Memories

"You don't look surprised to see me," Icthalur noted with a smirk on his face. "I assume that you got my message?" When Ilyo said nothing, the dragon demon grinned widely. "If it makes you feel any better, he put up quite a fight. That sword of yours really burns like hell." He pulled up his sleeve, showing a long slash on his right arm. "It's been a long time since I've been wounded. It was…strange, to say the least."

All through this, Ilyo had remained silent. Finally, he spoke up. "I'm sorry." Icthalur looked at him, but said nothing. He just gestured for Ilyo to continue. "I'm sorry you were forced to kill everyone and I'm sorry that you didn't become the lord." Icthalur watched silently and calmly, until Ilyo was finished. Then, his rage washed over the room like a tidal wave.

"You're sorry? You're sorry? I was forced to kill my family, you son of a bitch and all you can say is I'm sorry! Well that's not going to cut it asshole!" He looked about ready to launch himself at Ilyo, but was halted by his upraised hands.

"Please, I can explain." Icthalur looked doubtful, but he figured that he owed his former friend at least time to explain himself. He gestured for Ilyo to speak. "On the day that we were supposed to fight, I was attacked by my father's allies. Before I could fight back, they sealed me in a tomb. I was trapped in there for four hundred years. By the time I was released, I could no longer sense your presence. So, I took to learning about my remaining family. Then, we got sucked into this time."

Icthalur listened to this silently and then voiced his own question. "Why should I believe you?"

Ilyo looked deep in thought for a moment before replying confidently. "Why would I have chickened out of fighting you? I can take you easy." He grinned as he said this.

He was surprised when Icthalur grinned as well.

"You wish, mutt. I could whip you with both hands tied behind my back." The dragon demon quipped.

Everybody looked on in tense silence as they waited to see how the two powerful demons were going to proceed.

After several moment of silent observation, Icthalur suddenly walked over and embraced Ilyo. "It's good to see you again, my friend."

Ilyo smiled and returned the embrace. When the two finally broke apart, he noticed that everybody was looking at them funny. But what the hell did everybody else know. Ilyo hadn't seen Icthalur in nine hundred years, and Icthalur hadn't seen Ilyo in fourteen hundred years, due to Ilyo being sucked through the well, rather than living the five hundred years like Icthalur had.

Ilyo turned to his brothers and started introducing everybody. "This is Sesshomaru, the owner of the castle. That is also Sesshomaru. He is from the past. I'll explain later. This is Inuyasha."

Icthalur looked at him closely. "A half-demon?" he prompted.

"My father had a certain weakness for human women." Icthalur nodded his understanding. "And this is Kagome."

Icthalur looked closely at her as well, making her blush."There is something strange about that one. She smells weird" he stated.

Ilyo smirked at that. "Until quite recently, she was a human with spiritual powers. However, my brother took it upon himself to make her into a demon."

Icthalur indicated his understanding of the situation. Then he asked his own question. "How come I haven't sensed you at all for nine hundred years?"

Ilyo stood silent for a moment before answering his friend's question. "Well, I already told you that for four hundred years, I was sealed in a tomb. Then, about three years after I was released, we got sucked into a time-traveling well. That pulled us five hundred years into the future. I believe that is your nine hundred years right there."

Icthalur was looking at Ilyo incredulously. "That is quite a story. Is there anything else I should know about?" He asked the as a joke, so he was surprised when Ilyo began speaking again.

"Actually, we have a bit of a situation developing here," Ilyo explained. "You see, in the Feudal Era, five hundred years ago, the Shikon Jewel was shattered. As it became closer to becoming whole again, the god, Kuttsoh-turas, realized just how powerful someone could become with the completed jewel. So he has set out to destroy the jewel and anybody who has come into contact with the shards. The problem is that Kagome has seven shards. That means that once he gathers all the shards in the other era, he will come here. We need your help to fight him off."

Icthalur took the tale in stride. "Well, I've already killed one god; why not make it two?"

Ilyo grinned, but felt the need to caution his friend. "Kuttsoh-turas is a lot more powerful than the god you killed. Plus, he'll have a large chunk of the Shikon Jewel. I don't know if he'll use it, but if he does, his power will increase even more." Ilyo watched as his friend's face split into a grin once more.

