Artificial Intelligence X
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. I never said I owned Inuyasha. But ohhh if i did........
Rated PG-13 for language that should not be used around younger children, and actions that should not be performed in front of innocent eyes. (You have been warned)
Chapter 1: Talking to yourself is a sign of madness, Sesshou.......
Kagome rocked the child gently in her lap. She hadn't woken up yet, and while Kagome was slightly concered, she was pretty sure it was mostly from shock than any serious injury. She ran her fingers through the childs tangled mane and frowned. Tommorow was definitly bath time. And it may give her time to tell the child what happened to her beloved Seshhy-sama.
another realm
Your first glance at this realm wouldn't reveal much. Hell, you could stare at it all day and all you would see is the churning white mists. And a girl. Yes, a young child sat there, waiting paciently for something. Her skin was a pale alabaster color and she had hair that was black as coal. Wrapped around her young body was a peach kimono, embroidered with a magnificent phoenix pattern.Her small brow was knotted as she took a glance at her palms where a small light was growing. It pulsed softly and grew a little more, glimmering a pale blue. One final pulse brought it to full size. An childish giggle escaped her lips as she brought the little orb close to her face.
"Hello little one. You've taken quite the while to join us." The orb seemed to pause for a second as it took in its surroundings. Then said orb screamed.
flashback
Sesshoumaru was awakened by a feel of nothingness. Not the kind that you feel when you're all alone, or in a barren wasteland. This actually felt like nothing. As in no feel at all. No arms, no legs, no body. He could still see, though it didn't seem to do him any good. Everywhere he looked, he saw white on white, swirling in a lazy fashion. Suddenly he felt himself being raised. Two honey brown eyes filled his vision.
"Hello little one. You've taken quite a while to join us"
He stared at the eyes for about two seconds. Then he did what any self-respection person would do presented with a situation like this. He screamed.
"Hey, hey there little one, I didn't mean to scare you." At this, Sesshoumaru stiffened. Little one. Okay, body or not, no one called him 'little one'.
"And who do you think you are, wench." He snarled. Or so he tried. It's hard to snarl without a voicebox. Talking in general is quite the feat as well when you think about it. The young girl frowned at him for a moment. But that smile returned in a second, full force.
"I am Sakura Lady Guardian of the Phoenix, constellation of the North," she paused and giggled again "But thats a really long name, so you can just call me Sakura." Another pause. "Or Sakura-chan too."
"I see." Was the reply she got. And it made sense as Sesshoumaru could tell very well what was going on. He had obviously gotten hit pretty hard. Mental stress was to be expected from such an experience that he had faced. Yes that was all. This was just the works of an overactive imagination. Welcome to denial, population: To many to count. However, Sakura (Or Sakura-chan, whatever you prefer) seemed a bit fazed by his lack of response. He had a duty to do, they couldn't stay here skylarking.
"So, whats your name."
"Sesshoumaru." Mentally he berated himself. 'Idiot, you do NOT start talking to your mental manifestations.'
"Sesshoumaru, huh. Well I bet your wondering where you are."
"I know exacactly where I am. I am in my own head talking to some peverse manifestation of my imagination." He ground out, a little annoyed that his vacation in denial was cut short. He looked up to see the child staring at him blinking. Once. Twice. Then all hell broke loose as she began laughing.
"And what, do you find so funny?"
"You." She choked out before another fit of laughter came after her. Sesshoumaru frowned.
"I hardly see the humor of the situation." Sesshoumaru stated. Sakura blinked at him for a second.
"Oh well, you just think, after so many years of doing this I would be used to it by now. But every time a news soul comes to us, they always have some weird idea of why the are here. Which you are still probably wondering where here is. However first things first. You need a body."
"Yes, that would be quite convenient." Sesshoumaru drawled. Sakura pouted at him for a second before she placed him down before her. She crossed her legs and began muttering an incatation. Sesshoumaru felt a slight tingle shoot down his body/soul. Slowly the tingling increased, moving outwards from him. A brilliant flash, and he felt himself fall to the ground. He stood up and registered something. His eyes widened.
"DAMMIT WENCH, WHERE THE HELL ARE MY CLOTHS." He screamed, wrapping his tail around him. He paused. Was it just him or was his voice higher than before.
