InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Loss of Self, Discovery of Truth ❯ Father ( Chapter 11 )

Chapter 11: Father

The land on the other side of the bridge looked like that of a war ravaged city. Fires littered the area and there were large skeletons of buildings crumbling to the ground. Everything was gray, soot covered, or on fire.

A large explosion blew up a nearby shell of a building and sent down a cloud of debris.

“Kagome!” Kouga shouted in warning.

Her eyes grew wide and she covered her head and prayed that she wouldn't come to a nasty end. And she'd have been buried if a purple blur hadn't shot out and pushed her out of harm's way.

The warm press of a male body held her to the unyielding rocky surface of the terrain. The familiar jingle of prayer beads drew her attention as a vortex of wind rushed from the man's hand and absorbed the rocks falling towards them from a second explosion.

“Kagome!” Kouga shouted frantically tossing aside the debris. “Kagome!”

“You must be new,” a melodic voice said in the exact tone of a certain holy man.

“Miroku? How did you--?”

The man laughed, pushing himself above her with a hand resting on either side of her head. “Miroku? Do you know my son?” He stared into her eyes with captivating warm violet eyes and smiled a heartbreaker's smile. “Have you bore him a son?”

A fierce blush stole across her cheeks. “N-n-n-no! Of course not!”

He stood and offered his hand. “Good. Then you can have mine!”

“Kagome!” Kouga rushed over toward them, his face pale in worry. “I thought you had…” He noticed Miroku's father. “What are you doing here?”

He smiled lazily at Kouga and brushed the dust off his robes. “I live here, in a manner of speaking.”

Kagome stared at the man. His resemblance to Miroku was uncanny even down to the earrings. Maybe they were a pass-down? But that wouldn't make sense. Hard to pass something down to the next generation when you take it with you into a void. “It's Miroku's father.”

The man in question sighed. “It's right here. And my name is Mitsurugi.” He looked Kouga up and down, eyes focusing on the very un-human tail. “You're on the wrong side of the bridge, wolf demon.”

Kagome took hold of Kouga's arm and tried to ease the tension out of his taut muscles. “We're looking for a friend.”

Mitsurugi turned his attention to Kagome. “Oh? I suppose that would explain why two living beings were in the realm of the dead.” His eyes flickered back to Kouga. “It doesn't explain why a priestess would be traveling alongside a wolf demon though.”

“We're looking for Sesshoumaru.”

Mitsurugi looked over his shoulder. “We can't stand here, the hell hounds will be by soon.” He started walking at a brisk pace. “Follow me and try not to get yourselves buried under the falling buildings.”

“I don't think we should trust him,” Kouga whispered glaring at the retreating figure in obvious distaste.

“He's Miroku's father. Don't you trust Miroku?”

Kouga's lips pressed together in a thin line of annoyance. “Fine,” he conceded following after him.

Mitsurugi guided them past a few blocks of smoldering buildings and the charred remains of what appeared to be trees. With the flick of a finger the trees would collapse into a pile of ashes. “So, the son of the great Inu-taisho was killed? Did he fall in love with a human too?” He placed his palm on a low wall and jumped over it. “This side of the bridge is for the humans. I'd think you would have more luck on the demon side of this place.”

“Oh, we found him there,” Kagome said.

He looked at her over his shoulder, his expression exactly like Miroku's. It made Kagome's heart ache to think of the possibility of failing in this realm and not returning to her friends.

“So why are you still looking?”

“We found part of him. He's been separated into part demon and part human.” Kouga's tail twitched agitatedly as he fought back the urge to sneeze. This side of the underworld was more brutal to his senses than the other side.

“Mitsurugi-san, could you explain exactly where it is that we are?”

“Why Kagome, you're in the Meidou. The underworld, netherworld, Hades. The place of fire and brimstone.” Mitsurugi spread his arm in a gesture to the land around them. “Not quite the paradise I had imaged to find myself after my death.”

“Shouldn't there be more people here?”

“Oh no, this isn't the last stop before oblivion,” Mitsurugi said with a chuckle. “This is the place for those not ready for the next phase of life, those stuck in limbo, those that were cursed in the former life.” He lifted the hand with the kazanna up. “Unless Miroku manages to end this curse I'll be here longer.”

He led them into a building that seemed to be in better shape than most. There was a door in the floor that led to an underground cellar. Mitsurugi lit a few candles and then shut the door.

“Now, explain this to me again. Pretend I've been dead for twenty years and don't have any idea about what's going on.”

Kagome walked to a slab of stone in the middle of the room and dusted off the top before sitting. She swung her legs back and forth nervously. “You're familiar with Naraku?”

In answer Mitsurugi held up his cursed hand and gave it a little wave.

“Right, well, he's still around. And there's a group of us working together to defeat him. He's gathered the majority of the Shikon no Tama and—.”

