A Sacred Jewel wasn’t the only thing that could grant a wish.
One’s spirit had the power to do it all by itself. A soul, a spirit, they weren’t quite the same in terms of of matter. A soul remained with the body, it wasn’t meant to move on in death. Kikyō’s soul had been one of a very special circumstance, love had a way of defying all manners of logic.
Spirit, however, that was a different subject. The spirit followed not only the feelings of that who had passed, but the feelings of those who offered prayer, and remembrance to their grave. Kikyō had been dearly loved by a village’s worth of people. A younger sister, now an old woman.
And a hanyō offering his own prayer every other night, on that same hill, every time. She had always held a powerful spirit, a soul near unmatched in spiritual power. Combined with the love of those who missed her so dearly, a spirit could be given a present form, even from beyond the grave.
It took such powerful feelings to incite the manifestation of a spirit, a being without a soul. A being with every memory they had made, even in life. Powerful feelings that had the wind blowing, unnatural in fashion. Strong as a typhoon, without any rain, nor clouds, only the autumn leaves swirling in calculated circles.
The Kami heard this prayer. For a life so loved by so many, the spirit was to serve as a watchful guardian for that who needed her most. Her little sister, however… Kaede didn’t need her guidance, nor protection. She had grown into an incredible woman all her own.
No, who the spiritual had chosen, that who needed her most…
Was the man offering prayer in this moment.
The moon itself flashed, blinding, for mere seconds. The manifestation of a body, given physical form, for this moment. Long hair, as dark as the starry sky, drew in the wind, before the gale finally settled. A physical form, limp as it took its first breath.
Deep, as though she were truly feeling her lungs for the first time in decades.
No heart, but a form that could feel, all the same. Warmth, if only for as long as the deities kept her in tangible form.
Soon enough, Kikyō would have to learn how to manifest this tangible form for herself. Until proper thoughts could be processed, the woman now bound to this Earth, bound to another’s spirit, rather than soul. A woman bound by a duty tethering her to the waking world, a duty that had no worldly objects.
As of now, this new, tangible body tipped forward, no strength to hold itself up. Not yet.