"Good, it's been centuries since I've had a proper battle." Ilyo and Icthalur both started laughing at that. Ilyo knew what he meant; finding somebody who could put up a good fight was difficult when you were as powerful as the dog and dragon demon were.

Meanwhile, Kagome was taking the opportunity to compare the two friends. They're a lot alike, she quickly decided. Not only did they have the same clothing, and the same haircut, but their mannerisms were very similar as well.

Lost in her thoughts, Kagome started slightly when present day Sesshomaru suddenly spoke up.

"Well, as much as I hate to leave," he began, "I do have a business to run. I have to excuse myself. Icthalur, please feel free to make yourself comfortable." With that, he turned and left. The other Sesshomaru wasn't far behind him, although he didn't even say anything. He just turned and walked out of the room. This left Ilyo, Icthalur, and Kagome standing in the room.

Icthalur started paying closer attention to Kagome now that he was no longer focused on killing Ilyo. "You were human?" he asked her.

Kagome nodded.

"Well, am I to assume that Ilyo has finally gotten himself a girlfriend?" The dragon demon smirked as he asked that.

Ilyo said nothing and Kagome blushed, which was enough of an answer for Icthalur. He smiled widely at his old friend. "Good for you, mutt."

Ilyo growled at being called mutt. That was one nickname he had never liked, and Icthalur knew it.

"Well, I'm starving," Icthalur said suddenly. "How about we go get some food?" As soon as the suggestion was put out there, Kagome realized just how hungry she was.

She quickly spoke up. "I'm sure that Sesshomaru has some good food somewhere in this castle."

Icthalur waved that off however."Never mind that. I feel like going out. It's been a while since I've really been anywhere."

Kagome shrugged and Ilyo grinned. But then Kagome realized something. "We're going to need some money."

Icthalur grinned at her. "Please, have some faith in me. I've been around for a long time and I am the only living member of a rather rich and powerful family. I have quite a lot of money."

Kagome indicated her understanding. Icthalur then turned and walked out of the room. Since he had came down from the front door, he knew his way back, so Kagome and Ilyo followed him silently.

Once they made it to the front door, they went outside and gazed at the grounds surrounding the castle. It was quite beautiful. Suddenly, Icthalur cleared his throat, and then jumped straight into the air and hovered there, waiting for Ilyo and Kagome to join him. Ilyo quickly jumped up after his friend.

Kagome didn't know what to do. Ilyo realized what was wrong and landed back on the ground. Stooping down, he indicated that Kagome should get on his back. She quickly clambered aboard and Ilyo leaped back into the air. Icthalur looked at them with amusement in his eyes. Ilyo motioned for Icthalur to lead the way.

They flew for about half an hour before landing in front of a small pizza place. Icthalur threw open the door and the three entered the shop. Ilyo and Kagome went and sat down in a booth while Icthalur went to buy the food. They ate in silence once the pizza was ready then quickly left the shop. It was decided then, mostly by the two men, that they needed to have a drink. They decided to walk down the block to a small bar they had spotted during the flight to the pizza place. Kagome was reluctant to go as she was underage, but Icthalur said he could get her in, so she took his word for it.

As the threesome made their way down the street, they encountered a familiar person. Kagome recognized him instantly; Hojo. "What are you doing here, Hojo?" she asked him. He ignored her, his eyes focused unblinkingly on Ilyo. Suddenly he motioned behind himself and a bunch of big guys stepped out of a nearby alley. Kagome looked at Hojo in confusion.

"Leave now Kagome. I don't want you to get hurt, but he is gonna get it." Hojo indicated Ilyo. The guys, there were about ten of them, encircled the three of them. All ten of them were carrying big steel pipes and had very eager expressions on their faces. They were clearly looking forward to beating the hell out of Ilyo. Kagome looked at Hojo, shocked at what he was doing. "You both can leave." He gestured to Kagome and Icthalur. "The only one who is gonna get hurt is him." Once again, Ilyo was pointed at by Hojo.

Suddenly Icthalur burst out laughing. "Come on, Ilyo. What did you do to offend this child?"

Ilyo shook his head. "This loser has some kind of obsession with Kagome. Earlier, he was giving her some unwanted attention, so I threw him through a restaurant window, head first."

