In the Beholders Eye

Written By Sarga

May/June 2006

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters, I'm just taking a theme and running with it...

Chapter 24: A Greater Magic

Thick green weeds suffocated the trees around them, the dense marsh being the perfect breeding grounds for their choking growth. Sango forced her way through the sea of green, the Hiraikotsu cutting effortlessly through the overgrowth.

"She said it would be near here," Miroku reminded the group, trying to calm the nervous demon child on his shoulder.

No sooner had the words escaped his mouth, when Sango let out a satisfied yelp, her Hiraikotsu being no longer needed to cut a path. Walking through the hole she had made, Sango took the time to brush off the bits of weed and muck that had managed to snag on her clothing.

Before them lay an oasis of sorts, a break in the dismal marshes. A lush green island grew up and out of the muck, the sun casting its gentle glow over the modest hut and garden that the island housed.

"Hello!" Sango announced cheerfully as Miroku laid Shippo and Kilala on the ground.

The fluttering of material in the doorway indicated a flurry of activity inside. After several seconds, they were met by an out of breath and old, bordering on ancient, man. His shrunken body drew only as high as Miroku's waist, his walking staff severely over sized for his small frame. He was robed in layers of dark cloth, its flowing sleeves cascading to the ground as he walked.

With welcoming eyes, the man stepped forward and greeted the group brightly. "Good afternoon, weary travelers!" he gestured widely behind him, his sleeve embellishing his statement. "Welcome to my home. I am afraid I do not have much to offer on your journey, but you are more than welcome here. Feel free to come in, have a cup of tea and take a rest before you begin your journey again!" The old man, stood before them, resting at their feet. "It is not often that I see travelers this far into the marshes, but I offer my hospitality, nonetheless."

The three 'travelers' bowed deeply.

"Thank you," Miroku spoke as he arose from his bow. "But we are here seeking the monk Kigaro. He is said to have knowledge that we seek."

The old man raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"I'm sure I do, but you'll have to be more specific," the old man chuckled. "I'm far too old and know far too much." Turning, the old man headed back towards the hut. "Come on in, the water should be just about ready."

Following the man into his modest hut, they saw that he did, indeed have a pot of water already boiling.

Kigaro motioned towards the cooking fire in a wide gesture.

"Sit, sit. I shall prepare your tea!" the old man busied himself with his preparations.

Serving the hot beverage expertly, the old man sat back with a pleasant grin on his face.

"Now, then, weary travelers, what brings you to me?"

"We seek information about a powerful object, we've been told it changes form with each wish it casts." Miroku spoke as the old man's eyes narrowed slightly. "We were also told that you know of its tale. Do you know of the Kasei-Ippin?"

The old man's smile turned reflective and sad for a moment. "Aye. That I do," he agreed slowly.

Sango, not liking the way Kigaro drifted into his own thoughts, blurted out. "We need it to save a friend of ours who's been turned into a half demon."

Kigaro blinked at her sudden admission, then shook his head clear of thoughts.

"A friend?" he asked sympathetically. "I too once lost a friend." The old man's eyes looked through Sango as he spoke. "Only the object you seek was the cause, not the cure."

Sango and Miroku knew that the old man was leading up to something more...

"I was a young man when I first felt the pull. It was a compelling call to a strange target, yet no matter how much I tried to ignore it, I could not. The object that called to me was a set of delicate hair pins. Lying in a small market, in an obscure corner, it would have gone unnoticed if it hadn't been pulling me to it.

"Shortly after I purchased the object, I noticed that I was becoming stronger, faster, simply better in all aspects of my life. I was able to vanquish vile demons and vile humans alike.

"Until I had met Kairi, I hadn't realized just how long my powers had been growing. Nor had I realized that my power was seemingly always in use. Indeed, it seemed the stronger I got, the more I was compelled to fight.

"When I met her I was at the pinnacle of my powers, or so I thought, indeed looking back they seemed to continually grow. In order to impress Kairi, I made a showy display of grandeur, dispatching several bandits in mere seconds. She was smitten right away.

"Then again, what demon woman isn't impressed by displays of power and might.

"Kairi was a hane-kyouryuu, a winged lizard demon. She was beautiful and strong and kind and everything else a man could possibly want in a lover."

The old man paused in reflection, remembering the love they held for each other. Taking a sip of his tea, he continued onward.

"Of course, finding the woman you love makes you want to do anything for her, so I made a gift of my most prized possession, my hair pins. She carried them with her where ever she went, and where ever she went, I went.

"It was not until eight years after we had started our affair, that I noticed what should have been obvious. I wasn't getting older. Not by a day. Looking back on it I had been traveling and fighting for twenty years. Twenty years, and I had not aged a single, solitary day.

"Kairi did not notice, she was a demon after all. Human life spans were not her concern, not when she still had her human lover alive and well.

"But I noticed. And when I did I wasn't sure what had caused it. For a time I suspected my lover, but she had not been around for the first twelve years and I grew out of that idea. I thought of the myriad of curses and blessings that could bestow such an unnatural youth. Between battling and romance, I began to research tales of others who had had similar experiences.

