WARNING: Uh, nothing really right now.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inuyasha, no mater how many unfinished stories I have that star him.
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They say that nothing ever comes free, that you always pay for it in the end.
Does anyone actually believe this or do they just write it off as another silly saying? I believe, as do many others, but none as much as one man. This one man now believes in this saying with his whole heart. Many years ago, however, he would have shot the mere idea down without a second thought, but that was before the trial that he had to undertake. He was once a great ruler, feared by humans and demons alike. He was elegant and graceful, giving the illusion that he could kill with just a look. Men wished to be him and women wished to have him. He was a man that craved absolute power above all else, to surpass his father tenfold, but with this power hungry wish he paid with everything that was dear to him. He lost everything. His home, his land, his respect, but he also lost the most important thing of all.. Himself.
He lost himself in all aspects of the word. Not only did he lose his body, but because of what he had done he lost his soul to the cruel and unforgiving world.
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Light from an old temple could be seen shining as the day turned to night. The monks that lived there were settling in for the night, a night that had been long and rough for everyone. The room that held the light was deathly quiet as two figures stood over a bed in the corner by the window. A man and a toad demon stood there, horror written on the small, green face of the smaller figure. The other figure was hard to describe, an emotionless face whose eyes spoke volumes of confusion and sorrow, but only if you dared to look deep enough.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, what do we do now?" the small green figure asked, worried for both himself and his master.
The man that was called Sesshoumaru said nothing as he continued to stand over the bed and stare down at its inhabitant. The man that was laying in the bed, unmoving and dead to the world, was in fact himself. He did not know how it had happened, though god knows that he wanted to find out, all he knew was that his body was separated from his spirit, or vice versa really. It all happened so fast and he just now had the time to really think about it. There were only two people in the world that could see and talk to him, everyone else just walked by like he was not there, and this angered him. They should be on the ground, cowering in fear of such an amazing for of power. They should showing him respect, not walking by like he does not exist.
That was the one thing that really made him angry was his loss of power. Without his body he was nothing, just a helpless spirit with no idea as to how to be helpless. There were only two people that could actually see him, and those two did him no good. The monk Miroku was one, and though he was a holy man he was far from pure. He spent his days groping young women and asking them to bear his children. Such a disgrace in the eyes of the Great Lord Sesshoumaru. His servant Jaken was also able to see him, though he had no idea why a lowly servant like him would have such keen perception.
Either way, he was staring down at his body and did not like it one bit, and he wanted someone to fix this before someone important found out what had happened to him. He would never live this down if anyone found out, and they would think him weak, which he was far from, he made sure of that. He even went as far as to get that stupid jewel, something he would never use, but he did not want anyone else to have it. If another youkai were to find it then that could mean the end for Sesshoumaru and his reign as the most powerful youkai in all of Japan. He was rather fond of his title, something that he worked many years for, and he was not about to lose it.
He hunted down the jewel and went through great lengths to retrieve it, and then when he did h had to lose his body. He knew that the jewel had something to do with this, but he was not sure how exactly. Miroku had gone off a few hours ago to do some research on the jewel, though he probably opted for harassing the village girls instead.
"Jaken, go fetch the monk, he has taken enough of my time," Sesshoumaru demanded, though he did not seem as threatening as he was just a day prior, but the toad nodded and scurried away even though the threatening glare did nothing to frighten him this time around.
Sesshoumaru would have taken a seat next to the bed, if he were able to actually sit that was. It was not that he couldn't, it was that there was no point. There was no comfort to gain from it, and the fact that anyone could come in at any time and sit on him because all they would see was an empty chair was more than what he wanted to deal with right now. After a few minutes, or what seemed like minutes to Sesshoumaru through all of his thinking, Jaken and Miroku walked through the door. The monk had a big smile on his face which meant that either he had a cure for whatever Sesshoumaru was currently suffering from, or he had just groped someone.
"Ah, Sesshoumaru-sama. Sorry to have kept you waiting, but I did find out what has happened to you,"
The hope that would have shone in Sesshoumaru's eyes, if he let any emotion show, would have amazed people at the sound of those beautiful words. If Miroku knew what had happened, then certainly he would know how to fix it.
"Well, hurry and fix it then," Sesshoumaru said after a moment of silence.
Miroku still had the smile on his face, which was taken as a good sign and not just him thinking about his latest victim.
"Gee, I wish I could Sesshoumaru-sama, but I am afraid that I do not know how. Only Kaede knows how to do that, and I am not even sure if that old hag is still alive," Miroku explained with very little remorse.
Sesshoumaru tried to slap some sense into the monk, but when his hand went straight through the flesh of the man he was currently glaring at, he once again felt helpless.
"Then go check!" Sesshoumaru yelled, his anger caused by his failed attempt at decapitating the monk.
"It is not that simple, Sesshoumaru-sama. I have duties here and cannot just leave in the middle of a big event because you told me to. If you want, you and Jaken can go and find out for yourselves. Just make sure when you find her that you do not insult her, if you do she will probably just leave you as you are,"
If looks could kill, at that very moment Miroku would be beyond dead, if there was such a thing. Sesshoumaru was not happy at the news, he was use to doing things for himself, but he was also use to demanding something and getting it. He did not want to leave his body unguarded, but he knew that Miroku would not do what he was told, so he had to leave.
"Very well, we will leave first thing in the morning,"
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Morning did not come early enough for Sesshoumaru, not being able to actually sleep, he was forced to stay up all night lost in his thoughts. He needed to make sure not to insult this woman, if she was in fact alive, it was not like he could do anything against her if she decided not to help him. He could order Jaken to take care of her, but to face the facts, very few people are afraid of the toad demon, and for good reason. They started out walking, the village that the old miko was said to be living in was not too far from the temple that now housed Sesshoumaru's body. The estimated time was two days of nonstop walking, which was easy for Sesshoumaru, but a challenge for his small companion that required food and sleep.
