InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Darkness ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: DemonSaya 
Five Hundred years since the last Daughter was born, since the last Witch, a prophecy comes to fruition.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Occult / Romance / Supernatural / Adventure / Drama | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 09.30.2007 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.7K | Visits: 535 | Status: Completed
Five Hundred years since the last Daughter was born, since the last Witch, a prophecy comes to fruition.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Occult / Romance / Supernatural / Adventure / Drama | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 09.30.2007 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.7K | Visits: 535 | Status: Completed
AN: So, this idea sprung after reading The Black Jewels Trilogy for the eighth time. It's not a direct rip off, just loosely based on the Anne Bishop series. I like to think I changed it enough to make it interesting, and I hope that you all enjoy it. Arigatou gozaimasu
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DARKNESS
By: Chibi-no-Oneesan
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Chapter 1
They Who Look After Lost Children
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DARKNESS
By: Chibi-no-Oneesan
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Chapter 1
They Who Look After Lost Children
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It wasn't their fault. They were taught to fear that which is different. She didn't hate them, she didn't resent them, but she felt sad for that terrified existence in which they lived. The Children of the Light did not understand the Darkness. It was better that they didn't. Those who understood the Darkness were doomed to walk in the Shadowlands for the rest of their existence. It was the only place safe for those who had been touched.
She looked around her as people hissed and jeered from where she was bound, a sense of peaceful finality floating around her consciousness. She hadn't been touched. Not in the way Children of the Light and Children of the Shadowlands were.
She was different.
Which was how she'd come to be where she was.
“BURN HER! BURN THE WITCH!”
Smokey gray eyes peered out at the crowd of spectators. She forgave them. She forgave them in silence for their ignorance, for they'd cut out her tongue. She cried tears for them, cried out to the darkness that had birthed her to give them a second chance. Give them a daughter they could love and not fear. Let the next girl reach adulthood.
It wasn't their fault.
Her eyes met a pair of dark brown ones, eyes in the face of a young woman, barely older than she. Practically a child and not quite an adult. Unaffected by the fears in this world. She looked deep into her eyes, using all of her strength to push out an impression.
“Midoriko, evil child of the Darkness, you are henceforth sentenced to death so you may return whence you have come!”
The voice didn't distract her. She continued to push her strength towards that woman-child. What they said didn't matter. The darkness would hear her. She was it's only child. She was the Daughter of the Darkness, and she could command and use it in a way that no one else would ever be able to. They may have removed her tongue, but that didn't stop the magics forming around her.
She was strong enough for this.
Despite their torture, despite their attempts to weaken her.
Despite their attempts to sever her from the darkness.
She couldn't change what she was.
“Do you have anything to say on your own behalf?!”
She sneered at the man, taking her eyes off the girl. They knew well enough she couldn't speak. But there was nothing wrong with her mind. She had power enough for this. Power enough for this prophecy and to cast the web over the crowd. She had enough to touch the one person who didn't look upon her with hatred. Enough to send a spike of fear deeper into everyone who watched.
Hear me.
The crowd went silent and she turned to face them.
I may die here today. You may kill me. But you cannot destroy the darkness. The darkness is all consuming and all powerful. The day will come and the Daughter of the Darkness will return. One of you will still walk among the Children of the Light when that time comes.
Whispers went up in the crowd, people screamed and hugged their families. Midoriko simply turned her attention to that girl. It will be you. You will serve the next. She said directly to her, seeing the eyes widen and a small smile turned up her lips as they lit the branches that would become her funeral pyre. She felt the fire touch her skin but didn't flinch. She simply closed her eyes and tilted her head back. I am Witch. I will return, and no mortal can stop me.
She looked around her as people hissed and jeered from where she was bound, a sense of peaceful finality floating around her consciousness. She hadn't been touched. Not in the way Children of the Light and Children of the Shadowlands were.
She was different.
Which was how she'd come to be where she was.
“BURN HER! BURN THE WITCH!”
Smokey gray eyes peered out at the crowd of spectators. She forgave them. She forgave them in silence for their ignorance, for they'd cut out her tongue. She cried tears for them, cried out to the darkness that had birthed her to give them a second chance. Give them a daughter they could love and not fear. Let the next girl reach adulthood.
It wasn't their fault.
Her eyes met a pair of dark brown ones, eyes in the face of a young woman, barely older than she. Practically a child and not quite an adult. Unaffected by the fears in this world. She looked deep into her eyes, using all of her strength to push out an impression.
“Midoriko, evil child of the Darkness, you are henceforth sentenced to death so you may return whence you have come!”
The voice didn't distract her. She continued to push her strength towards that woman-child. What they said didn't matter. The darkness would hear her. She was it's only child. She was the Daughter of the Darkness, and she could command and use it in a way that no one else would ever be able to. They may have removed her tongue, but that didn't stop the magics forming around her.
She was strong enough for this.
Despite their torture, despite their attempts to weaken her.
Despite their attempts to sever her from the darkness.
She couldn't change what she was.
“Do you have anything to say on your own behalf?!”
She sneered at the man, taking her eyes off the girl. They knew well enough she couldn't speak. But there was nothing wrong with her mind. She had power enough for this. Power enough for this prophecy and to cast the web over the crowd. She had enough to touch the one person who didn't look upon her with hatred. Enough to send a spike of fear deeper into everyone who watched.
Hear me.
The crowd went silent and she turned to face them.
I may die here today. You may kill me. But you cannot destroy the darkness. The darkness is all consuming and all powerful. The day will come and the Daughter of the Darkness will return. One of you will still walk among the Children of the Light when that time comes.
