Kaede walked into the hut that she shared with her sister. She set her basket of herbs on the floor, and stared to call for Kikyou, but stopped when she saw her sister sitting on the floor, only an outline in the dim light. Kaede suddenly realized that all of the hut's shades were closed, and that Kikyou was doing something. Her head was bowed and she had her hands in front of her. Kaede stopped in awe to gaze at Kikyou, wishing that someday she would be able to be as great a priestess as her sister. She watched.
Kikyou was in deep concentration, casting some sort of spell. Suddenly, Kaede noticed the beads that lay scattered on the floor in a circle around Kikyou. Kikyou began chanting under her breath, and the beads began to glow faintly. Then they suddenly rose into the air, flying around Kikyou several times, and finally floating in an odd pattern in front of her. She then moved her fingers in a complex pattern, and the beads moved to hover in front of her face, forming a rough circle. She clapped her hands together, and the beads suddenly shone a brilliant purple for an instant before they fell lifelessly to the floor. Kikyou put her hands in her lap and raised her head. She looked to the floor, and then to the door where Kaede stood.
"Hello, Kaede. Did you see me make the rosary?"
"Yes. It was very good!"
"Thank you."
"But what was it, sister?"
"It's a special subduing spell," Kikyou answered, getting to her feet. She picked up the beads, now bound together with magic. "One can put a spell like this on to many things, but I chose this rosary." She handed Kaede the beads to look at.
"But what's it for?" Kaede asked.
"Inuyasha."
"The demon?"
"The half-demon," Kikyou corrected.
"Yes, but he's tried to steal the jewel so many times! Why don't you just kill him? He's going to attack us again!"
"Inuyasha doesn't need to be killed. He's never even tried to kill anyone when he's come after the jewel. If he becomes a problem, I'll use the rosary on him." Her sister's voice softened, and it sounded almost sad. "And I have no wish to kill someone so like myself. He's trapped into his place by the world, just as I am." Kikyou looked down for a moment, before she took the rosary and hung it on a peg. "Now, Kaede," she said, brightening, "let's see what herbs you found. And I'll teach you about spells."
"Even subduing ones?"
"If you like," Kikyou said, smiling. "There much too complicated for you to do now, of course, but I can tell you how they work."
Kaede happily picked up the basket of herbs, and followed her sister out of the hut.
The beads hung on their peg, never used and eventually almost forgotten.
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The Present Past:
Kaede rushed back into her hut, to get her bow and arrows, and whatever other talismans she could quickly grab. It was the most dangerous thing that had happened in the village in years, and she wasn't sure that her powers would truly be enough. The strange girl Kagome had run off into the night, with the centipede demon not far behind. Kaede quickly grabbed several demon wardings, and started out the door, before something glistening in the firelight caught her eye. The last thing Kikyou had made before she died--a rosary of purple beads. It still hung on the same peg that Kikyou had left it on, untouched for years. It was useless in their current situation, of course, as the spell was cast specifically for Inuyasha, who was long sealed. Kaede had only kept it because she couldn't bring herself to throw away the last things that her sister's fingers had touched.
She started out the door, before she turned around and grabbed the rosary as an afterthought. The idea that she would need the rosary was ridiculous, of course, but there was something odd about the girl who looked so much like Kikyou. She had just run into the forest and could even see its aura, and had been mysteriously discovered next to Inuyasha himself that day. Then there was the possibility that the jewel itself was in this world again, though Kagome said that she had no knowledge of it. Kaede had an odd feeling that something was about to happen; though she couldn't explain it. The idea that Inuyasha would awaken was ridiculous-- he had been sealed by Kikyou herself. Kaede almost put the rosary back, but tucked it into her clothes anyway, since holding the thing seemed to calm the eerie sense that she felt. Then she quickly ran to where the men were waiting and jumped on her horse, leading the party into the night.
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Note: What's creepy about this is that I wrote this up long before episodes 147-48 aired.