Authors nonsense (er notes)
Continuing to work on the second chapter directly from the first, not much to say past what was said last time. Lets get right to the interesting part J
-Aura
Chapter 2: ABlast from the Past
No…she had to be dreaming. Any time her alarm would wake her up and she would be getting ready for work all over again and the day would pass without any problems. She couldn't kid herself though, and it was Inuyasha's brother lying on a sort of dais in front of her. Not a day older than she remembered he was lying peacefully as if he'd been laid to rest. The slight rise and fall of his chest was the only reason she shakily took a step into the small shrine. His armor and swords were placed on shelves in the back of the room for his use, even his clothes were pristine, not even dust had touched a single surface. Some sort of magic had sealed it all off from aging, she had heard about such things from Kaede and Miroku but they were all short and simple. The only person that had been capable of casting such a long sealing had been Kikiyo when she bound Inuyasha to the tree.
Did she seal away the demon lord? Had Kagome finally made the biggest mistake of her life, she didn't have any beads of subjugation to save her from his poisonous claws. Tettsaiga! She remembered when the sword had saved her before and backed up, running to get it before moving back to the doorway. A little more confident about moving further into the odd building this time. How in the world had Sesshomaru walked into the modern world in Chicago! What in the world would she do with him? Would he even wake up?
She swallowed, not really wanting him to wake up, he could take out the city before anyone knew what happened, the modern world wouldn't stand a chance against the demon lord of the west. How would she explain this to her director! If she lived through him waking up she would be searching for a new job if the city was still here. But, if others found him first…it would be worse, so much worse!
She reached down and poked his arm, drawing back though he hadn't budged. She watched him like she might a snake that she was afraid would strike, eyes scanning over his elf like face with a wary curiosity. He was always immaculate but she'd never seen him this close before, the marks on his face did somehow inspire a respect of station, even if they looked like facial tattoos there was almost a subconscious respect that they pressed into mind. His hair was painfully familiar, it was a little lighter than Inuyasha's had been but it was undoubtedly the rare gorgeous silver that she'd only ever seen on the demons then. His clothing was the same though he didn't currently have the upper spiky piece of his armor on the rest hadn't changed, the cherry blossom red on the pure white. Magenta strips still ran along his wrists…wait wrists? When did he get his other arm back? As sure as he was in front of her, he had all of his limbs attached. The long fingers ending in clawed nails.
Without thinking she reached down to the hand that wasn't suppose to be there and touched it as if to make sure it was there, running a finger along the strips that were his birthmarks, his tale covering most of the other arm, as fluffy and magnificent as ever as it rested harmlessly along the length of his body and drifted down to nearly touching the floor. She smiled at that, something about it had always made him more unique, though it had always looked like a boa, once she'd seen him toss Inuyasha across the floor like a rag doll with it she had learned to be wary of such appearances.
She smiled a bit despite the complications soon to come, it had been the first time she'd been able to remember the past without threatening tears. The shock had removed sorrow from her mind, it was a healthy experience to be able to see the past without turning into a sobbing child. Not that she liked it, but she had no idea what she would do. Aware that her precious little time was passing but watching the sleeping demon without having the slightest inkling of what course to take.
"What will I do with you?" she whispered with a frown, she didn't want a confused demon walking about attacking things in the city but she didn't know what she could do. Waking him up would be the first most likely course, but how in the world was she suppose to do that?
She settled her hand on his arm, surprised by how smooth his skin was, demons were lucky they never had to use things like lotions and body creams to keep themselves perfect, they just got off easy. She bit her lip to try to concentrate, waking up the demon lord of the west. She still hoped this was a dream as she started looking around the room for any clue as to how to stop his slumber. Not that she'd tried really waking him, but didn't want to drop to shaking him until it was a last resort.
When no sort of guide or even riddle as to how to solve this problem presented itself she chewed her lip a little more, the bitter taste of the lipstick not even registering with the difficulty at hand. She finally leaned forward and shook his shoulder a little more, which was very little but more than before.
His finger twitched…which made her hop backward and hold the sword in front of her as if it were some sort of awkward shield. When he didn't move again she swallowed to try to remove the sudden cottonmouth and took a timid step closer again, reaching down and shaking his shoulder again, trying to say his name but failing to do it above a whisper.
She glanced back to the storeroom door when she didn't get a response, tapping the side of the dais and then wanting to jump out of her skin when she turned her attention back to the demon and found a pair of slitted golden eyes focusing on her tiredly. Letting out a pathetic 'eep' when his hand wrapped around hers. She was dead…he was going to kill her…this would be the end of her cause of her curiosity and obsession with the past.
He pulled her closer as if she wasn't resisting at all, his voice low and a little broken.
"Water."
He released her hand after the single word, she hadn't heard Japanese in a while but she knew what he wanted…his eyes were already closed again and as he shifted his weight she could hear the pops of protest from his body. He had to be in exceptional pain if he'd been in the strange shrine as long as she believed. Staring with her mouth open at what was in front of her until he started to sit up. Water…get him water, that couldn't be hard.
She flew from the room, having the mind to at least set the sword she'd been holding on the floor, moving quickly back to the break room and water machine, grabbing a cup then pausing to go over to the sink and get a larger glass. Moving from a mechanical subconscious need without thinking about it, filling the glass and moving back to the storeroom, stepping inside and wanting to wilt when she saw him standing inside the small building. Her heart skipped a beat, he should still be weak and unable to move shouldn't he? Her confidence shaken by his mobility she barely repressed the urge to shiver as she moved over and offered him the glass.
