InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Demons in Disguise ❯ Against All Odds ( Chapter 36 )

A/N: I'm back! ^^ I promised you a super mega long chpater, right? ^.~ And did I deliver? You tell me! I'm STILL not done, but it definitely won't be nearly as long until the next update! Sorry about that L

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Kagome entered a great hall, light blue silks covered the walls and her reflection was visible in the faultless white marble floor. At the center of the room was a wide set of stairs that separated into two separate stairs facing opposite directions. The banister was gold, shimmering in the unexplained source of light. Cautiously, Kagome took a few steps forward to the center of the room. She looked around her and checked to see if anyone was coming through the doors behind the stairs. Pretty sure that no one was around, Kagome started walking to a random door, praying that it would lead her to her mule-headed husband, Inuyasha.

From another doorway came the sound of someone entering. Kagome panicked. She scurried to one of the silks lining the walls and hid behind it. Through the thin silk she saw the blurry silhouette of a woman’s figure. There were a few extra appendages so Kagome knew it must be a demon. This only made her more afraid. Her heart pounded inside her chest. Though the sound was minimal, it might as well have been thunder to Kagome. She clutched her chest as if to slow her heart.

The demon-lady had yet to give any sign of suspicion even as she strutted up a pair of stairs. Soon the woman exited the hall into a door on the second level. Kagome let out a loud sign of relief. She slowly slid down the wall and rested on the floor.

“That was close.”

“Who’s there?!”

Kagome jumped when the new voice called out. Knowing there was no way to stay hidden from this one, she hurried out of the silk, tripping against the fabric, and fumbling to the floor, ripping the silk down onto her in the process. She was frantic trying to fight her way out of the silk before she was captured. She fought and kicked but all she saw was a storm of blue and the sound of fabric fluttering.

“Stop struggling you’re making it worse,” said a voice. Kagome did not, sure that whoever had said that simply wanted to catch her. With a ‘swoosh’ the figure who had called her out pulled the silk from her in one single moment. Kagome shouted with surprise and got an eyeful of the person who discovered her.

It was a female youkai; a bat youkai to be precise. Her skin was black as pitch, bat wings protruding from her shoulder blades, tall-striated ears, three fingers on each clawed hand and foot, and a long spaded tail swaying behind her. Her lengthy braided hair was violet, her eyes were completely blue, and she had lavender eye shadow standing out on her black face. The demon wore a lengthened, elegant, dark purple loincloth and a half-top of the same color and fabric. Around her wrists and ankles were decorative steel shackles…at least Kagome thought they were decorative.

After the initial shock was over Kagome started scuttling on her back away from the lady. The bat demon scoffed and grabbed her by the wrist. She brought her to her face and studied it intensively. Kagome gulped and stuttered for words.

“I…I-I,” Kagome just couldn’t find an excuse. She expected to be hauled away by this youkai to the Mistress of this castle where she would be one of those victims she’d heard about. She was indeed hauled away but not to where she thought. The she-bat dragged her through one of the doors behind the stairs into a short hallway. The look on her was intensive. Then she opened another door and pushed Kagome into a dark broom closet. Kagome was confused as the demon took another look out into the hallway before shutting the door closed. It was completely dark now, though the captive assumed the she-bat could see just fine.

“Why are you here?” she then said, her voice was hard and serious.

“How am I supposed to talk to you in the complete dark? For all I know you could be planning on ambushing me right now!” Kagome pointed out.

“Shh, keep your voice down,” the demon waved her hand over an unlit torch on the wall. It burst into a silver heatless fire. “It’s a witch fire, harmless and effective. Now answer my question.”

Kagome did not say anything afraid of what this demon’s real intentions were. The bat’s eyes became pleading and she said with much earnest: “Please.”

The begging adamant in her tone shocked Kagome into spilling out everything.

“I was captured in my sleep by a pair of scrawny, nimble demons. Then they brought me her where I woke up in a cage surrounded by a bunch of perverted, horny demons. I escaped and now I’m looking for my hanyou husband, Inuyasha. I know he’s here,” she gestured to the Tetsusaiga at her waist. “Because I found his sword in a storage room.”

The bat demon thought for a moment after Kagome had finished her explanation.

“A hanyou, you say? Yes, Lady Jarogajin recently gave one of those for her disgusting Djinn to play with. I can take you to him,” the she-bat grabbed Kagome arm and started to tug her to the door. Resistant Kagome pulled back.

“Wait a minute. I want to know why you’re helping me,” Kagome scowled suspiciously. The demoness looked back, her face solemn.

“You want to know why? Fine I’ll tell you,” she agreed sternly. “My name is Chira and I’ve been working for the mad owner of this castle, Lady Jarogajin, for many miserable years. I came here with nothing but a rumor of a place that provided shelter and protection. It was stupid; I was running away from my kin like a child just because of a little fight. But that doesn't matter, little did I know in coming here I had condemned my self to endless servitude to an insane witch who takes the utmost joy in stealing the souls of anyone who displeases her, and is so lost in her fantasy world that she believes her zombie husband has a mind of his own. Here’s why I’m helping you: I want you to promise me you’ll free me from this place when you've done whatever you plan on doing. Will you do that for me? Will you please do that for me?”

Kagome looked into Chira’s blue eyes. They were beginning to glisten with tears. There was no way Kagome could deny her.

“I promise, Chira,” Kagome smiled and then added. “But one more question. Who is this Lady Jarogajin’s zombie husband?”

“His name is Sesshoumaru. He's supposed to be some sort of powerful lord in the outside world. I suppose not powerful enough because now he's submitting to Lady Jarogajin's every whim like a trained mutt.”

