Set Me Free

A Monk on a Mission

Miroku was a holy man with a dark side. He was the youngest in a family of three siblings. All three had received the blessings that came with their mother’s bloodline, exceptional holy powers and an increased life span. His oldest sister was named Midoriko. She would have been 50 that day if she hadn’t been killed after being kidnapped 25 years ago.

He could still clearly remember the day that she disappeared. The three siblings were assisting a village that had been ravaged by an illness that had wiped out over half of its population. Miroku and his middle sister, Kikyo, who was 20 at the time, were assisting with some children who had been orphaned by the illness. Midoriko had gone into the forest to gather a couple of herbs that had run out over the last few days. She left around midday. Miroku went to look for her at dusk when she still had not returned. He was 17 and a skilled hunter and tracker, like most men of the time.

He tracked her to a small stream where she had probably stopped for a drink. The area around the stream showed signs of a large struggle. It appeared that she had been attacked by several individuals. He did not know if they were human or demon, he could only tell that she had been severely out numbered. He took off hot on their trail, but was halted by a sudden down pour that wiped out their tracks.

When he arrived back at the village and told Kikyo what had happened, she was inconsolable. Kikyo and Midoriko were not just sisters; they were best friends and confidants. They were as close as two people could be. All that afternoon Kikyo had felt like something was wrong, but she had been so busy with the children that she had put the negative feelings out of her mind. Now that she realized that her feelings were because her sister had been in danger, she was racked with guilt. She vowed to find her sister no matter what it took.

After searching for several weeks and finding nothing, they returned to their home village together. Their family was close with several government officers and they decided to try to use their contacts to find their sister. Every time they had a lead, the two siblings would go and search for their sister, but they never found her.

Three years had gone by and still they searched. Their mother had become ill after Midoriko’s disappearance. Their father had passed on years before having not been blessed with their longevity, so Miroku was forced to stay home and take care of their mother while Kikyo continued the search.

Their mother had passed away a year later. She was only 110, and looked like a 35 year old woman. She should have lived to be at least twice that age, but her heart had broken with the loss of her eldest daughter. She kept saying that she knew in her heart she would never see Midoriko alive again.

Kikyo was not there when her mother died. She was on another wild goose chase looking for Midoriko. She came home briefly to tell Miroku of the latest lead. He was grieving over the loss of their mother and was angry that Kikyo did not seem to be that upset by it. The search for Midoriko had become an obsession for her, and she had drastically changed over the last couple of years. She had become cold and distant and the only thing that seemed to inspire her was her need to continue the search. She left the next day and that was the last time that Miroku saw her.

The body of Midoriko was found 10 years later. It looked like she had undergone years of torture. The body of Kikyo was never found.

Miroku had fallen into a state of despair after Midoriko’s body was recovered. Alcohol, Opium, gambling, and whores had consumed most of the last 5 years of his life. Then one night while gambling at a very seedy establishment he heard two demons discussing something called a Hanyou Weapons Master. He purchased many beverages for the demons while they told him the whole history of these believed to be mythical creatures.

He came away from there with his head spinning from something other then booze and drugs. He was completely sober and felt a fire that he had been missing for years. Something had clicked with the tales of these hanyous and the details of his sisters’ disappearances. If these Weapons Masters existed and were the ones who kidnapped his sisters, he would find them and would make them pay. As long as they were part demon, he was sure his holy powers could hurt them.

Miroku spent the next 6 months traveling and re-training his powers. He had heard more and more rumors about these hanyous as he traveled. Recently he had heard reports of suspicious demon murders in the South. That was where he was headed now. He found that demons could be very cooperative and informative as long as they were being flattered and plied with alcohol and/or drugs. Some times he would have to throw in a whore or two, but in the end he would always come away with the desired information. He quickly found that in most cases demons knew more information then humans. It was not a big surprise seeing how their senses were much more acute.

It was starting to get late as Miroku entered a village. He still had a few days travel until he would reach his destination in the South. He decided to stay in the village overnight. He located an inn with a “teahouse”. This teahouse was really a low rent bar that happened to serve food and tea. It even had tables and chair rather then the traditional teahouse decor. It was rundown and the clientele was questionable, but the food smelled wonderful. After paying for his room, Miroku went to the teahouse, found a table, and placed his order. He sat back and relaxed while waiting for his food. He found himself eaves dropping on a very interesting conversation at the table behind him.

“That’s right; they are sending a special team to look into it. They wouldn’t do that unless there was a real problem,” stated a black haired demon.

