Okay guys here is the next chapter! :( :( :(

MATURE AUDIENCE WARNING.

This chapter holds descriptive violence, suspense, and tragic concepts.
You have been warned, so don't take it out on me.

Chapter 50: Darkness


Lord Sesshoumaru, along with Jaken, Cesaria, and a handful of other dog demon servants that had been present on the night of the Summer Solstice entered the grand municipal court room. Upon entrance there were two golden statues; both took on the form of towering dog demons that looked to be leaping and folding over the archways of the large doors, welcoming all who passed with the ferocity of bared fangs and fearsome claws. Pure, crystalized obsidian pews, structured and sculpted to incorporate the physical rendition of traditional Sumi-E flames, sat at the back of the holding, bearing various demon and demoness witnesses.

Sesshoumaru made his way to the center of the room, his soles sliding elegantly over dyed demon skin rugs; all eyes and ears magnetized to his towering figure by the force of his resonating power.

The center sported circular patterned marble to indicate the breadth of space where the traitorous mother would be stationed for her charges in just a matter of moments. Beyond this point were three small steps leading up to three high thrones, each with a specified number of smaller benches behind them. These were for the monarchs of the three nations and their acclaimed witnesses, companions, or servants.

Kouga took to the left throne; one that displayed the carvings and patterns of wolves along its back and arms. Ayame was seated next to him on one of the adjacent, predetermined seats. Matsura Aretsumi of the cats took to the far right throne that had similar patterns, though feline, embedded in it. His young, beautiful daughters all sat elegantly with poise directly behind him; lightly blushing, though slightly frowning, at the silver-haired daiyoukai that was slowly approaching.

The great dog demon moved beyond the center of the hall, towards the thrones. On both the left and right of him along the walls were tall Obsidian benches with crystal bases; both holding the Western court officials and all three nations' council members. They all bowed lightly as he passed them.

Because it was the West's International Courthouse, Sesshoumaru's throne was dead center, rising above the other two only slightly, as packs of silver and gold dogs rushed their way along and up its limbs. The scarlet, cushioned seat beckoned him.

As of the last hundred-fifty years, his mother would sit here, and he, Sesshoumaru, would be placed at her side by order of succession. But today, due to her rather ironic absence from her duties, it was he who would take the throne.

He ascended the steps and motioned for Jaken and Cesaria to take their places behind him while the other dog demon servants dispersed to the empty spots of obsidian pews. Jaken shed a single tear at his master's soon-to-be realized dream.

Greeted by a nod from both Kouga and Matsura, and by the slight bows of their respective companions, Sesshoumaru acknowledged the gestures before turning and sitting upon his father's throne. Though it was far from the quality and superiority of the main one at the capital, it held the same significance. Everyone looked up at his seated form, regarding him as the next supreme general and ruler of the West.

As they should.

For soon enough, he would be.


0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0


Rin knew that look; the look that she had never received, but had witnessed several times while traveling with her Lord Sesshoumaru.

The look he had just before he killed something.

Her expression softened as she hoped with everything that her eyes had fooled her, "Sesshoumaru, I don't understand… Why are you-?"

"Run," he hissed.

"Eh?" Her heart pounded up into her throat.

"I'll grant you a few moments so that you can contemplate the short-comings of your pathetic life before I send you to hell," he breathed, slightly amused. His chilling words were spoken suavely, making him even more frightening.

Without any other options that her panicked mind could easily call to will, Rin whirled around and sprinted back towards the castle; slipping and sliding from the blood and rain. Her heart threatened to burst through her chest while her sense of balance, her lungs, and the workings of her limbs did all they could to not fail her.

Sesshoumaru... Why? What have I done to make you so angry with me?

She felt the intensity of his aura even as she reached the doors of the castle. Turning to close them behind her, Rin caught his murderous eyes as he strode diligently towards her still. She slammed the doors shut and sank to the floor, finally shedding the tears that her body had been too shocked to release before.

In this moment, all was calm; all except her and the pitter patter of easing rain upon the roof above.