Kagome was stunned still. She stood there stunned for a moment until Chira prodded her with a sharp claw.

“Do you know him?”

“Uh…I’ve vaguely heard of him,” Kagome lied. She didn’t want to waste anymore time getting to Inuyasha. Nodding, Chira took her arm and darted out into the hall with her. * * *

The parlor was where all the cavalier women of Jarogajin's court gathered. Rin here was trapped in a hex of physical obedience while her mind was fatigued and unwilling. The youkai women beckoned her here and there, sipping tea directly from a beautiful porcelain basin she was forced to carry. Dressed in elegant but revealing apparel, the nobles fondled her as well as touching her in inappropriate ways. The ladies laughed and lounged on expensive pillows and settees. They were all lovely and probably well-bred wearing only the finest clothing, although some of the demons weren’t even wearing tops; letting their breasts hang free without the slightest bit of shame.

Rin looked around and studied every type of demon possible. There were fox demons, river demons, wolf demons, lizard demons, horse demons, forest demons, bird demons, cat demons, snake demons, fish demons (who lounged in crystal water tanks), bat demons, and even a cattle demon or two. Searching the room once more, Rin noted that there were absolutely no dog demons. Out of the hundred women in there, not a single inu-youkai.

‘Why?’ Rin thought. Just then the door to the entrance of the room swung open and in stepped a tall youkai with completely white skin, long black hair that had a violet gloss when it caught the light, purple stripes on each of her cheeks, small silver horns, and gray eyes that bore into her soul like a gun fired at point-blank. When she entered, wearing navy satin robes with golden cobweb-like designs, the lady-youkai of the room greeted her with much delight. Sighs of cheer filled the air.

“...Lady Jarogajin, such a pleasure you came...You‘re looking absolutely radiant...Your outfit is breath taking, my lady...” - and so on.

"Yes, yes, I'm just as glad to see my beautiful court," she greeted, her voice chipper and high. Lady Jarogajin shot Rin a smiling glance, flashing sharp fangs. Just one look of Jarogajin's soul-drilling eyes sent a shiver down her spine.

"I trust you all are enjoying my little gift. Isn't she just perfect little doll?"

The demoness stood in front of Rin in a quick, smooth motion. Putting a hand on her tiny neck, she ran her palm along her shoulder, over the end, to the middle of her upper arm. She hadn't even stopped when she had reached the silken arm strap, so that it moved with her hand and down the arm. Rin went pale as her neckline fell; no longer supported by the strap. The entire right side of her upper body was revealed, including her humble bosom.

The ladies gasped with pleasant wonder at the sight of Rin's pale breast. Rin, on the other hand, felt horribly violated. She had always been a chaste and wholesome girl. This, to her, was pure torture and humiliation. The women began to move in closer, each undressing her further with their hungry eyes.

"Please, my lady," a falcon demon chirped. "May we...have her?"

Rin could guess what the feathery youkai had meant, and her face completely drained of color. A look of sheer terror fell upon her features when Jarogajin replied: "Of course!"

With these two words, Rin's worst nightmare came to life. The demons surrounded her with gleeful chatter. One by one, they each moved in like a quick wind, squeezing her breast, pulling down her other strap so that her entire upper body was uncovered, kissing her neck, licking her back, and darting their tongues into her tiny mouth. At one point, a short sheep-youkai removed the tea basin from in Rin's hands and began to suckle her tit. A twin sheep eagerly joined in, sucking the other nipple. With such an action the 'one at a time' pattern was broken and more demonesses charged in, sexually abusing the defenseless, bewitched human.

Rin wanted more than anything for all this to stop. She was whimpering and quivering, but the obedience hex Jarogajin had placed on her left her helpless. A Neko-youkai snuck her tail underneath Rin's skirt, pressing it against her cleft, and began rotating the tip in small circles, harder and harder. This was meant to get the human girl aroused and her body answered, despite her mental disgust. The warm pleasant feeling between her legs made Rin feel the strangest mixture of pleasure and absolute revoltion.

A snake demon with off-white scales, and piercing green slit-eyes, slithered over her comrades and lingered near Rin's face. Leaning in dangerously close, Rin could smell its toxic breathe. Licking its long sharp teeth with its ebony forked tongue it suddenly pressed her lips against Rin's own. After a moment of harsh kissing, the demon darted its tongue into her mouth, flapping the forked appendage around feverishly. At first it was just as uncomfortable as the other crude acts being done to Rin, but a few seconds passed and a sudden burning sensation filled her mouth.

She cringed and fought Jarogajin's spell as best she could to break the acid osculation, but she soon discovered it wasn't necessary. She felt someone tug the snake youkai away from her and when she opened her eyes, she saw Jarogajin looking both angry and concerned at the snake lady, whose collar she was clutching.

"Tsujura, I expected better! You know that your venom may very well kill the pretty doll," she scolded. Rin was even more frightful at hearing this news. Her vision began to blur and she felt incredibly dizzy. And yet this development failed to cease the demon-youkai who were too busy performing their lewd acts to notice anything. The malady caused by Tsujura's poison was breaking down the obedience enchantment bit by bit, though it now meant little to Rin.

The sound in the room began to dull as images started to trail and mesh with one another. She didn't even hear the knock on the door, or Lady Jarogajin's response thereof.

"That must be my dear husband at the door. I told him to bring that rascal look-alike to me as soon as he caught him," the mad witch said. "Come on in, my lord! I have a little surprise for you!"

She turned back to her courtly ladies, and those who weren't busy violating Rin listened to the Mistress of the castle. Her tone was then low and excited.

