Miharu's Decision

Miharu paused with her claws bared at Tobias who was lying on the floor, limp in his chains and no longer truly caring about the original plan. She whirled around as an explosion ripped through the arena. Drasmond, up in the other room jumped and threw open the sliding window. " What?" he exclaimed. Miharu gasped as Sesshomaru and Saeka appeared, followed by several other people. Drasmond yelled in frustration and jumped out of the window, landing on the ground cat-like and facing the group. " Who might you be?" he demanded. Saeka stepped forward. " We would like to ask you the same thing! What have you done to our daughter?" She screamed.

" Daughter? Whose? Step forward, both of you!" he said. Saeka and Sesshomaru both took a step forward. His eyes widened. " Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?" he exclaimed. He stepped closer. " It can't be! You, demon, you were mentioned in history as one who fought a legendary sword that tried to take over the world! You're an epic legend! You're the father of our kikuurama?"

" If you're referring to my daughter, yes."

" You are Sesshomaru, one of the most powerful demons of the Feudal Era of an ancient land back on Primitive Terra!"

Sesshomaru glanced at Saeka, clearly uninterested. " All very nice." He said. " But I believe that we're here for our daughter."

Drasmond smiled wickedly. " I'm afraid that's not possible. As you can plainly see, she is fully transformed and about to kill someone. I think it best if you leave her be."

" No!" Miharu suddenly shouted, drawing his attention up. Drasmond gasped. " What? But you're supposed to be ripping that boy's heart out! How dare you contradict who you are!" he shouted. Miharu glared down at him as she knelt to check on Tobias. " I refuse to cooperate, Drasmond. Tobias and I were going to kill each other so we could be together in the afterlife. But now that I can think twice about it, I don't really want to die. When I counted up all the things I had to lose, I forgot to include my family and friends back in the Feudal Era. I'm not interested in being the kikuurama, not that I ever was to begin with!"

" You have no choice!" Drasmond shouted. His arm whipped to the side to a small button on the wall. " See that? When pressed, it will set off high-frequency electrical pulses only you can hear. They'll be so horrific, you'll immediately regress into your true kikuurama form and destroy the ones you claim to love!"

" They won't work!" Miharu declared. " I'm part demon, I'll resist them!"

Drasmond laughed cruelly. " So you say. How about I find out how well you're trained? Once these intruders are out of the way, we can tackle your homeland."

He went to press the button. Miharu, though confident of her ability to resist, preferred not to find out if she could or not. With sudden decisiveness, she lunged at him, knocking him to the ground. " No!" she shouted. Sesshomaru suddenly rushed forward to defend his daughter, But Drasmond flung Miharu away and leapt to his feet and away from the furious demon as he took a vicious swipe at him with his poison claws. Drasmond slammed his fist on the button on the wall. Miharu fell to her knees, screaming and covering her ears. " Make it stop! Make it stop!" she shrieked. Sesshomaru grimaced. He whirled to face Drasmond. " What have you done to her?" he yelled.

" Nothing more complicated than what she already is." He answered enigmatically.

Up in the arena, Tobias was struggling against his chains. " You there! Demon!" he called. Sesshomaru turned. Tobias tried to get to his feet. " Listen to me, please! I am quite sure that you are Miharu's father! Please, the kikuurama blood within her will never be dissolved. The only way to free her is to kill her!"

" Silence!" Sesshomaru declared. " I will listen to nothing of the sort. I am not going to kill my daughter."

" But—"

" That's enough out of you!" Drasmond bellowed. He snapped his fingers and Miharu, eyes now blood red screamed like a banshee and lunged at him, claws extended. Tobias yelled and covered his face.

InuYasha suddenly leapt up and knocked Miharu away. She rebounded off the wall and landed on the floor, snarling at him while he slashed apart Tobias's chains. Both he and Tobias scrambled out of the way as she came at them again. Drasmond laughed. " That's right, Yaazi. Strike down the ones who betrayed you."

At this, Saeka grew infuriated. " Betrayed her? We have never betrayed her!" she screamed. She rushed at him, claws at the ready to slash open his throat.

" Attack!" he yelled. Miharu suddenly jumped off the arena platform and rammed Saeka, bashing her body against the wall where she fell limp on the floor.

" Saeka!" Sesshomaru cried. He held up a glowing hand. His poison claws.

" This poison won't be enough to kill you, Miharu. Just to stun you, which is all we need!"

