It may be a bit early for this chapter, but I wanted to write it now rather than down the line.
This is going to be really one of the last chapters where an OC takes up so much space. It just kinda has to be written I find. I'd much prefer to be writing Sesshoumaru and Kagura, which will thankfully be restarting next chapter :P
Also, this chapter jumps around to random points in time. Those who have read earlier chapters will know as to when these events take place ;)
The Legacy: Part 6- Reborn
Twenty Two Years Earlier:
It felt so cold. He could see them all staring down at him as he tried to stay alive, as he tried to keep his lungs full of air, but they wouldn't respond. His body was betraying him. Behind him the fragments of his once mighty sword, scattered into a sheet of metal on the destroyed earth around him. He needed a way to sustain himself. He couldn't die like this, he had so many plans. This would ruin his legacy, his plans to return were he killed. Tsumeken's energy still permeated this place.
He felt it and took hold of it, grasping it as he mentally began to call upon the powers around him, this was a well spring of time, he sat atop the Bone Eater's Well itself. Slowly he concentrated, tearing a piece of his own soul away as he choked, using that as the mortar for his spell. That would seal his legacy. How dare they strike him down like this? Did they think this would be his end?
He was Katsuramaru.
"Do not think yourselves fr...free of me. I will enjoy..." He coughed harshly as his lungs filled with yet more blood. "killing each... and every... one of you."
He would be reborn, to new flesh, to a new body. But he would leave enough of himself behind, enough behind to rekindle what he was. And the three creatures he left cursed to this world would be the ones to herald that return.
Naraku would be dead, and he would have the final laugh as he stood atop the bloated corpses of those who looked down at him now. Not everyone could have the last laugh, he thought as the field began to circle around his body.
The world for Katsuramaru became very... very dark.
()()()()()()()()
Days Earlier:
The village had been slaughtered days ago by demons. Most of the men lay about dead and only the old and enfeebled seemed to remain. Of the village of nearly 200, now only 22 people remained. They had also joined up with 8 survivors from the next town over.
Emi's husband had been killed in the fighting, the 19 year old was now trying to tend to the remaining children. She'd never had children of her own, at age 25 this was abnormal. But her husband had always been by her side, faithful. Now what was she? She was a widowed woman from an orphaned village, reliant soon on the kindness of others. She was also no fool, very likely that kindness would be the the exploitation of others.
She would go on to live a miserable existence, along with everyone here, and that was provided she lived so long. More demons or even human bandits may radically and miserably alter her life.
It was then that they heard it, demons... Only they clearly were not the ones on the attack.
She and four others, including two old men rushed the side of the hill where they heard it. It was the demon army from the night before, forty demons who had slain their families, their friends.
What they saw astonished them, a single man stood in front of them, his left arm missing even.
"Do you feel we fear you? We own these lands now, we will feast on all who enter them without our permission."
"Pitiful." The man responded, utterly uncaring, seemingly ignoring the demons.
The huge bull demon snarled before lunging towards the silver haired man. Even with one arm he grabbed the bull by his horns, within seconds the sounds of its neck breaking in five places could be heard as his huge frame slammed into the ground.
The other demons froze in place as the silver haired man just looked at them, they seemed afraid, each one staggered before wanting to retreat.
"To hell with it, letting any of you live will just waste me more time inevitably." He drew the long glowing blue blade in a long sweep. By the time he sheathed it the demons which had attacked their village lay in pieces across the land which they had once owned.
He paused, turning his head towards the hill for a moment, noting the eyes peering over it. He gave a half smile. Humans, pitiful little humans, expendable creatures who held no value for him. However...
His eyes narrowed. He'd not felt any suitable creatures since he'd disposed of Kaguya. Regardless of outcome that was something he did not regret.
The human dead also wreaked, he could pick up their bodies, at least one hundred of them with very few survivors overall.
"You are so short sighted, clearly you and I would have to come to some agreement. I can assure you I detest you just as much. Unfortunately however I require someone strong to hold my legacy. And there are few powerful female demons left on this island."