"Oh, won't my Lord Sesshoumaru be so surprised when he sees his old ward here. Perhaps he'll even want her for dinner tonight," the disturbing part was that Jarogajin's use of the phrase 'for dinner' actually meant eating Rin.

A little Neko smiled with ideas of the handsome and sexy Sesshoumaru. When Jarogajin was in an especially good mood, she allowed the ladies of the court access to him. They had had such satisfying orgies with the demon lord; all the lady-youkai were dying for another.

When Sesshoumaru's body entered the lavish parlor, unconscious Sesshou over his shoulder, the first smell that entered his nose was Rin's musk; the first sound he heard was Rin's waning whimpers; and the first sight he saw was Rin's body being harassed by Lady Jarogajin's courtly bitches. All this triggered the scraps of soul left in his body to fight valiantly for control. Over time in his forced marriage to Lady Jarogajin, Sesshoumaru had attempted more than once for possession of his body and every time he had failed. But this time was different. This time...he was fighting for Rin. So for once in 13 years, Sesshoumaru gained control.

The domination Sesshoumaru had won was minimal; an instinctive one-track direction, but that was all the control he needed. Letting Sesshou drop to the cushioned floor, Sesshoumaru rushed forward in a blur. He knocked some noble ladies aside and swooped Rin into his arms, away from the clutching youkai. Rin was all but unconscious from the poison fever by the time Sesshoumaru leapt into action. She wasn't even aware that the one she had dreamt of all these years was holding her in her arms. All she saw was a white cloud swirling in a haze of fog.

"My love!" Jarogajin cried. "Please, explain yourself! This reaction is most uncalled for!"

The vacantness in Sesshoumaru's eye was still present. Yet signs of consciousness flickered from the void. Rin was safely nestled in right arm, her face pressed against his soft fur pelt. Jarogajin was stiff, waiting for an answer. The noble women kept their distance. Sesshoumaru just stood there, tall and victorious, holding his lovely spoil. But on the inside there was no time for him to think up a plan of action. Fighting for control was taking all of his strength and will power.

Dropped amongst the pillows near the entryway, Sesshou slowly regained consciousness. With a blink he was no longer limp in the cushions. Instead he was standing strong in the middle of frightened female youkai, a deadly enchantress planted before him, and an ailing Rin snuggled in his arm. But this was not his body. It was the form of the great Sesshoumaru, majority of whose soul was trapped in a marble around Jarogajin's neck.

The last time a switch like this was made there was confliction between the two identities. A confrontation that had overwhelmed him. This time there was no fighting force. It was only Sesshou; raised by senile humans in a modern age, student at an Ivy League university, and in love with Rin. To those watching it would seem like Sesshoumaru's body had just been shoved. His expression confused and much of the noble aura was gone.

Sesshou/maru glanced over to where his body had been previously dumped. It was sitting in an upright position looking directly at him with a steel-gaze much stronger than he could've mustered himself. Starring into those eyes, empty with only scant signs of life, Sesshou/maru knew immediately someone bright and sensible was making a temporary home of his body. Whoever that may be was trying to tell him something. Its face was blank but its eyes were shouting out an order using a voice trapped inside for a length of time surpassing the 13 years of incarceration. The spirit currently residing in that body was the being who gave Sesshou his own soul. This giver of life was now reaching out to its child created out of necessity. Sesshou understood his 'father' was strong yet his power was still held inside the control of a possessive witch, so he needed his child to save him...

'No' Sesshou/maru thought. 'He wants me to rescue..Rin.'

"I understand now," he said softly. The voice he heard from him was deeper than the one he most often spoke with. Sesshou/maru felt more power coursing through him than he could comprehend. So many facets of energy at his hands. Unfortunately, he did not possess the control of he who had initiated the switch between the two bodies. A miscalculation of energy in an offensive attack could result in disaster, and he would not risk Rin's safety like that.

'I won't be able to fight...so I'll go with the safest course,' Sesshou/maru decided. Jarogajin's patience had worn thin by this time.

"My Lord Sesshoumaru, I demand an answer, right now!" She exclaimed. Sesshou/maru frowned and lifted his head so he may look at the youkai eye-eye. Jarogajin met his gaze. For a few moments anger raged through her skull but then she saw the life that had returned into her lover's eyes. No longer were they empty with control.

"How can this be?" she gasped. Jarogajin lifted her hand and touched the marble resting on her chest. A storm was brewing inside and she made a conscious demand of Sesshoumaru's body. Something obeyed, but it wasn't what she thought. Instead of Sesshoumaru's body coming to her side, Sesshou's body pulled himself off the ground and strolled over to her. Lady Jarogajin's mouth hung open in disbelief. Sesshou/maru, on the other hand, wasn't surprised at all.

"My…my love," the witch uttered, touching the body's blank face. "Did that man enchant you? Oh that horrible man, switching bodies with my dear husband. No worries though, I shall fix it."

Jarogajin matched Sesshou/maru's stern stare. Before she could cast her spell, Sesshou/maru put his plan into motion: run away. He sprinted as fast as he could outside the door. He would've 'blurred' but that was only good for one direction and took a lot of energy. His running tactics were working quite well, though, and he easily darted from the room into the corridor. Jarogajin pointed to the door and commanded of Sesshou's body: "Catch them for me, my love. But first -"

She snapped her fingers and a chambermaid came in from a servant's entrance in the room; there was a special servant's entrances in every room and the tunnels to them were shortcuts to almost anywhere in the castle. The chamber ran up with a plain black kimono (very few things in Jarogajin's castle were black). She bowed and held it up for her Mistress who took in her hands and wrapped it around Sesshou's body.

