InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Cursed ❯ Epiphanies ( Chapter 31 )

Chapter Thirty One - Epiphanies

 

Sarath continued to look over the missive he'd received only hours ago. It read:

 

~~lord of west has strong affection for human, shows almost fatherly devotion to human's unborn~~

 

It was strange situation. So strange in fact that Sarath had been mulling over that very simple phrase over and over again. It didn't make any sense but he dare not discount the possibility of its validity. This information could turn out to be most important he'd received in some time. But he also couldn't just believe it on blind faith either. Something as unusual as this needed to be tested, just to be sure. He needed to know. Nothing else he'd been planning over the past two years seemed to be working. Loki was right, the rest of the lords within Sesshoumaru's territory were more than happy to have him back and any leverage their previous discontent had granted him was gone. He needed to find a different way to draw the dog out. And this little piece of information might just be what he needed.

 

Sarath continued to mull its implications around in his constantly angling mind. What if this was more than simply a strong affection that he harbored for the human. And why would he feel a fatherly affection for another's child, especially one that had yet even to be born. One tended to feel those sorts of things only for ones own. It didn't make any sense.

 

Then seemingly out of nowhere, a peculiar thought occurred to the serpent taiyoukia. What if the child that grew in the belly of the human was actually the offspring of the dog lord? It wasn't all that much of a stretch after all. His father had whelped offspring with a human, why not then the son? He too was known to have at least a certain fondness for the females of that particular race as it was. He'd kept one from the time it'd been a pup all through its short life until it apparently died of old age. Perhaps in his absence or even before it, he'd fallen in the same way that his sire had.

 

His line of thought just kept building on itself. As far fetched as the idea was, this was the first hypothesis he'd posed to himself that actually filled in most of the holes that his other musings could not. The main problem with this explanation was of course, why would everyone believe the unborn was to be fathered by a human unless the human woman smelled of nothing but human blood? It was a question he couldn't answer himself since he'd never been anywhere near the creature and most likely never would be. Especially if his current thoughts were the correct one was, Sesshoumaru would undoubtedly keep anything and everyone he considered a threat very far away from her.

 

Sarath sat there for a long time pondering this very issued. It was, after all, a very big hole in his idea. For hours and hours he sat there pondering, or more to the point, searching for a possible explanation. He'd just about given up on in for the day when a light knock that was barely perceptible to his keen hearing sounded outside his door.

 

“Yes, what is it?” His tone was stern as the irritation of not having been able to solve his problem showed through in his manner of speech.

 

A very small spider youkai, no bigger than a mouse, scurried into the room. It carried with it a vial that was nearly twice its size. It clamored quickly along the floor and up a small table off to Sarath's right and set down its parcel.

 

“The ointment you requested my lord.” It said in its squeaky voice as it attempted its closest approximation to a bow before hurrying back the way it had come. It didn't wait for a response from the serpent lord as it had never gotten one before.

 

Sarath stared at the bottle on the pedestal for a long moment before halting the tiny messenger just as it was about to disappear out the door.

 

“Just a moment.” It stopped dead in its tracks and quickly turned around. Even from where Sarath sat, he could hear its miniscule heart skip a few beats as it struggled to beat as rapidly as its sudden fear dictated.

 

“Yes my lord?” It squeaked.

 

“This ointment covers sent.” He said more to himself as he began thinking aloud. The little messenger answered anyway for fear of dong the wrong thing.

 

“Yes my lord. It is formulated specifically to cover and inu's scent.”

 

It was a few moments before Sarath spoke again. The spider nervously shifted its weight to each of its eight stick-like legs in turn as it waited.

 

“Could one be devised to change a creature's scent?”

 

“As in make an inu smell like another form of youkai?” It cautiously asked for clarification.

 

“Yes.”

 

“It would take time but such a thing can be done.” The spider was not the maker of these potions but his mother was and he knew that she had accomplished similar feats in the past.

 

“Hmm. But could one be made to say...make a pregnant female, say a human, that carries a half-breed smell as though the young she carried was entirely her own kind?”

 

This caused the spider youkai to pause a moment, his fear of the lord momentarily forgotten as he mulled the original idea around in his head. He'd never known of his mother creating such a thing but that didn't mean it couldn't be done. It had probably never been asked for in the past as it was an odd need to begin with. Despite that however, the process would undoubtedly be fairly similar to any other scent potion. All it did was mask and original scent with a new one, just like all the others. So why not? He was sure his mother could accomplish such a feat but he didn't dare speak for her on something he didn't fully understand. Finally, he replied.

 

“It's likely my lord but I would have to ask my mother to be certain.” Sarath smiled.

 

“Very well, run along and ask your mother. Then return here to let me know what she says.”

 

“Yes my lord.” The little youkai squeaked as it immediately turned to do the lord's bidding.

 

“One more thing.” He watched as the young creature quickly became frightened again as it turned back to him once more.

 

“Yes my lord?”

 

“Tell your mother that her ointments have worked perfectly.” He paused as the spider held his awkward bow, “and that she has a fine son.” He watched as the little thing seemed to puff up twice his original size though still quite small.

 

“Yes my lord!” He bowed again.

“And your name?”

 

“Nito, my lord.”

“Nito...a fine name. I will remember it.”

 

Nito bowed again and several more times before finally exiting the room. The little boy was elated. Just wait, he though, until he told his hundreds of brothers and sisters what the great lord had said about him. They would be so jealous! He quickly scurried down the hall to tell them all and to ask his mother the unique question.

 

Sarath sat back with a very pleased smile on his face. That explained it...he knew it could be done. So the son had committed the same faux pas as his father. He must be going about the current charade in order to give his little human and his subjects time to become familiar with the idea of her and her child before springing the knowledge on just who the father was on all of them. Perhaps however, he planned on concealing the child's parentage for the entirety of its life. It would be difficult but not impossible. All that would be required would be a steady supply of scent concealer and special charms to hide any of it youkai features from the world. It sounded like quite a bit of trouble but it was still a possibility.

 

Well, now that he'd figured it out, all that was left to do was to find a way to exploit the situation to his advantage. He smiled as he began writing instructions in a return missive. Now, he had another job for that idiot Loki.

 

 

AN: I had a reviewer ask how I found the motivation to start writing again after so long. It wasn't easy but I'll tell you the key ingredient...guilt. I don't know how many stories I've read that I really enjoyed only to find out that it was never finished. I hate that and I just couldn't let myself be that author so here I am again. Hope that answers the question.

 

angelsfalltearfully: I do love regular reviews so thank you! I've written sadistic and stoic Sess's so I thought I'd try my hand at a sweet one this go around. I'm hurrying!! :) Nikkie23534: big booming voice “YES I HAVE RETURNED” Yup she's preggers but I think its been so long, you need to read the chapter before last again...it will answer a couple of your questions...don't worry though, even I had to reread the whole thing in order get my bearings back. I'm so happy that the little ones are doing well, makes me smile when I think about it. Wish them a happy birthday for me! And a big congrats to Mikkie, my sister in law is due the same month...must be baby season. Vickey: And I never forgot you either and I'm so happy that I turn out a product you enjoy. And you are right....life most definitely gets in the way sometimes but mine was a case of life with its equal mix of writer's block and procrastination. SnowFlakeALchemsit (your spelling, not mine) hehe: I'm back! Woo hoo! Yeah, as much as I love writing angst, I felt if I did too much more it was just going to get repetitive without adding to the plot And of course there will be more complications...that's what I like doing best! Evil me...tata.

 

Congrats to Nikkie23534 for the biggest review response this chapter! tehe