"Then you will simply have to do as many other demons soon will. If you want a living legacy so badly, find yourself a human."
Yes, he most certainly did not miss Kaguya in the slightest, though some of her last words were now beginning to scrape in his mind. He was running out of time... Perhaps it would be a matter of quantity, not quality then.
The demon started to walk towards the hill, completely calmly as four of the humans ran from him almost immediately. Such fragile creatures, and cowards at that. But there was one set who still looked at him, red eyes met brown as he gave a half-smile. Well, perhaps he had more prospects with the humans than he thought. He despised creatures who feared him, and thankfully this one appeared not to.
At the top of the hill Emi's heart was racing as he approached. He had red eyes, they were like rubies as far as she could tell. How could something so... beautiful be a demon? But he had to be. She looked to her left and right, realizing she was all along, the sounds of the others having scurried away being heard. She looked behind her for a moment, wanting to call to them not to run, but instead merely heard the sound of two feet landing behind her on the soft mud the hill.
She didn't want to move now, as if afraid moving even in the slightest would end her life.
"Look at them run." She heard smoothly from behind her. "They run from their betters of course. But a better question is why don't you?"
She couldn't help it, her head turned even if slightly up to him, seeing the black clad demon just looking down at her dispassionately. Her heart jumped several beats before she could conjure any kind of response.
"I. Its. You." She stuttered before he rolled his eyes. Typically human, they were so cowardly they couldn't even say what they meant.
"What is your name, woman?" He then demanded bluntly.
"E-...Emi." She finally managed, her heart beating more rapidly before she saw him kneel down next to her.
"And how many people are with you Emi? Twenty? Thirty?" He inquired.
"Th-thirty." She managed.
"Such a small number for humans. I can only assume the half-razed village belongs to you. Such a tragedy." Katsuramaru then said before rising. "You'll all be dead within a month." He said openly to her, just to see if she would catch onto the word.
"We know." Came the small reply.
"Tell me Emi, what would you be willing to do to live longer than a month?" He asked bluntly.
"I... I don't know. I don't understand-"
"I am a demon, Emi. I am more than willing to make pacts with people in exchange for certain things."
The human woman was clearly conflicted. Selling your soul to someone to survive? Sometimes death was worse than what was asked of mortals, she'd heard the stories, she'd been warned. What did you say to something like that? Did she pray for a monk? Did she scream and run? Or did she inquire further?
Emi knew the odds of survival were small, and what would this demon offer for her way out?
"What kind of exchange?" She asked.
"Do you want to live?"
She could feel herself nod. Yes, yes she wanted to live, she felt a hand touch hers as she looked back towards this strange, beautiful creature in front of her.
"Good." He responded.
()()()()()()()()
Emi slowly began to wake the next morning, her whole body almost seemed to hurt. In front of her she could see the small dagger which had been left behind. It almost seemed to glow, it seemed to pulse.
"This weapon will keep you safe, Emi."
She could almost hear a voice whisper this to her, and the voice was all too familiar, belonging to the demon from the night before. As soon as her fingers touched it she felt herself stall for air. It felt strange, like her entire body tingled. She felt strong even holding it.
Of course, she knew what she'd done the night before. So that was the price was it? She didn't understand why a demon would want that.
()()()()()()()()
The Abyss:
It felt strange to return here. To return there not under the influence of his own power, power which he had stolen from this realm. This reality used to be nothing but a sanctuary for him, and now it was his prison. A prison of a dark hell where he could be assured escape would be impossible.
Except he knew the system of this life, this short life after death. For some it would take centuries to return, for him it would take mere years, and not only that, he would return to kill those who had done this to him. Even now as his spirit floated helplessly across the seas of despair in here, the lowest levels of the next life, he followed the world above as best he could.