"We can't have you running around half naked, now, can we? It isn't very dignified," she finished adjusting the sash and then gestured to the door. "Go now. I will be waiting in the throne room. Bring those two to me when you catch them."

Sesshou's body obeyed her command immediately. It ran out through the door, following Sesshou/maru's smell through the hallways. * * *  

Meanwhile, in another part of the castle, Chira, the bat youkai, was dragging Kagome along through a series of servant's tunnels. The demon looked utterly determined to help the mortal who had stumbled into this horrid place. Chira had been kept here long enough to know the wretched things Lady Jarogajin had been doing and was one of the few castle residents who had maintained a lucid mind throughout these many years. She sensed a power in Kagome, a great ability that just might pierce the abjectness of being a member in Jarogajin's household. She was ready to give up anything if it just meant one more night of freedom, flying through the dark sky and dancing in the moonlight with her kin…just like she used to.

"Here!" Chira announced as they came to a trapdoor at the end of a gated tunnel. Kagome watched anxiously while Chira fooled with the complicated locks. Slowly, each one clicked and removed itself. Before the demoness opened the latch she handed Kagome a device made of smooth pinewood. It was a small, closed cylinder with retractable lid at one end.

"What's this?" Kagome asked.

"The one you seek, Inuyasha, is in the room behind this door. Lady Jarogajin has some vile little 'pets' called the Djinn that she keeps in that room - she sometimes gives them little 'playmates' every once and a while. She intends these playmates to actually play with her creations, but more than not they simply get torn to shreds. The only thing that can ward off those beats is a special concoction; its smell repulses them. All you have to do is pull back the lid to the jar and the strong smell will fill the room. I doubt it'll have much affect on either of us, but the Djinn hate it. As soon as we enter, pull back the lid, got it?"

Ever the more eager to be at Inuyasha's side, Kagome nodded her head furiously. Chira took a deep breath and pushed against the trapdoor's wooden frame. It didn't budge.

"What the -?" Chira stepped back and glanced at the door with a puzzled expression.

"Is there something wrong?" Kagome inquired nervously. Chira shrugged her shoulders and pressed against the door again with the entire side of her body. It started to rise-inch by inch- until she was able to lift the entire door away. She was absolutely shocked by what she saw.

"Impossible!" she exclaimed. Kagome squeezed up beside the winged youkai to see what had startled her so. Her own eyes opened wide when she saw a multitude of limp, unmoving creatures sprawled across the floor. Not a single one of the dark colored beasts budged. Some were mutilated others appeared to have been smothered by fellow beasts piled atop of them. Nothing in the entire space was alive…she judged too quickly. From behind them, a crotched demon suddenly took notice of the two females. He narrowed his hungry gleaming eyes and cracked his taloned digits. With a deep guttural growl he pounced and prepared to tear off the head of the one with ebony hair.

"Huh?" Kagome whipped her head around just in time to see a ferocious demon lunge for her. She screamed and ducked back into the tunnel, dragging Chira with her.

"What in the Hells?!" the demoness cried. Kagome's face was taunt and anxious. She heard something growling from above them. It wasn't one of the Djinn.

"Oh my God! Who the - " Chira bent away from the opening. "What the - "

"Shh, I need to concentrate," Kagome said between her teeth. Chira was too frightened by confusion to argue. Without warning a clawed hand reached down into the opening. It was attached to a long arm, and silver hair slipped down into the tunnel.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed. The beastly demon-thing paused for just a moment. Could this be the hanyou Kagome was so keen on finding, was the only thought that crossed Chira's mind. In the moment that it ceased, the human girl shouted at the top of her lungs:

"Sit, boy!"

The vicious demon immediately dropped to the ground as if a great weight had fell upon him. Whilst his face was buried in the floor, Kagome grabbed a sheathed sword from her sash and stuffed it into the demon-thing's hand. Chira yelped when its head popped back up, yet it was different somehow. His features were less intimidating and all markings from his face were gone. His eyes were now a soft gold as opposed to a harsh red. Though suddenly he grew angry, yet it was only irksome frustration, not ferocious fervor.

"Damn it, Kagome, you swore you wouldn't do that anymore!" he growled. "Lying wench!"

"Well, excuse me! I was only doing what was necessary to…to…" without warning, Kagome's irritation turned into a small laugh and she threw her arms around the miffed hanyou.

"Oh, Inuyasha!"

The baffled husband remained taken back for a moment, before he simply gave up. It was unlike him to leave a fresh argument to flicker out enkindled, but he suddenly recalled their predicament and decided he would save it for when they both were old and no longer had anything to say to each other.

"Kagome, don't you know where we are?" He asked fiercely. Inuyasha spotted a youkai stranger staring at them from a trapdoor and took immediate action. Tearing the Tetsusaiga from its sheath, he aimed it straight for her forehead. The lady demon crossed her eyes and starred at the foreboding blade silently, sweat forming on her brow.

"Inuyasha, put that away!" Kagome snapped. "Her name is Chira and she led me to you. She hates the owner of this fortress just as much as the next guy and she's risking her life to help us. So please show a little restraint!"

Inuyasha's guard subsided and he gazed down at Chira with understanding and disinterest.

"Oh. Sorry then…I guess," he sheathed his mighty sword. Chira growled and lifted herself from the tunnel.

"Whatever," she scowled then cleared her throat. "Now that you have your charming husband under his senses -"

It was Inuyasha's turn to scowl.

" - I think you'd better come up with a plan to slay the wench of this castle; Lady Jarogajin."

