Disclaimer : I do not own Inuyasha.
Author: Drkngl790
Thanks to Mike for reading this over and helping me get off to a good start!
Check out his website www . fictionpress . com / asylumgates (get rid of any spaces for the link to work when you paste it into your browser)
Rating: M
Thirteen Steps to Enlightenment
Prologue
The entire place was dark. Dark, save one small light in the distance, and that one small light drew the teenage boy to it. It drew him with such force that there was no way he could resist. Starting off at a walk, he moved towards the light. It didn't get any closer. He eased into a jog. The light still wasn't any closer. The teen broke into a run. Still, the light would not ease his curiosity, and still it remained at a distance, getting farther away if anything.
"Please!" His own voice sounded far away and dream-like, as if it wasn't even coming from him, but from everything surrounding, which was, of course, nothing. His voice cracking slightly from puberty and anxiousness. It was indeed his voice, and yet, it wasn't his voice. "Please! Don't leave me!" He was so alone here. There was nothing but darkness, and that one small light. The one small light that could be a friend, that could end this loneliness forever. It could be someone to confide in, someone to get away from the horror that was his home, someone to trust. It began to flicker and dim.
"NO! Please! I need to know who you are! I need to know!" He was almost at tears now, which he angrily forced away. Tears were weakness. His father taught him that much. Tears equal weakness, and weakness equals punishment. Everyone knows that punishment equals pain. It was as simple as the circle of life. At the top of the food chain, the predator, was his father, and at the bottom, the prey, meek and disgusting, was himself. No one ever questioned it. That would mean more punishment.
Brought out of his reverie, a voice echoed through the empty space around him. No, not through the empty space, it echoed through his head, ringing over and over again. "Curiosity killed the cat." The voice sent shivers down his spine and the light grew brighter with each syllable. Maybe this light wasn't a friend after all. Maybe, maybe it was someone who would hurt him. Someone like his father. Someone who was at the top of the food chain and would prey on him like a fresh piece of new, juicy red meat. He was about to turn around and head back the way he came, if he could find the way he came, and if there was indeed a way out of this horrid, suddenly cold place. Even the light held no solace for him now. There was nothing left for him in this place, and he though it was time to go home, if you could call it that.
With this resolve firmly set in his head, he turned around and took a step in the opposite direction. Bad move. The scenery rushed by him and the light grew blinding before going out altogether. He felt his stomach lurch and quickly he turned to the right and dropped to his knees, retching all over the dark ground, the contents of his stomach quickly escaping his churning insides.
"Really now, one would think that one such as you would have more manners than to just retch all over The Almighty's lair." Double-take. Did he just say 'The Almighty'? The teen whipped his head to the left, his gaze falling upon a huge dragon. Huge was a bit of an understatement. The dragon, about a mile high, had a white main and piercing red eyes and a strange mask in the middle of its forehead. The teen was shocked and his mouth promptly dropped to the ground, his eyes wide in fear. He sure looked like an almighty being. There was no doubt about that. Waves of power washed over the petrified boy from the huge dragon and made him want to retch all over again, and perhaps he would have, if there had been anything left in his stomach.
"Close your mouth boy. It's not attractive watching you catch flies." The boy could simply give the dragon a blank stare before suddenly making a hacking noise. His eyes widened even more, if that was indeed possible as he continued to choke. Both hands planted firmly on the ground, once more facing away from the overwhelming beast, his eyes shut tight and desperately gasping for air, causing him to choke more, his face beginning to turn an unflattering bluish colour. Suddenly, the coughing stopped and he felt something fall out of his mouth. Gasping for much needed breath, he finally let his gaze fall to the object that had been so rudely ejected from his throat. There lay the most unexpected specimen: a housefly. Once again, his stomach churned and emptied out the remainder of his stomach he thought he had already lost. Wait a second, a housefly?
"It's not attractive watching you catch flies."
Turning his terrified gaze once more upon the fear-provoking spawn of Hell, he eventually found his voice once again and spoke. "Who are you? What are you?" The ancient dragon just chuckled, his voice laced with evil and malice.
