Monday, May 3, 2004

   SA ch. 1 Part 2
"Oh my sister, please cease this foolishness. Can ye not be happy for Inuyasha? What he could not have in your heart, he has found in Kagome's. Be at peace now, Sister Kikyou, for he has found love."

"Will he betray her as he betrayed me?" asked the angry voice of Kikyou.

"Was it truly Inuyasha who betrayed ye, or ye who betrayed Inuyasha?" asked Kaede.

"Even older than I now appear, Kaede, you have still the hopelessly naiive mind of a child. Inuyasha is a demon, and for that he must die!"

"And if humans are to live, Kikyou, does Inuyasha's being half-human not give him a shield against your hatred?"

Kikyou turned and looked at the old woman. "No," he said. "It does not." Kikyou turned away.

"Why, Sister Kikyou?" asked a child's voice.

When Kikyou looked back, before her stood Kaede as she had been 50 years before. But Kikyou looked at her without emotion. "You summon me here to persuade me to see your truth. Is that it, Kaede?"

"No, I want you to see the truth, not my truth," said young Kaede. "it was naraku who attacked you, Sister, not Inuyasha."

"How do you know this, Kaede?"

"I have lived far more years than you, Sister, and have seen a lot. Inuyasha loved you, Sister. He never would have hurt you."

"I'm not sorry I shot him," said Kikyou.

"What happened to you, Sister?" asked young Kaede.

"I died."

"By the hand of Naraku," said Kaede, her young face staring up at Kikyou.

"Once the threads of Fate have been tangled, they cannot be undone," said Kikyou, repeating the exact words she had spoken to Inuyasha that day, when Kagome saw them kiss...for the second time.

Kaede closed her eyes. "That would be true, Sister Kikyou, if the threads of Fate ever had been tangled, but they were not. From Fate's desire, it seems to be true that you and Inuyasha were never meant for each other." As she took a step forward, she was suddenly Old Kaede again.

"And yet Inuyasha was attracted to me," mused Kikyou, with a smile on her face that Kaede did not recognize.

"No," said Kaede. "I do not believe that Inuyasha was ever attarcted to ye, Kikyou. He did not fall in love with Kagome because he saw ye in her. He fell in love with Kagome 50 years ago, when he saw her in ye. Be happy for him, Kikyou, for he knows happiness and life, and he lives."

"And I do not!" cried Kikyou. "Because of him, I died, and he shall die! He and that girl who stole my soul will die!"

"The soul within ye in Kagome's," said Kaede. "'Tis her soul that brought ye to life, Kikyou, nearly at the cost of hers."

"You speak as though I should be grateful to her," said Kikyou, raising her eyes to Kaede. "I am not," she hissed. "The girl will die, and Inuyasha with her."

"What have ye become, Kikyou? Ye are not my sister as I remember ye. Why have ye changed so much? Why do ye hate as ye do? Do ye not remember love?"

"Love? What love? As you have said, Inuyasha never loved me."

"What about the love of a family, my sister?"

Kikyou stared at Kaede, her eyes blazing with hatred. "Do not call me that. I have no sister."

"Do ye not, Kikyou?" She looked into Kikyou's blazing eyes and sighed. "No, ye do not. Ye are not my sister. Ye are but dirt and bones brought alive by young Kagome's soul. My sister, whom I loved dearly, died 50 years ago. She, herself, has not risen since, but in Kagome, who is her reincarnation. I pray my sister may rest in peace, knowing Inuyasha is finally happy."

"How dare you say I am not who I am!" yelled Kikyou, flames flickering in her eyes.

Kaede stood calmly, facing her sister's dirt and bones without fear. "Killing me will do nothing but give speed to the inevitable."

"It will give me the satisfaction of watching you die!" hissed Kikyou's dirt and bones.

"Then go ahead," Kaede replied calmly. "Fulfill ye heart's desire. Ye will not win, in the end."

Kikyou's face seemed to grow calm, but the deadly hunger in her eyes - the evil hatred - only grew. "No," she said quietly. "An immediate death is too merciful for the likes of you. Slowly, you will die, filled with much pain."

"No more pain can ye give me than seeing how blind you be to love. Hatred fills ye so, and ye do not fight it, but welcome it. The pain of that is beyond anything you can inflict."

"I think you will disagree," said Kikyou, twisting her hand quickly.

Kaede gripped her chest. Although she did not cry out, pain was visible in her eyes. "Kikyou," she whispered.

"As you have said, dear Kaede, I am not your sister - I am not Kikyou. I will not answer to such from you! I am Uoykik, and I am the executioner of you, and all you hold dear!" Slowly, she twisted her hand further, until Kaede fell to the ground, clutching her chest. "How does it feel to die, Kaede?" asked Uoykik, with a smile. "I hope it's filled with..."

(more soon)
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