BNY: Brand New Youkai

Disclaimer: I, wolfYLady, own nothing as I am nothing more than a humble writer whose entertainment comes from manipulating fictional characters. The characters depicted in this story belong to their respective owners and creators. Again I own nothing!!

Summary: Stuck in the past and seemingly the embodiment of the Shikon, Kagome stumbles upon the Nirvasyl report in Sesshomaru's library. Nirvasyl Syndrome?

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The pleasant aroma of tea accompanying the stale scent of paper and ink was an odd comfort in the overwhelming space. The large wing consisted of three levels, shelves lined every inch of every wall, all the way to the ceiling, while rows were made up out of thick shelves. Scrolls were carefully protected in leather binding and placed into cubbies, each cubby housing anywhere from one to several scrolls. Sadly most of the information within the library was organized by ruling lord, time period, then region, but rarely alphabetical. Overall it had to be the largest personal library Kagome had ever seen, she'd expect nothing less from the great and mighty Sesshomaru-sama. Although she would definitely be having a conversation with whoever was the curator- if there were one but she suspected there was seeing as every morning the useless pile from the day before would be gone and put away.

Days had passed in prolonged silence as the young miko continued with her tedious and cumbersome task of searching the archives for anything that mentions the Shikon no Tama, Immortal or Time-travel. So far everything she'd found was information she already knew.

"Guh!" She cried out, slumping into the desk, a feeling of defeat washing over her. "I've been at this for almost a week!" She bemoaned, eyes deadpan as they went over yet another scroll. It talked about the Shikon no Tama but it had been in a cliff note as the scroll mostly had to do with documentation about a demon slayer village in the east. "I haven't found a single thing! Gah!!"

Turning her head tiredly, she notices a small pile of scrolls had been placed on the table, the old ones gone. She blinked, someone had come and gone without her notice. Looking around she also noticed fresh tea with a snack. "Thank you!" She called out softly, eyes looking around the small area for anyone or thing that could have brought it.

Thankful for the break, Kagome took a moment to enjoy the tea. It's delicate scent filled her senses, calming her frazzled nerves and settling her mind. She'd been stressed, having isolated herself within this library all in the pursuit to understand what happened to her. The jewel's parting words had been vague and cryptic.

Kagome had an idea, she wasn't stupid, she was able to read in-between the lines, but she wanted it to be wrong.

Sighing Kagome turned her attention back to the scrolls. One in particular grabbing her attention. It was encased in an oversized wooden case and golden clasp.

"Nirvasyl?" She tested the name slowly, eyeing it curiously. "Located to the southeast of Central Europe resides a settlement of demons, peculiar as they are, the demons are far less than their counterparts to the Western Lands. Described as beastmen by the humans, they live up to their namesake despite they're demon heritage their blood is weak and muddled much in the case of half-breeds. Considered lowerclass demons, they have two forms with a rarer third. The first is morphed hybrid of their beastial selves, the second a humanoid form in which they pass as human in all but scent and senses. The third, and at present only a rumor, is more of a symptom that happens when a beastman loses all sense of self. Their beastial, more primal self not only emerges but takes over the body, this leading to the beast becoming deranged, unhinged and their body dying as they burn through all of their energy. Beastman is a good term for these lower class of demons, for this is perhaps where their namesake steams from.

Test will be needed to prove the theory.

9th of July, 964 AD."

Kagome blinked, curious of the information. It had nothing to do with her current predicament but it did peak her interest.

Continuing down the document were sketches of what were different types of beastmen, looking just as they were described; morphed humanoid animals. The sketches were done in a scientific manner, a diagram labeling their extremities as well as their attributes.

There were seven sketches in total each depicting a different type of beast man, two of them showing what happened when they succumb to their beastial form. The illustrations consisted of a bear, boar, cow, goat, wolf and finally a rabbit.

The last two sketches depicted a female rabbit beastman. The sketches were detail oriented much like the previous ones, notes surrounded the outline of the rabbit pointing out similarities the beastmen shared with their animal counterparts while alsoshowcasing their differences to youkai. In the corner was a portrait of the rabbit's human form, and just as described Kagome would have assumed them to be human of European decent. Unlike youkai, while in these humanoid forms these beastmen showed no sign of their true-selves, lacking any markings or extra limbs, making them indistinguishable from humans.

The next had Kagome's stomach lurch, bile rose up in her throat as she stared into the inked red eyes of a wild deformed beast. Their body had grown 5x times its original size, deformed and disproportionate arms reached out dagger like claws, their head hung to the side with a slack jaw dripping with silva showing off a mangled mouth of sharp teeth. This looked to be a beast consumed by madness.