"What are you talking about?" Inuyasha spat. "Why would we bother with a thing like that?"

"What?!" Chira was furious.

"Listen up, because there's only one plan I'm interested in: grabbing a couple other prisoners from wherever they're being held and then high-tailing it out of this place. Whatever problems you have you can deal with yourself."

"If it weren't for me, you're wife would be demon food, disgusting half-demon!"

"That's the last straw!" Inuyasha grabbed Kagome's wrist and pulled her towards the door. "Let's go, Kagome."

"Wait," she resisted. "I said I'd help Chira escape this place. We have to help, Inuyasha. I made a promise."

"Well, screw it!" he pivoted around to face her. "I don't want to have to waste my time and energy helping out some upset demon! If she wants to leave so badly then she can just follow us out."

"Do you really think it's that easy!" Chira suddenly screamed. Her words were laced with despair and tears fell from her eyes. Her hysterics had won Inuyasha's undivided attention. "Do you really think I haven't tried every possible scheme to get out of this hell-hole! I haven't seen the night sky - the real night sky - in seventy years!

"My kin stopped looking for me decades ago and now I'm all alone, trapped in this cage of disgraceful slavery having to bend without any protest to a mad-woman's demands. And if I were to simply dream of freedom, she'd smile pleasantly and tear off my wings! I've tried but I've lost all hope of regaining my freedom by myself."

Chira fell to her knees and she looked down at her wrists miserably.

"I beg of you to aid me! I beg, I gravel! I wish more than anything for a liberated life. To spread my wings and take to the night air once more…oh, just once more. Don't leave me here to rot away as a hopeless shell living in the squalor and shame of a slave. I swear on my blood, if you free me from this place, you allow me a single night's time to do as I please and then I shall return to you at which point you may execute me as you see fit. That is all I ask, one moon-filled night of freedom. If I were to die with that memory fresh in my mind then I may rest in peace."

She then looked up at the stunned pair, her face drenched in tears.

"Please."

Her voice was more pleading and longing than anything either of them had ever heard before. No one could deny such desire.

"Chira, oh, Chira," Kagome smiled and clasped her hands tight. "As of right now, I want nothing more than to see you set free. We will help you, Chira, we won't leave you behind. Right, Inuyasha?"

His eyes wide in awe, Inuyasha nodded slowly.

"Yea…"

Chira's lips tightened into a smile and she choked back sob, dropping her head into Kagome's chest. She hugged the enslaved demon protectively, her mind hating whoever would do this to any living creature.

"Okay, okay, enough of all this cry-baby crap," Inuyasha barked. "Let's go grab Rin and that Sesshou character and then we can do whatever else we need to do! Now come on!"

He pulled both women up by their biceps and directed them toward the door.

"Oh, that reminds me," Kagome chimed. "Um, about Sesshoumaru --"

"What about him? The old bastard's finally dead," Inuyasha smirked, happy to finally say the words aloud. "How else could he have a reincarnation?"

"What's all this about Lord Sesshoumaru?" Chira stopped them at the doorway. "Kagome, you said you didn't know anything about him."

"Well, actually I…um," Kagome laughed nervously. Both Inuyasha and Chira were giving her hard stares, demanding the truth.

"Chira, I'm sorry I lied to you, but I didn't want you to be put off by the fact that my husband, Inuyasha here, is…his brother."

Chira's eyes nearly popped from their sockets. Before she could respond, Inuyasha tapped his foot impatiently.

"Hip-hip-hooray, the news is out!" Inuyasha remarked sarcastically. "And remind me again how that's relevant to our situation?"

"No need to be rude, Inuyasha!" Kagome barked back. "If you had let me finish, then I could've told you that Sesshoumaru is actually --"

An intruding force coming through the door into the room cut her off. Kagome didn't even have time to blink before the limp body of Rin was thrust into her arms. She looked up in time to see Chira fall to her knees in a bow, and Inuyasha fall backward onto the floor in shock.

"Sesshoumaru?!?" his voice cracked. Indeed, the figure of Sesshoumaru stood, back against the door, decked out in all the finery deserving of a demon lord. And yet one look in his eyes and you could tell this was not the same youkai who had tried to take Inuyasha's life on so many occasions. Instead his face looked unnatural for the white-haired prince. There was much too much…emotion! His eyes worried, his mouth panting, his brow burrowed - no, this wasn't Sesshoumaru at all.

"Sesshoumaru, so you are alive!" Inuyasha quickly picked himself up and regained an angry demeanor. The one he called Sesshoumaru just looked exasperated and miffed.

"Don't call me that!" he commanded. Inuyasha was beside himself. He had not yet caught on that this demon was not the brother he knew, and so the outburst of emotion at such a trivial thing was incredibly astounding.

"I'll call you whatever I want, annoying bastard!" Inuyasha snarled. Sesshou/maru just starred at him blankly.

"Fine, go ahead. I have much more urgent things to worry about. For one thing," he glanced down at the bowing Chira. "You."

The bat demon flinched.

"Yes….my lord?"

"What? I'm not your…" he ignored it and continued to speak. "My body is…- There's a man, err, demon, I mean…"

He paused for a moment.

"Listen, there's a person chasing after me who looks very similar to me. He'll follow my scent here soon and I don't want to handle him right now so…so…"

He looked down at his chest plate and unhitched it from his body. It fell to the ground with a crash, causing Chira to whimper slightly, afraid of what was to come. To her surprise though he simply unwrapped the sash from his waist and handed it to her.

"Wear this, and run from here. I don't care where just get away from this room. My scent is on that sash and he'll follow its track."