Whispers went up in the crowd, people screamed and hugged their families. Midoriko simply turned her attention to that girl. It will be you. You will serve the next. She said directly to her, seeing the eyes widen and a small smile turned up her lips as they lit the branches that would become her funeral pyre. She felt the fire touch her skin but didn't flinch. She simply closed her eyes and tilted her head back. I am Witch. I will return, and no mortal can stop me.
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Kaede woke with a start.
It had been going on half a millennium since she'd witnessed the events she'd just dreamed. Almost five hundred years since the prophecy speaking of another Daughter of Darkness. But nothing had happened so far, just the standard day to day in the Realm of Light. People no longer jumped at shadows and the blood-letting of those who'd been Touched had stopped more than four hundred years ago. She had narrowly escaped the slaughter, but her elder-sister hadn't been quite so lucky.
Things in both realms had been quite calm the past three hundred years, despite the rise of a new demon lord, who was actually one touched by Darkness, and was using those powers for ill. Enough people laid down before him that no one really noticed the edge that the Shadowlands had developed.
Kaede herself lived on the precipice between the two realms. Her small cottage was nestled on the edge, half in the Realm of Light, half in the Realm of Shadows. It's location gave her the ability to travel back and forth without trouble, and she was able to keep a greater eye out for the Daughter.
Three realms really existed in the world. The Realm of Light was really the only one most mortals cared about, since that was the one in which they spent most of their existence. It was bright during the day and dark at night, having four seasons. The only real residents of the realm were 'normal' animals and mortal humans. Few of those who had been born mortals and became immortal after being Touched by the Darkness, despite it not being a true immortality. They still died, they just lived significantly longer than others. Most of them fled to the Shadowlands.
The Realm of Shadows was the land of the demons, the land of mystical creatures, and where most of the Touched called home. It had a day and a night, but the day was short and the night was far darker than in the Realm of Light. It only had two seasons, a rather mild one and a bitterly cold one. It had taken on a nastier edge in the years since Naraku had taken over, and some of the demons were getting edgy. A few had even fled over the boundary and into the Realm of Light. Others had gone the other way and found themselves lost in the Darkness.
The Darkness was another story. It wasn't like the Realm of Light or the Shadowlands. People didn't dwell in the Darkness. It was a place that one could not exist. Or at least that's what everyone was told. In truth, if you went too far into the darkness, you could get lost, and you would die, certainly, but usually from starvation or lack of water. It was supposedly a place of cave-like darkness, where if you took only one step over the boundary, you'd become hopelessly entangled in the inky black air. The Darkness didn't have children. Not usually. Those who were Touched were usually called the Children of the Darkness. It was where their unusual powers came from, where they drew energy.
The Daughter of Darkness was a different story.
Kaede slowly climbed out of bed, her old bones creaking. She lit a candle, and stared out at the slowly lightening sky.
The Darkness had only one Daughter in written history. A girl named Midoriko. Kaede could remember the smoky gray gaze, the slight smile that she wore even as the flames engulfed her. She could remember the soft voice in her head. Yes, that girl was different. People Kaede had spoken to later, while acting as a doctor to those who had executed the girl a few scant years after her death, had told her things that seemed unbelievable.
She hadn't screamed as they'd tortured her. She didn't whimper when they cut out their tongues. She didn't look at them with hatred in her gaze. Never any anger. Always this passive kind of acceptance. As though she had known she was going to die. As she'd died, they said she'd whispered that she forgave them.
It would appear that the Darkness didn't feel the same way.
Within a year of burning the girl to death, a fever swept across the village. Everyone who had been involved with the torture or execution, even a few spectators had come down with it. Most had died months later.
Within five years of the execution, it became evident that she had been touched. Her gift of Sight would stretch out while she dreamed and the future would come to her. Never precise, the Sight wasn't that clear or kind, but it would give her hints that would make drastic sense a few days, even weeks later. After realizing that she'd been touched, she'd quickly fled the Realm of Light and found this cottage on the edge. She sent her mother a letter, telling them that she was fine and where she was. She also told them to burn the letters when they received them.
She saw her mother and sister periodically, but never her father. Her father deemed that she was a freak and never spoke to her again. Then, one day, she received a letter from her mother informing her that she would be sending her sister to live with her come spring. And a few days later, the night the first snow fell, Kaede dreamed of her sister and in the dream they'd embraced each other tightly and Kikyou had whispered something into her ear.
“Goodbye, little sister.”
Kaede woke then, and found that her face was damp with tears. Later that day, she received an urgent message from her mother stating that her sister had been executed for being a witch. That was when she'd learned of another power she had. Casting intentions. She'd spent the day in bed, wishing the most ill thing she could think upon whoever had done the heinous deed and not two days later, received another letter from her mother, saying that her father had been stomped to death by a horse.
Her father had always been good with horses.
Kaede had put that information away and began casting intentions to cause good instead of harm. She dove into the darkness with her mind and called out to any children who may be lost, children as she'd been, children as her sister had been. She called them towards her and gradually her first students began to arrive.
All manner of people came to her. Demons, half-lings, mortals who'd been Touched. Even a Touched animal and mystic creature or two.
Through the centuries, she taught them things she knew and learned things she didn't, becoming one of the most well respected Witches to walk the Realms. Even the mortals in the Realm of Light had found that she was a person they could call upon if they needed to know something or even needed a doctor. But deep down, those mortals always hesitated at her door, always avoided physical contact with her.
Because she was a Witch.
“You're up early, Lady Kaede.”
The male voice behind her drew her attention and she saw her latest pupil. The pitch colored hair fell in front of violet eyes, a gift from the Darkness. In his hand he carried a large gnarled walking stick that she figured was as much a weapon as something to help him walk. His face was still young despite his nearly fifty years on this earth. His tunic and denim pant were dusty from the road. His traveling cloak was worn and heavily patched. He looked like a drifter, without a care in the world. Right down to that boyish smile on his face.
