Prologue tree: My One Wish
Kikyo appears in Yuko's Wish Shop and comes face to face with Yuko Ichihara.
The woman closed her eyes as a smile dawned. "Due to the fact, you are one of the dead?" Kikyo glared daggers at the woman. "Who exactly are you?"
A chuckle escaped as the woman leisurely smoked a pipe and blew out smoke. "My name? If one were to give the person's name they'd have control of their destiny. However, it is rude not to say it. My name is Yuko. It's an alias, however." She said once again getting another puff of her pipe. Kikyo grew annoyed with this woman's attitude and couldn't get anything off of her except that she was an enigma and she held great powers that were above her own. "Fine then, Yuko. How do you know me and my circumstances?" She demanded. "Not many know I am undead." "That is true. You make sure the people you interact with in your world only know you are a priestess that helps frail to make sure they don't suspect you are not of the world anymore." Brown eyes growing wide at what Yuko said Kikyo couldn't say anything.
"Yes, I know you are from another world. I know that you have somehow slipped into this one, however, it is not by chance you are here. Yes, there is no such thing as coincidence, only the inevitable." Yuko said her patent phrase easily as she stopped smoking her pipe and looked at Kikyo with knowing eyes. "You see, this shop I run is a special shop that only ones that need it can come to, no matter the situation or time and space. I can grant you a single wish."
"A wish?" Kikyo whispered.
"Yes, a wish however, there is a balance to the universe and in order to grant it the price must be equal to the wish. It's to keep karmic balance and the like in check". Yuko walked over to Kikyo; the woman was taller than Kikyo and looked down at her with a smile. "There is something you desire."
"And what do you think I desire?" Kikyo asked looking at her. She closed her eyes and responded. "The life that was stolen from you by a nefarious demon that coveted your love and brought about a tragic fate for you and the person you loved." Kikyo gave a gasp at what was said. Yuko knew of the tangled web of her life. Onigumo became obsessed with her and having demons feast on his body to become Naraku and started down a path of despair which resulted in Kikyo being "betrayed" by Inuyasha and her sealing him away and finally, she is burned with the Shikon Jewel and through mysterious circumstances reincarnated as Kagome? "Yes, I am aware of all of that. Also how you were called back in a body that was made of clay and soil of your grave and the soul you share with your reincarnation. And yet you still cling to life in order to fulfill your vengeance but at the cost of you taking away others' lives to fulfill your own. I can offer you the wish you want." Yuko finished her monologue. Kikyo hesitated. She never dared speak of it, even when she was at times lamenting her fate. She was a dead woman haunting the grounds. Yes, she still had access to her spiritual powers and helped villagers and maidens with demons however she knew that it was finite and one day she would one day be dead again. What could possibly be her wish? "If you know my wish-"
"You have to say it. Say it and I will tell you what will be used as an exchange". Kikyo and Yuko didn't say anything for a few minutes though it felt like an eternity. Until Kikyo spoke. "I want to decide my own path." She said in a whisper. "I gave up my desire to kill Kagome, I decided how to live my life. I was unable to escape from bad habits and expectations. I want to truly be free."
Yuko gave a small nod. "I am limited to what I can do but it can be done. In exchange for that, you need to make that wish you would have to give up many things, certain memories, and impulses. but chief among them is the love you still carry for that half-demon. " Kikyo froze. "Love? I don't love that half-demon!" She shouted.
"You do not hate him though. The circumstances aside you still hold out for him. If you want a fresh start, to have your own life and forge a new path for yourself you must give up the one thing you hold dear." Yuko replied calmly, her eyes never leaving Kikyo's. Kikyo knew the woman was right. She did still love Inuyasha, yet this love was what set the path of tragedy. Also her own obsession with the half-breed as of late and her own issues with the girl that traveled with him, her reincarnation, Kagome. "If I do this, I can finally be free?" Kikyo asked.
"Freedom is what your definition is," Yuko responded her voice not showing any indication of one way or the other. "You will have all your memories and your innate spiritual powers. You will make a new way for yourself in the coming days. Should you meet the half-breed again however there will be no love. Just remember that you decide how your story goes Kikyo. Will you accept?"
The priestess took a few moments and gathered herself before saying, "Yes, I accept."
Soon a magic circle appeared beneath Kikyo's feet and a swirl of energy enveloped her body and started lifting off the ground. Her body broke down into dust for a second before reconstructing on a molecular level and soon she was whole again. Kikyo floated down easily as the process was done.
Kikyo looked amazed at what happened. She placed a hand on her breast and could feel a heartbeat. She was a breathing person once again!
"Your wish has been granted," Yuko said easily enough as she held a flicking red light in her hands.
Kikyo wondered what it was. "This is what you gave up. Though you have memories, the love you have for him is no longer. Forge your own path now Kikyo."
Kikyo bowed and soon left the wish-granting shop. Once she stepped outside the premises she vanished into another world where she would start anew.
Yuko looked at the red light tenderly as Maru and Moro approached her with a small box with a red jewel. Picking it up, Yuko placed the light inside the gem and it shone brightly. "It seems her love was that strong for the boy, " She mused as she locked it away. "Maru, Moro place that somewhere safely in storage. It could be of use one day."