“It just can’t be. Hanyous are not that smart and they are damn sure not that powerful,” argued a blonde haired demon.

“You do not have to be powerful to forge a weapon,” countered the black haired demon.

“You do in order to forge a magical weapon,” retorted the blonde. “And you would also need to be powerful to kidnap full blooded demons in order to test your weapons.”

“You make a good point,” the black haired demon conceded. “So who do you think is really behind the weapons and the kidnappings?”

“I think it has to be a powerful full blooded demon that is using the old hanyou myth to cover up their actions,” stated the blonde.

“It cannot be a full blooded demon,” stated the black haired demon.

“Why not?” the blonde questioned.

The black haired demon leaned in close to his friend and whispered, “The weapon that was tested in the South contained holy power. The wounds were partially caused by purification.”

“How can you possibly know that?” asked the blonde.

“My brother lives in the South. His land borders the land where the bodies were found. He helped to move the bodies to the castle where they could be examined. He had been a soldier back in the war with the humans. He knows a purification wound when he sees one. He said that whoever built and used that weapon had to be immune to holy power,” the black haired demon explained.

The demons had been so deep in conversation that they failed to notice the monk that was leaning further and further back in his chair trying to listen. They failed to notice him until his chair tipped over backward and dumped the monk onto the floor. The demons jumped when the chair collided with the floor. It only took them a second to realize that the monk had been listening to them.

The black haired demon grabbed the monk by his robes and drug him to his feet, “How dare you spy on us, human!”

“Gentlemen, please calm down and let me explain my behavior while I buy you some fresh drinks,” Miroku stated calmly.

The demons exchanged glances. The blonde motioned for his friend to sit the monk in a chair, “Very well, but you had better have a good explanation or you will not live to see the morning.”

“Excellent!” Miroku exclaimed and ordered some fresh drinks. He also advised the server to keep the drinks coming for the rest of the evening. “I am meeting up with a group of investigators in the South to look into the very issue that you two have been discussing. I thought perhaps you had some information that could start me out on the right foot with the group. Being a human, I do not have much experience working with demons and I am a bit nervous. I mean you no harm and apologize for the disrespectful way that I eaves dropped. I am more then willing to compensate you for any information that you might have.”

“I did not hear anything about a human joining the investigating group,” said the very skeptical black haired demon.

“Unfortunately neither have they,” stated Miroku. “The human government sent me when they heard about the group. There was no time to go through the proper channels, so I have to approach them personally with the paperwork that I was given and hope that they accept me. I cannot force them to let me in, which is why any advantage that I can get would be so greatly appreciated.”

Miroku was lying through his teeth. He only knew about this demon group because he had heard their conversation earlier. He figured this would be a more convincing argument then his tale of his missing sisters. After all, most demons would be pleased with priestesses being kidnapped and killed. It was his training as a monk that allowed Miroku to lie to demons convincingly. His training allowed him to keep his heart rate and scent calm and steady while speaking to the demons. He just prayed that they could not see through his defenses. Some demons could read minds after all. These demons however, did not appear to have that gift.

“Compensate you say,” said the blonde. “I think we may be able to work something out.”

Miroku spent the next two hours finding out everything that the demons knew about the suspicious murders and the hanyou rumors in general. Then he spent the following two hours after that getting the demons so drunk that they did not realize that he had never paid them for their information.

Miroku had been blessed by a rich father, villages who liked to give the family all kinds of riches to compensate them for the good deeds that they did, and also the ability to gamble like a pro. He had plenty of money, but he would certainly not squander it if he did not have too. Besides, he never knew what he was going to run into on his journeys. He might need those funds later.

Miroku left the village at first light and continued his journey to the South. He knew that the demon group would never allow him to travel with them, but he would try to tail them and spy on them for information until he came up with a better lead.

He had a feeling that this journey was going to finally give him some much needed answers and closure. He would find his sisters’ killers and make them pay. Then he would have some peace at last.


------- In case you have not figured it out by now. Some of the Inuyasha characters are being repurposed with a new back story and possibly a different identity entirely to fit in with this story. For example: Kagome as a hanyou and Miroku, Kikyo, and Midoriko as siblings. This is an AU fic, so I hope this does not confuse or upset anyone. Also, I am doing my best to correctly spell the character names. Some of them are spelled so many different ways on the web that it is hard to know what is correct, but I am doing my best. Please try to overlook any errors with this.

I do not own any part of Inuyasha or any of the characters used in this story.