A/N: *Italicized with star* - Kagome's Thoughts

"Italicized Block "– Flashback (Miroku's Narration)


To Remember the Forgotten


"What do you sense with her?" Miroku stood beside the bandaged girl, who was seated before Sesshomaru, head hung down, like a virgin about to be sacrificed to the raging demon. The white warlord retained the stoic mask.

"I sense nothing." he answered. He gave Miroku a hard look. What was he trying to prove?

"Exactly!" Miroku exclaimed, utterly elated. Ayame, who was seated at a distance, fidgeted anxiously.

"Koi, keep your voice down." She reminded, and Miroku took a deep breath in an attempt to control himself.

"Exactly," Miroku whispered, his aura scanning around the tent. No one seemed to be eavesdropping. He was safe to talk.

"I don't exactly follow." Sesshomaru informed, impatience lacing his voice.

"Sesshomaru," he rolled his eyes as if the answer was lying naked in front of him. "You sense nothing. Even with your superior aura. If I close my eyes," he indeed closed his eyes, "I couldn't sense her beside me." His eyes opened again and he cast his glance on the girl. "Somehow, her aura is cloaked. Flawlessly. And she has the ability to conceal others too. Ayame and I tested it earlier... up to four people!" He said in such a conspirational tone it made Kagome do a double take.

"Hn," Sesshomaru merely chuckled, unimpressed. "The onna can probably conceal auras, but not all enemies are blind like the Akuma," He stood up. "Nor do they walk around with eyes closed." he added.

Cold amber eyes regarded the clueless woman beside Miroku. Her eyes met his.

"Leave. Depredations have no place for a child such as you."

The tall warlord brushed past the bandaged girl and left the tent.


Miroku sank down to the floor beside Kagome, his shoulders slumped.

"He didn't even let me finish." Miroku sighed. The bandaged girl beside him finally moved.

"Miroku-sama... what was that about?" Kagome asked timidly. The Faery warlord gave a cryptic look to his lieutenant wife. Ayame, sensing his intentions, nodded her head and stood, exiting the tent to stand guard.

"I sense that I can trust you for two reasons," Miroku started. "You saved my wife. For that I am in your debt." Miroku inched closer. "And the other reason, I believe you are the only one who could help me pull off this plan that I have. Do you know the reason for this depredation, ojou-chan?"

Kagome strained to recall. "No, it is to be kept a secret." the girl hesitated, unsure if what she was getting into was even safe. Miroku did not even flinch.

"Our main target is to capture a Youkai princess in the village on the borders of Niflheim. She is rumored to be a pedigree and her blood is quality for breeding. The Elioud wishes to use her for some purpose..." Miroku noticed Kagome's sudden unease. "What is it that troubles you?"

"I just thought... that if the village was in Niflheim, why did we have to travel southbound in Asphodel, through uncharted territory? We could have just passed through Rune. There are established portals, safer roads." Kagome meekly met his gaze. Miroku only smiled.

"You are more insightful than I thought." He chuckled proudly. "Do you remember when you were registered?" The girl nodded her head. Of course she remembered. Fumiko had threatened her with the rumors that people who disagreed to register were never seen again. "The registration process included a strong binding spell, ojou-chan. Whenever you step out of Asphodel, your tongue and mind is bound to secrecy."

Kagome struggled to connect what the warlord was saying. Thankfully, Miroku was patient.

"They bound your tongue and mind from expressing anything about the human clan. Absolutely nobody outside Asphodel is to be aware of the Elioud's existence. That is why we cannot pass through Rune. We might catch an outsider's attention."

"They are in hiding from the outside domain?" Kagome realized. Then came the inevitable question.

"Why?"

Miroku sighed. "Even though I am a warlord, I know nothing. The Elioud only keep that secret to themselves- only to those who hold the Blood of Ill Will."