“Is the Shikon no Tama not in the possession of a priestess? And what do you mean a majority? Where's the minority of the jewel? And why would it be in two parts?”

Kagome cast a helpless look toward Kouga. “We don't have time for this. We need to find Sesshoumaru,” he said taking a threatening step towards the monk.

Mitsurugi held up a sutra and waved in front of Kouga's face. “On the contrary, demon, we've all eternity. Now back away. I've a sutra and I'm not afraid to use it.” He leaned lazily against the wall and tucked the sutra back inside his robes when Kouga moved away from him.

“Mitsurugi-sama, I was the priestess in charge of protecting the jewel and it was stolen from me and in order to keep it safe I shattered it into shards. My friends and I have been gathering the shards while certain demons have also done the same. Naraku is the most powerful of the demons gathering shards and he's collected most.” She lifted up the shards strung up around her neck and then gestured toward the ones in Kouga's legs.

“No need to point them out. I may have been dead for two decades but I can still sense spiritual auras even while in the spirit world,” Mitsurugi said sounding annoyed. “How did Sesshoumaru become human?”

“One of Naraku's demons absorbed Sesshoumaru's demon and then later Inuyasha's humanity. The intention was to kill Sesshoumaru.”

“Naraku didn't realize Sesshoumaru wasn't completely demon.” Mitsurugi played with his prayer beads absently. “It's about time someone beat that disgusting creature at his own game.”

Kouga's patience was rapidly dissipating. “Do you know where we might find him?”

A slow smile spread across Mitsurugi's face. “I've an idea.”

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

His body was coated in sweat, legs shook with fatigue, and breath labored in the thick smoky atmosphere. It didn't make sense. Naraku's parasite had been destroyed and yet here he was—human—in hell.

Even in death this curse kept him from his rightful glory as being buried in his true youkai form. He should be a large set of decomposing bones of a massive dog like his father. It had been over a year since he last tried to kill Inuyasha. He'd even done what might be termed as good deeds for the weak humans. And he was one fine ruler of the Western Lands. Those should all be weighed on the balance of life and death and find him on the positive side of good, right?

So why was he stuck in hell as a human? He didn't even have any weapons, not even the useless Tensaiga which might actually have been of some use in a realm full of the other-worldly.

He walked through the wasted remains of a village. It was abandoned, walls crumbling, huts reduced to cinder. Foul smoke filled the air and he was grateful to not have his sensitive olfactory sense at his instant—the one small blessing of the disaster that was his life or afterlife. He couldn't even tell if he was dead or not!

Sesshoumaru looked up and saw the source of the foul smell. There was a large dog-like creature with a body in its mouth with acidic slobber pouring down onto a mountain of corpses.

He searched for a place to hide; annoyed that he'd been reduced to a cowardly act like hiding when a pair of small hands yanked him by the shoulders onto the other side of a crumbling section of debris.

“They have poor sight,” a quiet feminine voice whispered.

He crouched beside her as another beast past by without noticing their presence. The woman had long dark hair, pale skin, and he had a feeling that she was familiar. She turned to him and he recognized the face immediately. It was Izayoi—his father's lover and Inuyasha's mother.

“You must be new here,” she said.

Sesshoumaru nodded. Should he admit his knowledge of this woman? Should he pretend to not know her? If he were back to his proper self he'd have just run her through with his poison claws and be done with the whole headache.

“Will you stop looking at me like that?” an approaching tenor said and Sesshoumaru's inner dialogue was cut short as he concentrated on listening.

“You're probably hiding something,” another voice resounded in a suspicious tone.

“What? Was killing me once not enough for you, Bankotsu?”

“Given your tendency for betrayal, Renkotsu, I can't seem to kill you enough.”

“Come,” Izayoi whispered tugging Sesshoumaru away from the members of the seven-men team. Since melting her wasn't a viable option he decided to follow her silently as she guided the way through the ragged terrain. She navigated past a forest of trees that were nothing more than burnt husks and a creek of putrid green water.

“What do you drink here?” he asked, speaking for the first time.

She looked at him, an odd expression on her face. “Drink? You do not drink here. You do not drink, eat, or sleep. It's not even necessary to breath.” A self-depreciatingly laugh broke past her lips. “However, breathing is the hardest habit to quit.”

“I see.” It would be handy to not breathe in the foul air of the land. Sesshoumaru held his breath, but after a few moments passed his chest felt constricted and his head light. He exhaled and then took in a deep breath. He'd work on that later. After all he had all of eternity, didn't he?

“Izayoi, is that you?” a male voice called out. A large man stepped out from near a thorny bush. It was the duel personality member of the seven-men team. Sesshoumaru remembered his nice side was a kind doctor that had bonded with the undead miko. He'd had a fear of blood. Perhaps Sesshoumaru could use that to his advantage later.

