InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Tooki Koroko ❯ Prologue ( Chapter 1 )

Tooi Kokoro: An Inuyasha Story of Beauty and the Beast

Prologue

Disclaimer: Inuyasha does not belong to me.

In an age long past, demons lived side by side with humans. Although the demons considered humans weaker then themselves, their frail bodies easily broken and their life spans no more than a passing moment for most demons, they saw in them what their own lives lacked.

Within humans resided the value of hopes, dreams, and of life itself. Only a human, with their short life spans, could live for a single day. Many demons watched in envy as the human race celebrated every gift given to them by the Gods, every birth and every death, the shades of every season, the turning of winter into spring and summer to fall. Lives wrought with emotion, love and sorrow, joy and pain, hope and despair; every verdant hill to them was a gift, a gentle zephyr a benediction in its own right.

Demons, faced with something near eternity, could easily outlive a human by several hundred years, time passing slowly, the passing of a year seeming no more than a second. To live a meager seventy years or so was a concept difficult to fathom and yet, to see the light in a human life uprooted emotions that were sealed by the eons. Thus, demons guarded their weaker counterparts, learning from the human race as the humans learned from them.

Such a peace, however, could not have lasted. In the Meireiten Palace, deep in the mountains of Hokkaido in northern Japan, a son was born to a demon and the daughter of a human lord. The child, although he appeared to be human, with is shining black hair and onyx eyes, yet he showed of the strength and power of a full fledged demon. Seventeen years after the child's birth, war broke out between the demons and the humans. Meireiten Palace was breached after many days of harsh battle.

Now, as the sun sets on the battlefield, the halls of the palace awash with the blood of humans and demons alike, the wooden floor stained a brilliant scarlet. Inside the tenshukaku, the central tower, on the seventh floor, the demon lord lies in a pool of his own blood, silvery hair dyed red by the liquid, his kimono torn asunder and his flesh pierced with arrows, several broken shafts lying beneath him, broken in his fall. Beside him lies the body of a human woman, a heinous gash on her neck having taken her life, the instrument of her death still clutched within the deathly grip of her husband's clawed hand-a clean, painless death.

Standing over the bodies, a lone figure stands, a thin sword clenched in his young hands, tears streaming from black, soulless eyes. Turning away from his parents, the boy makes his way through the silent halls and down to the main floor, his eyes hard and his heart hardened with barely concealed rage. In the eyes of a young man, death gleams like a harbinger of death.

"Big Sister, Big Sister!"

Kikyo whips around, her raven locks, now loose from their bonds, blowing freely in the wind. She stands up slowly, leaving the body of the fallen soldier she had been attending to die in peace; there is nothing more she can do. Her temple robes are stained with blood, several sections ripped off where she had used the cloth for bandages. In normal circumstances, she would have been a disgrace, but in light of the town's current predicament, exceptions must be made.

A smile graces her face upon seeing her little sister, one of the few bright spots left in her life. "What is it Keade?"

Keade runs to her sister's side, leaning over with her hands on her knees, her breathing coming hard and sweat pouring down her face. "It's the lord and his lady Kikyo, they've been slain!"

Kikyo's eyes widen, the color draining from her face. Her lord, defeated, how could this be? This is truly a dark day indeed. But-- "That is tragic Keade, but there is nothing I can do about that, I can not bring back the dead."

"It isn't the dead the elders are worried about, but Inuyasha. Kikyo, he's gone mad! He's walking the halls of Meireiten, killing everything in his path! He's using his power to destroy everything, and he's enjoying it!"

Kikyo grips her bow, her fingers itching to pull an arrow from her bow. By the Gods, what else could possibly go wrong? Ripping herself from her thoughts, she springs into action, grabbing Keade by the scruff of her neck, pulling her along as she runs in the direction of the palace.

"Go back to the temple and call for help. Tell the elders to send some of the soldier immediately, and hurry!" With that, Kikyo shoves Keade away from her, sending her in the opposite direction toward the shadow in the distance that marks the temple walls.

Her feet fly over the dusty road, shedding her sandals as she runs; they will only hinder her if she keeps them on. She reaches the walls of the palace in a matter of minutes, the sight of seeing the great northern gate open sending chills down her spine. Her feet carry her over the remains of the san no maru, houses still smoldering, filling the air with a thick, black smoke; only the first and second enclosures are fireproofed. As Kikyo reaches the first moat, she nearly groans aloud at seeing the bridge in pieces and blanches at the shock of cold water on her skin when she is forced to wade through.

After getting out, she races toward the lord's residence, her intuition telling her that this is where she will find her young lord. Sure enough, she senses new death in the air and she places an arrow onto her bow with a swift, deft movement.

Kikyo stops at the door, a figure framed in the doorway by the light of the crescent moon overhead. The figure jumps toward her, sword raised and Kikyo fires her arrow, but not before the sword in Inuyasha's hand pierces her chest.

Kikyo gasps, fighting for air as blood gushes mercilessly out of her open mouth. With her strength draining from her body, she drops to the ground, looking up at Inuyasha through veiled eyes just beginning to glaze over. Inuyasha is slowly getting to his feet, the arrow in this shoulder hardly seeming to hinder him.

Gods, I couldn't finish him, what else can I do, how can I-Suddenly, she feels a pulsing warmth run through her and the area above her chest begins to burn. Kikyo's eyes widen and with a trembling hand, she reaching into the folds of what remains of her robes. Her hand reaches for the necklace hanging from her neck, pulling out the cause of the pulsating fire.

Her hands cup the glowing jewel, an artifact of her temple known as The Jewel of Four Souls, a gem capable of granting the wish of its user. Kikyo had never before considered using the wish, but in her last moments, it is her only hope. Before speaking the words that will be the torment of her lord's soul, she takes one final look at the eyes of her wish's target. Her black eyes lock onto his onyx orbs and her soul twists with pity. Behind those eyes, a wall of ice has been erected over his soul, built of pain, fury, hatred, vengeance, and raw, unchecked power in its purest form. Kikyo clutches the jewel tighter, realizing that her choices are limited. Perhaps what she is about to do will be better than death, for there has been enough of it bloody the fields of Nippon for generations to come. At least this way, Inuyasha has a chance.

"Jewel of Four Souls, grant me my final wish!" she says clearly, the power of the jewel granting strength to her voice. "I wish to place a curse on this boy, one that will leave him a demon confined within the walls of this palace, only to turn human at the light of the new moon. The curse shall only be broken when his heart opens once more, when can earn the love of a woman, and love her in return! Jewel of Four Souls grant me your power!"

Pain shoots through her body as the area is illuminated with a soft pink light. The world falls into darkness, eternal night taking her into its grasp, her soul leaving the confines of its earthly shell. The last sounds she hears are the cries of a damned soul-the soul of a demon lord.