Daichi's office was nothing but bookshelves and documents spread around the room with a big ebony desk in the middle. He pulled a chair from a stack of them shoved in the corner of the room and set it in front of his desk. He motioned for Sesshomaru to take a seat. As Sesshomaru settled into the chair Daichi headed toward a shelf stacked with paintings of old Lords and Ladies of the East.

"To fully understand Rin...it is always best...to look at family roots." Daichi proclaimed as he pulled three carefully wrapped paintings from the top of the stack. He then returned to his desk as he unwrapped the paintings. Daichi then began to unravel the strands from Rin's past.

"First off, the man you saw with Rin a few moments ago...his name is Captain Santiago Alejandro Lopez Rodriguez."

That is a ridiculously long name!

"As Rin explained to you he is the Captain for the ship that does our trading between Spain. But I'm sure that you realized they share a deeper connection that just a Captain and a Lady. He is Rin's uncle. He is also her godfather...and my father"

"Her uncle and godfather? And your father? Then that makes you Hispanic." Sesshomaru pondered for a few moments. Daichi let Sesshomaru think this through for a second.

"Wait," Sesshomaru thought, "so...Rin's not fully Japanese?"

"Nope!" Daichi proclaimed. "Rin's father was Captain Salvador Vasquez Rios Garcia."

Daichi then pulled out the first painting. It was a torso version of Santiago but with a clean shaven face except for a little chin hair. He also had a slightly longer face, narrower chin, and slightly narrower eyes. He wore the scarlet kimono with the lion kimono Sesshomaru saw Rin wear at the Renaissance Feast.

Wow...so this is Rin's father.

"Wait a minute I though his name was Sora Arai!"

Daichi glared at Sesshoamru.

"I will get there...Lord Sesshomaru" Daichi gave the painting to Sesshomaru for him to inspect.

"Santiago and Salvador grew up in a poor village in Spain. They learned how to sail and became Captains of their own trading ships. But they wanted a little more...adventurous life. So they turned to something a little more extreme and a little more...shinier."

"A privateer life?"

"Piracy. That why Santiago still carries the sword and pistol with him. The pirate violence went away, but the spirit still lives on in him in Salvador's memory."

Sesshomaru eyes widened a little bit in surprise.

"Salvador and Santiago began a pirate life and raided ships and stole loot together. They would even exchange crew members if one ship needed the backup."

Ahh...the infamous brother-my-brother bond. Sesshomaru shuddered at the thought of him and Inuyasha actually working as a team like that.

"They tried to raid a merchant ship that was in our port, but they were surprised by the Lion Demon's fighters and were overpowered. Salvador managed to escape, Santiago and both their crews weren't so lucky. They were marched to the Lion Demon's fortress and locked up for trespassing into foreign land without a validated license and piracy."

"Salvador knew the only way to save his brother was if he fought in this war and freed him by killing off the Lion Demon. This was how he met Rin's mother, Kazue Arai."

Daichi then pulled out the second painting he pulled from the shelf. This was a woman who had the features Rin had: the heart shaped face, the huge eyes, and the smile. But she was paler, had dirty blonde hair, and aqua blue eyes. She wore the same attire Salvador was wearing in his portrait.

Rin's mother...Rin's definitely a darker version of her mother. Amazing!

"Kazue was not only an equally skilled sword fighter like Salvador was...she also possessed a power that Rin wishes to find within herself...a power Rin knows sleeps within her that she desperately wants to awaken in order to have the advantage in this war."

Sesshomaru perked himself out of the seat and listened intently to Daichi.

"Rin's mother was a Sorceress."

"What?"

"Each Sorceress has a physical quality that sets them apart from the average person: an eye color, hair color, character trait. It symbolizes the magic that flows in their blood. For Rin, it's the warmth in her dark eyes."

Sesshomaru remembered whenever he looked closely into Rin's eyes, he felt...calm, at peace. Even now he misses that from her.

Is she missing me right now?

"Michiko is also a Sorceress." Daichi proclaimed.

"Of course...her eyes."

"Yes...yes." Daichi's eyes wondered in adoration as he thought back to his wife. Sesshomaru envied Daichi for being able to feel so affectionately warm for someone. Sesshomaru cleared his throat to get Daichi out of his trance.

"Oh sorry. The rebels noticed Salvador's skill at the sword and he introduced gunfire to the war. Kazue and Salvador began training with each other. As the big battle with the Lion Demon approached, they trained longer and grew stronger together...and therefore the connection they shared grew stronger too. But they felt that they couldn't afford to fall in love because they didn't want to get hurt if one of them died in the battle. As they fought the battle, they found out that there was one thing that made them stronger...the need to protect each other."

"With Kazue's awakened Sorceress powers, she distracted the Lion Demon while Salvador delivered the final blow. After the Lion Demon died, they were able to free the prisoners in the fortress. Salvador was reunited with his brother and they quickly decided to return to a life of piracy."

"But Salvador changed his mind at the last minute and decided to stay and rebuild Kazue's homeland. The East was so impressed by his sacrifice for Piracy to help a foreign land that they decided to name him as Lord of the East."

A pirate to a Lord...Rin's family truly is one of a kind.

"My father was also impressed by his brother's actions and decided to give up his life of piracy and started the trading between the East and Spain to help his brother rebuild the East. With his resources and commander savey skill, Salvador quickly rebuilt the East. Three years after he took the throne, he and Kazue married. As a tribute to his devotion to this land and Kazue's birthplace, he gave up his Spanish legacy and took the name Sora Arai when they married."