“Indeed, Miroku.” She agreed, nodding at him. “You as well, I see.”
He removed his cloak, hanging it by the door. “I had a feeling,” he said, moving to look out the window as well, “that if I came by, you'd be up and about.”
“And your feelings are always right.” She nodded. Kaede went silent for awhile, pondering the sky. What was the darkness trying to tell her this time? It never let it's messages be clear, as though it were trying to tease her with little scraps of information, to entice her into drifting too far into it and letting herself get lost amongst it's twisted grasp. “I dreamt a dream tonight.” She said softly, watching the stars wink out.
Her pupil looked towards her sharply. “And what did you See, Lady?”
Not what she dreamed. What she Saw. Miroku knew quite well of her gift. Kaede was the sole reason Miroku was still alive today. Her Sight had saved him.
Miroku had been Touched as a child. He learned of it quickly, and just as soon as he had learned a few powers, started experimenting. One time while he was fooling around, he descended too far, too fast, and almost got trapped in the Darkness. Kaede had been reaching out when Miroku slipped past her and she only was just able to prevent the Darkness from making him it's own forever.
She'd quickly located his physical body and found his parents gathered around terrified. He'd been unconscious for several hours, but Kaede was able to ease him back into his body. That was when she'd discovered something rather distressing.
The Darkness hadn't just Touched him. It had left a Mark upon him.
The mark acted like a lure, and each time Miroku descended he ran the risk of not being able to return. He was the one she'd schooled the most fiercely in discipline and had always stressed that you did NOT dabble with the Darkness if you didn't want to become one of the Lost Ones.
Kaede looked slowly towards her student, a calm look on her face. “I Saw a memory. It was a warning, both threat and promise at once.” She looked towards the sky once again and saw the sun peaking over the horizon. Yes, threat and promise was a good way to describe it. “The balance is changing.” She said, squinting her ancient eyes.
“Dear woman, you speak in riddles.” Miroku teased, sitting down in a chair. His eyes were yet wary. There was something troubled in his gaze. He watched his ancient mentor as she watched the sun rise above the skies.
Kaede had never seemed old to him. She was like the earth, ancient, sometimes mysterious, but not old. Even after living five hundred years, she still laughed, and sometimes he could see a youthful mischievous glint in the now glassy brown eyes. One had gone mostly blind and she now wore a patch over it to keep from unnerving any mortals she had to deal with. Her skin was heavily wrinkled and her knuckles were gnarled like the branches on a tree. Her back was hunched with age, but still, she only looked like she'd lived five or six decades, not five centuries.
She looked towards him, her eye knowing. “I have told you of the girl named Midoriko?” She asked softly, moving slowly towards the kitchen. She didn't speak further as she lit the stove, simply patiently waited for her best and strongest student to remember. She knew she'd told him. Several times when he was just a young boy. But it had been awhile since then, and it would take him some time to remember.
Miroku pondered the question. It wasn't just a question. It was almost a test. Of course he remembered the story of Midoriko, a girl who'd called herself the Daughter of the Darkness. A children's story, a fairy tale. Something told to children to teach them to not fear those who were Touched. “It's a children's story...” He said.
She clucked her tongue in impatience.
He flinched. It didn't take much to know when the woman was annoyed. That sound had been the heralding of more than a few hard lessons. “The Daughter of the Darkness.” He said finally, and there was faint approval in her eye when she turned to face him. He watched her closely as she got a kettle and filled it with water.
The story had been his favorite as a child. She knew that. He could still remember, could still feel that same odd ache in his soul when he remembered the story. A desire to serve someone so powerful. To serve, to protect. It had been a child's dream. A dream that had faded over time. Yet, the mere mention of the Daughter of the Darkness caused those feelings once again.
How many others knew of the Daughter? How many others wished to serve her as well?
“More than a Fairy Tale, Miroku.” She said softly. She set the kettle on the water. “I have not told you this, because it was not yours to know. But I sense that you will be in her inner circle, and so you deserve to know.” She looked towards him, her wrinkles cast in sharp relief. “I was at Midoriko's execution.”
He sucked in a sharp breath, eyes widening. “Then...she did exist?”
“Indeed..” Kaede pulled down two cups, then fixed him with a look. It was hard to read. “It was on that day the darkness touched me.” She got a far off look in her eye. “You will serve the next...” She said softly. She continued to stare into nothing for a moment then turned an intense gaze on her student. “It was that day's events which I dreamed of last night.”
Miroku stared at her in awed wonder. His thoughts were running a mile a minute at the possibilities of what that dream could mean. He was not afraid of the Darkness. It had never scared him. Even when he'd nearly slipped into it's inky black clutches when he was a boy of twelve, it hadn't frightened him. He lifted his gaze towards Kaede, an odd calm settling over him. “What will you have me do?”
A small approving smile turned up the corners of her lips. “You nothing, boy. Together or not at all. You're not the only one who has waited for this possibility to arise.” She made them each a cup of tea and looked out the window, her eye twinkling with that mischief that made her look years younger than she was. “We will make a descent. We will send an impression.”
Miroku nodded in agreement. “It should be today, while the dream is fresh.” He said, his intuition flying. “I'll make preparations. There is a spot near here that I passed on the way. I thought it would be a good place to meditate.” He paused glancing towards her. “When shall we proceed?”
Kaede turned towards him and arched an eyebrow. Such a silly question. Especially from one whose intuitive sense was far beyond her own. Her lips twitched a bit. “Why the Witching Hour, of course.” She said, smiling at her student. “When else?”