Chira nodded hesitantly and wound the sash around her abdomen. Giving Kagome a don't-forget-your-promise stare, she scurried from the room and out of sight. Sesshou/maru redirected his attention to Kagome, who couldn't help but flinch at his golden-eyed stare.

"Rin," he said sharply. "She was poisoned by a snake demon. She's…she stopped breathing."

He said it as if it was just a harsh symptom of a common cold. He said it as if there was an easy way to cure it. He said it as if he just refused to believe it. Kagome gasped and suddenly remembered the little teenager there in her arms. She set her on the floor and felt for a pulse. Tears filled her eyes.

"Sessh --" she paused and skipped pegging him with a name altogether. "I'm so sorry, but…she's dead."

Inuyasha stood beside Kagome, a hand on her shoulder. He didn't know what to think of this man who looked like his loathsome brother, but he could comfort Kagome in her grief.

"It's okay," he stroked her back. "There was nothing you could do."

Sesshou/maru leered down at Rin's dead body like a deer in headlights. It just wasn't possible! She couldn't be dead! All he had fought for, all the turmoil inside of him, all the new changes and surprises…he always knew Rin would be there, waiting for him. Alive. She would be alive.

"Wait!" Kagome suddenly brightened. She reached for a sheathed sword still around her waist. "The Tenseiga!"

She presented Sesshou/maru with the healing sword. And yet he just looked at it, blankly. It meant nothing to him. Rin was dead. Why was this chipper woman giving him some beat up old knife?

When he didn't make a move for it, Kagome began to explain.

"It's a blade of healing given to you by your-…um, Sesshoumaru's father," she said. "The Sesshoumaru we knew revived Rin before with this blade almost two decades ago. As his reincarnation, it should do the same for you. It should bring Rin back to life!"

Still dazed and in the dark, Sesshou/maru nonetheless took the sword from Kagome. Both she and Inuyasha looked at him anxiously. Furrowing his brow slightly, he took the sword by the hilt - nothing. He unsheathed it and held it up to his face - still nothing. He lowered it down to Rin's corpse and touched her tender cheek with it - nothing at all.

The light in Kagome's eyes dwindled as she watched the display. Inuyasha sighed and spoke sympathetically.

"I guess it won't work for anyone but the real thing."

There was a beat. Sesshoumaru's grip on the sword tightened when he heard Inuyasha's words.

"I am real," he said under his breath. Kagome sniffed and glanced up at him.

"Excuse me?" she choked out between her sobs. His face was still trapped in that light expression of bewilderment he had had when he learned of Rin's demise just minutes ago.

"I am real," he repeated louder, having adopted the monotone timbre Inuyasha especially recognized of his brother. He and Kagome watched carefully as he knelt down beside Rin's cooling cadaver.

"What are you saying?" Inuyasha piped up, his tone skeptical. "That you are the real Sesshoumaru?"

"No," he replied sternly. "I am not Sesshoumaru."

Inuyasha was getting aggravated.

"Is that so? Then who are you, you cryptic imbecile?"

"Inuyasha, stop being so tactless," Kagome whispered to him. Inuyasha just scratched his head and whispered back.

"Sorry, Kagome, but he looks so much like Sesshoumaru - I can't help it!"

"I am not Sesshoumaru," he reiterated, having overheard their word exchange. "Ever since I met Rin I have begun to hear the name 'Sesshoumaru' in my head. I have heard people call me by that name. I have dealt with unexplained hate from people I never met before, been treated with respect I never earned, and was almost killed on a number of occasions simply for my resemblance in face and demeanor to this man. At first I began to believe it; that maybe I was this…thing, only reborn in a future body of a mortal man. Yet, just now…I've come to realize something."

Inuyasha and Kagome listened intently, completely engrossed in his words.

"I'm…I'm not the reincarnation of anyone. I know you all think that, but…but it's just not true. The way I look and act…it's all just a coincidence. My appearance in that park as a baby when the orphanage found me was not some mystical creation out of thin air. I was probably left there by some neglectful teenage mother who didn't want to deal with an infant. The name I chose to call myself as a toddler - Sesshou - that wasn't some subliminal inkling from my past self. I was a demanding little brat at that age and I probably thought it sounded like a cool name. I probably read it in a comic book or something. It doesn't matter."

He stared down at Rin's corpse, the only thing in the world that really mattered to him.

"The point is, there is, has and always will be one Sesshoumaru. And right now his soul is trapped in a little glass marble around that insane bitch's neck."

"Really?" Inuyasha interrupted. Kagome gave him a little whack to shush him.

"Quiet, let him finish!"

"My name Mitsuharu Sesshou. I'm an orphan. I'm a bit cold to many people I meet and somewhat anti-social, but I have a fondness for animals and I like to learn new things. In my spare time I read, I enjoy watching musical theatre. I even secretly enjoy cooking Italian food, though I'm terrible at it."

Kagome suppressed a little laugh, but this time it was Inuyasha who squeezed her shoulder to silence her.

"Shut your trap, Kagome, I want to see where he'd going with this."

"As for my mysterious access to Sesshoumaru's powers, the markings I got on my face, the thoughts that ran through my head…I think Sesshoumaru sort of…possessed me across time. Just a little bit. Just so that I could protect Rin. He knew what had happened; he knew she had been sent to the modern era. Somehow, he knew. And he knew, always he knew…that I would fall in love with her."

He paused.

"Just like he had."

"Now I know you're crazy!" Inuyasha exclaimed, ignoring Kagome's attempts to quell him. "Sesshoumaru's incapable of loving anyone, much less a little mortal girl!"