He felt each life float to the surface to be reincarnated, each one drawn into a new life. Each one lost themselves in their new roles. He knew the process very well, their thoughts, their memories, purged, so that the spirit could be reborn into its new form. It was a fate he too would suffer should he wish to return to life. It was a price he was more than willing to pay, given that he would be reimbursed. His legacy in that world would find him, they would then bring him to his death site. They would bring him to the power of the Tsumeken at the shrine, the power which shielded his body.
And then he would be reborn, he would truly be reborn. His memories would return to him, his strength would find him, and revenge would be his. Of course, there was the risk that he would be reborn as a human, or some disgusting lesser demon, or half demon.
Well, in reality there was no risk of this. He knew Sesshoumaru and Kagura would reproduce, much to his disgust. But despite the weakness of being reborn through his mother, it was a reasonable decision. She would never hurt her precious child, now would she? Nor would Sesshoumaru. The discomfort of him being reborn to the same parents was minimal to him, compared to the potential rewards for doing so.
To be given another chance. Another chance to kill those who deserved their deaths, to avenge himself, and to finally rid that miserably place of the weak.
He'd already worked out how to find Kagura in the next life. He shifted through the spirits of the dead, trying to pinpoint where she was in the life above, feeling out her demonic energy. Other spirits eagerly rose up from the depths to be the one to be reborn.
Maimed.
His spirit would lash out into them when they came too close, each time those who could have been the soul of the child were torn away, torn down, ripped. They would plunge back into their despair, and were they not in despair before, they would be now.
He felt the opening above, as if naturally. Determination drove him past the others, hatred fueled his emotions, and those emotions were slowly lost to him as he made his way to the 'surface'. His mind became clear as soon as it touched.
When he had died the world had gone into darkness.
Now it was going into blinding light.
()()()()()()()()
Japan, the village:
It was so warm.
The primitive mind could think of nothing else, it was just warm, and safe.
One day however, a day far away, this was the first tragedy of life, he was pulled from the warmth. The world was suddenly very much alive again, and then there was the pain, and he screamed. Safety and warmth returned however as he felt himself weakly pulled into the creature who had birthed him's arms.
"I...I'm so tired... Names."
He heard the feminine voice said, her chest rumbled with the words as he just rested against her, wanting nothing more than to sleep once again.
"I will name the boy, you may name the girl."
"I want to name her Kanna."
"Kanzenmaru." The deep voice then said, unknown to the little child of course, this would be his name.
()()()()()()()()
Five Years Later:
Happiness.
It was always something elusive in his previous life, had he ever known of this life. This was not the world where his father informed him to care was weak, or to despise anyone who could not defend themselves. Certainly these traits were not admired, but they were not despised so vehemently.
The five year old Kanzenmaru walked over to his mother's sleeping form. They were away from the castle right now, his mother always seemed happier when they were just out in the wilds, going where ever the winds took them. A big grin appeared on his face as he started to tug at her arm, trying to get her to wake.
"Mom, you said we could go to the coast today! You promised!" The little boy urged as Kagura just mumbled something in response, before rolling onto her side.
"Mmmm, let mommy sleep for a few minutes more okay hon?" Came the tired response.
Kanna and himself had kept her up most of last night when they'd managed to figure out how to make a camp fire. Which lead to a much bigger fire it turned out. Kagura spent nearly half an hour making sure half the forest didn't burn down using her powers.
Kanzenmaru looked over to his sister Kanna. Kanna looked irritated as she walked over to her mother's other side, crossing her arms arrogantly.
"But you said we could go."
"I didn't say when." Kagura said tiredly, sitting up and looking at her kids.
They weren't going to let her sleep. Not at all were they? Kagura sighed as her shoulder slumped in defeat, looking towards the two little cute faces which seemed to demand so much from her. She had wanted to got the cliffs earlier, she really did. But the fact that it was her kids now urging her to go there made it seem... less desirable.
"Do you two want to see a tornado instead?" She asked, smiling as brightly as she could to them, she tried to sound excited.
A tornado was really easy, and about six out of ten times worked to get their attention. However the twins just looked back at her defiantly. Well, it'd been worth a shot.