Her palms held pools of confusion, hurt, and panic as the one she loved neared the base of the front steps in pursuit to take her life. Was he really going to kill her?

She couldn't begin to comprehend a single damned thing.

Unwilling to witness his emergence through the doorway, she leapt up and ran through the maze of the castle. Now, it was growing almost too dark for her find her way. She finally found the large room from which she had originated; a slight glow radiating from the mat where she had first found herself. Rin ran and flopped down onto it, throwing the thin sheet over her as she prayed to be taken away as fast as she had arrived.

This can't be happening...

But everything felt so real. She could smell the musty fabric that she had dazedly thrown over her shaking body. She could feel the cotton beneath the canvas-covering of the bed as it struggled to support her weight. She could taste the saltiness of her sweat and tears as they insistently bombarded the corners of her lips. She could hear the rain...

Krak...Shhhwwwuuuuusht.

Rin jerked.

...And she could hear him coming through the front doors, hall lengths away.

With his level of power, he would scent her and find her in no time at all.

"Please...," She begged of fate, "...Please, no."

After a few seconds of nearing footsteps and the reluctance of Kami to spirit her away from this cruelty, Rin began to understand...

She wasn't going to leave this world.

Wherever she was, whatever the situation was... it was destined to occur.

She sat up numbly and looked towards the hallway. Her eyes, now adjusted to the deep blue of night, caught his shadow moving ever so slowly from behind the paper-thin walls.

Rin looked to her hands with hopeless dejection as they shook uncontrollably, clenching the sheet.

Her ears caught the familiar noise of doors sliding open from the entrance of the room, and she swiveled her head to look at him.

His sakura-flowered kimono, a particular dress she hadn't seen before, glistened beneath new samurai armor, while a royal blue sash held the beautiful heavenly sword, Tenseiga, opposite to the soft pelt of dog demon fur that she used to sleep upon as a child.

And she realized then, as he stared at her with nary an emotion, that he didn't know who she was.

Something had happened to her. She was in some sort of alternate reality. Though her contemplative thoughts were cut short as his halted form began to move towards her again.

Fear returned within the blink of an eye, and Rin struggled to crawl backwards towards the far wall, eyes widening in horror.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, please... Don't you remember me? It's me... Rin..." She tried.

He didn't respond to her sentence, but he did elicit his own words.

"I wonder if you look like her," he growled.

"Like... who?" Rin asked, hoping something she was saying would be heard. She continued backing up across the ground until her shoulders found the steadfast wooden walls. She glanced backward for only a moment, but the moment was enough.

The next thing she could fathom was the sensation of his perilous claws closing murderously around her neck, digging into her spinal cord.

"Aaagh!" Rin screamed, "No, please! You don't-!"

"Izayoi... that rotten human woman. You are all the same. Senseless fragile things that can somehow bring down even the strongest of demons."

He then lifted her slightly before slamming her into the ground, splintering the wood beneath them.

Rin gasped as breath left her, while her shoulder blades cracked and fractured from impact. She couldn't move, the pain had wracked her senses.

"Nnnh...haa," she desperately tried to speak.

"You mortals...," he growled seemingly at nothing while his grip on her throat tightened.

He threw his eyes back to hers with enraged passion.

"He was my father!" Sesshoumaru yelled beneath reddened eyes, throwing his other hand viciously across her face. Green searing claws revealed the underlying bone from her left cheek as blood poured from the fresh wound.

"AAAAA! STOP IT! STOP!" Rin screamed as green poison ate its way painfully into her jaw.

"He was mine to challenge!" He lashed at her again, this time scraping his talons across her skull, blood and skin coming up with them.

Rin writhed under the influence of the white hot pain as she grew dizzy from lack of breath. His grip threatened to suffocate her, while the poison coursed ever so meticulously through her body.
His father...? She took particular notice, once more, of the old style surroundings, Sesshoumaru's unique dress, Tenseiga unaccompanied by neither Tokijin nor Bakusaiga... and... Now that he was close... His younger face.

This must be the past. His past... Her eyes fluttered dizzily as she whined under pain's cruel grip.