"They had a son named Hiroshi two years after they married."

Daichi revealed the last painting. He looked a lot like Salvador but had a more heart-shaped face, was less tan, and had Kazue's hair.

"He and I were born in the same year. Rin was born three years later. While they grew up, of course, they learned Spanish. I'd come with my father to visit them, and we all were taught a little bit of sword combat. Rin pretty much completed that training with Sango and Kohaku. Then the rebels began to rise again."

"The rebels started off by petty robberies, then it escalated to murdering citizens and threating my uncle and his family, including Rin. One night, a gang of rebels went too far and attacked Sora in the middle of the night. He gathered his family and tried to leave. He led his family just outside the East when they were stopped."

"And that was when the bandits attacked Rin and her family, right?" Sesshomaru asked.

"Actually, it's not so simple." Daichi walked back to the bookshelf. This time, he was looking at portraits of major enemies of the East from the past. He pulled out a portrait and returned to his desk.

"Meet Hayato." Daichi flipped the portrait over to reveal the infamous Falcon Demon. He was a man with long black hair and shaggy and messy bangs that covered his face and blood-red eyes. A cruel smile showed fanged teeth behind the evil smirk. Sesshomaru felt shivers as he heard the name. He'd heard rumors that Hayato was a not just a demon, but a monster who's lived as long as the Lion Demon has and knows no mercy and shows no kindness. He's attacked countless villages and never left any survivors. The one's he did leave alive were then tortured and mutilated before he finished them off. Killing was not only an instinct for Hayato...it was a hobby and a sport for him.

"What does that...thing have anything to do with Rin?" Sesshomaru demanded.

"A hell of a lot more than you think." Daichi claimed.

"Hayato was the Demon who led the bandits to Sora the night he was killed."

Sesshomaru's chest suddenly felt tight as he felt a flicker of fear. Rin had actually seen Hayato and confronted him with her family as a child.

"Hayato told Sora to surrender; he refused, of course, saying he'd 'rather die than see the East fall to torment again.' As punishment for refusing him, Hayato flipped the carriage that was holding Rin, Kazue, and Hiroshi down a cliff that was beside them. Sora got distracted as he watched his family. Hayato took the opportunity to strike Sora, killing him instantly."

"The carriage Hayato knocked over crashed at the bottom of the cliff. Kazue didn't have enough time to create a shield of magic to protect them. Rin was knocked unconscious and badly injured. Kazue and Rin's eleven year old brother...were killed in the crash."

Sesshomaru's heart sank as he heard this tale. All these years of smiles and laughter and happy moments, and Rin had this hidden storm in her soul that she had been hiding. He leaned back in the chair in disbelief.

"That's awful." Sesshomaru whispered.

Daichi took a moment to take a deep breath and gather himself before he cried.

"Still...it's a good thing Rin was unconscious when the bandits came. They surely would've killed her if they knew she was alive. After she woke up, she fled to the West. She later found out that palace guards were able to chase off the bandits and reclaim the bodies of her family, including her father. They're buried in the Royal Cemetery located near the temple. Of course Rin fled in fear that Hayato might discover that she was still alive and would try to hunt her down. She found a village to live in and that's when she told me she met you...her savior"

Savior...has she really been describing me like that all this time she was here?

"When my father and I returned and found out what happened, my father temporarily took charge of the throne; but then he had to return to his work on the sea so I decided to run the East in place of my uncle. And now Rin has returned and has claimed an Act of War against the Rebels."

"Hmmm...is that all you need to tell me?" Sesshomaru asked. He was anxious to confront Rin about this huge past of hers.

"No. I also have a bit of advice for you Lord Sesshomaru." Sesshomaru listened closely as Daichi's face grew almost as cold as Sesshomaru's.

"Let Rin control this war."

Sesshomaru sat in disbelief.

"Sesshomaru, the doors to the Great Hall are not that thick if you lean right against them. I heard you question Rin's motives about her choices in this war. I wouldn't make the choices this time if I were you."

"But why not...Lord Daichi?"

"One, because you are not the leader of this Land, therefore, you cannot make the choices for Rin. You can only fight alongside her. Rin's watched you fight during the time she was with you and she's trained with two of the best demon slayers in the West. Rin is no fool when it comes to fighting. She's also close to achieving her goal of awakening her sorceress powers. One she's done that, she will be one of the best fighters in the battlefield."

"And two, Hayato has become the primary leader of the rebels in this war so you can be damn sure Rin is going into this battle with all of her skill and power."

At this point Sesshomaru stood up from his seat. Rin was about to go after the most gruesome demon in the history of the Lands next to the Lion Demon and her silent tormenter her that filled her life with a pit of emptiness and worthlessness until she met him.

"Rin's primary focus is not killing off the rebels. The only person she want's eliminated is the leader, the main core, the leader that she can take out and replace and, therefore, bring peace to the East."

Sesshomaru no longer saw Rin's motives for war as a noble act for peace and unity, but for something much more selfish and full of vengeance. The ultimate vendetta.

"Rin's not just bringing peace back to her lands by killing off Hayato...she's getting her revenge."

With those last few words, Sesshomaru stormed out of Daichi's office in search for Rin. Even though the battle was months away, his heart was pounding as if he were in the midst of combat. His adrenaline was pumping throughout his body so much, he could feel his fingertips tingle a bit. He suddenly grew terrified as an image of Rin fighting Hayato to the death filled his mind.

"Rin! RIN!"