It had been going on half a millennium since she'd witnessed the events she'd just dreamed. Almost five hundred years since the prophecy speaking of another Daughter of Darkness. But nothing had happened so far, just the standard day to day in the Realm of Light. People no longer jumped at shadows and the blood-letting of those who'd been Touched had stopped more than four hundred years ago. She had narrowly escaped the slaughter, but her elder-sister hadn't been quite so lucky.
Things in both realms had been quite calm the past three hundred years, despite the rise of a new demon lord, who was actually one touched by Darkness, and was using those powers for ill. Enough people laid down before him that no one really noticed the edge that the Shadowlands had developed.
Kaede herself lived on the precipice between the two realms. Her small cottage was nestled on the edge, half in the Realm of Light, half in the Realm of Shadows. It's location gave her the ability to travel back and forth without trouble, and she was able to keep a greater eye out for the Daughter.
Three realms really existed in the world. The Realm of Light was really the only one most mortals cared about, since that was the one in which they spent most of their existence. It was bright during the day and dark at night, having four seasons. The only real residents of the realm were 'normal' animals and mortal humans. Few of those who had been born mortals and became immortal after being Touched by the Darkness, despite it not being a true immortality. They still died, they just lived significantly longer than others. Most of them fled to the Shadowlands.
The Realm of Shadows was the land of the demons, the land of mystical creatures, and where most of the Touched called home. It had a day and a night, but the day was short and the night was far darker than in the Realm of Light. It only had two seasons, a rather mild one and a bitterly cold one. It had taken on a nastier edge in the years since Naraku had taken over, and some of the demons were getting edgy. A few had even fled over the boundary and into the Realm of Light. Others had gone the other way and found themselves lost in the Darkness.
The Darkness was another story. It wasn't like the Realm of Light or the Shadowlands. People didn't dwell in the Darkness. It was a place that one could not exist. Or at least that's what everyone was told. In truth, if you went too far into the darkness, you could get lost, and you would die, certainly, but usually from starvation or lack of water. It was supposedly a place of cave-like darkness, where if you took only one step over the boundary, you'd become hopelessly entangled in the inky black air. The Darkness didn't have children. Not usually. Those who were Touched were usually called the Children of the Darkness. It was where their unusual powers came from, where they drew energy.
The Daughter of Darkness was a different story.
Kaede slowly climbed out of bed, her old bones creaking. She lit a candle, and stared out at the slowly lightening sky.
The Darkness had only one Daughter in written history. A girl named Midoriko. Kaede could remember the smoky gray gaze, the slight smile that she wore even as the flames engulfed her. She could remember the soft voice in her head. Yes, that girl was different. People Kaede had spoken to later, while acting as a doctor to those who had executed the girl a few scant years after her death, had told her things that seemed unbelievable.
She hadn't screamed as they'd tortured her. She didn't whimper when they cut out their tongues. She didn't look at them with hatred in her gaze. Never any anger. Always this passive kind of acceptance. As though she had known she was going to die. As she'd died, they said she'd whispered that she forgave them.
It would appear that the Darkness didn't feel the same way.
Within a year of burning the girl to death, a fever swept across the village. Everyone who had been involved with the torture or execution, even a few spectators had come down with it. Most had died months later.
Within five years of the execution, it became evident that she had been touched. Her gift of Sight would stretch out while she dreamed and the future would come to her. Never precise, the Sight wasn't that clear or kind, but it would give her hints that would make drastic sense a few days, even weeks later. After realizing that she'd been touched, she'd quickly fled the Realm of Light and found this cottage on the edge. She sent her mother a letter, telling them that she was fine and where she was. She also told them to burn the letters when they received them.
She saw her mother and sister periodically, but never her father. Her father deemed that she was a freak and never spoke to her again. Then, one day, she received a letter from her mother informing her that she would be sending her sister to live with her come spring. And a few days later, the night the first snow fell, Kaede dreamed of her sister and in the dream they'd embraced each other tightly and Kikyou had whispered something into her ear.
“Goodbye, little sister.”
Kaede woke then, and found that her face was damp with tears. Later that day, she received an urgent message from her mother stating that her sister had been executed for being a witch. That was when she'd learned of another power she had. Casting intentions. She'd spent the day in bed, wishing the most ill thing she could think upon whoever had done the heinous deed and not two days later, received another letter from her mother, saying that her father had been stomped to death by a horse.
Her father had always been good with horses.
Kaede had put that information away and began casting intentions to cause good instead of harm. She dove into the darkness with her mind and called out to any children who may be lost, children as she'd been, children as her sister had been. She called them towards her and gradually her first students began to arrive.
All manner of people came to her. Demons, half-lings, mortals who'd been Touched. Even a Touched animal and mystic creature or two.
Through the centuries, she taught them things she knew and learned things she didn't, becoming one of the most well respected Witches to walk the Realms. Even the mortals in the Realm of Light had found that she was a person they could call upon if they needed to know something or even needed a doctor. But deep down, those mortals always hesitated at her door, always avoided physical contact with her.
Because she was a Witch.
“You're up early, Lady Kaede.”
The male voice behind her drew her attention and she saw her latest pupil. The pitch colored hair fell in front of violet eyes, a gift from the Darkness. In his hand he carried a large gnarled walking stick that she figured was as much a weapon as something to help him walk. His face was still young despite his nearly fifty years on this earth. His tunic and denim pant were dusty from the road. His traveling cloak was worn and heavily patched. He looked like a drifter, without a care in the world. Right down to that boyish smile on his face.
“Indeed, Miroku.” She agreed, nodding at him. “You as well, I see.”
