InuYasha Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Breathless ❯ Hell ( Chapter 25 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or Inuyasha. Only few parts of the Inuyasha comic have been considered and lightly modified in some chapters, for the sake of future plot developments of this particular story. No copyright infringement or economical damage has been intended, but to make anime-only acquainted fans all the more curious about the manga of Rumiko Takahashi.

 

 

The writing of this story is not to gain profit but to vent stress and for my personal pleasure.

 

 

Warning: Major manga SPOILERSahead. Readon with extreme caution…

 

 

Chapter Twenty Four.

 

 

`Hell'

 

 

Weeks later found the followers of a certain silver haired Demon Lord getting closer and closer to the area of the High Mountains. None of the other members of the group could fathom the motive for this course of action being taken; yet not considering the Taiyoukai as one to be openly questioned, follow they did; their minds constantly plagued by private interrogation.

 

 

They had entered in the middle of a solitary meadow, when they noticed their leader pause to look at the sky.

 

 

“Master Jaken” Rin started in a small whisper “what do you think that Lord Sesshoumaru might be doing?”

 

 

“Like I know…” the small demon responded in a foul humor “these last days he's been acting like he's looking for something”

 

 

The answer made the little girl take her gaze from the silver figure standing ahead with their back on them, to fix them on the tad-bit irked Jaken. “Is it something very important?”

 

 

“That is quite obvious!” the green toad snapped.

 

 

Not paying attention to him, the little girl turned to look at their other human companion, mild concern shinning in her brown orbs.

 

 

`Kohaku still hasn't gotten over what happened to that Lady priestess' she observed with a sympathetic sigh, when a sudden movement up above caught her attention.

 

 

“Huh?! What's that?!”

 

 

Hearing her outburst, Kohaku looked up as well. `…a dog-demon?!'

 

 

“Sesshoumaru-sama!!” both children yelled when they saw their leader take up his Inu form to join the creature soaring among the cloudy skies.

 

 

Soon though, the true youkai form of the Demon Lord hovered back to land on the ground, followed close by what looked like a female dog demon, where the two of them reverted to their more humanoid image.

 

 

“My Lord!” the toad shouted as he and the human followers run towards him, wary of what this new demon might do.

 

 

“...So it was you, Sesshoumaru” the woman youkai spoke at last, her gaze set firmly on the male inu-demon, who stared at her right back.

 

 

“E-eh?! Who do you think you are?! How dare you address Lord Sesshoumaru without the honorific owed to his title?!” Jaken cried in outrage, but both of them ignored him.

 

 

“I thought you could have information of Father's memento, Tenseiga” Sesshoumaru said in the end after a long silence.

 

 

The woman youkai gave an ironic smile.

 

 

“So you're saying you came to visit your mother?” she questioned unexpectedly with an eyebrow raised.

 

 

“EH?!”

 

 

“HIS MOTHER?!”

 

 

Jaken, Rin and Kohaku cried all at once… That was when they started noticing the striking similarities between the two.

 

 

…For starters, the female youkai had the same long silver-white hair, which was up in two ponytails ―though in a very aristocratic style― with two locks let loose on either side of her face; apparently, she had the same golden eyes, parted silver bangs, an identical crescent moon on her forehead, and she was wearing a soft white pelt huddled around her shoulders as well. The only differences consisted in that she only had one stripe marring each cheek and the fact that she, of course, was dressed as a lady, with an elaborate kimono, and an odd collar of pearls from which a strange medallion with a red stone was hanging.

 

 

`…that gem… It used to belong to my Father…' Sesshoumaru thought as his eyes set on the ruby red stone.

 

 

“So you've come to me because you wish to know about Tenseiga?” his mother repeated “Very well… but let us ascend to my castle in the heavens, first”

 

 

“Will be done” the Lord of the Western Lands assented.

 

 

Some time later, with the help of Ah-Un and a certain toad getting a hold of his master's fur, the group had made it to the cloudy top of one of the mountains, where a large palace structure rested.

 

 

Once there, the female inu-demon sat comfortably on a throne-like seat before facing the newcomers. Her eyes skimmed over Rin and Kohaku casually.

 

 

“Tell me something, Sesshoumaru… don't you truly despise humans?”

 

 

The younger youkai stayed silent, so she continued.

 

 

“Those two human children you're keeping with you…” she noted with some mirth “do you plan to eat them?”

 

 

“Huh?!!”

 

 

“What??!”

 

 

Ignoring the shocked gasps coming from behind them, the Taiyoukai scowled.

 

 

“That is ridiculous…” he immediately decided to go straight to the point. “The method to use the Tenseiga to open the Meidou… the path to the underworld…” he started “…you surely heard it from my father, haven't you?”