"Then Sesshomaru-sama," she hesitated, "He has the Blood of Ill Will, he might-"

"The capturing of the princess will be easy." Miroku continued, ignoring Kagome's trail of thought. "I bet even my wife can do it alone. It is the journey through uncharted terrain that is most perilous. It required two warlords, Nobume and I were chosen. But hearing we had to travel southbound, I tried to convince Sesshomaru to come with us."

Miroku's lavender eyes visibly dimmed.

"Ojou-chan, there is a legend in Asphodel, that southbound, hidden in a rift is the Tree of Wisdom, Bokuseno. He is as old as Asphodel itself. He had witnessed the arrival of the Elioud, one hundred years ago. But it is not the knowledge of the Elioud's origins that compelled me to bring Sesshomaru along."

Miroku reached out to the girl's trembling hands.

"It is a powerful spell that retrieves even the deepest, most repressed memory,

the Scroll of Memory."


*Is that why you saved me?

Is that why you comforted me with your warmth, the night we first met?

I want to know what you are thinking,*

Kagome burst out of the tent running, shamelessly wiping the tears streaking down her cheeks with the back of her hand. The rain in her mind tonight was heavy, but she did not care. She had to find him.

She had to find him.

"One hundred years ago, Asphodel was purely a youkai-fairy territory, until the arrival of a human clan. They called themselves the Elioud. They bound the minds and the tongues of our denizens, threatening to use the Blood of Ill Will against them should anyone oppose."

Kagome halted by Sesshomaru's tent, rousing the sleeping guards. He was not inside. Biting back another wave of tears she bound away, desperate for the familiar vision of white her eyes so yearned for.

"I was so young back then, but they found me capable, more than the others. The strongest they took in as warlords. Four of us, puppets of the Eliouds, theirs to control and command. It stayed that way for so long."

Kagome had reached the edge of the campsite, under the heavy downpour in her mind. There he stood, ethereal under the rain, his amber gaze intense on the rain clouds in her mind. In his eyes, he probably saw a starry sky.

She slowly approached him.

"Until fifty years ago, Sesshomaru was brought before me to be trained as a warlord. I was stunned at the amount of power he held. I found out he even possessed the Blood of Ill Will. But Sesshomaru was not even human like them. He was different. I knew it in my gut. I asked him then, who he was. And he had no answer."

Kagome prostrated herself before the white warlord, hiding the sadness so freely flowing down her cheeks.

"You see, ojou-chan, fifty years ago, a white inu was found in the lake by the borders of Asphodel and Rune. That inu had no recollection of his origins, of who he was, or where he came from. The only exception was his name. He could only remember his name. That inu's name was Sesshomaru."

"Sesshomaru-sama, please,

give Miroku-sama's plan a chance. Just think of me as an expendable," she pleaded, breathing in the violet flowers that only she could see.

His amber eyes narrowed just a fraction, and he stared at her for a long moment. Kagome remained still, her resolve as strong as steel. Quietly, Miroku stepped beside Sesshomaru and tapped the tall warlord's shoulder. "We won't know if we try, don't we?"

"The plan is to head out ourselves, only the four of us. We will tell them we shall be scouting the terrain for two weeks. No one else is to know the real reason or else we'll be in trouble with the Elioud. That is enough time for us to reach the borders of Niflheim. Ojou-san. Aside from cloaking, you have the unique ability to see the hidden, as you saw the Alice two nights ago. In our scouting we might find the rift where Bokuseno is tucked away." he chuckled. "If this ends in failure, we at least tried."

Sesshomaru finally spoke.

"Shall you perish, onna, I will leave your corpse behind." He looked back to the sky.

"Cease your crying. You are such a bother."

Miroku broke into laughter. Kagome brought her head up and smiled, wiping away the display of pathetic tears. "Thank you, Sesshomaru-sama."

*I want to know if you are angry, or frustrated, or lonely.

You are so much like me, yet completely different. How do you stay so strong?

I want to know what you are thinking.*


A/N:

Summary: Miroku reveals the reason for the raid: to capture a youkai princess in the borders of Niflheim. He also reveals his other 'secret' plan. Kagome finds out that Sesshomaru is just like her, found by the lake with no memory aside from his name.