Sesshou-maru's Heart
This fanfiction is based on Rumiko Takahashi's Inu Yasha series, using my character from the Inu Yasha RPG group I am in, and the situations she and the player-controlled Sesshou-maru gets into. Yes, someone plays him. Others play the rest of the 'original' characters. It is ran by Hono. A/N:In this chapter,it has been over 10 years since Eira and Sesshou were separated by fate.^_^

Chapter Three-What Has Become of You?

Several years passed without a thought to those who were affected by this fleeting demeanor of time.
Sesshou-maru stood at the topmost balcony, staring out across what had been his father, the Great Demon's, land. It was his, now, had he any wish or inclination to rule it. But the youkai of the land had been leaving, slowly, steadily, since his father death. He scowled slightly. He wanted-longed-for adventure...He didn't know where or how or even when he could relieve himself of the endless, tedious monotony of ruling what little he had left to rule. After all, land was all well and good, but ruling is not really ruling unless some subjects remain.
Suddenly, his reverie was broken by a rather shrill voice. His lip curled in distaste. Jaken. The diminutive toad-youkai had never been a servant Sesshou-maru had considered worthy of serving him, yet, now, Jaken was one of the few left. Sighing, he turned to glare at the toad, eliciting a squeak of apology as Jaken backed away from his Lord a bit.
"M'Lord...I was told to inform you that several different things have happened. First of all...I must inform you that Lord Shigimori and his Lady wife, Saichi, are withdrawing their oath of fealty, saying they made the oath with your father. They were, I believe, the last of your supporters among the ruling class. Second, I have discovered that there is some sort of treasure-blade associated with your father...it's hidden somewhere, though..."
Sesshou-maru grabbed Jaken by the throat and lifted him to eye-level. Frightened-and with right to be-the toad demon dropped the Staff of Heads. "Repeat that last bit?" Whispered Sesshou in a rather intrigued voice, though his face was as passive as ever.
Choking, Jaken gasped for air, but found little."M-M'Lord...can't...erk...breath..." He managed to croak.
Sighing, Sesshou-maru released Jaken, who instantly fell to the floor, landing on his rear and clutching his air-deprived throat. Crossing his arms, Sesshou glared intensely down at the servant.
"M'Lord...I only said that there is a treasure-blade your father, the Great Lord Demon, was said to have possessed in the days before his death. No one is sure on where he placed that sword, but it IS known that your brother knows nothing of it..." He knew he'd gone a bit too far mentioning Inu Yasha, and backed slowly away.
Flexing his claws, Sesshou smiled in a very unpleasant sort of way. "Since you give me good information, I won't hurt you for mentioning that worthless one in my presence. But if you ever do it again..." He flexed his claws again, more dangerously. "You KNOW what I can-and will-do to you."
"Yes, M'Lord!" Squeaked the terrified toad demon.
Sesshou-maru turned back to the balcony's edge and peered out over the land again, brroding. He had heard rumors...rumors that his brother had befriended some miko...named Kikya or something like that. He couldn't bother to remember an inconsequential mortal's name, after all. But he had heard that this priestess held a jewel that was incredibly powerful. He wondered if his brother was only after the jewel, or if perhaps his foolish half-blood pup of a brother wanted a mate. Either way, he was certainly sinking to his intended level, as Sesshou had always known the infant would. He sighed and turned back to Jaken. "When can we leave to begin our search for this treasure-blade? Knowing father like I do, I can only imagine that he would hide such a thing in his grave, yet no one that I can think of knows where it is. We have a long journey. Pack your things, little toad, and we shall be off."
Jaken nodded, and then rushed off to pack his things. Sesshou-maru had no need. He would take what he needed on the trip, from mortals or even weaker youkai. He turned to survey his lands once more before leaving for a long journey-if only he KNEW how long...