Her feather burst into the air seconds later, her children riding at the front of it. She remembered the first time she'd taken them up there, Kanna had nearly fallen out and gave her a small heart attack. She didn't understand entirely why she felt this way about her children. They were demanding, needy little things that always wanted something from her, they demanded her attention and love.
And she was always so ready to give it to them. She had no true parents herself, no true childhood, much of her couldn't understand this. But her instincts understood, mother's protected and cared for their children, even if they were brats. Though Kagura would never call her kids brats, even if she subconsciously thought it.
This was all Sesshoumaru's fault.
Kagura would admit she had been in some ways happier before the kids came along. They'd just been free of responsibilities, there was no chains other than the chain they shackled to one another. When the kids themselves came she melted almost immediately, she thought she'd hate them though that just wasn't true. She loved her children, more than words could describe, even if she couldn't explain why. However this didn't mean she enjoyed her life as much.
Certainly she enjoyed a great deal of it. She was free from Naraku, Sesshoumaru and herself could either be with one another or be on their own whenever they liked. But someone always had to have the kids, and often she passed them off to him as much as she could. She felt guilty for that sometimes, she knew Kanzenmaru always hated it when she left in particular, though Kanna was clearly a daddy's girl.
The little boy at the edge of the feather looked over the side excitedly. "Oh wow! Look at that!" He said, pointing down to the forests below, seeing a pack of cat demons running through the woods. Kanna looked over as well a second later.
He loved being up here, being up here in the sky with his mother. He felt as free as she did when just left to the winds to take them somewhere. His bright smiling face turned back to her.
"Mom!" He declared. "Mom you have to see this."
Kagura couldn't help but smile to herself, to humor her son she looked over the side herself, seeing the rather mundane sight of the cat demons.
"Well isn't that exciting?" She asked.
Thankfully, her two kids laughed.
Maybe she could get the hang of this 'mother' thing after all.
()()()()()()()()
It was always so cold now.
Kanzenmaru noted the trees around him as he stood next to his father. Ever since the incident at the shrine, since he saw the... the body, he had distanced himself from his mother. Where as before during the times his parents were apart he pined to go with Kagura, now he silently went with his father. He didn't have to be a child around his father, he could be a grown-up.
Father expected that, right?
Sesshoumaru would have had to been blind not to notice the change. In only a few weeks his son had gone from the playful little boy to a half-cold boy trying to be a man. Whatever had happened in there with the body clearly had left its mark on his son's mind. It had stolen some of what had made him seem so innocent before.
Perhaps it was a good thing. His son would not blind to the truths of the world as so many children were. Innocence was in many ways a curse itself.
Though Rin had proven that false as well.
The older demon sighed as his eyes looked up.
"Father?" A small voice asked from behind.
"Yes, Kanzenmaru?"
"Will you teach me how to fight?"
Sesshoumaru turned his head to the little boy, his eyes filled with intent. Sesshoumaru let his own mouth curve into a small smile. He had wished before to wait a little while before doing this, Kagura had asked him to wait until the children were ten. But as far as he could see there was no harm in it now.
"Of course, Kanzenmaru." He said simply. "We will begin training once we run into the next group of bandits."
"But that could take days!" The child complained.
"Yes, but you will need a sword, will you not?"
Kanzenmaru sighed before nodding.
His father could teach him to be strong. Once he was strong enough he could make the memories stop. His father would be ashamed of him if he let his composure collapse again, as it had back at the village and castle. He'd never lose himself again. He would be strong enough to make his father proud.
()()()()()()()()
Emi stumbled forward, her clothes now soaked in blood as she stood over Ami's body. The other woman had looked so betrayed when it happened, she had every right to be. Ami had been the mother of Yami, another little girl which Katsuramaru had left behind. Kyoko's mother died in child birth, so it fell to them to care for him.
Neither of them had seen him again, not after their one night with him.
Kyoko, Yami, and her little girl Akumu. They were going to be left alone in the world now, weren't they?