He charged forward at breakneck speed. Miharu vaulted upward and summoned her light whip, striking him once, but only once. He dodged out of the way and hurried to Saeka. She was unconscious. Drasmond laughed again. " It's no use, Sesshomaru. Your Miharu is too far gone now." He said. As he cackled this, Miharu suddenly appeared beside him, grinning evilly.

Saeka groaned and awoke, clutching her head. " Sesshomaru? What's happening?" she murmured.

Drasmond looked to Miharu. " What do you say? Do you want to destroy your so-called parents? I can make it so the others won't interfere."

" I'd very much appreciate that, milord. It's been awhile since I've had a challenging victim." She said. She looked over at Sesshomaru and Saeka. To Sesshomaru, it seemed as though she didn't even recognize them anymore.

" Very well." He snapped his fingers again and instantly, a large sparkling pink and purple barrier surrounded everyone but Tobias, Sesshomaru and Saeka. Inside the barrier, Kagome and Kaede fired sacred arrows, Rin tried to move the earth to knock the barrier away and InuYasha clawed at it viciously. " What the hell is this?" he cried.

" A barrier made up entirely of plasma. It's unbreakable, strong as adamant."

InuYasha growled at him. " This is low!" he yelled.

" Don't worry, half-breed," Miharu hissed. " I'll kill you last."

Drasmond turned to face Sesshomaru and Saeka, who had gotten to her feet shakily. They both stared forlornly at their daughter. Tobias shook his head. " No! No, Miharu!" he cried. Here, Sesshomaru cast a curious look at the boy.

Miharu turned blank eyes on him. " I do not know you." She said.

" Miharu! I won't let you do this!" he shouted desperately. " I can't!"

" Shut up! I'll deal with you after I take care of the two demons." She said. Tobias shook his head. " No, you'll deal with me now!"

Miharu shot him an acid look, but faced him. " Very well. But I warn you. You will die!"

With a cry, she rushed at him with her claws out, a terrible expression on her face. Tobias didn't move and allowed himself to be struck. Sesshomaru and Saeka watched as she slashed him with her claws at his chest, throwing him back against the platform. She attacked him again, tossing him several feet away. All the time, Tobias didn't fight back, but continued to take the blows with a small smile on his face. He got to his feet and watched as she came at him again.

Sesshomaru couldn't help but be somewhat impressed at Tobias's behavior. He wasn't going to fight Miharu. But why wouldn't he fight? That's when it came back to him. The time when he and Saeka had been forced to fight each other and he'd refused to fight her because he'd realized that he loved Saeka. He didn't want to hurt her. He realized now that this is exactly what was happening here, only Tobias couldn't really hurt her anyway.

Finally, Miharu pinned Tobias against the wall, her claws poised at his throat. " Aren't you even going to fight?" she demanded. He smiled at her. " No. I don't want to fight you."

" You're crazy!" she yelled. She slashed his face. But surprisingly, when it should have killed him, it didn't. She barely even grazed him. As he watched her, her eyes flickered from red to normal and back again. Her hand, once again poised at his throat, shook visibly. Tobias met her gaze. " Miharu, I don't want to fight you. I love you, Miharu. I regret ever causing this to happen."

Miharu's eyes changed from red to normal again and she swallowed. Her hand dropped and she fell to the ground. " What have I done?" she sobbed. Tobias knelt down to her level. " It's okay." He whispered.
" I almost killed you! I almost killed everyone!" she cried.

" It's okay. It wasn't your fault." He said. He pulled her close comfortingly.

Several feet away, Drasmond was seething. " No! NO!" He bellowed. He started toward them and Tobias leapt up in front of Miharu. But he needn't have bothered. Sesshomaru whipped out his Tokijjin and swung furiously at the king. Drasmond ducked and when Sesshomaru slashed at him again, his hand lashed out and snatched the sword in midair. Sesshomaru showed mild surprise. Drasmond suddenly attempted to wrench Tokijjin out of the demon's hands, but Sesshomaru's grip was strong. Saeka charged forward and tried to gouge his eyes out. Drasmond yelled and flung his hand out at her, missing her as she leapt away. Sesshomaru lost concentration for a fraction of a second and Drasmond took this opportunity to fling the sword away. Sesshomaru glowered at him and leapt out of the way as Drasmond took a swing at him.

Tobias helped Miharu up. " Get out of here!" he yelled. " Drasmond will turn you into the kikuurama and you'll never change back!"