“Suikotsu, thank goodness. Those men were scouring the streets again.”

“Looking for more victims to feed the hell hounds, no doubt,” Suikotsu said. His eyes settled upon Sesshoumaru. “I know you.”

“You do not.” No one knew this Sesshoumaru. He was a mysterious entity. Humans just thought they knew him. Recognizing his magnificence in any form was to be expected. Recognition and knowledge were completely different matters.

“You're the lord of the Western lands.” His eyes narrowed. “What happened to you?”

Izayoi's eyes widened and her jaw slackened as she stared at Sesshoumaru just now realizing who he was.

Sesshoumaru's shoulders slumped and he cursed the human feelings that made him look weak. “I'd rather not talk about it. Could you explain where we are?”

“You're in the Meidou. This is the world of the dead.” Suikotsu paused before reaching out and touching the carotid pulse in Sesshoumaru's neck. “But you are not dead.” He retracted his hand. “My brothers have been gaining status in this realm. Their power increases the more they feed the hell hounds. They are spared a fate of being devoured by the hounds and fill their days brutalizing the residents.”

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

Inuyasha crouched low when he landed. Kohaku had led them to a sight that reeked of some awful smell. The ground was littered with the remains of the demon that had stolen his humanity and Sesshoumaru's sword Tensaiga was next to the mess.

And…

A female Sesshoumaru stood there staring at him from the other side of the dead demon with long white hair billowing in the breeze and crescent moon tattoo blazing on the forehead.

“Hell Sesshoumaru, don't you ever get a break, bastard? Now you're a woman?”

“I am Sesshoumaru's mother, you moron,” she said with narrowed eyes. She tossed her hair aside and glared down at the remains of the monster and sighed while toying with her necklace. “It took you long enough to get here.” She looked up to glower at him. “Your timing is worse than your fathers.”

“Excuse me, Sesshoumaru-sama's mother,” Miroku addressed with a charming smile in place and a respectful bow. “Could you tell us what happened to our friends?”

“Friends? My son wouldn't be friends with a troop of humans and a hanyou.” Her eyes rested upon Ah-Uhn. “Or maybe he would. He inherited the most annoying traits from his father.”

“Do you know what happened?” Miroku asked patiently.

“I sent that girl and the wolf to the Meidou so they could find my Sesshoumaru.” She blew her bangs away from her eyes in annoyance. “I sort of forgot to tell them how to return.” She gestured towards Tensaiga. “I believe that's yours now, Inuyasha.”

“No, that's Sesshoumaru's sword.”

“It's the other half of yours. My son has no need for trinkets left by his father. He is far too superior in his own right to rely upon a birthright.” She looked at Inuyasha with bored eyes. “You on the other hand could use all the help you can get.”

“When you said Meidou, what did you mean?” Miroku asked.

“Sent them to the underworld. I'll bring them back out with my necklace assuming they go to one of the portal areas.”

Sango whispered to Kikyo, “Now would be a good time to drag Inuyasha to hell.” The undead priestess sent the demon slayer a scouring glare. She shrugged, hoisting her bone boomerang on her shoulder.

“We were all thinking it,” Shippo said pulling on Sango's pants' leg.

“How do we help them?” Inuyasha asked.

Sesshoumaru's mother shrugged. “It's probably just another elaborate test your father created to make the two of you stronger. I've not heard of this Naraku character. Your father is the only deranged demon lord I've ever known.” She started to examine her nails.

“Sesshoumaru-sama's mother,” Sango said working hard not to stumble over the words. The inu-youkai looked over at her. “Could you send us into the Meidou so that we can help the others?”

She burst into laughter. “Of course not!” She went back to her nails.

“What do we do?” Sango hissed to Miroku. The good monk shrugged but then slapped his cheek. He pulled his fingers away and in between thumb and index finger was a squished Myoga.

“Interesting that you always seem to show up when we're out of answers. How did you get here?” Miroku asked.

“I found him leeching off my oxen,” Totosai said swooping onto the scene.

“Why is it that we find everyone except the ones we're looking for?” Inuyasha groaned in frustration.

“Because you're not looking for the right ones,” Totosai retorted hitting Inuyasha over the head.

The hanyou rubbed his sore scalp and the angry welt that was beginning to form from the blow.

“Abusive as ever,” Sesshoumaru's mother said in way of greeting.

“My lady,” Totosai said bowing towards her. “Sesshoumaru's entered the Meidou?”

“Of course. Did you doubt that he would?”

“No, I knew he would the moment the sword I'd built for him vanished.”

“You made Sesshoumaru a sword? What were you thinking?” Inuyasha shouted.

“Quiet,” Totosai said hitting him upside the head again.