"That's not true," Sesshou/maru kept his voice level. "He loved Rin…it took him a while to truly realize it. After all, he had never known what love felt like. But when he did, he knew he had to protect her, even in the modern era. So he gave me access to his powers and mind so that I may keep Rin safe and make her know he was near her. He chose me because I was the only one aside from him who loved her. That's how I'm able to take over his body and for him to have mine. That's our connection. It may be our only connection, unlike what everyone thought, but it's a very strong one."

Inuyasha spotted something strange in Sesshou/maru's eye. He'd never seen it on him before…ever. Not even a hint of it.

"We both love Rin more than either of us can say, and he entrusted her to me. I was supposed to protect her," his voice was weakening. "And I failed. And this sword -"

He touched the Tenseiga, which remained stagnant.

"It has no connection to me. It won't heal her; it won't do anything for me. I'm not its Master."

He paused again.

"My name is…Mitsuharu Sesshou and I have no idea what I've gotten myself into." * * *  

Chira raced through the halls as fast as she was able. The yellow and purple sash around her waist flailed behind her, trailing Sesshoumaru's scent. A golden-eyed man with short white hair wearing a black kimono was gaining on her quickly. She didn't have much time. But she'd be damned if she was going to die in this miserable castle. Besides, she had a job to do and that was to keep the maniac chasing her from finding Kagome and the others. And she meant to keep her word no matter what.

"I need to make him think they've left the building. But how?"

She found a window and peeked outside. Damn it, she thought. She was on one of the highest stories of the building. And she hadn't flown in so long…she couldn't even remember how.

"Shit," she said sharply. The golden-eyed demon was right behind her now. She could see into his empty eyes. Looking out at the long fall again, she knew there was only one way out…out of everything.

"Hey, crop top!" she turned around and faced the oncoming demon. "What are you going to do now?"

He was seconds away from catching her. She smirked and beckoned him.

"I'm Chira of the Malacoda Kin, a tribe of bat demons," she announced, spreading her arms and wings wide. "And you can't handle me!"

She laughed and shifted her weight backwards. Still smiling, she got one more glimpse of the false sky above her head, shimmering with false stars. As she dropped away from the balcony she nodded approvingly.

"I guess that'll have to do," she said quietly. She closed her eyes and for a moment, as the air rushed and stroked the back of her wings, she could envision herself flying again, on a full moon's night. Her entire clan flew with her, her mate at her side. But she, ever the defiant one, pulled away from the throb and chose to soar by herself for just a little while. She skimmed the tree canopies and mocked the jungle cats. Chuckling quietly she flew up into the moon and was lost in its silver light.

Of course, none of this was really happening. In truth, Chira was plummeting fast to the ground. And yet, she didn't even care to notice. In her mind, the silver light of the moon got brighter and brighter, warmer and warmer, she was happier and happier.

And then she felt nothing ever again. * * *  

Sesshou's body paused at the edge of the balcony where the demoness servant had leapt. She watched her body fall until it hit the ground with a soft thud and a few revolting cracks. Blindly following Jarogajin's orders to follow the scent of Sesshoumaru's body, he too prepared to leap. But then a voice bid him otherwise.

"No need, my love. She's not what your after."

He stopped and just stared at the brave little bat demon, dead on the ground. And then, for some reason he couldn't explain, he also jumped. He had just reached the apex of his leap, and he was about to follow the bat demon to her death, but Jarogajin's cold gray hand grabbed his wrist and prevented him from falling any further. He hung from her grasp, his body dangling in front of death.

"Don't be silly, my love," Jarogajin smiled as she struggled to pull him onto the balcony. Though her magic was great, he body itself was rather weak. "That servant is already dead. You can't save her, so don't trouble yourself. My love?"

He paid her no mind.

"Look at me, darling!" she demanded. Sesshou's head jerked upward. Yet he didn't bother looking at her face. The first and only thing he noticed was that marble on her necklace. It was dangling from her neck and just inches from his head. The gray-blue clouds inside the glass began to stir. * * *  

"Oh Rin," Sesshou/maru said aloud, his voice beginning to betray his anguish. "Rin, forgive me. I failed you. Rin…"

As Kagome stroked Rin's dead hand, Inuyasha was still entranced by what was happening on the face of his brother's body. Though the sheer expressions were bizarre enough, there was something else going on as well.

"It couldn't be," he murmured quietly to himself, leaning closer to Sesshou/maru, trying to see what was hidden behind the silver curtains of hair.

"Rin, my darling Rin," Sesshou/maru's voice began to crack. "I loved you from the first moments I met you. I loved your sensitivity, your bravery, your understanding and trusting nature. I loved your innocent beauty and innocent charm."

"No, it's impossible," Inuyasha ignored Sesshou/maru's rantings and concentrated on his face. Particularly his eyes.

"Rin, if only there was something I could do!" he bent forward slightly and choked back a lump in his throat. "I don’t know how to save you, Rin…there’s only one person who can do that and he's not here, Rin, I'm sorry. If only there was something I could do to save you! If only…" * * *  

Still hanging perilously over the balcony with only Jarogajin's clammy arm for support, Sesshou's eyes were watching that tantalizing marble. It practically hypnotized him. Deep inside, Sesshoumaru's spirit strained for just a moment of control. The key to his freedom was closer than it had even been. If he could just break it…

"My love, try and help me out a little here," Jarogajin smiled, though she was obviously anxious. "I'm afraid you're slipping a little. Give me your other hand, dear."

She held out her free hand, offering it to him.

"Grab on, my love, it's the only way I can pull you up."