He removed his cloak, hanging it by the door. “I had a feeling,” he said, moving to look out the window as well, “that if I came by, you'd be up and about.”
“And your feelings are always right.” She nodded. Kaede went silent for awhile, pondering the sky. What was the darkness trying to tell her this time? It never let it's messages be clear, as though it were trying to tease her with little scraps of information, to entice her into drifting too far into it and letting herself get lost amongst it's twisted grasp. “I dreamt a dream tonight.” She said softly, watching the stars wink out.
Her pupil looked towards her sharply. “And what did you See, Lady?”
Not what she dreamed. What she Saw. Miroku knew quite well of her gift. Kaede was the sole reason Miroku was still alive today. Her Sight had saved him.
Miroku had been Touched as a child. He learned of it quickly, and just as soon as he had learned a few powers, started experimenting. One time while he was fooling around, he descended too far, too fast, and almost got trapped in the Darkness. Kaede had been reaching out when Miroku slipped past her and she only was just able to prevent the Darkness from making him it's own forever.
She'd quickly located his physical body and found his parents gathered around terrified. He'd been unconscious for several hours, but Kaede was able to ease him back into his body. That was when she'd discovered something rather distressing.
The Darkness hadn't just Touched him. It had left a Mark upon him.
The mark acted like a lure, and each time Miroku descended he ran the risk of not being able to return. He was the one she'd schooled the most fiercely in discipline and had always stressed that you did NOT dabble with the Darkness if you didn't want to become one of the Lost Ones.
Kaede looked slowly towards her student, a calm look on her face. “I Saw a memory. It was a warning, both threat and promise at once.” She looked towards the sky once again and saw the sun peaking over the horizon. Yes, threat and promise was a good way to describe it. “The balance is changing.” She said, squinting her ancient eyes.
“Dear woman, you speak in riddles.” Miroku teased, sitting down in a chair. His eyes were yet wary. There was something troubled in his gaze. He watched his ancient mentor as she watched the sun rise above the skies.
Kaede had never seemed old to him. She was like the earth, ancient, sometimes mysterious, but not old. Even after living five hundred years, she still laughed, and sometimes he could see a youthful mischievous glint in the now glassy brown eyes. One had gone mostly blind and she now wore a patch over it to keep from unnerving any mortals she had to deal with. Her skin was heavily wrinkled and her knuckles were gnarled like the branches on a tree. Her back was hunched with age, but still, she only looked like she'd lived five or six decades, not five centuries.
She looked towards him, her eye knowing. “I have told you of the girl named Midoriko?” She asked softly, moving slowly towards the kitchen. She didn't speak further as she lit the stove, simply patiently waited for her best and strongest student to remember. She knew she'd told him. Several times when he was just a young boy. But it had been awhile since then, and it would take him some time to remember.
Miroku pondered the question. It wasn't just a question. It was almost a test. Of course he remembered the story of Midoriko, a girl who'd called herself the Daughter of the Darkness. A children's story, a fairy tale. Something told to children to teach them to not fear those who were Touched. “It's a children's story...” He said.
She clucked her tongue in impatience.
He flinched. It didn't take much to know when the woman was annoyed. That sound had been the heralding of more than a few hard lessons. “The Daughter of the Darkness.” He said finally, and there was faint approval in her eye when she turned to face him. He watched her closely as she got a kettle and filled it with water.
The story had been his favorite as a child. She knew that. He could still remember, could still feel that same odd ache in his soul when he remembered the story. A desire to serve someone so powerful. To serve, to protect. It had been a child's dream. A dream that had faded over time. Yet, the mere mention of the Daughter of the Darkness caused those feelings once again.
How many others knew of the Daughter? How many others wished to serve her as well?
“More than a Fairy Tale, Miroku.” She said softly. She set the kettle on the water. “I have not told you this, because it was not yours to know. But I sense that you will be in her inner circle, and so you deserve to know.” She looked towards him, her wrinkles cast in sharp relief. “I was at Midoriko's execution.”
He sucked in a sharp breath, eyes widening. “Then...she did exist?”
“Indeed..” Kaede pulled down two cups, then fixed him with a look. It was hard to read. “It was on that day the darkness touched me.” She got a far off look in her eye. “You will serve the next...” She said softly. She continued to stare into nothing for a moment then turned an intense gaze on her student. “It was that day's events which I dreamed of last night.”
Miroku stared at her in awed wonder. His thoughts were running a mile a minute at the possibilities of what that dream could mean. He was not afraid of the Darkness. It had never scared him. Even when he'd nearly slipped into it's inky black clutches when he was a boy of twelve, it hadn't frightened him. He lifted his gaze towards Kaede, an odd calm settling over him. “What will you have me do?”
A small approving smile turned up the corners of her lips. “You nothing, boy. Together or not at all. You're not the only one who has waited for this possibility to arise.” She made them each a cup of tea and looked out the window, her eye twinkling with that mischief that made her look years younger than she was. “We will make a descent. We will send an impression.”
Miroku nodded in agreement. “It should be today, while the dream is fresh.” He said, his intuition flying. “I'll make preparations. There is a spot near here that I passed on the way. I thought it would be a good place to meditate.” He paused glancing towards her. “When shall we proceed?”
Kaede turned towards him and arched an eyebrow. Such a silly question. Especially from one whose intuitive sense was far beyond her own. Her lips twitched a bit. “Why the Witching Hour, of course.” She said, smiling at her student. “When else?”
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
It was like a drum's pulse. It pulled at her and entranced her. An impression. She didn't really know how she knew that's what it was called, but she knew. The sun shone through the leaves in her families garden and she stared back up at it, her stormy gray eyes smiling.
Someone was calling to her.
