Disclaimer: InuYasha, its plot, characters, and all that good stuff are sole property of Rumiko Takahashi. I don't own or claim credit for any of that, although I wish I could because it's uber-good in my opinion. I only claim my own characters and plot stuffs. Also, I haven't gotten through the full series or any of the movies so if some of the stuff I bring up in this fic are different in the series, please forgive me! I will change some of the plot around for my plot purposes but I don't think I'll be fiddling with it too much. Maybe just the ending... I'll have to decide when I get there... Enjoy!
Four souls in one crystal, four souls in every heart. But every soul has a body somewhere... Perhaps the secret of the power of InuYasha's family is linked to the Shikon no Tama in more ways than one. Legends and truths are revealed from the long forgotten past when the quest for the Shikon puts our heroes up against darker evils and in search of other powerful demonic artifacts.
Four Crystal Secrets
Prologue
"All life shall come from us." The fiery Phoenix said as she stood on a tall mountain with her three companions. "We have been given this task by Izanagi and so it shall be done." They leapt from the edge and beams of light burst forth from them. The fire bird, thunder wolf, gale hawk, and tsunami bear roamed the world over creating creatures of all kinds. They made mortals to tame the wilds and oni to protect them. But all light casts a shadow and evil crept on to the face of the world. The oni were targeted because of their power and soon many became corrupt. The four Ancient Oni getting on in age endowed humans with the mystical powers to combat the evil oni and to protect the innocent. Not all humans inherited this power but the strongest of heart and spirit. One, a priestess excelled beyond all others and it was within her that the four Ancients made the tomb of their souls. But their bodies they buried separately fearing what might happen if a being became powerful enough to resurrect them and control their incredible power. Some oni remained true to their calling to protect but they slowly started dying off leaving only the evil ones. Some still exist though with good hearts.
"So do you know where they Ancients are buried?" An attentive little girl asked the gray-haired woman lying in the bed next to her. "Do you momma?"
"I don't believe anyone does Dear." The elderly woman replied.
"Sakusai." A tall white haired man whispered.
"Saikoinu." The woman whispered with a weak smile.
"It's time isn't it?" He asked kneeling beside her and taking her hand.
"Soon." She whispered in response closing her eyes and gripping her hand.
"Momma's going to die isn't she?" The little girl whispered to Saikoinu. He simply nodded. A few minutes later in one last fleeting breath, the miko passed on. Saikoinu buried her behind the house and took the little girl with him. "Where are we going?"
"You're going to live with me now." He replied smiling.
"You have a chip in your tooth." She pointed out carefully. "Did you break it on a chicken bone?"
"Not exactly..." He replied gripping the hilt of his sword with his other hand and smiling. "When we get there, don't mind the boys. They probably won't like you at first." He warned.
"Saikoinu, are you my Poppa now?" He smiled and nodded gently before slinging her carefully on his back and dashing off down the road.
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Chapter 1: The Mystery Miko
"They say she has the power to heal people with just her blood!" An old priestess gushed to a younger one as they walked through the forest.
"I heard that there's a legend warning against a miko like that. The legend says her blood makes oni stronger." The younger one replied cautiously.
"Makes oni stronger, eh?" A wolf eared boy thought to himself as he dropped down from the trees. "I'll have to check this out." He snickered and took off towards the temple of this mysterious miko. He was shocked when he got there and found a huge precession riding away from it. "Hmmm... I smell blood." He smiled and followed it's scent to one particular room.
"She's been unconscious for two days with this letting. It's all because she can't refuse someone in need." An old monk said to a younger one as they walked out of the room. "I'm afraid if she gives one drop more she'll kill herself."
"Is only all those warlords weren't so selfish." The younger one muttered. "They expect so much from her."
"Yes and now she's so weak her own wounds aren't healing as they should." The older one muttered shaking his head. The wolf eared boy jumped down off the roof and slipped into the room. He froze in his tracks when he spotted a girl... Not some big and strong miko one imagines but a girl no more than 13 or 14. Her slit wrist daggled over a small cup gathering the stray drops of blood. The boy looked at her and something inside of him seemed to scream that he had seen this face before but he couldn't remember where. He eyed the cup beside her but dismissed the thought. He slipped out of the room and disappeared into the nearby forest.
"I thought I might spare her the pain and kill her for her blood..." He thought flicking his long silver hair from his face. "But I can't kill a kid... Especially when I feel like she can tell me something... But what?"
The sun shone brightly over the trees as the young priestess rested alone under a tree. "What a wonderful thirteenth birthday." She mused taking a deep breath. She had made a full recovery from her last major letting but still felt very weak. A loud crack sound rang through the woods and echoed off the numerous trees. "That was no branch breaking!" She gasped bolting to her feet. She ran down one of the narrow paths towards the source of the sound. The sight of two onis fighting each other caused her to slide to a stop and hide behind a tree.
In a sudden burst of speed, the larger one charged forward and drove it's claws into the smaller one. The smaller one howled in pain and doubled over. Something about the whole sight made the miko's blood boil and she couldn't understand why. The larger one reared up for what would prove to be its fail attack and before she could stop herself she was walking towards them. An immense heat overcame her as she spoke.
"Leave him alone!" She shouted angrily. The oni simply smirked and whip his long white hair out of the way. He sent a long yellow energy whip rushing forward but it was met unexpectedly. It wrapped around her arm and with one tug, she broke it.
"A strong holy miko I see." He muttered with a voice of indifference. "No matter. One less youkai hunter." With that he charged her with his claws bared ready to deal her the same fate as the smaller oni. An unknown force engulfed her and she brought her flaming hands up and fixed her blank red eyes on the attacker. A huge column of fire burst from every fiber of her being and engulfed him burning up the toxic gas pouring from his hand and multiplying the effect. When the flames, which amazingly didn't harm anything but the oni, died down he was gone. She walked over to the smaller oni and slit her hand open on a sharp rock before pressing it on his wound. He stared at her blank eyes with shock on his face.
"Why is she helping me? What's wrong with her eyes? Ah... It really is making me feel stronger..." Her eyes returned to their normal brown color and she blinked a few times as she stared at the healing wound in the oni's chest. Her eyes closed and she fell forward on to him. "This is no ordinary miko. I swear I smell oni on her but she's mortal. It's probably just from the battle." He grabbed her to carry her away. As he grabbed her, a strange energy surged through him and his mind blanked. Images began filling his mind that he didn't recognize and he couldn't stop.
"Where did she come from?" A worried priest asked looking down at a little girl with cuts all over her.
"We found her like this one the side of the road." Another answered. "Hey what is this?" He asked pulling a small red jewel from a wound in her chest. "I never noticed this before..."
"Put it back or give it to me." The other priest demanded. "If it was in her it's clear it is destined to her. This is no ordinary girl we must take care of her and see what the truth of her power is." He went on gravely. "This is a perplexing child indeed..." The image broke and the boy's eyes snapped open and he looked down at her in a cold sweat.
"No kidding." He muttered laying her down on the ground. He grabbed his shirts from beside the nearby stream and wrapped her up. He took her to the cave he'd been staying in nearby and left her to sleep. "Why did I stick around this dump?" He wondered to himself angrily. "All it's been is trouble." He groaned. "Still something tells me to protect her... Besides the fact that she can make me stronger..." He perched himself in a tree outside of the cave a lazily guarded the entrance for reasons he couldn't understand.