 

 

The woman shrugged, closing her eyes. “Perhaps…” she conceded gracefully “He only entrusted me with this Meidou Seki stone, after all”

 

 

“…Meidou Seki? That's what that stone really is?”

 

 

She nodded. “He told me to use it if you ever happened to come by… Oh yes! He also told me… when you use the Meidou Seki, Sesshoumaru, you will face a great danger… However, you mustn't feel sadness or fear”

 

 

“And she says that while smiling?” an incredulous Jaken muttered.

 

 

“She doesn't look very worried” Rin said in a murmur beside the toad.

 

 

“In a sense… mother and son seem very alike” the toad commented with narrowed eyes.

 

 

Apparently unaware of these undercurrent evaluations, the two greater demons continued with their own exchange.

 

 

“What is it that you're going to do, Sesshoumaru? …Do not leave your mother waiting” the woman said with a self-sufficient tone of voice.

 

 

“Hmph… It never crossed my mind” her son interjected.

 

 

“In that case… shall we have a little fun, then?” the Lady smiled wickedly, as she held up the medallion with the Meidou Seki.

 

 

In that instant, the red stone started shinning brightly, opening a portal ―to another dimension, presumably― from which a raven black, red-eyed giant hellhound came out… and attacked Sesshoumaru.

 

 

“Sesshoumaru-sama!” the others shouted with worry as the Demon Lord struck the infernal beast with his Heavenly sword to no avail.

 

 

“Meidou Zangetsu-HA!” the Demon Lord shouted as he threw his most powerful attack, apparently, once again in vain.

 

 

“Lord Sesshoumaru's sword did not cut through it… and the Meidou isn't absorbing that creature?!” Jaken exclaimed fearfully with shock.

 

 

“So this is Sesshoumaru's Meidou… it is in no way close to completing the full circle” his mother commented to herself with an appraising look, and then to the others “That is a hellhound, Sesshoumaru… no matter what you do, your sword won't be able to wound it, neither heal it”

 

 

Non-accepting of these words, the Lord continued slashing at the beast, who stepped away in the end…

 

 

…only to leap towards Kohaku and Rin instead.

 

 

“Whaa-??! It's coming this way!!!” Kohaku shouted, rushing to stand in front of a frightened Rin.

 

 

“HELP!! SESSHOUMARU-SAMA !!!” was the last thing they heard before the hellhound took the two children between its massive jaws and jumped into the dimensional hole of the Meidou that'd just been created by Sesshoumaru, running away before he had the chance to stop it.

 

 

“Wait, Sesshoumaru!” his mother shouted when she saw him about to follow “will you truly go through, inside the Meidou? Following that path you will only lead you towards the plane of the dead, the world of Hell…, and all this merely to save some humans? You've become quite soft”

 

 

“Hn. I'm only going in there to slay that dog” the Taiyoukai said before passing through and disappearing inside.

 

 

“Lord Sesshoumaru! …Oh no! The space rift has closed!” Jaken said when he saw the hole shut after his master.

 

 

“Once the Meidou is closed, it's over” the Inu-Youkai Lady commented “he will never be able to come back to the world of the living… That is why I told him not to go in there”

 

 

“NO… the point here is that you did NOT tell him” the toad-demon, Jaken, confronted her.

 

 

“Mhm” the Lady took her gaze away from him to make herself more comfortable on her throne “no matter how many tests his father subjects him to, it is never enough” she said in deep reflection.

 

 

“…What's going to happen to Lord Sesshoumaru?” the small servant called as a ways to regain her attention.

 

 

“Shut up and stop whimpering” the Youkai Lady told him curtly, her stare still far ahead in a contemplating manner, “For the Sword of Heaven to mature finally, a lot of sacrifices must be made… Oh, Sesshoumaru has used Tenseiga's healing power”

 

 

The last sentence took Jaken completely by surprise, and his stare grew large.

 

 

“Nani?! How can you tell?!”

 

 

“I can see what is happening with my son, if I have this on my hand” she gestured to the medallion between her open palms “this Meidou Seki is connected with the Meidou, after all. It allows me to see into the plane of the Underworld”

 

 

“But… if my Lord's used the sword's healing power, does it mean that something's happened to the life of young Rin, in that ominous plane?” the retainer said to himself in wonder, getting more and more concerned.

 

 

“Little youkai” the former Lady of the West whispered, shifting to stare in his direction.

 

 

“Huh? Me?! My name is Jaken…” he informed her “but―”

 

 

“What does that human girl mean to Sesshou?” the Lady interrupted.

 

 

“Even if you ask me that…I don't know what to say…” the youkai servant bowed his head “…It's just the fact that despite I, Jaken, have been under the master's service for many years, that girl, Rin, is always being treated with more preference”

 

 

“That child will die” the Youkai Lady said with a small contemplative smile.