This too, she knew without knowing. It was odd. She'd always felt things like that. Always she'd had this strange sense of knowing. It unnerved most of her family. It unnerved her brother. It unnerved people who were just visiting.
It unnerved them that she knew it unnerved them.
She was just a little different than them. She aged well enough like them. But there was something darker, something that frightened most of her peers.
She was used to the fear, but she didn't get it from everyone. Those who called her didn't fear her. Those who called her wanted to be with her. Most of her best friends had called to her.
Now someone else was calling. Not just a single person. And not just a tug. It was almost as though she were being forcefully pulled somewhere she'd never been. But at the same time, she could hear something inside her whisper that the time was not yet right.
The sound of her mother's voice washed over the garden. “Kagome! Come inside, it's getting cold.”
Kagome sat up from where she lay on the bench and smiled faintly. No, now wasn't the proper time. But soon. Soon she would go and learn who was calling her this time. It was time to meet a new friend. It was time to learn to control that which had been her birthright.
Someone was calling to her.
This too, she knew without knowing. It was odd. She'd always felt things like that. Always she'd had this strange sense of knowing. It unnerved most of her family. It unnerved her brother. It unnerved people who were just visiting.
It unnerved them that she knew it unnerved them.
She was just a little different than them. She aged well enough like them. But there was something darker, something that frightened most of her peers.
She was used to the fear, but she didn't get it from everyone. Those who called her didn't fear her. Those who called her wanted to be with her. Most of her best friends had called to her.
Now someone else was calling. Not just a single person. And not just a tug. It was almost as though she were being forcefully pulled somewhere she'd never been. But at the same time, she could hear something inside her whisper that the time was not yet right.
The sound of her mother's voice washed over the garden. “Kagome! Come inside, it's getting cold.”
Kagome sat up from where she lay on the bench and smiled faintly. No, now wasn't the proper time. But soon. Soon she would go and learn who was calling her this time. It was time to meet a new friend. It was time to learn to control that which had been her birthright.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Violet eyes opened slowly, staring sightlessly up at the ceiling. Her physical home was the Shadowlands, a prisoner in Naraku's hold. Yes, he had her body. But her heart belonged to the Lord of Demons and her mind had long since surrendered itself to the Darkness.
It's embrace was warm and loving, like her mother's had been. Like her beloveds had been.
A damp cloth gently stroked her face and she found gold eyes staring down at her. Eyes so like his fathers, eyes that belonged to her only son. When Naraku had raped her, she'd used her powers to extinguish the life that had immediately sprung up inside her. That forceful abortion had rendered her incapable of bearing any more children, but that didn't matter. The one that mattered had been born.
“Inuyasha...” She said softly.
A small smile turned up the boy's full pouting mouth. That smile never reached those beautiful golden eyes. “You haven't been eating again.”
She caught his wrist in a tight grip and looked at him, her face serious. She knew this was one of her rare moments of lucidity. She had to tell him now, before she drifted away again. As it was, she could already feel herself slipping away on the dark tide. She dug her fingernails into his skin, looking up at him intensely. “She comes.” She whispered.
He looked down at her startled. “Lady...?”
“The Darkness has birthed a child once again. It has put out it's Daughter and she will bring peace back to the realms...”
Eyes flashed with a longing. “You mean?”
“The Daughter of the Darkness has returned, and you will serve.” She rasped, and slipped back into the welcoming arms of the Darkness.
It's embrace was warm and loving, like her mother's had been. Like her beloveds had been.
A damp cloth gently stroked her face and she found gold eyes staring down at her. Eyes so like his fathers, eyes that belonged to her only son. When Naraku had raped her, she'd used her powers to extinguish the life that had immediately sprung up inside her. That forceful abortion had rendered her incapable of bearing any more children, but that didn't matter. The one that mattered had been born.
“Inuyasha...” She said softly.
A small smile turned up the boy's full pouting mouth. That smile never reached those beautiful golden eyes. “You haven't been eating again.”
She caught his wrist in a tight grip and looked at him, her face serious. She knew this was one of her rare moments of lucidity. She had to tell him now, before she drifted away again. As it was, she could already feel herself slipping away on the dark tide. She dug her fingernails into his skin, looking up at him intensely. “She comes.” She whispered.
He looked down at her startled. “Lady...?”
“The Darkness has birthed a child once again. It has put out it's Daughter and she will bring peace back to the realms...”
Eyes flashed with a longing. “You mean?”
“The Daughter of the Darkness has returned, and you will serve.” She rasped, and slipped back into the welcoming arms of the Darkness.
0o0o0o0oan0o0o0o0
A candle flickered out and he didn't bother moving to relight it. It had been three hundred years since he'd stepped down from his position. Three hundred years since his wife and son had been stolen from him prior to Naraku assuming power over the region.
It seemed like a drop in the hat, and at the same time, it seemed like forever.
His golden eyes glowed faintly in the darkness and he stared out the dark window. The sun had long since set in the Shadowlands. The moon didn't shine here, so the darkness was complete. He didn't care, the darkness usually suited his mood better than the light. He'd been hidden away in his great castle for all these years, waiting for something to pull him from this mood.
He supposed he'd found that thing.
Sesshoumaru had been acting oddly, jumpy almost. His oldest, full demon son had taken charge of his business dealings in the Realm of Light many years ago, and as a result, he spent a great deal more time walking in that realm than this one. Something was bothering the demon and he wasn't entirely sure what.
Or he hadn't been.
Until he'd received a message from Lady Kaede, the Witch who lived on the border between realms. The short note was still clenched tightly in his hand and he took a steadying breath.
There had been talk in the realm about waves of power, foreign power that seemed to be almost purifying the creatures that had chosen to walk in shadows. Not destroying them, never that. But it put an ease in their hearts that had not been there since Naraku's reign began all those years ago.
