I've always wanted to do a ghost story, and with Halloween coming up on Friday I figured this would be the perfect time. This prologue was written about a year or so ago. Ever since I saw a few particular episodes of InuYasha, I've wanted to do a story about…well, that'll spoil the surprise. I'm sure many of you will be clever enough to figure it out as the story progresses.

And now for a quick Japanese vocab lesson. Just in case. ^^  Daimyo = a feudal lord who ruled over a han, or province , Hime = lit. princess, great lady  

Oh, and remember. Reviews = feeding the author's ego, feeding the author's ego = incentive to write story quicker, writing story quicker = you get to find out what happens and where this is going.

Disclaimer: Amerikajin desu. Nihonjin ja nai. Therefore, not mine.

Castle of Mist and Forgotten Dreams

Long ago at the base of the Hiei Mountains, not far from our village, there was a palace. It was a lovely palace with sakura trees, lakes, and a beautiful courtyard. All of the court of the regional daimyo were happy and content, for there were no wars in the area, the rice harvest had been fruitful for the past several years, and the area was not home to any dreadful youkai.

The daimyo was quite happy for his lands where peaceful and rich, and he had a prize more wonderful than any other: a daughter. A beautiful only child that was his pride and joy. And so they lived happily.

But disaster struck the daimyo. His daughter had caught the eye of a Great Demon. She was taken and wedded to the youkai, for she had fallen in love with him as well. The court wept for their Hime-sama, mourning her loss. After many months though, the princess returned to them, but not alone. She carried with her a newborn child, a freak of nature that was half-human like the court's beloved Hime-sama and half demon like her monstrous husband.

The child was shunned by the court. A monster, they called him. A creature that should have been killed at birth! But for the sake of their gentle Hime-sama, who loved her child dearly, they bore his presence. The daimyo grieved and raged at this turn of events, refusing to acknowledge his grandson's existence. The child grew knowing no kindness towards him, save the love of his mother.

One day, word came that his father, the Great Demon, was dead and his mother grieved for the husband she had loved so greatly. Day by day the child watched his mother grow weaker. Hime-sama grew sickly and frail, and then, one night in the light of a full moon she drew her last breath. The child was devastated. He cried silently at night, huddling in the center of the bed he had shared with his mother, but during the day he showed no emotion to the court. "Hateful child!" cried the court as they wailed and mourned loudly. "You show no tears for the loss of the only one who loved you? No sorrow? Wicked little beast! You truly are youkai! Go! Live with the others like you! Find a home with the demons you so belong to! For we stood you only for our Hime-sama's sake and she is no longer here to protect you!"

And so the child was exiled, taking with him only the clothes he wore. No one knows what happened to the child. Perhaps he was torn apart by the beasts of the forest. Perhaps he took the rage he felt towards the court and the grief over his mother's death and became a horrible youkai that killed any human he saw. It is unknown. All that is known is that the rooms Hime-sama and her child shared where sealed off and never used again.

Several years later, a fire started in the palace. The wing that Hime-sama's rooms where in burned, but the fire stopped as it reached the sealed rooms. Some say it was the Hime-sama's love for her child that permeated the rooms and stopped the fire. Others say it was the child's grief over his mother that would not allow the room she died in to burn. It is unknown. All that is known is that rooms did not burn as the others in the wing had. The fire claimed many of the lives of the court. Reconstruction of the wing was possible, but many strange things began to happen after the fire. With so many lives having been lost in the palace, it was decided that the place was cursed and so the rest of the court fled taking with them only what they could carry and fearful to return for the rest.

The ruins of the palace still stand just north of our village. Many brave young village lads have gone to the ruins on a dare, hopeful to prove their courage, but they come back terrified and refuse to go near the area again. Many Monks have tried to exercise the ruins, but they find nothing to exercise when they reach the area. It is as if the ruins themselves have disappeared. Some claim it is Hime-sama's exiled child come back to his home. Others say it if the vengeful spirits of those who died in the fire. It is unknown. All that is known is that the ruins remain as they are and as they have been for the past many decades.