Inuyasha sat beside Kikyo in a huff. It had been two days since Kagome had disappeared and in that time, no one had the energy or will to move away from the village. They were all tired and heartbroken, but Inuyasha had enough of waiting on his brother or father to figure out something they could do. He'd find some lead to something and he would get Kagome back. They weren't romantically inclined anymore, but she was the first person to not ask him to be anything more than himself, so he had to get Kagome back somehow. It was the least he could do for her, no matter what the cost may prove for his own life.

Kikyo seemingly knew what he was thinking as she turned to him. "We will have to search carefully. I'm sure there are many misleading rumors of how to defeat a God, let alone find one."

Inuyasha scoffed, ignoring the soul skimmer floating about him. "I already knew that. Whoever lies, I'll just kill 'em." He grumbled.

Kikyo couldn't help her small smile, and leaned against his shoulder. He stiffened at first and then relaxed as she fitted her clay body more to him. "That has always been your solution to everything, Inuyasha."

"Worked pretty well so far, right?" He muttered.

She still smiled fondly, but knew to continue on in warning him. "That may not do so well this time." She whispered softly, feeling his tenseness returning. "I think perhaps we should find Tokaruman and speak with him."

He almost growled. "Where the hell did that bastard slink off to anyway?" Ever since Kagome went missing, the snake had as well.

"I'm sure I could find him." After he had tried sending Kikyo that power, she had an uncanny sense of him and she knew he was near, hiding his aura. She also knew he was speaking to someone off of the strange bond they had now.

Inuyasha didn't say anything to that, and she wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. Sometimes he figured things out fairly easily, and at others, it took him some time. Today may have been one of those days where everything just clicked for him, and it also may have been one in which he refused to share his thoughts.


"Perhaps some fresh air?" Kiru tried when Kagome wouldn't speak with her. "I am sure Lord Ocraseous wouldn't dispute a walk through the gardens."

Kagome had never really been one for gardens and the like even if flowers in general were pretty, but at the aspect of being anywhere but in the dreaded home she stood up, nodding quickly. "That sounds divine!" She said. She hadn't been outside at all in the twelve days she'd been in this place and though Ocraseous had begun to call her from her room more often, she still wasn't feeling well. Maybe a trip out beyond would do her some good. "Is the garden large?"

Kiru smiled. "Yes, filled with such a sweet scent."

Now that had Kagome curious. "From just the flowers?" She wondered.

"And fruit." Kiru told her. "There is a tree that, should a living soul eat its fruit, they would become immortal and immune to any natural disease."

That sounded interesting. "Huh…" She began walking with Kiru. "How long have you been here?"

Kiru's eyes changed, darkening somewhat as she turned away from Kagome's face. "Long." The one worded answer seemed sad…

Kagome frowned, looking down at her hands. "I didn't mean to upset you. I'm sorry."

"No, it's alright. I'm just… Remembering." She murmured.

"Of your life or after life…?"

She smiled, some distance in her eyes. "Of this odd existence here."

Remaining silent for a few moments, Kagome let Kiru collect her thoughts before asking. "Had it been bad?"

She smiled. "No. I am treated much better than I had ever prayed while living."

"By Ocraseous?" Kagome asked, frowning.

"Yes." She sighed gently, her brown eyes turning to Kagome's blue. "Lady Kagome," as they had finally settled on referring to her as. "Lord Ocraseous is not evil in any sense, he is only misunderstood and often misunderstands. After all, most half breeds are all treated the same as children, are they not? From my understanding, he knows little of how to procure someone's interest correctly."

"You can say that again…" Kagome almost muttered. "I just… I can't forgive what happened…" She whispered.

Kiru slowed before two doors, looking upon Kagome face carefully. "You can not forgive Lord Ocraseous, or you are unable to forgive yourself?"

Kagome fingered the lotus emblem on the shoji screen, a knob of sorts to unlatch and slide the doors apart. "Both…" She confirmed softly. "And I think every time I see him, I get more and more mad at myself for just giving up." After all, she'd worked so hard to fight Naraku, and to gain Sesshoumaru's affection. She was sure he would never forgive her for leaving, ever. And so if she ever did see him again, Kagome wouldn't dare to even hope that Sesshoumaru would even look at her. Pain drug her heart down again and she pulled her fingers from the door, looking down at the floor.