The Daughter returns.
Such simple words, but the weight of the meaning of that statement was startling. He had sequestered himself away in his study following that, doing as much research as he could stand. Kaede was strong, but at the same time, she was still very much a child in the ways of the Darkness. She was a fine teacher, but she would need help. She would need someone to help who walked closer to the darkness than she did.
That was why she'd sent the note.
He closed his eyes and a small smirk turned up the corners of his lips. It would be soon.
He would walk in the light again, with the Darkness.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Miroku looked around the circle and sighed. When the Witching Hour struck, this area would be illuminated by the moonlight from the full moon. Kaede had been wise in selecting the time. The harvest moon was huge in the sky, just cresting the tops of the trees. It was bright orange, beautiful.
He couldn't think of a better time to send out an impression
Glancing up, he saw Kaede hobbling into the clearing. He could tell by the way she was carrying herself, her knee was bothering her, but there was that determined glimmer in her eyes. The night air was chilled, but that didn't matter. They would still send the impression from this spot. It had to be here.
Kaede stepped over the circle of salt and closed her eyes. She erected a sight and sound barrier quickly and efficiently, and as an added precaution, a barrier to repel curious eyes. There would be no interference during this. Her barriers were quite strong and very, very effective. When she opened her eyes, she found her student looking at her with calm acceptance. A glance overhead confirmed that soon they would have to begin. “You are ready?”
He smiled, nodding. “For this, always.” He agreed, taking his place at the center of the circle. Kaede sat across from him and he rested his palms against hers. “Just make sure we don't sink too deep.” The physical contact was a necessity. As long as she had contact, she could keep him from being pulled into the Darkness.
Amusement sparkled in Kaede's eyes and she nodded in agreement. “Don't worry, I wouldn't let my best student fall into the Abyss.
Then, they closed their eyes and began their descent. Through the shadows at it's edge, they slowly drifted deeper into the inky black void and Miroku cast his net out. We seek the Daughter of the Darkness-
There was a sense of amusement in that darkness. He could feel something that he couldn't see and he knew they were being watched.
Obviously. I was wondering when you'd come to visit.
Cautiously, Miroku sifted through the darkness again, always aware of Kaede's hands upon his. We want to offer you knowledge, to help you use your gifts.
A faint giggle resounded through the darkness. Yes, whoever he was dealing with was definitely amused by him. Silly. Knowledge is something I've always had.
Bemused, he tilted his head to the side. Then let us offer our hands in friendship...He ignored the warning that Kaede voiced and released her hands, feeling himself free-falling into the Darkness as he reached towards the voice. Blood hell...He realized too late what he'd done, but as he fell, he felt two hands catch his and he was being led from the Darkness.
Silly male...The voice said. If you aren't careful, you'll walk the Abyss forever. Now go back where you belong, now. We'll meet when the time is right.
Miroku realized she was taking him completely back and seized. At least give us your name? So we know where to find you?
There was a little pause, and he almost sense the smile that turned up her lips. I am Kagome.
And then she tossed him out.
He came to himself with a start, staring dumbstruck at the woman who was looking frantic in front of him. It took several minutes for him to catch his breath and he fell backward, staring up at the bright orange moon overhead. As he'd been heaved from the Darkness, he could remember catching the barest hint of smoky gray eyes. “She's just a child...” He rasped. “She was gone before I could fully locate her. I've got a name, though, and she is in the Realm of Light.”
Kaede helped him sit upright and sighed heavily. “Miroku, if you ever do that again, I'm going to personally skin you and sell your flesh at the meat market.” She said calmly. Then she took a steadying breath herself. “What is her name, boy?”
He smiled, lifting his face to the sky. His eyes winked shut slightly and he sighed. The name still rung in his mind. He could still see the shape of those mysterious eyes and hear the laughter in that young voice. “Her name is Kagome.”
It was a start. She really existed, and she was walking the realms once again. Slowly, his face grew serious, a deep seeded worry formed in the pit of his gut. The girl was special. If they didn't find her and bring her into their fold quickly, she could be located by someone who would use her powers for ill. Or worse, someone who would simply destroy her and wipe her from the realm once again.
He stood slowly and helped Kaede stand, both still lost in their own thoughts although likely the thoughts were similar. Kaede had sent a note to Lord Inutaisho of the Shadowlands. He would help, for certain. Who knows who else would be drawn to the girl, who else had already been drawn towards her.
There wasn't a lot of time to work, but he would use his many resources to find her. They could not leave all of this simply to chance.
She was too special.
And they'd all waited so long.
Slowly, Miroku looked towards the harvest moon, wearing a serious expression. She was here. And he would serve. He would serve as part of her inner circle, protecting her from those who would harm her. And there was no doubt in his mind that there were many, who once they learned of her, would wish to harm her. Lucky for him that they'd found her first.
It seemed like a drop in the hat, and at the same time, it seemed like forever.
His golden eyes glowed faintly in the darkness and he stared out the dark window. The sun had long since set in the Shadowlands. The moon didn't shine here, so the darkness was complete. He didn't care, the darkness usually suited his mood better than the light. He'd been hidden away in his great castle for all these years, waiting for something to pull him from this mood.
He supposed he'd found that thing.
Sesshoumaru had been acting oddly, jumpy almost. His oldest, full demon son had taken charge of his business dealings in the Realm of Light many years ago, and as a result, he spent a great deal more time walking in that realm than this one. Something was bothering the demon and he wasn't entirely sure what.
Or he hadn't been.
Until he'd received a message from Lady Kaede, the Witch who lived on the border between realms. The short note was still clenched tightly in his hand and he took a steadying breath.