Why was this happening? The dagger was supposed to protect them, as it had for nearly ten years now. She felt weak, her own seemingly self inflicted wounds getting the best of her as she collapsed against the side of a tree, blood leaking from her wounds.
Her daughter would see her like this. She didn't want her daughter to see her like this. But something made her hold on, something wouldn't let her die, not yet. She hadn't completed her goal yet.
She sat the children looking at them from afar, clearly they'd seen her stab Ami to death this meant. Each one of them looked horrified as they carefully began their approach.
"M-mommy?" Akumu asked, barely finding her voice. Yami had frozen in place, looking at her fallen mother by contrast.
The dagger pulsed, its power running through Emi's body.
"Take it." Emi finally whispered, putting out the dagger to her daughter, it was still red with her own blood, and Ami's blood.
"But mommy-"
She was cut off by the dagger being thrust into her hands. Akumu felt the world pulse for a moment as the dagger abandoned her mother.
Akumu. Ignore her, she is just a human. You and your siblings have a lot of work to do.
She heard whispered in her mind, just as the last specks of life escaped from the woman who had raised her thus far in life. The dagger, the dagger which had always kept them safe would tell her what to do now...
()()()()()()()()
"Souta! Souta wait up!" Came the shout from Ryuko.
The son of Inuyasha and Kagome turned his head sharply. Now at the age of 18 he felt as though he was on top of the world, he was always at the head of the pack as far as he was concerned. Every time he trained with the others at all it was always very clear that he was going to come out on top after only a few minutes.
The one who seemed to be most distressed by this though certainly was Ryuko. It was Kanzenmaru, his cousin.
Kanzenmaru shot past Souta as soon as he stalled even for a moment, attempting to reach their destination first, the ruined village only a few miles from there. His friend, cousin, and rival turned immediately after him.
Oh no you don't Kanzenmaru.
Souta was faster, this much was more or less true. Kanzenmaru felt humiliated every time he was out done by this half-demon. It wasn't that he was a half demon that disturbed him, it was that he was his father's son, and he couldn't outdo his cousin. Often he wondered if his father would have wanted another child, given his... lacking in strength. Sesshoumaru had never said anything to that effect, but often he could feel it.
He could feel his father's disappointment, even if it wasn't really there. He often had dreams, dreams of his father telling him only strength mattered, that one day he would have to prove himself. But he could never recall his father conversing with him on such things while he was awake. Were these dreams like the waking nightmares?
His thoughts traced back to Souta when the half demon passed him again, he snarled with open frustration as he jumped after his friend.
"No need to be so choked Kanzenmaru, its only natural that I'm quicker, leader of the pack after all right?" Came the mocking remark. It wasn't meant to be hostile, if anything it was said in good humor.
Kanzenmaru didn't see it as such.
When their feet landed at the village, Souta arrived first. Ryuko, who simply wasn't as adept at being this fast was still trailing behind them.
Souta turned to Kanzenmaru and received a punch for his trouble.
By the time Ryuko arrived he found the two older demons punching at one another, before Souta tackled Kanzenmaru to the ground.
The two just breathed in heavily and angrily.
"What the hell was that about?" Souta spat angrily before shoving himself off Kanzenmaru.
It was for him, clearly to prove he was inferior even more than before. He wiped the blood from his nose as he got up, not saying a word in response.
"It was a joke Kanzenmaru. Man, you've gotta start cooling off about this stuff." Souta then added before walking towards a puddle to check out his reflection, he didn't want to look too beat up.
Ryuko just looked between the two and remained silent for a moment. Damn it, why the hell was this happening? Well, he guessed part of it. Kanzenmaru hated playing second fiddle to Souta.
()()()()()()()()
I will be Kanzenmaru.
His mind was moving at a thousand miles an hour, every time he tried to think about anything but what that creature back at Rin's home had said.
His life, seemingly both his lives, were flashing before his eyes, a jumble of images and people. Jumbles of lives he'd never known. Lives which he in many cases ended. The most prominent that stuck into his mind were several demons.
Sutoomu.