Icthalur laughed even harder at that, completely ignoring the pissed off Hojo. "So, what do you say, Ilyo? Should we teach these ignorant humans how to fight?"

Ilyo, however, shook his head. "No," he said, "leave them to me." Icthalur nodded and wrapped his arm around Kagome, pulling her back, out of the circle of people.

Hojo smiled when he realized that Ilyo was going to try to fight back. "Good. Now, get him!" The ten guys came forward as a group, swinging their pipes wildly. One caught Ilyo in the shoulder; the pipe ended up bent at a ninety degree angle and Ilyo didn't even flinch. The guys all froze, shocked by the sight, which gave Ilyo an opening. He struck out with a punch that knocked one guy flying. Turning, Ilyo struck another guy hard in the ribs. The guy let out a sound like a balloon deflating and collapsed. Icthalur laughed as Ilyo hit another guy in the ribs. He had heard a sharp crack and instinctively knew that the man's ribs had been broken by the blow.

Another guy decided to rush Ilyo, swinging his pipe, but Ilyo turned and caught the pipe, yanking it out of the man's hands. With the pipe, he quickly dealt blows to four of the remaining seven men, dropping them all like stones. Then, he turned to face the three remaining thugs.

Hojo looked scared. He had started out confident, but as the fight progressed, he quickly grew scared. He made a quick decision and attempted to run away. He had to run past Kagome and Icthalur to escape, however, and as he ran, Icthalur wrapped a clawed hand around the back of his jacket and hurled him to the ground.

"Where do you think you're going, human? Ilyo isn't finished with you yet." By now, Ilyo had utterly destroyed the remaining guys. Whirling, he turned to Hojo. Although Icthalur could tell that he was amused, Ilyo projected a look of rage to scare the human.

Reaching down, Ilyo yanked Hojo from the ground by his throat. Looking the terrified human straight in the eye, he growled, "What the hell were you thinking? Did you honestly believe your pathetic friends could do anything to me?" Hojo squirmed uncomfortably, attempting to free himself from Ilyo's grip.

Icthalur was suddenly at Ilyo's side. "Finish it, Ilyo. Teach the human what it means to mess with a demon Lord. Finish it." Ilyo continued to stare at Hojo before shrugging. With a quick jerk of his wrist, he snapped the boy's neck like a twig. Throwing the carcass to the ground, he turned to look at his two companions. Kagome stared at the crumpled body of Hojo with a slight hint of sadness in her eyes, but refrained from saying anything.

Icthalur, on the other hand, laughed loudly and patted Ilyo on the back. "Good job, Ilyo. It had to be done. People have to learn that they can't fuck with us. Humans may own this world now, but we will outlast them all. In the future, the world will be ours once again, and the humans will need to know that we won't take their shit."

Ilyo listened to his friend's speech quietly. He knew that Icthalur was right; one day, the world would belong to the demons again. But he still felt a little uncomfortable with the way he had ended the human's life. Oh well, he thought, I guess the little bastard had it coming. With that thought, Ilyo turned and made his way down the street, closely followed by Icthalur and Kagome.

They got to the door of the bar, where they were met by a large man, who halted them before they could enter. He looked closely at Kagome, before moving aside, letting them in. The three immediately sat at the bar and Icthalur ordered them a round of beer.

Kagome was reluctant to drink the alcohol it but Ilyo was quick to reassure her. "It's okay Kagome. Now that you're a demon, it will take a lot to get you drunk." Kagome nodded. She was still slightly apprehensive, but since she trusted Ilyo, she decided it would be safe to drink at least a little.

Meanwhile, Icthalur had already downed two beers and was halfway through his third. Ilyo and Kagome watched as the dragon demon continued to drink until the counter in front of him was littered with empty bottles.

Turning to Ilyo, Icthalur smiled. "Well, you've had your fun, and now it's my turn." The dragon demon rose to his feet, walked down the bar to where a group of large, rough-looking men were sitting and drinking. Reaching out, he grabbed a beer from the hand of the largest guy there and quickly chugged it down.

"What the hell!" The man yelled at Icthalur. He stood up, as did his friends, and the large group quickly encircled Icthalur, evil intentions gleaming in their eyes.

Icthalur just grinned and beckoned them forward. "Bring it on."