"I came across the tale of the Kasei-Ippin, the 'changing beauty'. I don't know when I realized it was my hair pins, those exquisitely delicate items, but somehow I figured it out. They were the incarnation of the Kasei-Ippin.

"The tales that spoke of the Kasei-Ippin also spoke of a protector. 'An unknowing warrior who would gain extraordinary strength, power, speed, agility, magical ability'...you name it and it was improved. This protector would not age until the time that the Kasei-Ippin became reincarnated into its next form.

"The Kasei-Ippin would only be reincarnated on one condition. To reincarnate, it would grant a single wish, one that it accepted in its soul, by a being who the protector had permitted to wish upon it."

Kigaro paused, allowing Sango to respond. "So the Kasei-Ippin has to accept the wish after the protector allows the wisher past his defense?"

"Yes. It prevents the thieves from seeking to steal it, after all, who wants to steal something that you can't use before a powerful warrior seeks you out? I killed many an attempted thief in my younger days."

The old man shook his head wryly as he thought back to his youth.

"I was young then. Young and stupid. For all of my years fighting and vanquishing, I had not learned true wisdom. My first concern was keeping my power and youth.

"I took back the Kasei-Ippin.

"When I took back the gift I had so lovingly bestowed years earlier, Kairi assumed the worst, that I had fallen in love with another. After much soul searching and many arguments, I finally relinquished them, but on the condition that she would not wish upon them.

"It seemed that the Kasei-Ippin knew of my intent, despite my allowing Kairi to carry them, for Kairi did, indeed make a wish. Waiting until I was out to fight one of my inevitable battles, she took it upon herself to try. I returned to find my lover weeping in a heap, the Kasei-Ippin clutched to her like a lifeline.

"At the time I did not know of her wish, only that she was scared; scared and defeated. I saw the life drain from her slowly. It was a couple of years more before I noticed it, so smitten was I, and by then it was too late for her to regain her vitality. She was a walking shell, only a faint wisp of her former self.

"By that time my spiritual powers had grown significantly. I was able to divine the future as it stood to go on its current path. So I looked into our future. What I saw, what I had not allowed myself to see previously, was that Kairi was heartbroken. Not by me, but by our lack of children. She wanted to be a mother and it was killing her. Without children, she felt incomplete. It was eating her whole and it would kill her.

"That was my doing. I, as a protector of Kasei-Ippin, could never have children. How could a man who never aged?

"So I took it upon myself to repair the damage I had unknowingly done.

"I wished.

"I wished for her to have a happy life.

"I should have wished for her to have a long and happy life.

"I think that was the sacrifice I made when I wished upon the Kasei-Ippin. The protector should never take advantage of the protected. The Kasei-Ippin, while granting my wish, took something of mine in return.

"Kairi.

"She did live a happy life, and she did have children; but she was with another, and it was a short life, at least for a demon. With my wish, she was freed from loving me, allowed to love one who could grant her her heart's desire. Kairi married the half-demon monk, Iyouko, and spent many years with him before she had her children. It seemed that she knew that she could be fulfilled with him, that she could take her time. Shortly after her second child was born, however, she was killed."

Pausing, deep in introspection, Kigaro remembered his lover from all those years ago. Smiling sadly, the old man returned to the present.

"The Kasei-Ippin was reincarnated after that, and I was free to live a normal life once more. I was left with my powers, but I aged, albeit gracefully."

"How old are you, then, Kigaro?" Shippo asked, his head tilted.

Kigaro chuckled, regaining some of his former cheerfulness. "I lost count at 100, child."

Shippo's eyes went wide. "But you're a human!"

"Aye. It seems the Kasei-Ippin shared a little of its power even after departing."

"So how do we find the newer incarnation?" Miroku asked.

"The tale tells of the Kasei-Ippin being born from darkness. In my case, the pins had been crafted in the slave dens of a cruel demon lord. They found their way to me and I took them after that. I hear that the next incarnation was a teapot forged in the kiln of a wicked dark miko." The old man grinned from ear to ear as he spoke of the teapot. "After that I lost track."

"Lost track?" Sango asked.

"I have another item that I found during my research. It's a locater of sorts, a magical stone that has the ability to point out the location of the current protector of the Kasei-Ippin."

Kigaro pulled out a small triangular shaped stone, holding it up delicately. Markings on the stone's face indicated which end did the pointing.

"For a while I used this to locate the Kasei-Ippin's protector. Out of curiosity or desperation, though, I'm not sure. I gave up when I realized that Kairi was happy, which is what I truly wanted for her." Kigaro tossed the stone lightly in the air towards Miroku. "It should come in more handy for you."

Looking out the window, Kigaro noticed the dim light of the setting sun, the moon lost to darkness. Lost in introspection, the old man shifted wearily.

"He'll be human tonight," Sango mused idly, following the old man's gaze. "We should get some sleep. We need to prepare for the coming day's journey." Miroku nodded solemnly.

Turning in for the night, an old man dreamed of a love lost and a life's lessons learned.

End of Chapter

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Once I'm done this story I'm going to be writing the story of Iyouko, Kigaro and Kairi. For now, though, I'll have to let you fill in the blanks.

More reviews please!

- Sarga