There had been talk in the realm about waves of power, foreign power that seemed to be almost purifying the creatures that had chosen to walk in shadows. Not destroying them, never that. But it put an ease in their hearts that had not been there since Naraku's reign began all those years ago.
The Daughter returns.
Such simple words, but the weight of the meaning of that statement was startling. He had sequestered himself away in his study following that, doing as much research as he could stand. Kaede was strong, but at the same time, she was still very much a child in the ways of the Darkness. She was a fine teacher, but she would need help. She would need someone to help who walked closer to the darkness than she did.
That was why she'd sent the note.
He closed his eyes and a small smirk turned up the corners of his lips. It would be soon.
He would walk in the light again, with the Darkness.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Miroku looked around the circle and sighed. When the Witching Hour struck, this area would be illuminated by the moonlight from the full moon. Kaede had been wise in selecting the time. The harvest moon was huge in the sky, just cresting the tops of the trees. It was bright orange, beautiful.
He couldn't think of a better time to send out an impression
Glancing up, he saw Kaede hobbling into the clearing. He could tell by the way she was carrying herself, her knee was bothering her, but there was that determined glimmer in her eyes. The night air was chilled, but that didn't matter. They would still send the impression from this spot. It had to be here.
Kaede stepped over the circle of salt and closed her eyes. She erected a sight and sound barrier quickly and efficiently, and as an added precaution, a barrier to repel curious eyes. There would be no interference during this. Her barriers were quite strong and very, very effective. When she opened her eyes, she found her student looking at her with calm acceptance. A glance overhead confirmed that soon they would have to begin. “You are ready?”
He smiled, nodding. “For this, always.” He agreed, taking his place at the center of the circle. Kaede sat across from him and he rested his palms against hers. “Just make sure we don't sink too deep.” The physical contact was a necessity. As long as she had contact, she could keep him from being pulled into the Darkness.
Amusement sparkled in Kaede's eyes and she nodded in agreement. “Don't worry, I wouldn't let my best student fall into the Abyss.
Then, they closed their eyes and began their descent. Through the shadows at it's edge, they slowly drifted deeper into the inky black void and Miroku cast his net out. We seek the Daughter of the Darkness-
There was a sense of amusement in that darkness. He could feel something that he couldn't see and he knew they were being watched.
Obviously. I was wondering when you'd come to visit.
Cautiously, Miroku sifted through the darkness again, always aware of Kaede's hands upon his. We want to offer you knowledge, to help you use your gifts.
A faint giggle resounded through the darkness. Yes, whoever he was dealing with was definitely amused by him. Silly. Knowledge is something I've always had.
Bemused, he tilted his head to the side. Then let us offer our hands in friendship...He ignored the warning that Kaede voiced and released her hands, feeling himself free-falling into the Darkness as he reached towards the voice. Blood hell...He realized too late what he'd done, but as he fell, he felt two hands catch his and he was being led from the Darkness.
Silly male...The voice said. If you aren't careful, you'll walk the Abyss forever. Now go back where you belong, now. We'll meet when the time is right.
Miroku realized she was taking him completely back and seized. At least give us your name? So we know where to find you?
There was a little pause, and he almost sense the smile that turned up her lips. I am Kagome.
And then she tossed him out.
He came to himself with a start, staring dumbstruck at the woman who was looking frantic in front of him. It took several minutes for him to catch his breath and he fell backward, staring up at the bright orange moon overhead. As he'd been heaved from the Darkness, he could remember catching the barest hint of smoky gray eyes. “She's just a child...” He rasped. “She was gone before I could fully locate her. I've got a name, though, and she is in the Realm of Light.”
Kaede helped him sit upright and sighed heavily. “Miroku, if you ever do that again, I'm going to personally skin you and sell your flesh at the meat market.” She said calmly. Then she took a steadying breath herself. “What is her name, boy?”
He smiled, lifting his face to the sky. His eyes winked shut slightly and he sighed. The name still rung in his mind. He could still see the shape of those mysterious eyes and hear the laughter in that young voice. “Her name is Kagome.”
It was a start. She really existed, and she was walking the realms once again. Slowly, his face grew serious, a deep seeded worry formed in the pit of his gut. The girl was special. If they didn't find her and bring her into their fold quickly, she could be located by someone who would use her powers for ill. Or worse, someone who would simply destroy her and wipe her from the realm once again.
He stood slowly and helped Kaede stand, both still lost in their own thoughts although likely the thoughts were similar. Kaede had sent a note to Lord Inutaisho of the Shadowlands. He would help, for certain. Who knows who else would be drawn to the girl, who else had already been drawn towards her.
There wasn't a lot of time to work, but he would use his many resources to find her. They could not leave all of this simply to chance.
She was too special.
And they'd all waited so long.
Slowly, Miroku looked towards the harvest moon, wearing a serious expression. She was here. And he would serve. He would serve as part of her inner circle, protecting her from those who would harm her. And there was no doubt in his mind that there were many, who once they learned of her, would wish to harm her. Lucky for him that they'd found her first.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
AN: To those who have read the Anne Bishop series “The Black Jewels Trilogy”, yes, this is loosely based off of that story. There will be a lot of parallels, but it will NOT be a direct rip off. If you opened this, thanks, if you've actually read this far, thanks a million. Now there's just one thing left. Click down on that little box in the bottom corner and let me know what you think. Comment and Critique is welcome, as are Flames. Like I said, I want to know whether or not you all like it. If not, hell, tell me anyways. I WANT to know! Anyways, this is the Little Big Sister signing out until next time!
_Chibi-no-Oneesan_
_Chibi-no-Oneesan_