Sesshomaru walked steadily down one of the many corridors that lead to his main conference room. He had received word earlier that day from Jaken that one of his most loyal messengers was returning today with valuable information. His messenger had been gone for about a year to see if he could find any important news on the neighboring lands. Sesshomaru didn't really care what went on outside his lands, but it was best to be well informed at all times.

He stopped for a moment at a near by window when he heard a squeal coming from his front garden. He looked out and saw his young ward, Rin, happily chasing Jaken in circles while trying to put a flower necklace on him. Sesshomaru noticed that Jaken already had two or three of the necklaces. If he was anyone else, he would have smiled at the sight. He didn't, but that couldn't stop the proud, fatherly feeling he got when he saw how easily Rin could catch Jaken. Though he would never admit it, he was very fond of Rin.

Sesshomaru continued walking until he reached a tall set of double doors. They were a plain brown color with a crescent moon on each side. These were the doors to his office and only the most important beings were allowed inside. He opened them and walked inside to see his messenger sitting in one of the chairs.

The messengers name was Zerin and he was a raccoon demon. Zerin stood almost as tall as Sesshomaru himself and had a long, bushy, ringed tail. He also had a dark area surrounding his eyes, like all raccoons had, and pointed ears.

Sesshomaru sat behind his desk and waited for Zerin to start talking.

Zerin sat there looking at him blankly before saying "So, how has your year been?"

Sesshomaru glared at him.

"Alright, alright," Zerin said, waiving his hands in front of him. "About a month and a half passed after you sent me out and I had found nothing of interest, so I was coming back when I passed this small village in the Eastern lands."

Zerins' face grew serious and Sesshomaru listened closely for what he was about to say next.

"I walked in and found that the villagers' bodies were put out in long line from the beginning of the village to the end of it.They had been mutilated to the point where it was hard to tell what they were anymore. I had looked around the village carefully, and no one had entered any of the huts. So nothing was stolen."

Sesshomaru wondered what had caused this. Usually a demon wouldn't attack unless they had a good reason, or, if they went this low, attack a village and slaughter just to find something of value.

Zerin had stopped and paused, remembering what he had seen.

"Continue." Sesshomaru said after a minute or so.

"Right, well I went looking around to find out what had caused this when I came across another village along the Southeastern border. The villagers had been slaughtered in a similar manner. Once again I looked around and nothing had been stolen. There was something different about this village though. There was a man on the steps of a hut, a monk to be exact. He was on the brink of death when I asked him what had happened. All he managed to say was, 'all for the bells.'

'Bells?' Sesshomaru thought. He didn't know of any bells that were important.

"What did you find out about these bells?" He asked.

"Well, it took about another six months to find anything about bells. I ended up in a library about a mile from the ocean in the Eastern lands. There was this old book in a red binding that caught my attention. It spoke of four golden bells that could decide the fate of the world. I didn't believe it, but continued reading anyways. It said that if someone held all four bells at once, they would get complete control of anything they choose."

Sesshomaru thought about this for a second.

'A couple of bells could take my lands away from me? Impossible.'

"I know that look." Zerin said, looking at Sesshomaru. "You're thinking 'there's no way a few bells could do that' right?"

Sesshomarus' gaze hardened.

"Right!" Zerin said, smiling slightly. "Well, you're wrong. They could do just that. I had read farther into the red book and found out that the bells had caused the separation of the lands. You know, like now we have the Western, Southern, Northern, and Eastern lands. Thousands of years ago it was all one big landmass. There weren't any of those. Ahhh, my grandfather was alive then and he would always tell us this wonderful story. Would you like to hear it?"

"No. I already knew that there were no cardinal directions back then. What else did you find out about the bells?"

"You're no fun." Zerin said sighing. "Anyhow, there was a war going on back then for who would rule this land. A demon, who was desperately trying to stop the war, found the four bells by accident. He 'wished' on these bells and he created the four ruling lands, giving power to himself, and his three most trusted friends. It's said that after he did that the bells flew out, over the ocean and were never seen again."

"What was this demons name?"

"I don't know. It didn't say. That's all I found out." Zerin paused; unsure weather or not he should go on. "I think you should go after them."

Sesshomaru looked at him blankly. Or, slightly more then he usually did.

'These bells could grant someone the power to take over my lands.' Sesshomaru thought. 'I will not allow that to happen.'

"I will get these bells." Sesshomaru stated as he stood up.

"About that," Zerin said nervously.

Sesshomaru glared at him.

"You need the aid of a miko to find these bells."

"I do not need the help of a human to find them."

"Yes, you do. Just think about it this way, the stronger miko you find, the faster you will get the job done."

Sesshomaru grudgingly accepted. An idea quickly popped into his mind and his eyes took on a wicked gleam. He might be more open with Zerin then he was with anyone else, but that didn't mean he would open up all the way and wickedly smile.

"You will stay here and look after Rin."

"What!" Zerin yelled, surprised. "Isn't that what Jaken is for?"

"Jaken is not capable of watching Rin. You are. You will see that no harm comes to her."

Zerin stood there gaping as Sesshomaru walked to his open balcony.

Sesshomaru summoned his cloud and was a few feet in the air when he stopped and said "Consider it this way, the stronger your resolve is, the faster the time will go by." Then he was off flying away to get his miko.

"Did he just make a joke?" Zerin asked himself quietly, putting his hand to his forehead to see if he was sick. "He did."