But Miharu gently pushed him away. " No, Tobias. This has to be done." She said. He couldn't figure out what she meant as she turned to the battle where Drasmond was reaching behind his back for something. He was holding Sesshomaru off with his other hand as he brought his right one forward. He held a silver two-pronged device and jabbed it at the demon's heart. White-blue sparks erupted and Sesshomaru yelled in pain. Miharu recognized the contraption as a portable defense system that was designed to forcibly the attacker's heart. It sent over one hundred thousand volts of electricity through the body-Enough to kill even a demon.

Miharu furrowed her brow and charged Drasmond just as Sesshomaru began to weaken. She slammed into him, knocking the device away. Sesshomaru kept his balance, although he appeared weakened considerably. Saeka ran to him, supporting him while he regained his strength. Both of them were helpless to do anything but watch as Miharu battled Drasmond.

Drasmond tried to throw her, but Miharu easily jumped over him and attempted to trip him. He swung his arm around and slapped her, throwing her back a foot or two. She shook her head as she got to her feet. Drasmond slowly advanced, a sour look on his face. " Fool. You truly thought that you and your weak parents could stop me? Compared to me, your historical father is nothing more than a pathetic human, like that boy over there, whose heart you have unknowingly stolen."

Miharu stood up. " Maybe so. But humans are strong too. And I'm part human in some way."

" What are you babbling about?" he yelled. His eyes widened as Miharu's form began to glow bright luminous green. Her silver hair blew in gentle waves around her head. " Drasmond, I am Miharu, Daughter of dog-lord Sesshomaru and dragon-lady Saeka. I am the most powerful being in creation. I understand my station in life, as a half-demon. My mother is a half-demon while my father is a true demon. Therefore, I am neither half, nor true. I am the only combination of both, for the Time Travelers were correct. They weren't supposed to stay together. Having me has disrupted the balance of the world, no the universe. I do not wish to be as powerful as I have become."

As she said this, the glow around her body grew brighter and she approached Drasmond slowly. He tried to move away, but he found that his feet were stuck, as though they were glued to the floor. He could only watch as she came closer and closer, the glow getting brighter and brighter.

" What are you going to do?" he demanded. His hand went behind his back. " Stay away from me!" he yelled, whipping his hand out and revealing a sharp knife. Miharu kept proceeding. " Your time is up." She said. The glow around her body began to swirl in a funnel. She reached the terrified king and placed both of her hands on his shoulders, squeezing her eyes shut. " I will cast one final strike." She whispered. She took a deep breath while Drasmond struggled to get away. Her eyes snapped open and they were bright green. She opened her mouth.

" Alleaertos. Die."

Suddenly, the glow around her body erupted in an explosion of green flame and Drasmond screamed in agony as the power began to consume his body. The green energy swirling rapidly around them became too dense and Sesshomaru was forced to close his eyes, covering his face with his sleeve. He pulled Saeka behind him out of the barrage.

" What's happening?" she cried.

" I don't know!" Sesshomaru replied.

A terrible scream rent the air that they recognized as Drasmond. But they didn't dare look. The storm of energy seemed to be weakening.

Finally, it subsided and Sesshomaru turned around. He heard a clamor of feet coming toward him and saw his brother and his friends had been freed from the barrier. InuYasha was the first over while Miroku and Sango went to check on Tobias. " What happened?" his brother yelled.

" Miharu released the true power of the kikuurama." Tobias wheezed. " The power that could destroy worlds. She used it to a small degree to destroy Drasmond."

" But where's our daughter?" Saeka said.

" Oh no!" Kagome screamed. They all hurried over to where she was. She was sitting at the spot where Miharu and Drasmond had been. The king was gone. All that remained was one of his black shoulder plates. But lying close to it was a limp form covered in green powder: remnants of the blast of energy that had been crashing about minutes earlier. Kagome carefully turned it over. " It's Miharu." She said. Sesshomaru bent down and stared at her. " No." he murmured. " She's dead. She killed herself to kill that lunatic."

" What?" InuYasha exclaimed. " You mean she sacrificed herself for us?"

Sesshomaru bowed his head. " Yes." He whispered.

A:N: The climax here is one I'd worked on at the ocean with my cousins, Danny and Donny. I had dreaded writing this chapter, but as you can see, it turned out all right, save for the fact that Miharu is dead. But Sesshy can use the Tenseiga, right? So no worries! Just hang in here!