"What the hell." He said, and looked himself over. He still had the same tail, the same strips and claws. The same fangs. However, now he only stood slightly over two feet from the ground.
"YOU TURNED ME INTO A CHILD?" This wasn't doing well for his stress levels. Neither was her infernal giggling.
"Of course. All us guardians are children." She stopped suddenly, then looked around. Before he could register her movements, she had grabbed onto him.
"Come on, we're gonna be late." She wrapped his arm around hers and grabbed hold of a pendent around her neck. A few muttered words and they were thrown into another plane.
Plane of the Ethereals
"Come ON" She tugged at him as soon as they landed, and pulled him towards the doors of the citadel before them. The citadel consisted mainly of four massive ramparts on which the was an impossible large statue of, to the North, a fenikkuso, to the East a tora, to the south, a hebi, and to the West, a ryuu. He glanced at them as she continued pulling him towards the doors.
"Do you mind telling me where we are going, or shall I continue to follow you blindly." A sudden breeze reminded him of his lack of cloths as well.
"To your inaugeration. The celetial spirits must accept you before you can officailly become one of us." She said, tugging his arm harder. Sesshoumaru was sure that if she pulled any harder, he would be one arm short again.
"AHA, we're here."
Here happened to be an extraordinarily large set of doors. Carved from a fine black stone that Sesshoumaru couldn't identify, they stood an impressive twenty feet and were at least ten feet wide. Upon them were carvings that varied, from the rough slashing marks that made up the tiger's body, to the delicately drawn feathers of the fennikuso, the swift strokes of a dragon and the sleak brisk body of the snake. They were completely unadorned, save for their eyes which were set with the most brilliant colored gems Sesshoumaru had ever seen. He shifted slightly, feeling as if those eyes were really alive, searching him for something.
"What is this?" Sesshoumaru asked. The eyes on the door were making him feel uneasy.
"This is the Watcher's Door. This castle you see behind you is the kuuchuuroukaku, home of we celestial guardians. Upon entering, we will be in the Main Hall, which also serves as the inaugeration room. You shall be alone, as I will to be joining my place with the other three guardians. You shall continue walking strait down the aisle till you reach the shrine set up there. We shall call the celestials, and they will chose who you shall serve under. Perhaps you will even get a position as a guardian, you never know. Now come on." With that, she gave the doors a push, and remarkable, they swung forward, revealing a magnificently decorated hall. He paused.
"Hold wench, I still don't have any cloths." She frowned.
"We really need to work on your language." she stated. He growled at her, indicating the current problem. "Yes, I know, your still naked. You will recieve your cloths after the ceremony."
"What the-" he said, before she again began shoving him down the hall.
"We'll talk later, now WALK." she shouted. Sesshoumaru gave up, and wrapped his tail around his waist. He began walking regally down the hall taking in his surroundings as he went. It was amazing really. One of his own castle's could have easily fit into just this hall, without even scraping the sides. The hall was mainly empty, only the three other 'guardians' stood within it. As he came closer, he began observing the others. Sakura was standing farthest to the left. She had dropped her childish demeanor, and now had a look of serenity on her face. Her charcoal hair was tide up in an elegant knot upon her hed with two golden chopsticks. When she had the time to do that between her leaving him to walk up the aisle, and him arriving at the shrine, he had no idea. 'Best not to stress about that know.' He thought.
The next one down the aisle was a young boy. His hair was a pale green, like the foam of the sea. It was short, and was sticking out at all angles. He had a scowl on his face that reminded Sesshoumaru of Inuyasha. The boy wore a coal black hakamas and haori, the haori embroidered with the red image of a coiled serpent. The serpents head slinked down the length of his right arm, ending a few inches from the end of the sleeve. The red color was deep, and accented the childs own red eyes. Next to him stood another girl. Unlike Sakura's serene expression and the boy's scowl, she had a regal, proud air to her. Her kimono was an yellow kimono, and upon it was a tiger, baring its fangs. The girl herself had hair that resembled mahogany, and eyes that glowed a mocha brown. She looked at him, flashed him a smile that remided him so much of Rin, and then turned to the others. The circled around the shrine, and Sakura motioned for Sesshomaru to kneel before it. Then she started up a chant. The other two joined in and the chant took an mystical sound to it, weaving in and out with each others voices as they reached a fever pitch. A faint glow began to eminate from each of them and a flash of white light temporarily blinded Sesshoumaru. When he regained his sight quite an image met his eyes.