"I see." Kiru whispered, and Kagome somehow thought she seen everything. Then, slowly, a strange sense of daylight brushed Kagome's feet and attire, along with the sweetest, most tantalizing smell. The wood of the shoji slid slowly open at Kiru's urging, and Kagome looked up into a world she had not set foot in just yet.

"Oh Kami…" Kagome gasped.

Kiru smiled. "No, just Lord Ocraseous."


Myouga was rather shocked to find Kagome had been taken as a bride by the demi-God Ocraseous and even horror stricken. "Do you have a plan of how to retrieve her, my Lord?" He asked Inu no Tashio.

Akin, who had spoken with his lord numerous times had gotten no definitive answer, and neither would Myouga. "I shall do what I can, but what will be attempted may not work." He gently took scent of the air, looking around somewhat before continuing on, seeking something out in the wood.

They'd been traveling for sometime, and Myouga sensed his master was searching for something, or perhaps someone. He had kept it to himself for some while, but as the ever intent demon continued on, never abating his pace, the flea couldn't keep himself silent. "My Lord, what is it you search for?"

"A sword." He answered, eyes glancing about here and there.

"A-a sword?" Myouga asked, baffled. "You are in need of a weapon, my Lord?"

Inu no Tashio did not speak, rather he continued onward in the pursuit of a sword that was young, rather, not even fully formed. The familiar pull of this very powerful weapon drug him toward it and he could not deny the surprise he had for the weapon or its intended owner. For a weapon so powerful as this would be, it shouldn't simply be given, should it? No, the Inu youkai decided with all of his wisdom.

It was to be earned.


Sesshoumaru stood in the last place his enemy and the miko had been, the energy it took still clinging to the world about him as he knelt to the dark soil. He had a ragged appearance since he had forced himself to move so quickly after grave injuries, but the demon also continued to hold a certain power to him, a grace that was indefinable. A hand touched the ground, sifted through it like it was ash rather than the moist, graininess of sand. Little jolts of a foreign aura that made Ocraseous and miko energy tantalized his nerves, shocking a dance up his arm and into his very blood.

The demon lord clenched his hand into a fist and nearly growled once more from pure agitation. The girl had to go and give herself over to the demi-God, didn't she? Foolish, brazen mortal… Stupid girl.

She pushed everything they had need of doing back, something that was a constant distraction. And she was one that would have to be retrieved, setting back Naraku's death for an even longer unforeseeable amount of time.

The demon stood once more, looking up to the sky, as though he might be able to see the other realm they were within. He couldn't, of course, but somehow he felt her there, so far and yet so near. Somehow, he felt she was… drowning in her emotions, something so stupidly human, so stupidly Kagome.

With one last look around, the Tai youkai left, returning to Totosai would take a day at a leisurely pace. That was enough time for him to have the sword completed.


Kagome stepped toward the first set of roses near her, touching their silk petals so carefully that her touch could have very well been a whisper. They were miniature roses, a very light pink, and the next near by were more white. "These are beautiful." Kagome commented, moving through the garden. She walked about heathers, lavenders, lilacs, chrysanthemums, hibiscus', sunflowers and ones she couldn't recognize. There were peach trees, apples, lemons, oranges, bushels of strawberries, but what impressed her most was at the very center of this elaborate and beautiful garden.

A giant pond rest in it's center, so large she couldn't see the other side very well, with trees of a strange fruit all about them. Red lotus blossoms made their way around this water almost entirely. "Wow." Kagome breathed, walking toward the pond. There were lanterns surrounding it, somehow made to look like the lotus blossoms, and a beautiful marble bench, carved with lotus blossoms stood just before her, two lanterns on either side.

"It is a comfortable spot." Kiru recommended and Kagome nodded, sitting beside her.