"Yes, mistress!" The twins happily danced and went to do as asked.
Yuko knew something was changing. Though her shop was still in its original location, it was becoming a kind of subspace for events happening in another dimension. She knew of the evil encroaching though it couldn't do a thing against her due to the magical and spiritual powers at her disposal. There was a name she went by that was prominent and it was "The Dimension Witch". Though she couldn't interfere with what was going to happen, she could be a haven for those that needed direction in the coming time. Yuko took her pipe and smoked it once again. "Yes, this event will be a change for all involved for good and bad, however, I wish the many blessings of the ones that will influence the others that will be involved with them." She said she had a small vision of those that would be a catalyst for the revolution.
Yuko Ichihara monologue
Mysterious things are everywhere. So bizarre as often as you can hear of them. Without witnesses, with sight unseen, without a care, it is simply a phenomenon. Merely not of concern. In this world, mankind itself has its own fantastic wonders (quote from the manga). Humans are a strange bunch, no matter which universe or reality they come from. Anyone has a wish they want to be fulfilled for another's sake, their own, or even evil intent. I wonder with the person in front of my shop is willing to give up on her one true wish.
Mysterious things are everywhere. So bizarre as often as you can hear of them. Without witnesses, with sight unseen, without a care, it is simply a phenomenon. Merely not of concern. In this world, mankind itself has its own fantastic wonders (quote from the manga). Humans are a strange bunch, no matter which universe or reality they come from. Anyone has a wish they want to be fulfilled for another's sake, their own, or even evil intent. I wonder with the person in front of my shop is willing to give up on her one true wish.
End
In an isolated area that appeared to be an empty lot with a single humble-looking place, a priestess appeared in front of it on the ground. Getting up slowly due to the way she somehow stumbled into this place as if she stepped through a transparent glass-like in Alice in Wonderland, the woman appeared to be in her late teens. She had porcelain yet beautiful skin, and light brown eyes and her hair was in a simple ponytail. She wore the attire of a priestess; a white robe and red hakama pants and brown sandals. Her name was Kikyo and she comes from a different world that was not this one. Looking around in confusion, Kikyo couldn't get a grasp on the situation.
'I know I'm not in the place I once was,' Kikyo thought as she saw there was a place in front of her. The priestess was about to turn around when she felt some kind of presence radiating from the house though it wasn't malevolent. It seemed to beckon her to come inside.
Kikyo would have ignored it but curiosity got the better of her and she walked a few steps to the house and opened the door. It was a sliding door, one she was not surprised in seeing as she comes from the Federal era though, it looked normal. The first thing in her peripheral vision was two lanky girls of the same height but with different hairstyles and colors. One had long hair styled in blue pigtails and wore a devilish male-like attire and the other had short pink hair in a cute bob and a white dress with a pink ribbon like that of an angel.
"Welcome to the shop, miss." both girls said simultaneously to the priestess.
Kikyo eyed the two and could tell they were not remotely human. For a brief moment was about to send them on her way but a mature woman's voice came from deeper in the store. "Now, why would you do something like that when you have just arrived, priestess?"
Kikyo grimaced at the mysterious person knowing her title and she pulled out her bow and knocked an arrow. "Who are you? Tell me now!!" She still had her bow and arrow ready.
Kikyo grimaced at the mysterious person already knowing, at least some of, her identity."
A laugh was heard to the woman's chagrin. "If you put your weapon away and come in you will eventually know who I am." the voice said with a chuckle. "Maru and Moro, please show our guests where she can meet me."
"Yes, mistress!" Maru and Moro cried out happily as one got behind Kikyo and the other in front to lead her, giggling the way.
Kikyo could only follow. She noted the hallway was dark but lit by lamps and not candles, given she was out of her time period. The decor was tasteful and rather homely though Kikyo could feel otherworldly powers somewhere due to her spiritual awareness. Soon she arrived in a spacious room and in the middle was a lanky but beautiful woman wearing an exotic and fashionable robe, with her hair in a Chinese-styled bun, she was waiting for Kikyo.
"Welcome..." the woman gestured for Kikyo to take a sit. "Nothing will happen to you while here."
Kikyo sighed and sat on the other end of the medium-sized table. Maru appeared with a cup of tea and placed it in front of her while Moro had a saucer of what appeared to be something to go with the tea. Looking down at the snacks Kikyo politely declined the food. Due to her status of being undead, the only thing that could sustain her existence were the souls of women.
"I don't need any food." She said simply.The woman closed her eyes as a smile dawned. "Due to the fact, you are one of the dead?" Kikyo glared daggers at the woman. "Who exactly are you?"
A chuckle escaped as the woman leisurely smoked a pipe and blew out smoke. "My name? If one were to give the person's name they'd have control of their destiny. However, it is rude not to say it. My name is Yuko. It's an alias, however." She said once again getting another puff of her pipe. Kikyo grew annoyed with this woman's attitude and couldn't get anything off of her except that she was an enigma and she held great powers that were above her own. "Fine then, Yuko. How do you know me and my circumstances?" She demanded. "Not many know I am undead." "That is true. You make sure the people you interact with in your world only know you are a priestess that helps frail to make sure they don't suspect you are not of the world anymore." Brown eyes growing wide at what Yuko said Kikyo couldn't say anything.
