Sunday, June 12, 2005

All This Time: The Jewel Watcher
*episode 6*

Then Naraku came. In one night, I saw centuries of memories go up in flames. I not only witnessed the death of friends, I saw the end of lineages which had been dear to me. As this one fell so too did his great-great-grand mother, a kind woman and a loving mother. That one fell, sweeping aside her fathers who I had known for hundreds of years. When the children died, they took with them the names of those who had fought beside me, died beside me, cared about me, and carried me in times of need. They were all slaughtered and I had little hope for those who had been lured away. I fought and fought until every demon was dead, and then I found four more. I would have killed them too, at that moment I truly could have done so, were it not for a certain annoying parasite who managed to survive by clinging to me.

All This Time: The Jewel Watcher
*episode 7*

It took me some time to realize that the woman among them was the one I had been waiting for. I was so happy when Sango returned alive that I remained blinded until that night when Kagome nearly slew Naraku in his castle. As I lay dieing from Naraku’s toxins, I realized that my Sango had found her priestess and that no matter what they would find the jewel and allow my old friend to find victory, and through that, peace. I was prepared to die then. Not that I wanted to die, but I knew that my task was complete. I received an extension on my life, and I have used it standing beside two remarkable young women, both so like, and yet so unlike my dear Midoriko.

All This Time: The Jewel Watcher
*episode 8*

So I came to stand beside an inn on a summer’s night, knowing that the priestess had found what she was looking for. Then I saw her, the pitiful shade of the one who had been. Not dead, but also not alive, Kikyo still wandered the world. I saw her intention in her eyes before she realized it herself. She was so intent on the couple on the roof, that I easily circled behind her and called for her attention. I found that, when not otherwise distracted, dying had in fact only served to heighten her powers of perception. She could almost hear my thoughts when I told her that I could not allow her to act. Kagome may have been a strange one, but she and Sango shared a deep bond. If there was hope to purify the jewel, it laid in their collaboration. I evoked Midoriko’s name as an ultimate challenge. To defy my mistress would have been the same as Kikyo declaring her allegiance to the darkness within the jewel. I hoped that she would find peace, but not if it prevented the purification of the jewel.
*The End*
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