The two remained silent for sometime, admiring the scenic beauty of the place, letting their souls relish in its gorgeous splendor. The daylight never changed and neither did the temperature. It was a perfect place, smelling sweet and appearing serene. Kagome felt herself ease more and more into the very air, almost as though she had no more to think of, like she could just be a part of this lovely place. She closed her eyes gently and felt so much of her pain leaving her.

"This place does that." Kiru said softly, almost waking Kagome it felt. "When your heart is at its most distraught, this place will mend it."

"I'm still sad…" Kagome commented softly.

"Yet do you feel as though life can not go on in some respect?" Kiru wondered.

"No." Kagome sighed. "Which… Isn't that a bad thing?"

"When you are unable to leave, perhaps it is not."

"You shouldn't put it that way." Kagome jumped up and slipped on the pebbles beneath her feet, never falling into the water as Ocraseous held onto her elbow carefully. "It wouldn't do to give her grief once more."

Kiru bowed. "Forgive me-"

He let go of Kagome as soon as she had her balance. "It's fine." He almost sighed. "Come, dinner is now ready." He told her.

Kagome glared at him. "I'm not a dog. I won't come when you tell me to, and I'm not going to sit or stay either."

His eyes danced with humor. "I should expect no less, Kagome." He tapped the hilt of his sword thoughtfully, a thinking habit. "Then allow me to correct myself." He held out his hand. "I would appreciate your company at dinner."

Kagome glanced at Kiru who gave a slight, encouraging nod. Slowly, uncertain of him, Kagome placed her hand in his and gave the garden one last look as a goodbye.

He was very careful with how he escorted her to the dinning hall, mindful of even how tightly he held to her hand. There was a gentleness that she was surprised of and a promise of strength should she need it. But these hands had also threatened, no, promised and had done harm to her friends. This hand was the one that wielded that sword, the one that took off Sesshoumaru's arm. She slowed in her walking, feeling nauseous.

"Kagome?" He questioned, mahogany eyes flittering over her frame.

"You're so different now… Nice even, when on earth, you were so… You were horrible and evil! You would do anything, you would have killed them…" She trembled, taking her hand from him, disgusted with touching it.

There was a brief silence, where suddenly Ocraseous sighed. "Go and bring something for her to eat and drink." Kiru nodded, moving quickly past them to get food. "Please, sit." He indicated to room just near them, where, in the open door, she realized he had a library filled with scrolls. Cushions were all around.

She chose a gold one and he sat upon a red one, four foot across from her. "I am not…" He grit his teeth. "I do not know how to be near others, as she told you. No one knew I was half God, they believed me half demon, and when they realized their mistake, humans flocked to me with prayers and hopes, the same ones that tried to kill me." He shook his head. "The only mortal ever kind to me was a miko who is almost your mirror image in power. And, foolishly, I fell in love."

"I saw it." Kagome told him, her voice small. "When you killed Si-eshomaru. I saw her die too."

"Visions…" He murmured, chuckling darkly in a huff of air. "I admit, perhaps I shouldn't have been so pushy-"

"Perhaps?" Kagome asked, enraged. "Then why the hell were you so pushy with me too?"

His jaw flexed, something Sesshoumaru would sometimes do, quieting Kagome with the pang of familiarity. "You were not mated, I thought the difference would suffice." She went almost slack jawed. "I have… learned otherwise."

Kagome's heart pounded. "So, will you take me back?" She asked, hopeful. If he felt badly for what he'd done, maybe she could go home to her friend's and pretend this never happened, or better yet, make up for it. Somehow… She felt a 'but' coming on.

"You requested I destroy Ugai." He told her gently. "I may be half God, but I am also half human."

"Meaning…?" Her stomach bottomed out. There was definitely a 'but' here.

"I can not open portals to other dimensions, Kagome." Kiru came through the door, kneeling down beside Kagome with a plate consisting of bread, meat and cheese. In her other hand was a glass of white wine. "The river of dead flows by, which is where I have gotten her." He indicated to the knelt woman by her side.

"So what you're saying is… I'm stuck here?" She asked, shock evident in her voice.