"Yes, I know you are from another world. I know that you have somehow slipped into this one, however, it is not by chance you are here. Yes, there is no such thing as coincidence, only the inevitable." Yuko said her patent phrase easily as she stopped smoking her pipe and looked at Kikyo with knowing eyes. "You see, this shop I run is a special shop that only ones that need it can come to, no matter the situation or time and space. I can grant you a single wish."
"A wish?" Kikyo whispered.
"Yes, a wish however, there is a balance to the universe and in order to grant it the price must be equal to the wish. It's to keep karmic balance and the like in check". Yuko walked over to Kikyo; the woman was taller than Kikyo and looked down at her with a smile. "There is something you desire."
"And what do you think I desire?" Kikyo asked looking at her. She closed her eyes and responded. "The life that was stolen from you by a nefarious demon that coveted your love and brought about a tragic fate for you and the person you loved." Kikyo gave a gasp at what was said. Yuko knew of the tangled web of her life. Onigumo became obsessed with her and having demons feast on his body to become Naraku and started down a path of despair which resulted in Kikyo being "betrayed" by Inuyasha and her sealing him away and finally, she is burned with the Shikon Jewel and through mysterious circumstances reincarnated as Kagome? "Yes, I am aware of all of that. Also how you were called back in a body that was made of clay and soil of your grave and the soul you share with your reincarnation. And yet you still cling to life in order to fulfill your vengeance but at the cost of you taking away others' lives to fulfill your own. I can offer you the wish you want." Yuko finished her monologue. Kikyo hesitated. She never dared speak of it, even when she was at times lamenting her fate. She was a dead woman haunting the grounds. Yes, she still had access to her spiritual powers and helped villagers and maidens with demons however she knew that it was finite and one day she would one day be dead again. What could possibly be her wish? "If you know my wish-"
"You have to say it. Say it and I will tell you what will be used as an exchange". Kikyo and Yuko didn't say anything for a few minutes though it felt like an eternity. Until Kikyo spoke. "I want to decide my own path." She said in a whisper. "I gave up my desire to kill Kagome, I decided how to live my life. I was unable to escape from bad habits and expectations. I want to truly be free."
Yuko gave a small nod. "I am limited to what I can do but it can be done. In exchange for that, you need to make that wish you would have to give up many things, certain memories, and impulses. but chief among them is the love you still carry for that half-demon. " Kikyo froze. "Love? I don't love that half-demon!" She shouted.
"You do not hate him though. The circumstances aside you still hold out for him. If you want a fresh start, to have your own life and forge a new path for yourself you must give up the one thing you hold dear." Yuko replied calmly, her eyes never leaving Kikyo's. Kikyo knew the woman was right. She did still love Inuyasha, yet this love was what set the path of tragedy. Also her own obsession with the half-breed as of late and her own issues with the girl that traveled with him, her reincarnation, Kagome. "If I do this, I can finally be free?" Kikyo asked.
"Freedom is what your definition is," Yuko responded her voice not showing any indication of one way or the other. "You will have all your memories and your innate spiritual powers. You will make a new way for yourself in the coming days. Should you meet the half-breed again however there will be no love. Just remember that you decide how your story goes Kikyo. Will you accept?"
The priestess took a few moments and gathered herself before saying, "Yes, I accept."
Soon a magic circle appeared beneath Kikyo's feet and a swirl of energy enveloped her body and started lifting off the ground. Her body broke down into dust for a second before reconstructing on a molecular level and soon she was whole again. Kikyo floated down easily as the process was done.
Kikyo looked amazed at what happened. She placed a hand on her breast and could feel a heartbeat. She was a breathing person once again!
"Your wish has been granted," Yuko said easily enough as she held a flicking red light in her hands.
Kikyo wondered what it was. "This is what you gave up. Though you have memories, the love you have for him is no longer. Forge your own path now Kikyo."
Kikyo bowed and soon left the wish-granting shop. Once she stepped outside the premises she vanished into another world where she would start anew.
Yuko looked at the red light tenderly as Maru and Moro approached her with a small box with a red jewel. Picking it up, Yuko placed the light inside the gem and it shone brightly. "It seems her love was that strong for the boy, " She mused as she locked it away. "Maru, Moro place that somewhere safely in storage. It could be of use one day."
"Yes, mistress!" The twins happily danced and went to do as asked.
Yuko knew something was changing. Though her shop was still in its original location, it was becoming a kind of subspace for events happening in another dimension. She knew of the evil encroaching though it couldn't do a thing against her due to the magical and spiritual powers at her disposal. There was a name she went by that was prominent and it was "The Dimension Witch". Though she couldn't interfere with what was going to happen, she could be a haven for those that needed direction in the coming time. Yuko took her pipe and smoked it once again. "Yes, this event will be a change for all involved for good and bad, however, I wish the many blessings of the ones that will influence the others that will be involved with them." She said she had a small vision of those that would be a catalyst for the revolution.
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