"Master, what are we to do if this woman is dead or refuses to help?" the little toad questioned his long time master as they walked on.
Sesshoumaru had thought about that even though he preferred to think that it would all work out the way that he wanted it to. But in all of his thinking he did not come up with a solution and that aggravated him.
"She will not refuse, and if she is dead, then I will find another miko to do the job," was all he said before he stepped in front of his servant and began walking faster.
The rest of the day and the next were silent ones, Jaken fighting to keep up with his master as he was growing weaker from the lack of rest and nourishment. Sesshoumaru knew that the village was growing close when he passed through a clearing with a well in the middle of it. He knew this as the Bone Eater's Well and that signaled the village was just a few minutes from where he stood. He walked on not even bothering to see if Jaken was behind him, though it was not like he ever did.
"Her hut should be around here," he said more to himself as he surveyed the village.
He hated going to villages like this one, all of the putrid smells was enough to make his stomach church in disgust. He walked past many people and the realization of what happened only heightened when they all ignored him. He reached the middle of the village where a group of huts were lined up and decided to check the middle one when he thought he heard the name 'Kaede' come from it. When he entered he could see two woman sitting by the fire in the middle of the room drinking what he could only assume was tea. Sesshoumaru did not bother to listen to what they were saying, but after a few more minutes the younger of the two women left. After the woman left Jaken came into the hut, his face lighting up when he saw Sesshoumaru. The older woman looked up from the fire when the toad demon entered the building and smiled.
"Ah, I see that I have visitors," she said before taking a sip from her cup, now looking at the fire again.
Sesshoumaru was sure that she could see him when she said visitors instead of visitor, which made him think that this might actually work out for him. Jaken walked over to the woman, a snide look on his face like he was about to make an insulting comment. Jaken looked at Sesshoumaru before he said anything rude, and when he saw the glare that Sesshoumaru was giving off, the comment got lost in his throat and turned into a cough instead.
"Are you the miko Kaede?" the little toad asked when his coughing fit was through with.
"Yes, that would be I," she said, now looking at the small figure in front of her.
"Then you must return Lord Sesshoumaru's soul back to his body," Jaken said, staring at the woman as he waited for her to perform a miracle.
"I am afraid that there is only one person who can accomplish such a feat, and it is not I," the elderly woman said before turning to Sesshoumaru.
"You have angered the gods, and for your punishment they have separated your soul from your body. The only way to return to your former self is to perform a selfless act," she said, stopping to take another sip from her cup.
"What shall I do, give money to the poor? Something of that nature?" Sesshoumaru asked, hoping that this could be taken care of very quickly, he had work to get done.
Kaede laughed at Sesshoumaru's questions, which did not bode well with the demon lord. He felt like she was looking down at him, like she thought herself better and that because she was better that she had the right to laugh at him.
"Oh no, my lord, that is much too small of a deed. No, the gods have something else in mind, something that will take time and effort,"
Sesshoumaru was growing tired of the miko's games and he wished that he could rip her head off, but alas, he was unable to even touch her. Sensing his anger, Jaken took on a stern look.
"Well then, tell us what to do so that we can be done with is!" he all but shouted.
Kaede waved her hand at the toad demon, dismissing him as she looked back to his master.
"Two villages to the East lives a girl who has not had the best life. She is my great niece, Kagome. If you can heal her heart and make her smile again, then you will be able to return to your body, if not, then you will be forced to live like this forever," she spoke with stern, cold words.
"Lord Sesshoumaru does not have time to play such games with humans, he must get back to his lands!" Jaken once again shouted in anger and disgust at the prospect of his master having to perform a deed like that for a human girl.
Sesshoumaru was deep in thought over this. According to the miko he had to find this girl and somehow make her happy again because apparently she had a bad life. Normally he would not even think about doing this, but he was in a desperate situation and he believed the miko when she said that this was the only way that he could return to his body.
"It will be done," was all that Sesshoumaru said before walking out of the hut, Jaken running after him a moment later.
"Hopefully Kagome will not be the only one with a healed heart in the end,"
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In a forest clearing, not too far from the village of the miko Kaede, a young girl sat under a tree with a look of discontentment written all over her face. She was pretty with her long, somewhat wavy, hair and her deep blue eyes. She spent a lot of time out here after the incident that took her happiness away, the day she lost her world. She was attacked in this very clearing, a scar now adorning her delicate face, from when the group of strangers attacked her, kept her from forgetting how much she hated herself. She was saved from any real injuries that day when her older sister came looking for her and fended off the attackers. Kikyou was more advanced in her archery, mostly because she had been doing it longer, and easily defended her younger sister.
After that happened, Kagome felt like she was always being watched, stared at because of the long scar. She knew people pitied her, she use to be so pretty, now no one could look her straight in the face. As time went on she grew more and more angry, angry at everyone that could not look at her with a straight face, but mostly angry at herself. If she had been stronger then she could have defended herself and would not have to rely on her sister to save her from everything.
"If I would have remembered to bring my arrows, then I might have been able to do something,"
But of course she thought of herself as stupid and forgetful because she had left her arrows at home when she went out that night. She only wanted to watch the sun set, something that she did often. Kikyou always told her not to go out alone, and if she did to bring a weapon with her, but Kagome never listened. That is why Kikyou was so much better than her, but she is not mad at her sister, just jealous of how much knowledge that she held for someone so young.
"I just wish someone could like me for me, and can forget about this damned scar,"
And at that moment, Kagome felt something. A tingle ran up her spine, something that she had never felt before, and for some reason she felt like something was coming, though she could not tell if it was good or bad, all she knew was that it would be there soon.