"Yes." He replied carefully. "And for that, I will tell you the truth." Looking over at Kiru, Ocraseous murmured. "Kiru is my mother."

Kagome looked upon them both with wide eyes, her heart picking up its speed again. "I thought she was sort of fond of you…"

"She's told me how you have felt and just how broken you are…" Kiru met her son's eyes and he seemingly bowed beneath them. "For that, I am sorry. It seems all of the most admirable women fall in love with Inu youkai."

Kagome couldn't believe this. The demi-God was apologizing for hurting her or causing any duress. He had said he made a mistake, something no man seemed to be capable of, much less someone who was half God. Hell, Sesshoumaru would never apologize to her, come hell or high water. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to be happy about this situation at all or even thankful for his apology.

"Why wouldn't you let Kiru tell me anything? Like, about being your mother or the significance of lotus blossoms?" Kagome wondered, frowning as she took a sip of the white wine, trying to remain calm.

"If she knew so many things about me, you would not have a confidant because things would be suspicious. And with her being my mother, again, you would have no one you would feel you could speak to."

"Or else she might tell you everything I say?" I growled.

Ocraseous smirked. "Perhaps."

"So why tell me all of this now if it isn't going to change anything?" Kagome asked.

"Honesty," he looked at his mother. "Is a high value among some, and I hoped it would be with you as well."

Kagome picked at the bread. "It is." She told him, but before the demi-God could begin to feel relieved in any sense, Kagome caught his eyes once more. "But don't think I'll fall in love with you or something. Because I-"

"I realize that." He told her softly. "Yet, I hope to make your life easier here."

She could be grateful for his sincerity in that he wanted to remedy the situation however he could, but Kagome also felt some of the pain returning again. "Could we eat in the garden maybe, and then you could explain the lotus blossoms being everywhere?"

Ocraseous nodded, standing. "Go to the gardens and I will follow shortly."

Kagome stood with Kiru and this time, Kagome wouldn't let her help at all, not wanting the demi-God's mother to play the role of servant anymore. "Thank you for understanding, Kagome-sama."

Kagome sighed. "I try, Kiru-sama."

Kiru looked at her so abruptly and surprised, that though it was a ghost of one, Kagome couldn't help laughing.


Sesshoumaru sensed his father's presence long before he reached Totosai, yet when the sword smith was not hammering away and he sensed no great power nearby that would indicate his fang, the demon lord picked up his pace and came before them, scowling. "What is the meaning of this, Totosai?" Sesshoumaru asked the sword smith, barely containing a murderous rage.

The old fool hid behind Sesshoumaru's father. "I have stepped in, Sesshoumaru." The powerful dog demon intoned. "A sword so powerful as that one, taken in the heat of a passionate fury, should not be given, it should be earned."

"A sword that I commissioned must be earned?" The demon lord questioned, his predatory eyes intent upon his father. "You dare-"

"I am your father!" Inu no Tashio stepped toward him, his own amber gaze demanding. "And you will realize that fact. If I deem you have a lesson to learn, as my son, you damned well better learn it."

"You put the miko's life on the line-" Sesshoumaru challenged.

"If you still refer to her as miko, then I am right when I say you must learn." Sesshoumaru inwardly flinched. "Grow up boy and learn from your incredible mistakes, lest they destroy you, body and soul." Inu no Tashio turned from him. "When you have true need of the sword, it will come to you."

And with that, the demon lord walked away from him disgusted, Totosai following quickly after, not wanting to be at the center of Sesshoumaru's oncoming wrath. For surely, the current demon lord was going to blow sky high.

Akin, however, remained, watching Sesshoumaru with a flicker of expectation. The demon turned his amber eyes to find Akin's apricot. "Have you found a way to reach Lady Kagome?" The dragon asked him.

"I will." Sesshoumaru said dangerously. "Sword or not, I will retrieve the miko."

Akin nodded slightly, then turned to follow Inu no Tashio, feeling Sesshoumaru's glare all the while.


I hope that will suffice. I have three days of hard work ahead, so I won't have too much time to write. Thanks for all of your amazing reviews guys, I really appreciate it.