just – my master and I were attacked by a demon last night." He leans forward to sit on his knees and bows his head in apology.
"A demon?" Inuyasha asks, finally something has got his attention.
"Correct." The monk says with his head still bowed. "At first glance she appeared to be human, but clearly she was a possessed demon, and a priestess. She was able to ward off my master's immense spiritual power. I believe I heard her name, it was Kikyo!"
Kikyo…But the last time we saw her, Inuyasha told us she fell from a cliff. There were no remains that he could find.
Inuyasha rushes to the monk and grabs him by the front of his robes, pulling him up to his feet as he growls down at him. "If I find out you're making this up, you'll wish you were still in the river."
The man screams, flailing his arms, "I speak only the truth! The woman lured away the lonely souls of the dead woman!"
So, Kikyo is the reason for the souls being stolen?
"I don't care about that! What makes you so sure her name is Kikyo?!" He yells into the man's face. It's obvious Inuyasha still has some sort of emotion for her – otherwise he wouldn't be so outraged.
"The children of the village called her so. I'm certain. The youngsters called her by the name Kikyo!" The man answers.
Inuyasha drops the monk and he lands on his butt, and before Miroku and I even get a chance to say or do anything, Inuyasha leaps off down the river bank.
Miroku, Shippo and I sit patiently on a fallen log near the forest edge. We departed from the Monk about an hour ago and Inuyasha hasn't shown his face since he left. I am starting to get worried. Sure, it's Kikyo. Inuyasha's former lover, he'll obviously be going after her. But if she's stealing the souls of the dead? Can Inuyasha do what needs to be done to rid of this problem?
"Do you think we were mistaken in allowing Inuyasha to go on his own?" Miroku asks from behind me. He's the only one standing.
"Didn't really get to choose, he ran off without giving us a say or plan. Besides, Inuyasha probably is still in love with Kikyo, better to leave them alone." And hopefully Inuyasha will do the right thing.
"Why? What do they need to be alone for?" Shippo asks naively.
"I believe I understand her meaning." Miroku nods. "The woman he once loved so completely may have changed. And if that were indeed the case, he could not allow others to witness the change in her or in himself." Miroku says quite poetically.
But his words irk me for some reason. It bothers me they will be alone, regardless of the reasons. I stand up and head for the forest, I need to get away from their conversation, which continues on even as I leave the area.
"Just a moment Keara!" Miroku exclaims, following me with Shippo on his shoulder. "I suppose we could always follow after Inuyasha."
Before I can answer the sky starts to darken quickly, too quickly. Dots of light flash by us, and when we get a good look we see it's the serpentine demons we saw at the mansion. So, she still is summoning the souls of the dead and these demons are her pawns.
"Over there! It's the same type of demon! After it!" Miroku yells.
We burst into action, chasing after the very fast serpentine demons. I'm so focused on chasing them I don't see the dip in the ground before I start sliding down a steep hill. Reaching out, I grab ahold of a small tree, catching myself before I could start tumbling.
"Shit," I curse, but stopping has me realize that I am no longer with Miroku or Shippo. I look back up the hill and find that I am absolutely alone, and the area is only getting darker. Might as well still keep going. Slowly, I get on my butt and crawl down the hill so I don't slip and hurt myself. And the closer I get to the flatland, I notice a large tree not too far ahead. And within that tree, lying on a few branches, is Kikyo. Dots of souls' hover around the tree, giving off a light that reminds me of lanterns.
But once I am on stable land, I don't see Inuyasha in sight.
Hesitantly, I stand up and walk towards the tree, I notice that she's sleeping quietly. And I, am alone with her.