Four creatures. Four creatures that each stood at least ten times the height of his father. They leered down upon the figures below them, before announcing there presence. Loudly.
"WE HAVE ARRIVED." The tiger spoke. The very castle rumbled to it's foundation at the massive voice.
"AND LOOK AT THIS. IT SEEMS WE HAVE A NEW CHILD TO OUR FOLD." The snake snarled, coiling it's massive body around the area where Sesshoumaru stood. Though his body desperately wanted to run, he stood his ground. It brought it's head level to Sesshoumaru's body, it's one eye taller than ten times Sesshoumaru's current height. It spoke again.
" AHH CHILD, DO YOU NOT FEAR ME. I SEE IT IN YOUR EYES, YOU WISH TO RUN. YET YOU STAND HERE BEFORE ME." The snake smirked at Sesshoumaru, but he continued to stand his ground.
"I will not move. You may be stronger than I, but I have a feeling you won't try to kill me. You wouldn't go through all this just to kill me again," he paused a moment. "However, some cloths wouldn't go unapreciated."
"INSOLENT WHELP." The sepent snarled. However it was interupted by a deep chuckle.
"AHH HEBIZA, HAS THE CHILD GOTTEN TO YOU. HE IS NO COWARD LIKE YOURS." This voice came from the dragon. Unlike the serpent that bore a ruby red coloration, the dragon's long sleek body was a silvery white. It's long glistening coils made Ryukotsusei seem like a baby.
"SO THIS IS YOUR CHOSEN GUARDIAN, HMM" The tiger creature growled out.
"YES HE IS. I SHALL TAKE HIM AND COMPLETE HIS INDUCTION TO OUR FOLD," he glanced at his surroundings and chuckled. "PERHAPS IT WOULD BE BETTER IF WE REMOVED OUR BURDENSOME FORMS."
"SPEAK FOR YOURSELF RYUUZA, I LIKE MYSELF FINE." Spoke the fennikusu in melodic tones. Yet together the shifted, and their forms shrank till they were each looking just like there child couterparts, only older. Sesshoumaru noticed the ryuu had an uncanny reseblance to him.
"Ahh, it feels good to be out of those cumbersome forms." The tiger spoke out. Her voice was rich, like honey.
"Yes indeed. However this young one still must be informed of the situation. I shall take him with me and explain what he needs to know." With that the dragon beckoned him, and began a swift pace down the great hall and into one of the lesser ones. Sesshoumaru struggled to keep up with his short legs, and watched around him, trying to figure out what leaded to where. Suddenly, he ran into the legs of the dragon/humanoid that stood in front of him, unaware he had stopped.
"In here." He said, gently nudging Sesshoumaru into a room. He began to move systematically about the room, lighting various candles embedded in the walls. Finally, he completed his task, and sat at the low table in the middle of the room, beckoning Sesshoumaru to join him. Sesshoumaru sat down hesitantly.
"I assume," the dragon said "that you don't know why you are here. I assure you that it will be explained in due time, but we first must get the necessities out of the way." He shot a glance at Sesshoumaru. "Primarily, your clothing."
"Yes, that would be a good idea. Personally, I don't spend my time streaking across foreign dimesions." Sesshoumaru drawled. The dragon chuckled.
"Ahh, yes I figured as much," he chuckled. Suddenly he grew solemn. "Well, if I haven't gone and forgotten my manners. I am Lord Ryuuza, Dragon Guardian of the West. The others in the room were Hououza, Phoenix Guardian of the North, Hebiza, Sepent Guardian of the South and Toraza, Tiger Guardian of the East. We are the guardians of the balance, which so recently has become swayed. Though these sways are part of time and usually progress normally, sometimes unforseen events can cause chaos in the realms. In this case, the chaos is in a small jewel, The Shikon no Tama."
Sesshoumaru mulled over this bit of information. The shikon jewel seemed to have even have caught the eyes of these celestial beings due to some great imbalance it formed.
"Indeed," said Sesshoumaru "yet what does this have to do with me?"