 

 

“EH?!!” the toad cried in utter surprise.

 

 

“No matter what happens, that child is only a human to Sesshoumaru… If she is not taken out of the Meidou in time, her life will be already lost”

 

 

When those ominous words were spoken the servant demon was left shocked, and could only stare in deep silence for the longest time.

 

 

…Meanwhile, the dog youkai female continued to look inside the stone…

 

 

“Oh, look” she gestured to him after a while “my son has killed the hound with Tenseiga's healing, how ironic… The two humans are with him now, and they're following the path towards the thickest part of the darkness… The taijiya boy is carrying the little girl on his back now, but the little girl seems to be unconscious”

 

 

“What? Oh no! This can not be good…” the retainer murmured, upset.

 

 

“Indeed, it is not” the woman sad as she continued looking “the only way back has just crumbled behind them, and they can now only keep forward, but even if they keep going forward, the only destination ahead is the plane of Hell itself”

 

 

What will they find there…? When they arrive in Hell?”

 

 

“Nothing”

 

 

“Nothing?! But you've just said…?! Wasn't this a test to further develop the power of the Tenseiga?!”

 

 

“Once they set foot on the thickest, true darkness of the Underworld… everything will be over. Not even Sesshoumaru will be capable of returning back to this plane again… let alone a human being. They are going into that darkness right now, but they shouldn't. If they do, their lives will― Oh… it's too late now… the woman child has stopped breathing”

 

 

 

“Rin… is not breathing?!” the toad refused to believe it.

 

 

 

“No… she isn't; and my son doesn't look to be taking it very well. Even though he's just unsheathed Tenseiga, he can not see the pall bearers; he can not see the messengers of hell, retrieving her soul for the dead. And if he can't see them… he can't kill them to bring her back to life”

 

 

“But there has to be a mistake! Is Rin…?!” filled by the cold grip of dread, he was unable to finish the sentence.

 

 

“Yes… she is completely dead… What's more, she can not be brought back this time. Sesshoumaru's already tried using the Tenseiga… and it's not working.”

 

 

“But- but IT CAN'T BE!!” Jaken shouted in quick denial, overwhelmed with the heaviness of ice-cold despair.

 

 

Meanwhile…

 

 

“Lord Sesshoumaru, little Rin is… little Rin is…she is still dead!” Kohaku cried.

 

 

“…”

 

 

“She is still not breathing, not responding at all… Her body's still getting colder and colder, I think…- I think the sword's powers are not bringing her back to us!” the boy turned to stare at the Demon Lord in dismay, whereas the Demon Lord wore an unmistakable expression of shock.

 

 

Sesshoumaru didn't want to think of it, he didn't want to think that the boy could be right.

 

 

But he was…

 

 

Rin was dead, he could sense it; and the sword was not bringing her back this time…

 

 

He didn't want to believe it.

 

 

He could not accept it…

 

 

But it was true.

 

 

Rin was dead… and she couldn't be brought back this time.

 

 

Rin was dead…

 

 

…And it was all his fault.

 

 

Even for him… suddenly… it was too much.

 

 

“WHY, TENSEIGA??!”

 

 

The young taijiya boy turned shocked towards his master, amazed at unexpected the display of passionate emotion.

 

 

“ANSWER ME!!”

 

 

“I am sorry, Lord Sesshoumaru… as long as I am with you, I will only bring you problems and be of no help at all” the young boy said ashamed, still holding onto Rin's limp hand.

 

 

“Be silent…”

 

 

“Huh?”

 

 

“I shouldn't have brought her with me…” Sesshoumaru murmured, overwhelmed by a swarm of inexplicable emotions “When I revived her after she'd been killed by the wolves… at that moment, if I had taken her back to human village, and left her there, with her own kind, this wouldn't have happened…”

 

 

Out of the blue, Kohaku looked up. `What's that strange sound?'

 

 

When he saw it, his eyes widened.

 

 

“The darkness… is spreading?!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The spirits of the underworld have even come and swept her body away from them, just now: that was what the darkness spreading over them truly was …Not to mention, Sesshoumaru, that if you want to get her corpse back, like it seems that you are about to do, the only path left for you to take at this moment is the path into the true darkness of the Underworld, from which you will never get out… It is just before your very eyes now…”

 

 

“But if they enter in there… you said that if they enter in there they will not come back! They'll die!” Jaken exclaimed “They will die too! If Sesshoumaru-sama dies… is Sesshoumaru-sama dies, what will I do?!”

 

 

He turned to the female youkai for comfort, but she only managed to stare on in silence.

 

 

To Be Continued.

 

 

A/N: Rin is dead and Sesshoumaru can't bring her back… or can he? If you have any doubts regarding this chapter, re-read the disclaimer. Next chapter, we continue seeing what happened with Usagi…