He shrugged off her words easily. All he focused on was the marble and gaining control of the shell he was stuck in. It was much harder than before since it wasn't even his true body. If only he could call to Rin. Then maybe he could somehow summon her out here to aid him. Resolving on trying such a scheme, he opened his senses and searched for Rin's general location. He found her scent easily enough, he knew it very well. He'd never forgotten it. However, her scent was slightly different than normal. He sensed she was near and yet the scent was weak. Also her usual fragrance was ever so very slightly spoiled with the smell of…death.

The cloud inside of the marble whirled more fiercely than it ever had before. Jarogajin was so strained trying to hold onto Sesshou's body, she didn't even notice when the ball began to emit a light blue sheen. Inside Sesshou's mind, Sesshoumaru's minimal spirit flared. He sensed his own body near Rin's cooling corpse. Could Sesshou manage the Tenseiga if he was in Sesshoumaru's body? No, Sesshoumaru knew that was impossible. There was only one chance at saving Rin…he just didn't know how he could do it. * * *  

"Hey, Kagome, look there."

"Inuyasha," she wiped her eyes. "What is it now?"

He pointed to Sesshou/maru's face.

"Look closely."

She did. What she saw was Sesshou/maru bent over onto his clenched hands. His body was quivering a tad. His face was contorted into an expression of restrained pain.

"Your brother action's are peculiar for him, Inuyasha, but this is hardly the time to gawk at his pain."

"Oh, come on, don't you see it?" He was a little too excited for someone kneeling so near to the body of a young dead girl. Yet Kagome indulged him.

"I don't know what you're --" and then she saw it. She covered her mouth with a small gasp. "Whoa!"

"Yea," Inuyasha smirked. "I wish we had one of those mystical little black boxes you have. You know, with the switches on them that absorb the image of --"

"You mean cameras?" Kagome sighed.

"Yea, I wish we had one of those right now," he scoffed. "Because I'd never thought I'd see the day."

"Rin," Sesshou/maru's choked back a sob. "Rin, f-forgive me."

What Inuyasha and Kagome were marveling at was the build of water on the surface of Sesshou/maru's eyes. They glistened in the light of the witch fires around the room, and the water level rose.

"I tried, Rin…I tried," he lamented. "But it wasn't hard enough. I'm sorry, Rin…I…I -"

Then the unthinkable happened. The water level on his eye overflowed. It condensed and tipped over his eyelid. It was Sesshoumaru's first tear - salty and warm.

"I love you, Rin."

Without warning, Sesshou/maru felt a sudden pull. He was torn from the physical body. Lengths of corridors rushed past him as his soul zoomed through Jarogajin's castle.

'What's happening?! Rin!' He called out in desperation. Suddenly, everything slowed to a snail's crawl. His astral body floated beside the contorted and bloody corpse of a bat demon. A bird flying beside him was frozen in time. Nothing stirred…everything was completely still. Time seemed to have stopped. The bat corpse underneath suddenly wrenched in a disgusting curl. It arched and Sesshou recoiled as the mis-bent arms twisted, and the broken neck twitched, struggling to turn. The body gurgled, and suddenly the head broke off and tumbled to Sesshou's astral feet. He looked at it wide-eyed.

"Your body," it suddenly gurgled in a broken hoarse pitch. "Go to your body. Free my soul. I can…save Rin."

"My body? Where?!"

The head hissed and struggled to speak.

"Upward."

Sesshou looked to the sky and, sure enough, there was his body limp over the edge of a balcony. He could make out the witch lady holding him tight.

"I…I can't," he uttered in fear. Hanging over the edge of what must be an, at least, one hundred foot fall? No. Not voluntarily, ever.

"Do it," the head snapped. "For…Rin!"

That's all he needed to hear. Without another moment's hesitation, he willed himself into the air-borne shell. There was a rush of wind and poof! He was there.

Time snapped back into motion. He squirmed for a moment, having to look into those soul-drilling eyes of Jarogajin's.

"My dear, what happened?" Jarogajin slowly came to a realization. While Sesshou struggled to regain his composure, a sly foreboding smile spread across Jarogajin's features. Sesshou recognized that smile as a smile one has right before they're about to kill!

"Good-bye," Jarogajin said slowly. Her grasp on his arm loosened and let go. But he wasn't about to give up that easily. Rin would never live again if he didn't free the one person who could revive her! Sesshou latched onto Jarogajin's wrist before he plunged any farther. The witch snarled and tried to shake him off.

"Release me, you irksome fool!"

Sesshou's hand toiled for the marble swinging from Jarogajin's neck. A feral growl came from her throat and she sent a shock of dark magic through her arm. The hex seared away the skin of his palm, but he remained on tight. Though the pain stung like a thousand burning daggers, Sesshou swung his uninjured, free hand upward for a final snatch. Just then, Lady Jarogajin sent another shockwave of magic from her wrist and he was forced to release himself.

His free hand fell just below the marble and he began to plummet. Yet, with a look of sheer determination on his face, he pushed himself against the laws of gravity. He pushed for love, his love for Rin. And he could almost feel her spirit, surrounding him, lifting him upward toward that whirling crystal orb. Inside it he imagined Rin's survival and this gave him the final nod he needed to give himself that extra inch. Sweating profusely and every muscle in his body strained, he clutched the marble in his seared and bloody fist.

"No!" Jarogajin shrieked. Sesshou fell again, tearing the crystal from it's chain and separating himself from Jarogajin. Clenching as hard he could, the crystal gave way to his strength.

~*~*~

A/N: Still not done, but we're in the home stretch ^.^ Some reviews would be nice too ^~