"Ahh yes you. You are quite important to this. We celestials cannot intervene with the lives of mortals, so we take upon us apprentices, who can be our conduit. I have recently chosen you. The task you will face is a hard one, I shall not lie. But I am more than confident in your abilities to complete this."
"I see. However another question has come across me. Why am I a child. I wasn't one when I died. Is this some side effect of my resurection?" Ryuuza smiled slightly.
"Truth be known, you are resurrected as a child because children tend to have a greater perception than adults. They notice how others are feeling and how to solve them. However, enough questions, we must get to the task at hand." He waved a hand and a silver looking glass appeared. An image of Inuyasha and his missmatched band of shard hunters came into view.
"These are who you'll be protecting. The ones who are to bring the Shikon no Tama back together and seal it for the rest of eternity." Sesshoumaru frowned at this statement.
"If this is so, then why do you require me. You said yourself, they are the ones to reseal it."
"Truly, they are. However your job is not to reseal it, but to ensure that they do. You must make sure they complete there task. They are barely held together, and only a commen goal keeps them from falling apart. However, you must strengthen this bound, and teach them how to trust eachother. Most specifically, this one." Ryuuza indicated a dark haired figure curled up on the ground. Sesshoumaru frowned.
"And why, pray tell, should I agree to help them."
"Because her life is tied into this as well." Spoke Ryuuza, indicating to the small child curled up next to the kit.
"Rin." Sesshoumaru breathed. Ryuuza chuckled.
"Yes, she survives, and your sacrifice ensured it. However, should you ignore the duties given to you, her life will be a forfeit as well. It is time to make your choice." Sesshoumaru sighed.
"Very well, I agree to this task, though unclear it still is." Sesshoumaru said. Ryuuza beamed happily.
"Excellent. Now before you return to Earth, there are a few things I must explain. As a guardian now, you cannot kill a mortal soul. You have abilities different from before, in your case, a powerful healing and shielding ability. However, you cannot fight there battles, this they must do on there own. You can, however, protect them."
"How will I know what to do." Sesshoumaru asked. He was still a little unclear on this whole 'noble quest' thing.
"Do not worry. There will be a friend of mine down there to guide you along your journey." Sesshoumaru let out a breath.
"I am ready." Ryuuza laughed.
"Hmm, maybe. However cloths still need to be secured. Stand up." Ryuuza commanded. Sesshoumaru rose quickly. Ryuuza tapped a lip thoughtfully, the smiled.
"I have the perfect idea, come here." he said. Sesshoumaru approached him, and Ryuuza placed two fingers on his forehead. A slight pulse ran throught Sesshoumaru's body, and out of seemingly thin air, tiny threads began to wrap around him. The material was a white with a black layer beneath it (Think of Inuyasha's outfit only with white on the outside, black on the inside) Upon his left leg was the silvery blue pattern that Sesshoumaru recognized to be Ryuuza's true form. A pair of black shoes and a pale blue obi completed the outfit. Ryuuza stepped back to admire his handiwork.
"Hmm, Not bad if I do say so myself." Sesshoumar shifted in the fabric. It was softer than anything he had ever felt, and seemed to be not too heavy and not too light. He had to quash the childish desire to rub his face in his sleeve. (Have you ever wanted to do that. I do it whenever I get new soft Pyjamas.).
"Yes, you are ready. Do not worry though, I have a feeling that everything will turn out for the best. Now prepare yourself." Before Sesshoumaru could even react, he was torn away, and thrown back down to earth.
"Yes, good luck my young daiitokumyouou."
Wow, this took me A while to write. I did have quite a bit of Japanese, so here are the definitions.
tora-tiger
hebi-serpent
fennikuso-phoenix
ryuu-dragon
Ryuuza- Dragon Constellation (Western Celestial)
Hououza- Phoenix Constellion (Northern Celestial)
Hebiza- Serpent Consellation (Southern Celestial)
Toraza- i think this is Tiger Constellation, but I could never actually find it (Eastern Celestial)
daiitokumyouou- conqueror of death (You'll find out why he is called this later on.)
Sakura- Cherry blosoms (Northern Celestial's Guardian)
Names of the other child guardians
Amaya- Night Rain (Eastern Celestial's Guardian)
Nibori- Rising to Eminence (Southern Celestial's Guradian)
Read and Review Please huggles
AIX