"Forgive me. I have not been so polite myself. My name is Ryukotsusei, and I am a ryuujin1." The boy's eyes widened once again. It was not the demon's mouth that spoke, it was the mask implanted in the middle of his forehead. Instantly, he was reminded of the legend of the Ancient Noh Mask. At once, Ryukotsusei let out a menacing hiss. "Never refer to me like that! I am not a piece of wood molded to fit a face. I do not crave for a body and I never will." Ryukotsusei shook his great head. "But I am willing to overlook that for now. I have called you to my liar for a reason and I have business to discuss with you. Tell me about yourself."
The teen hesitated for a moment, before carefully rising to his trembling feet, keeping his head down so not to look at this monstrosity in the eye. "My name is,"
"I know what your name is boy! I told you to tell me about yourself, not what your name was." The ryuujin growled at the young man and demanded, "Now tell me about yourself!"
The young man opened his mouth to start again, but the ryuujin cut him off. "No no! I don't want to know about your life! I don't want to know about your family! I want to know about you! I want to know about what you are, who you are." Once again, the boy started to answer, and once again Ryukotsusei cut him off. "Nevermind. I shall tell you. I am extremely disappointed in you. You are afraid. You're afraid of your home, your father, and all those around you. You are afraid that when you die, your suffering will not end and will continue to haunt you forever into all eternity. I am here to tell you you're wrong."
The boy looked shocked. Not only could this ryuujin read his mind, but it could see deeper into himself than he himself could see. This worried him slightly, but if this Ryukotsusei could end all his suffering, he would listen, and he would obey without a second thought. Swallowing, he bravely glared into the red eyes of the dragon. "Tell me how this will be."
Ryukotsusei smiled, or rather, the mask did. "Good boy. Have you heard of Perfect Enlightenment?" There was a small pause before the ryuujin snapped in an annoyed tone. "I can tell by the look on your face you haven't. Fine. I was hoping I wouldn't have to explain, but so be it. Perfect Enlightenment is a Buddhist act in which one transcends all pain and suffering and attains Nirvana. Do you understand now? Good! Do you want to attain Nirvana?"
The young man nodded his head slowly, a small smile on his face. The ryuujin smiled as well, though his was more of a malicious sort of smirk than a genuine smile. "Then I shall tell you how to obtain this Nirvana. Thirteen people. Thirteen souls. They must all die a perfect death." He paused for a moment and with the look on the young man's face, quickly continued, changing the tone of his voice to a falsely reassuring one. "Do not fret. Not only shall you obtain Perfect Enlightenment, but the thirteen dead souls will too. Is that not reassuring? Not only will you obtain your Nirvana, but you will help others obtain theirs too. Think of the possibilities."
The young man's eyes widened. I would be murdering thirteen people, for myself. No, not just for myself, for others as well. That makes up for it all, right? Of course it doesn't, but how else will I obtain peace at last? By this time, Ryukotsusei could tell the young boy was having an inner battle with himself.
He can't win. There's no way. He shall fall into the trap. The teen looked up once more with a firm resolve. "I will do it. But how will I know which people to kill?" The ryuujin simply smiled.
"That's all taken care of. Now GO!" He closed his eyes and felt his stomach churn, once again, for the third time that night, felt like he was going to retch.
Upon opening his eyes, he found himself in unfamiliar surrounding and on something not quite hard enough to be the ground he had recently resided on. Blinking and rubbing his eyes, trying to clear away the sleep and the blurriness hindering his vision, recognition came to him. This was his room. He was back home in this Hellhole. That meant, it was all a dream, wasn't it? There was no Perfect Enlightenment. Letting out a growl of disappointment and despair, he reached over to turn on his lamp. There sitting on his bedside table was a piece of paper. It was numbered 1 to 13 with a name scrawled beside each number. At the top of the page, in big, bold red letters, it read:
The Thirteen Souls
1Ryuujin – Dragon God; Dragon King