Eira awoke from a light sleep at the sound of rustling. She sat up and looked around. Suddenly, she noticed a pair of eyes in the brush, watching her with a mix of terror and awe. She called gently, so as not to frighten. "Who's there? Please, come out, I mean you no harm..." She smiled brightly.
To her surprise, a small mortal stepped out of the brush, a little girl with light brown hair and soft, innocent brown eyes. She looked up at Eira as if amazed and afraid at the same time. Quietly, curiously, she whispered. "Are you a goddess? My mommy says there are lots of goddesses, that they are all around you, but you usually don't see them. Are you one?"
Eira laughed softly and smiled. "No, I am not a goddess, but I do not intend to harm you. However, I doubt your mommy would want you talking to me, most grown-ups don't like my kind. While I would love to talk to you, as I have had very little company for many years, I think it ,might be best if you returned to your mommy, she might be worried about you."
The little girl gazed at Eira a bit more, then spoke again, with a bit more confidence. "Mommy once told me that some youkai look like gods and goddesses. You must be a youkai! But...she said some youkai aren't very nice. Are you a nice youkai?"
Her naivete maid Eira grin. "Yes, I am a nice one, but there might be others, bad ones, around nearby, so you really should return to the safety of your home. I'll go with you as far as the front of your land, but I shall not enter, I doubt I'd be welcomed."
The little girl nodded and grabbed Eira's slender, delicate hand with her own childish one. "My name is Ikue, what's yours?"
"I am Eira." She smiled. "Eiralya, really, but everyone calls me Eira."
She let Ikue lead her to the edge of the girl's small property, then waved, noticing the slight smile and nod from the one who must surely be Ikue's mother. Waving, she disappeared into the brush, with a smile playing about her features and joy at having a bit of companionship, if only for a very short time.

Sesshou-maru and Jaken set off that very evening. Although Sesshou-maru remained stoic and impassive, Jaken kept sneaking glances back at the slowly vanishing palace. When it was completely gone from view, he sighed dismally, and Sesshou-maru stopped, turned, and backhanded him across the face.
"M-M'Lord!??" Jaken yelped, surprised.
"Stop acting like a sniveling pup." With those curt words, he turned and continued walking at a rather swift pace, leaving Jaken behind to catch up, which eventually the toad-youkai did. After the hard slap, however, he remained fairly quiet.
"Hmmm, the best place to begin this search would be at any tomb-like sites or large mounds. Which is nearest?"
Jaken referred to a map and named off the nearest burial-style sites.
"Hmmm,I doubt it would be in the Wakai family's land, they were always begrudging of my father...Perhaps somewhere else..." He glared coldly at Jaken, as though expecting the little servant to have remembered that the Wakai's had never cared much for his father and family.
Jaken shuddered a bit and his eyes widened for a few moments before stuttering. "I-I...of course I knew that, M'Lord! I was...just...TESTING you, you see!"
In a cold, dangerous voice, Sesshou whispered. "Well...don't test me again. You may not-nay, WILL not like the results." He examined one claw idly, as if making sure it was sharp enough.
Jaken gulped noticeably. "Of course not, M'Lord! Whatever you say, M'Lord!"
Inwardly, Sesshou-maru growled. How he hated all of this 'M'Lord' apple-polishing. He KNEW Jaken only called him thus because he was afraid of 'His Lord's' impressive fighting capabilities coupled with the fact that he was known to be cold a ice, hard as stone, and willing and able to kill someone without a bit of remorse. He sighed. Unlike his father, he, Sesshou-maru, had never gained the real respect of his subjects...probably why they'd began leaving and breaking oaths of fealty once The Great Demon died. Feh. He'd show them all, by becoming the most powerful youkai there was. And, in his search for power, he would surely never be bored. A slightly evil grin came to his inside thoughts. And, he could always torment Jaken. That wouldn't cease to amuse him.
Despite all of his thoughts, his expression was passive and icy-cool as always. He had, long ago, forgone any real emotions showing on the exterior. In fact, he rarely let them show on the inside. He had truly changed, but he remembered very little of his past self-he only remembered that he'd become this way for a reason, and accepted it without question as the way he was. If he recalled any reason for change, it was only in his sometimes-fitful dreams, and those he shrugged off easily. Too easily, really...

Eira awoke yet again on another peaceful morning. She stretched and carefully changed into her clean clothes, folding and vowing to wash those she'd slept in. She was entering slightly familiar territory, yet had heard little of Sesshou-maru. She sighed. Only the thought of someday finding him kept her going, she knew. She wondered how long that hope would sustain her. However, in this region she HAD heard a few rumors concerning Sesshou's little brother, Inu Yasha. She remembered him well, but doubted she should ask him of his brother-she'd also heard that they'd had a falling out...that Sesshou was no longer the man she had once loved. She'd heard that he was cruel, cold, heartless...Bitter, soulless and as willing to kill a loved one as to welcome them with open arms. But it mattered little, her heart would not change it's course, and she would love him until the day she died, although at this point she'd rather have found him, only to have him take her life on the point of his sword, than to never find him and die of heartbreak. After all, only rumors of him could not sustain her, she needed to see him, to speak with him...To be his, whether his enemy or friend. She would rather meet him and be enemy and meant only for death than for a meeting to elude her and cause her a slow, painful death, as was her mother's. She whispered softly to herself, tears splashing quietly down her cheeks and staining her elegant yukata. "Oh...My Love...What has become of you?"
.

End of Chapter Three. To be continued in Chapter Four: Love Holds True