Inuyasha: Girl Lost In Time

Chapter 24: The Lost Souls

Chapter 24: The Lost Souls

We all sit in a line next to one another in a medium-sized room with a deceased princess ahead of us. She's beautiful. Even in death, her long black hair scatters about her body on top of the thin mattress she lies on. A solid white kimono blankets her, and on top of this, a tanto blade rests on her chest. Beside her sits an uncomfortable man who looks to be a servant of the princess who's passed away. He keeps his head bowed when he speaks to us, uncertain whether he should bring his eyes to us.

"So the demons carry off the souls of dead girls?" Miroku asks.

"Yes, as if losing our princess weren't upsetting enough! I cannot have her soul stolen."

Apparently, from what this man has said, that those who die—mainly females—have been having their souls stolen by demons, and requests Miroku's, and our help, in stopping this from happening to their princess.

"No such thing will occur. Rest assured that we shall protect the princess' soul from these demons." Miroku promises sternly.

When I glance over to him, his expression couldn't be more serious.

-***-

Nightfall takes over the mansion, and they have left me to watch over the deceased princess. The silence in the room is numbing, leaving a ring in my ears. The door behind me slides open and in comes Inuyasha, "Everything looks clear outside, anything unusual in here?"

"No, so far everything's good."

He takes a seat next to me, crossing his legs and arms as he rests against the sliding door he entered from. "So where did Miroku get to?"

"It sounds like there's one other princess living here, so Miroku said he wanted to go and make sure she was safe."

"Oh, sure!" Inuyasha shouts. "He's some player. Too bad he has everyone convinced he's a saint, otherwise I'd give him a good stomping."

I glance up at Inuyasha, and his angered expression. He really takes this sort of thing seriously.

I look back down at the body, whose face is now covered by the blanket. It's very creepy sitting next to someone who's departed. The stillness of her corpse, the silence she brings to the entire room. It really puts life in perspective. But then I notice something odd. A twitching coming from where her hand is. I lean in to get a closer look, and when I do, her entire body springs up into the air, hovering in the middle of her bed with her eyes and mouth open. I fall back against the sliding door. Her body pulses, destroying some of the screen walls around us, and letting in a long serpentine like flying creature, with tiny six arms and fins where ears should be. My heart jumps in my chest and I fly backwards against the screen door.

"Time to work!" Inuyasha growls. He tugs on Tetsusaiga to unsheathe the blade, and as he does, the woman's mouth opens wider, releasing a white light that could only be her soul. The serpentine creature takes a hold of the soul with its tiny arms and flies out the broken window with it.

Inuyasha and I both get up and follow it outside, where up in the sky we see three more serpentine-like creatures flying off with souls in their little arms.

"There was more than one of those demons!" Inuyasha yells in surprise.

"They're carrying spirits of the dead!" I point up at them. "There are so many. Where could they be going with all those souls?"