In the corner it read:' The rabbit had been in the midst of an attack by several other beastmen, as they overpowered her, she cried out before succumbing to her beastial form. Killing her would-be attackers, the rabbit continued on a rampage, slaughtering several more before being restrained by what appeared to be ten wolf guardsmen. The rabbit died due to exhaustion and the beastmen knew not of her origin. They know not that she is one of their own.'

Kagome stared hard at those words, horror and disgust rising in her chest. Her eyes flickered to the portrait of the rabbit, the surveyor had drawn her with soft features and a warm smile, a beautiful woman nothing like the beast that she'd been forced to become.

Without her notice a tear fell, blinking Kagome surprised herself with the level of sadness that encompassed her at the rabbit's tragic end. She hung her head, closing her eyes, trying to will away the tears that seemingly wouldn't stop. The rabbit's story had struck a cord of fear that every women has come to know, a fear that hadn't been there for her personally until Mukotsu. Back when fighting against the band of seven, the poisoner of their group Mukotsu had drugged her and tried to take her. She still suffers from the occasional nightmares of what if Sesshomaru hadn't saved her.

Several minutes pass before Kagome was able to compose herself. Looking down once more Kagome noticed a couple of her tears landed on the page right next to a small line. "Her name was Honora."

Kagome gave the page a bittersweet lookover, her heart aching for the long dead beast-woman, and in her heart she hoped that Honora's soul was at peace.

Placing that scroll away Kagome continued onto the next scroll. It started just as the first, a summary of a report.

"The beastmen thrive in part because the humans do not fear them. Supposedly there are those that crossbreed, unlike those of unfavored youkai descent who are known to have a blend of parental characteristics, it seems the offspring are only able to take after one of their parents. Sadly, even youkai with their mixed blood are stronger and better suited to this world than these beasts.

With winter approaching their village struggles to make preparations in time, seems the stress has triggered several "changes" from the reptiles, much like the animals they mimic they are weak to the chill but in their transformation they hindered the winter preparations and were put down.

Further observations are necessary.

Winter- 13th of November, 964 AD"

The second page showed several sketches of what appeared to be a humanoid frog and snake. Then an arrow pointed to monsters. The frog looked much like the youkai she'd seen aside from how disproportionate they were and the crazed look they had. The snake on the other hand looked like a Gorgon from Greek Mythology, with their bottom half being that of a snake and their face being serpent like, but it was their hair of snakes that made Kagome curious.

She continued to read, the reports work as a distraction from her current research, although the more she read the more she didn't think these beastmen when youkai, but instead other types of mythical creature. Sure there were those that looked like demon, and perhaps they were descendents of youkai but then there were those that seemed to step off the page of a fairytale. She continued reading for the rest of that day and through the next day before coming to a consensus on what were beastmen.

Kagome strongly believed that these beastmen were the result of youkai and other fae (fairytale creature/ legendary monsters) having procreated and these were their descendents. And the reason they transformed was when the remnants of their youkai blood activated when they had high emotions or faced life or death situations.

A gentle knock had Kagome nearly falling out of her seat. After being isolated in the Library for almost a month, the last thing she expected was another person. He was a spindly man with long limps and large eyes surrounded by deep wrinkles, his hair falling against his nape in a feathered fashion. "Are you finding everything alright?" He asked slowly with a deeply aged voice.

Kagome blinked, eyes switching to the scrolls that had been a distraction to her original research and the problem she faced.

"Or have you had the answer all along?" The question felt like a slap, she physically flinched with a hiss torn from her throat.

"What if you don't like the answer?" She knew how to read between the lines, she had a inkling that only time could truly confirm but even then Kagome was desperate to be wrong.

The older man smiled, a warm and gentle look that comforted her in a way she didn't know she needed. "Find the brightside. Even if the initial result isn't what you want, there is always a positive for every negative." With that he grabbed the scrolls she hadn't been using and slipped away into the many rows of shelves.

Kagome looked down, a little unsure how to proceed with the fact she was now cursed with immortality. Her eyes swept over the scrolls on Nirvasyl and the other scrolls she'd come across that depicted discrimination between demons and humans.

It was as if she had been struck by lightning, a need to help stirring in her soul that pushed her to run out of the Library and into action. Even if it to eternity, she could fight to stop the violence between the species, she could fight to bring peace to everyone just as she had originally wished.

wolfYLady: Hope you've enjoyed. I've been slow to write as I've been recovering from Covid and also dealing with the sudden passing of a family member. If you are a long time reader of my stories I want to express my gratitude for your patience as the last 3 years have been rather challenging for me but I appreciate all the kindness I've received.

Thank you and I hope to be able to write more soon.