"That man was worthy to die only by the gods themselves...," he spoke in her direction, though to himself. Rin slowly clawed at his wrists in a futile effort, trying to stomach the fact that she was dying.

He continued, gasping with rage, "...and a mortal woman... like you... foolish, fragile, and senseless... managed to bring him down."

His claws tore further into her neck.

Rin's eyes widened as her tormentor caused further damage to her frail frame. She dared not look up at him. She couldn't bear watching the only one she had grown to love and trust strip her of everything she knew. Sesshoumaru was utterly destroying her, tearing her apart both physically and mentally.

Her mind was set on taking her away, to ease the reality of such a brutal death. So... it took her to the other night.

"Rin... You need always remember that I love you."

He had said, tenderly to her.

Her eyes narrowed as tears welled. Pain construed everything around her, causing her to question her resolve.

"Sesshoumaru... was that a lie? How could you possibly love a human if you-"

He spoke again, cutting her thought short.

"I will see to it that every single one of your kind regrets their existence."

Rin heard his words drip like the very poison that pulsed through her veins. She turned to look pleadingly into his eyes one last time, only to see his claws drive their way into her chest.

After the audible cracking of her sternum and ripping sensation of her arteries and lungs, Rin lost all focus. All feeling. She lifted her shaking hand. Though it was bent on touching his face, it fell short and merely took hold of his kimono.

"Se..sshou...maru... I'm...," she gasped, choking on her life's blood, looking through tear-filled lashes into dull golden eyes.

"...so scared."

Finally, her tensed body grew limp under the might of his. Her hand released his clothing slowly, falling into the forming pool of blood next to her.

Sesshoumaru merely stared over the form of the dead woman for but a moment before standing to leave.

Ba-bump Ba-bump


Ba-bump Ba-bump

The queen sneered as she walked up the stairwell, surrounded by strong Western youkai guards. They were nearing the main hall of the courtroom.

"Netami... The first sin has accomplished its goal. Hurt... Abandonment... Distrust... Darkness... they have all awakened within the girl's heart. Enough to allow you access to her form. However, the second sin must accomplish its purpose to allow you use of the sword's hidden power. Take Kaerunin and make haste to the hall."

"Yes, my queen...," Netami reluctantly answered as she continued to stare down at the nightmare-ridden girl.

Her eyes dulled and she fell, lifeless, on top of Rin before her body began to pulsate and contort. The darkened pieces of the human's soul found the path from Netami's own; leading into her body. And within moments, the demoness sat up as a spitting image, as Rin's duplicate, upon the original.

Scowling down at the antagonized Rin, who was still writhing and whimpering below her, Netami retreated from the bed. Taking both a kimono and the crescent pendant from the girl's own wardrobe, Netami covered her tracks before taking the belt that held precious Kaerunin; fastening it to herself.

She lightly touched the hilt with her new, human fingers.

It welcomed her.

Because pieces of Rin's soul is within me, the sword recognizes me as its master, hmm?

Finally, she removed her curious touch to break for the outside hall.


...Until next time my loves!

I hope I didn't make you all too sad now... This has a purpose!

For anyone who doesn't believe this type of behavior is within Sesshoumaru's capacity,
understand that I did my share of Inuyasha-rewatching research.

Yes. I care that much.

The first three eps that Sesshoumaru appears in proves his previous indifference to human life. Notably, the one where he tries to kill Kagome shows that he is indeed capable of taking human life prior to Rin without a second thought.

Also, Sesshoumaru had always wished to take on his father's position by defeating him in battle because he respected his power that much. It also is indicated, in the third movie, that Sesshoumaru doesn't care for Tenseiga, but desired to keep it for the sheer nostalgia of his father (this is when Tenseiga is cast from him and Rin finds it) which means that he did love his father like any son would.

This means that there was most likely an episode in history such as this. Where Sesshoumaru was overcome by anger and grief, angled towards humans, just after his father's death. And it is from here that I have drawn the first sin.

Thoughts? Please Review! Closing in on 400 reviews and 100 follows! :D :D :D Ya'll are great!

Working on the next chapter, now! Trying to not make you wallow in tragedy too long...