This name held special significance, strange feelings came about with this name as well. He'd heard it in so many of the memories. Loyalty, contempt, companionship, darkness, all these emotions came to the forefront with this name. And he'd killed him.
He knew that somehow, and he knew the vague details. Sutoomu had betrayed him, he must have... It wasn't wrong to kill someone who betrayed you, was it? No of course it wasn't, it was a matter of honor. He felt no sympathy for him. Or at least he thought he felt no sympathy.
Kaguya, Menomaru, Naraku, all these names carried weight to him, they all carried meanings and emotions, most of them negative, but some... well...
Naraku's name was more than just contempt, it was respect. How couldn't he respect such a figure? A creature who had outdone him even.
Menomaru... He felt the lust to kill in regards to this creature, as if it were still alive. Was he? Was the moth-demon yet to die?
He couldn't think straight as he heard Akumu continuing to follow him. His teeth snarled as he turned towards her.
And his world shifted. He wasn't here anymore, he was somewhere else...
He was standing in a field of flowers.
Where am I?
Who am I?
What am I?
His whole body shifted as he looked down at the woman in front of him, her blood seeping into the flowers around them. She looked up to him, clearly dying, her last moments would be soon.
Mother.
His blade should be quick, it should be precise, it should be deadly. He stopped himself however as he just looked at her, the look she gave him was so... it... it was so sad. She looked at him as though he'd done this to her. But this was the past, this wasn't anything he'd done. But why did he feel guilt over her suffering? Part of him felt overjoyed, but it couldn't override the guilt.
"Why are you dying in front of me Kagura?"
"Because you will kill me." She responded. "You will kill me just as Naraku did. Does this not please you?'
"... No." He finally answered, kneeling in front of her as she just stared back weakly. She froze stiffly, just before he could reach out to her, a blade through her chest. When he looked up at the attacker he could only see another copy of himself, looking down at him.
"Do not be so surprised. You aren't so pathetic as to forgive this kind of weakness."
He blinked again, his breathing panicked as he looked around, trying to get a hold of where he was. It was getting worse, he was losing his mind.
"I will be Kanzenmaru." He murmured to himself as he looked ahead. Each time he thought it, each time he said it, it would reinforce it. It would keep him sane.
()()()()()()()()
His friends lay dying or wounded outside. He'd made this choice, but what other choice was there ever to make? To not know yourself, to never understand what you were? Those weren't choices, those were merely lies, lies he told himself since he was a child. Inside this place, even without his right arm, he would find salvation. And that would come from himself.
He knew with every step he took towards the body before he entered the sphere that it had to be him in there. He'd left his body behind as a beacon for him to find, a beacon to restore who he was, and what he was.
He would finally be Kanzenmaru, but the Kanzenmaru he was always meant to be, the one who did not conceal himself as somehow being less. The one who would avenge himself from being humiliated over twenty years ago by a disgusting low-class half demon. The one named Katsuramaru.
Memories flooded through his mind, no longer twisted and foreign, but they entered into his consciousness as any memories would have. They were no longer skewed nightmares, or horrific events. They were the life he had lead, no different than the life he lead now. They were of a stronger self, a more powerful self, a more fulfilled self. He had purpose.
From inside the sphere he looked at the body, laying next to it was the fragments of a sword, these fragments hummed and pulsed to him. The echoes of the spirit which had created this field. Its life was fulfilled, even its unlife. It seemed to have spent its very energy to preserve this one last refuge. This sanctuary for his thoughts and memories.
The dead body, it was still warm even he could tell, it was as if not even a minute had passed from his death. He could still feel power in the body as well. Power to be more, power to be the warrior he'd always wished himself to be. To no longer be second place to anyone. Not Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru, or any of his former friends.
His left arm reached out, claws sharp and ready as he grabbed hold of the body, looking into its dead eyes as he felt it seem to almost breath his spirit back into him. It was invigorating. A smile appearing off his face, he tore violently at the body in one quick motion.