He looked at her for a short while before accepting it, sniffing at it and eyeing her uncertainly before sipping it. He finally shrugged and drank it all down before turning to start donning his armor.
"Se…Se…Sesshomaru?" she shuttered, "what happened to you?"
He paused to look at the woman, she was human but at least she had gotten him water without poisoning it. Wasn't she Inuyasha's second mate though? Why would she of been the one to release him? Certainly he'd been tricked by his brother and his first mate, trapped in this silly sort of gravesite, but he would deal with them shortly. This woman though? Perhaps she was jealous and wanted revenge on him for choosing the other priestess. She certainly smelled strange enough…spices, apple, pumpkin, cinnamon, her own personal scent mingled with the perfumes, thankfully not as strong as many of the ones nobility used but she might work in a kitchen…
She seemed honest in her question, which would imply his guess was correct, that his brother had somehow betrayed her as well.
"The half-breed and his priest trapped me here together with the help of several others. I don't want aid with revenge however, stay out of it. I'll kill him myself." Sesshomaru offered coolly, settling his armor in place finally.
"Um…Inuyasha and Kikiyo are both dead," she said softly, uncertain of how he would respond. "they died a long time ago."
That got him to look at her more carefully, the fear was easy enough to pick up the scent of, he was used to that from mortals so it was normal…but she wasn't lying as best he could tell. It was sad he wouldn't be able to exact revenge himself, but she had brought him Tetsaiga, considering she was the one that cost him the sword the first time it was fitting that she delivered it now.
"How did you get your arm back?" she was making conversation when her supervisor could walk in at any time, she had no idea how long she had before she would have to start work. God this was serious and she wasn't going to wake up.
"I went to the underworld and I found it," he explained as if it was as simple as running to the store.
"Oh…well um…" she hesitated, not sure of how to put this, "it's been a very long time sense you were sealed here…and it's hundreds of years later assuming this didn't happen long after Naraku was defeated…"
He narrowed his eyes at that, hundreds of years? It's easy to assume he would have survived that and Inuyasha would have had the possibility but this mortal priestess? There was no way that she could have lived that long…unless she'd been sealed by Inuyasha as well. The half-breed really had fallen to the level of honor that he was afforded by birth if he'd done that to a mortal as opposed to just killing her.
"Well see, there was a well in Japan that connected this time to the past…but after we killed Naraku and the jewel disappeared the gateway that existed there stopped working and the magic had died. That was four years ago here. We're across the world in a new continent and um…things are difficult to explain…" She babbled on for a while before just sort of drifting off.
Perhaps the girl was just mad. Though this place didn't smell of Japan, the air was too dead…as if fires had been burning for years and had ruined it. They certainly weren't near Kyoto where he'd been imprisoned. That much was true. A new continent?
"You are in America," she elected to talk more, she had to find somewhere to put him until her day was over. "Here things are a lot different, they speak a different language and they wear different clothes and you shouldn't just wander around like you are…you could get into trouble."
She swallowed and backed a step as he looked at her again finally at that comment, not sure if she insulted him or not…what could she do? She missed those beads greatly all of a sudden…
"You are familiar with the language here?" he couldn't just walk around being illiterate of everything going on around him, if he really was somewhere else he'd have to use her as a translator until he got back to his lands or found something better to do. He didn't like humans much but she reminded him of Rin, apparently dead now as well, an idea that didn't sit well and he pushed those confusing thoughts aside to the problem at hand. Jaken likely had gotten himself killed trying to save him, otherwise there wouldn't be forgiveness for leaving him for such a period…he put the small imp from his mind as well.
"Yes, I am fluent in English…" she answered, "but right now I am about to start a day of work so I sort of need you to wait somewhere no one can see you."
She would have suggested the shrine of sorts but didn't want him to get the wrong impression, not that the idea of putting Sesshomaru in a closet was more comforting.
"Why would I care if anyone saw me?" he replied as his eyes scanned over the armors and swords in the room, none as good as the two he now wielded. Tetsuaiga had taken it's rightful place next to Tensaiga, Tokijin had been destroyed years before by Naraku's other incarnation.
"Um…people don't dress like that anymore…" she fought with her brain to figure out a way to explain it, moving to at least replace the chain around the doors of the small shrine, at least it wouldn't be totally obvious that she had opened it if someone walked in. "You don't look…like other people…demons don't exist anymore in this time…"
He glanced back to the woman, certainly she was a fool, demons not existing? What was he? A part of her imagination? No wonder Inuyasha had chosen the other one. There might be less weak demons but they wouldn't be gone. His race dying out? Ridiculous.
"I know it has to sound impossible, but if they do exist then they blend in with people every day and they don't know about them…people think demons are just made up nightmares." she tried to convince him lamely. Though that was a spooky thought, demons still being there…but then, wouldn't she sense them? Guess not, she hadn't sensed Sesshomaru, and he had to be the most powerful demon she'd ever met when she was in the past.
"Even if there are hunters and such, this Sesshomaru won't hide away from such lesser beings," he returned, did this mortal really think he would fear so much he would lose his honor and hide away like a half-demon? She had traveled with the hanyou for a long time and seemed rather slow, but this wouldn't be the case with him.
"I…um…crap…" she cursed under her breath as she noticed that her director was standing at the storeroom door and staring at Sesshomaru like…well he was something she'd never seen before. At least she hadn't screamed or run off, but what in the world was Kagome suppose to do? This was bad, she should have slept in this morning…
End Chapter
There we go, chapter 2 done. I hit over 2000 words this time too! It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Sesshomaru makes me giggle, he's got such a huge sense of pride! Best demon lord ever! Anyway, more to come another day, I need sleep in the meantime.
-Aura
