If You Need Her
by Scribe Figaro
SESSION FOUR: BREATHE WITH ME
II.
"Did she make you cry
Make you break down
And shatter your illusions of love?
Is it over now?
Do you know how
To pick up the pieces and go home?"
- Stevie Nicks, "Gold Dust Woman"
The flames flickered across the face of the miko. The heat of the fire did not warm her skin, but it comforted her to pantomime the living.
Kikyou felt relaxed here, or something close to it. Satisfied with her progress in searching for Hakurei-zan. Conscious of the fact she followed the path of Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru, and Kouga. Amused that Naraku had created so many enemies in such a short time. Aware that they would fail to do any more than weaken and hurt the creature, as only the Shikon no Tama held the power to completely rid such a powerful youkai from the earth. And, most certainly, determined that she would be the one to ensure such an event came to pass.
At this time of the evening she would begin her prayers and personal reflection, but such acts would have to wait for this visitor to leave. It would be rude to ignore a guest. Even if it were nothing more than a flea-youkai.
She had no idea where it had come from, but she recognized it as the tiny creature that claimed himself as Inuyasha's retainer. She was surprised and a bit suspicious of the politeness in which it carried itself before her, but she supposed a creature so small would have to depend on a lowly and honorable demeanor to survive long outside the presence of its master.
The flea, Myouga, told her of the creature that endangered Inuyasha and his friends, that killed the houshi who traveled with them. He told her of its power to live in men and youkai, to control them, to kill them and seek another.
Kikyou would not expect to hold audience to an insect, nor to listen with honest concern to its story, but Myouga clearly was one of the oldest and wisest youkai she had come across in recent memory, and his plea for her assistance in striking down such a legendary bakemono pulled at her need to fulfill her responsibilities – real or imagined – as a miko.
The flea, after having taken a brief break to drink something she dare not ask from a flask, continued his speech.
"You must understand that this thing, this evil, is something beyond you, beyond Inuyasha. Even beyond Naraku. Though he lacks the strength, the hoardes of youkai, that The Creature that was Onigumo had, his ability to traverse lives makes him far more dangerous."
"If this is true," Kikyou said, "then it is my duty to rid him from the earth. Even if it requires helping your master."
Myoga nodded. "You are most generous, Kikyou-sama."
"Tell me your plan."
Myoga shifted his weight where he sat. Kikyou had the suspicion that a creature weighing as little as he did so only as a nervous habit, a mimicry of larger creatures.
"There was a Great Monk, Sen, who was a student of Buddha and studied this creature Asesu before he was Enlightened. He was one of the few to know anything about this creature."
"And?"
"It was already known that Asesu could traverse lives, and that he could only leave a body after it was dead. When this occurs, no man, creature, or youkai could possibly resist him. No wall can stop him. And, once he has come into a new body, he asserts full control very quickly, unless the man is very wise, and is able to challenge Asesu. If he succeeds in this challenge, as very few men have done, he is ejected from the body and will simply select another. This was a most challenging problem, but eventually Sen came to the conclusion that he could trap Asesu."
"If he had a good plan, I can't help but ask why it hasn't worked yet."
"You are wise, Kikyou-sama. His plan did not work yet because it required a piece he did not have at his disposal. You see, if one defeats Asesu in his mind, he may force Asesu into a container. But Asesu will easily escape through the container – outside a body, he knows no wall or barrier. Unless, inside, there was a Life that Asesu would take in his desperation, a Life trapped in the bottle, which Asesu would be irrevocably attached to. But – and this is most important – for Asesu to be trapped forever, the Life must not be a creature that is capable of killing itself, of starving, of dying of old age. It must be a Thing Which Lives But Does Not Die."
"A thing which lives . . . but does not die?"
"Your Souls, Kikyou-sama. Your souls are the key to this. They are irresistible bait to Asesu, and by sacrificing one you will seal his fate.
She pressed a hand gently to her chest, where her heart would be should she have been a living woman and not a golem, a vampiress surviving on the life of dead girls. It hurt her enough to insult these souls as she already did, to send her soul-stealers to capture them from the air and deliver them to her like a thief-baron, but to use one as a bait for some unholy animal struck her as deeply and viscerally wrong.
But what was she to worry about such trivial moralities, to let her hypocritical respect for the dead allow a life-stealing parasite like Asesu to continue his travels? She had seen the houshi's grave days before, and had – almost by reflex – burned incense and afforded him prayer. She trusted this creature Myouga, and his desperation became her own.
With a hint of resignation, Kikyou nodded.
"Tell me what I must do."