()()()()()()()()
Living Legacy:
Souta coughed blood from his mouth as he just twitched, his body desperately trying to hold on. He was almost too far gone at this point to even stay conscious, stubborn willpower was the only thing even keeping his eyes open.
Ryuko had managed to find his legs as he barely stumbled forward, the wound in his abdomen being particularly painful. One arm holding it he limped towards Souta. He was still clueless as to what was happening. One of his best friends had just lost his mind seemingly and tried to kill them. In fact for Souta that was yet to be shown to be either way. He didn't even know how to approach the unconscious body. Next to Souta lay the arm of their friend. This was complete and utter madness.
He wondered idly if his friend would even leave the shrine, or not simply dwell in his madness within. Clearly Ryuko hoped for the latter, he hoped he just stayed there until Inuyasha, his father, his mother, and Kagome arrived back. If anyone could stop Kanzenmaru at this point it was one of them. His eyes traced towards his sister Akiko, laying there prone, marks across her neck.
"What's happening?" Finally a voice asked. He turned his head as the fires around the village still dimly burned. Kasumi stood there with a shocked look on her face, approaching her brother as Taro and Noa stood further back with the other villagers, all now gathered about. Demons, half demons, humans, it didn't matter, what had just happened had just destroyed their homes.
The shrine still pulsed seemingly, before the faint blue energy which still came from within seemed to brighten once more.
This was bad.
"Nothing, get away now!" Ryuko ordered as he grabbed his bone-blade with his one good arm, standing up as he winced at the pain in his abdomen.
"Are you out of your mind?" Kasumi asked. "Everyone else is hurt! C'mon, we've gotta get everyone and go!"
"There is nowhere for them to go. You!" Ryuko shouted, pointing at Jinenji, who just looked half terrified at the burnt bodies in their homes not too far away, and the unconscious half-demons laying about.
"Get them out of here and wait for Inuyasha, Kagome and my parents to get home! Then everyone get the hell out of here! I'll buy you time."
"Buy us time?" Kasumi asked, blinking. Before she knew it older demons had already started to pull her away. These demons were by no means warriors, few in the village were. They had relied on Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, Mei, and Akiko to keep the village safe. The only warrior left standing seemed to be Ryuko.
The shrine exploded with the energy now, the roof being blown away as it started to rip apart, its debris flying around in cyclone of power as the walls on the Shrine now also started to be torn away. Torn away by the unnatural wind now ripping at it. And in the midst of this hellish blue fury came a single figure, walking from within.
Ryuko just felt shaking breaths leave his body as he looked towards this creature. This couldn't be Kanzenmaru, not anymore. Whoever his friend had been he died at some point and was replaced with this... thing.
When the figure's feet stopped, he merely looked towards the retreating forms of the villagers and the unconscious being taken away by them. He smiled to himself as he looked about, despite the rain, the village still burned. It burned much as the first time it had years ago. Good.
The little child holding a demon-bone-sword in front of him almost wasn't worth his attention. He was nearly irrelevant in the greater picture of things. Kanzenmaru knew far too well why he was there, he was there to stall for time and little else. Idly he wondered if he should waste any of his own time finishing off Ryuko for being so stubborn and selfless. He clearly wanted to sacrifice himself for the others, why not help him along?
Ryuko noticed two striking things about his friend, firstly, he carried a long blade, whose origins he could not explain. He could feel the demonic power pulsing off it on levels he'd never felt before, even more than Tetsusaiga or Banryu. It dripped with energy as though it was comprised of it. The other... he had a new arm, his right arm was returned to him, except it bore markings much as Sesshoumaru's did at the right wrist. There was blood still around where the limb had been joined with his body. Where had he obtained such an arm?
The right arm flexed slightly as Kanzenmaru raised it, gesturing to his 'friend' Ryuko.
"Well, clearly you wish to stay behind to die so that the others may live, is that not correct Ryuko? How noble of you."
Ryuko felt his grip tighten on the bone sword as he looked up towards Kanzenmaru.
"What are you? You aren't the Kanzenmaru I know. The Kanzenmaru I know wouldn't try to kill his friends. The Kanzenmaru I know wouldn't have just burned this village down for no reason at all. The Kanzenmaru I know is a good friend and wouldn't just kill people who can't protect themselves! Where is that Kanzenmaru?"
It gave him a small level of satisfaction to see the heartfelt outcry from Ryuko. The appeal to emotion, always the weapon of the weak.
"He never was. That Kanzenmaru was a lie. He was never really here, he is the product of a life without memory, a life without meaning. A life of weakness no less, never able to handle the harsh cold truths of life and of this world. He never understood what had to be done, he never knew the hatred which all true demons need to be truly great. I am the Legacy. I am Katsuramaru. And yet in my own way I am Kanzenmaru. I was killed years ago by Inuyasha in his attempt to keep me from the Shikon Jewel. I was reborn, reborn to this flesh, my very soul lay within this shell... waiting for its memories to be restored."
Ryuko just felt disgust now as he looked upon his adversary. So that was all Kanzenmaru had been? He'd been a shell, some tool for some mad creature? No, he had to be more than that.
"I was plagued by the visions since I was six. Since that day Souta dared me to go into the shrine. I really should thank him appropriately, had I not seen my true self, had I not seen the legacy I had left behind for myself, I may have yet still been trapped in such an ignorant and weak state, walking around with weak half-demons like yourself, or pleading and mewling for the attention from some disgusting lesser demon my father had shamed himself into touching. The fact that this body exists is proof of his own weakness. Once I respected him so very much... and now all I can do is find him wanting. He is an emotionally weak coward, one which I will see ended."
Kanzenmaru remembered everything now. He remembered every moment so clearly, so real... and they weren't foreign to him anymore. He was Katsuramaru, and Katsuramaru was himself, the two were not able to be separated.
"And what are you going to do now, Kanzenmaru? With all this power and knowledge, what are you going to do?"
"I am going to do as I was born to do. I am going to fulfill my dream, my dream of a world without humans or half demons. A world where only the strongest demons survive. And a world where I cleave the heads from everyone I suspect you care about. But I think I'll be starting with you."
Ryuko wasn't quiet sure how what happened next happened. He couldn't move almost as he found himself under assault. His weapon was knocked from his hand as he was kicked away, before in mid flight being brought to the ground by yet another attack in the air.
When he landed he found himself able only to roll aside for Kanzenmaru's body as it came crashing down after his own, the strange blade he carried stabbed into the earth as blue energy crackled. The wound in the ground itself glowed as he pulled the blade away.
The two swords clashed within moments once Ryuko managed to get to his feet. Strike, strike, strike, strike, the blades met with huge sweeps between the two. However it was quite evident how one sided this engagement was once Kanzenmaru merely swept his enemy away with one long sweep.
"I am Katsuramaru reborn. I am the perfect weapon. I am a God compared to the likes of you."
He followed his 'friend' before his blade came up to his side. Ryuko brought up his bone sword to block, only to find the blade literally cleaved in two by the power of the strike which he faced. The force of the hit caused his torso to be cut open once more, and his body to be sent flying.
He felt the blade stab through his chest a moment later as he gagged up blood much as Souta had only moments ago.
Kanzenmaru seemed to freeze, looking down at the already defeated Ryuko. He hesitated.
He looked visibly disturbed as a low growl came from his lips.
"I am going to leave you as a message to the others. To let them know what happened here today. To let them know I am whole again."
"I, on the other hand, have others I wish to deal with. Unfinished business, as it were. Goodbye Ryuko."
When the sentence ended he seemed to almost disappear in a blur.
With his last pain filled seconds of consciousness, Ryuko just groaned once in agony.
()()()()()()()()
Right. Now I promise to basically focus any large chapters remaining on the real main characters of the story. This part really needed to be written, but now that its out of the way I can really focus on Sesshoumaru and Kagura. In a lot of ways this is written to set up their future developments.
Also, I may not have as much time to write over the next few weeks, so expect slower updates.