Tainted Souls

I do not own Inuyasha if I did the series would be a lot longer

I do not own Final Fantasy VII if I did I'd be loaded

Chapter XI

A Hero's End! The Riddle In The Snow

The northern continent was covered with snow, Aeris rubbed her chest in a desperate attempt to keep warm. Sesshomaru and Vincent didn't seemed to be affected by the freezing temperatures.

"Aren't you guys cold?" Aeris asked the two.

"I'm used to it." Vincent replayed. "I told you to dress warm. You said you'd be fine."

"Meanie." Aeris stuck her tongue out at Vincent who didn't return the gesture.

"You might want to cover up." Sesshomaru made a gesture and Aeris immediately knew what he meant. She grabbed her jacket and pulled it over her chest, her face turning a bright shade of red.

She thanked him and the walked into the snow. The winds kicked up so much snow that the trio's foot steps disappeared as soon as their feet left the ground.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Aeris screamed over the howling winds.

"I smell people in this direction." Sesshomaru pointed to the north. "It is a weak scent, but I can smell it. Trust me." his voice was as emotionless as ever, unaffected by the cold.

The trio walked on for some time. It seemed that the snow got deeper and deeper until all that could be seen of Aeris was the top of her head. Sesshomaru seemed to be walking on the top of the snow, not sinking. And Vincent was floating above the ground. Sesshomaru reached down and grabbed Aeris by the back of her jacket and lifted her out of the snow.

She clinger to her lover and didn't let go.

"Don't let me go. Your warm." she cuddled up in her lover's arms. She was welcomed by a warm sensation. The girl rested in his arms, she eventually fell asleep from the warmth of his body. Sesshomaru looked down at the sleeping girl in his arms and did something he seldom did. Smiled.

"So their almost here. She's trying and pray to Holy. Mother, they're trying to stop us, but I won't let them. Sephiroth grasped the hilt of his sword and raised one of his arms into the air, he swirled his index and middle finger and the clouds followed the movements. Lightning and darkness invaded the sunny and clear sky. Fresh snow and savage winds racked the skies and covered the land in thick blankets of snow. "Thank you, Mother." Sephiroth lowered his hand, but as he did the snow storm he had created increased in ferocity. He commanded the storm south. "I think it's about time we ended this, Mother?" Sephiroth raised his hand once more and a blue energy swarmed over his arm. He concentrated the energy into his hand. He imagined the beast that would destroy those pests.

The trio reached a small village located in the mountains. Aeris was now fast asleep in the demon's arms. Sesshomaru smelled the air as Vincent asked around about an Inn. The cold air burned Sesshomaru's nose as he searched for any signs of Sephiroth,

"I found an Inn. This way." They walked a short distance to a large building on the edge of the tiny village. Inside the hotel a large fire was burning in a red brick fireplace and groups of people were discussing various topics. Vincent lead Sesshomaru past the crowd and to a room on the second floor of the building. The room was rather cozy. It had four beds, a refrigerator, and a small heating unit that could also be used as a cooking implement, an evaporator, and a lamp.

Sesshomaru set Aeris down on the bed closest to the heater. He removed the girl's clothing and dressed her in a her silk night gown. He grabbed the ends of ribbon in her hair and pulled them. Her beautiful brown hair flowed out. He pulled the covers up to her neck and made sure she was comfortable before joining Vincent outside.

"So, What is the course of action?" Sesshomaru asked the gunman.

"I was thinking that maybe we should try and go down the slopes here. It should be easy…" Vincent drew the Death Penalty and readied the weapon. "Do you…"

"Yes, I sense it." Sesshomaru interrupted him as he cracked the joints in his fingers. The clouds above them had turned dark and fresh snow fell at an amazing rate. The snow carried Sephiroth' scent, he was responsible for this.

Everyone was running for their houses as Sesshomaru and Vincent stood waiting. The air became energized around them. The shadows materialized around them into shades of hooded figures with guns and other weapons.

"These look like the things I fought in the forest." Vincent trained the Cerberus on the shades. Sesshomaru pounced into the circle of the shades and formed a whip, which glowed bright red in his hand. He raised the whip above his head and swung it down in a circular motion, making contact with each of figures. Vincent fell to the ground to dodge the whip, firing as he made his decent. The three barrels of the Cerberus flashed as the hammer made contact with the high-caliber round's primer. The thundering of gunfire and the cracks of a whip were drowned out as a deafening roar which seemed to be made by the clouds themselves. Sesshomaru and Vincent paused for a second to look up to try and find the source of the sound. From the clouds a giant red figure appeared.

"Bahamut Sin! Sesshomaru, look out." Vincent screamed pointing at the dragon. Vincent leaped into the air and landed on Bahamut Sin's head. He trained the Cerberus on Bahamut Sin's eyes. He fired three shots into the summoned beasts left eye.

The beast shook it's head trying, desperately, to throw Vincent from his head and avoid further injury. Vincent was thrown from the freshly summoned dragon and landed face first into the snow. He quickly got up and shook the snow from his jet black hair. He ejected the clip from the Cerberus and loaded in a fresh magazine of twelve bullets. He holstered the weapon and drew the Death Penalty from under his cloak. He switched the safety off and pulled the trigger, peppering the soaring dragon with .45 caliber rounds.

"I could use a hand over here!" Vincent screamed to Sesshomaru, who was finishing off the last of the shades as Vincent called for aid.

Sesshomaru ran over to Vincent and drew the Tokijin. They looked up followed the dragon's movements and noticed something strange. It was flying backwards away from them.

This can't be good. Vincent thought to himself as he loaded another clip into the Death

Penalty.

Bahamut Sin continued flying back until it was high enough to start the attack. A large ball of energy was concentrated at his mouth. The ball of blue energy was enormous. If he was going to fire that at the city there would be nothing left.

Sesshomaru looked at Vincent and they both leaped into the air. Vincent firing his assault rifle and Sesshomaru preparing to slash right through the beast. Sesshomaru looked at Vincent and nodded. Vincent grabbed Sesshomaru's arm and threw the demon at the creature. Sesshomaru flew towards the monster, his sword ready. The ball of energy gathering in Bahamut Sin's mouth grew to an enormous size.

Sesshomaru pulled the Tensaiga from his sheath and crossed the two blades in front of him as he flew threw the ball of energy. He cringed at the heat of the blast. His clothing began to set fire. He spent few anguishing moments in the ball. He was out, he took both swords and swung them in unison slicing at the neck of the beast. He dug the two blades into Bahamut Sin's neck and jumped used the swords to pull himself onto the beast back. Sesshomaru sheathed the Tensaiga and grabbed hold of one of the creatures horns. He raised the Tokijin above his head and dug it into the creatures head. Bahamut screamed and shot the ball of Giga-Flare forming in it's mouth at the city.

"What in the world is going on out there?" Aeris jumped out of the bed. "Where the hell am I? Where are my clothes?" She walked around for a second before stumbling on something hard, her boots. They were sitting on the floor, her clothes were placed on a counter top nearby. She quickly changed and headed outside. She slammed the door behind her and ran a few steps before running back and grabbing her staff. She reached the door to the inn and ran outside. She saw Vincent kneeling on the ground, Grizzly Big Boar in hand, sniping a large object in the sky.

Aeris covered her ears as the heavy caliber rifle thundered. She walked closer to Vincent and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Where's Sesshomaru? What's going on?" She screamed over some strange roars, probably caused by the glowing blue object in the sky.

"He's up there, fighting Bahamut Sin." Vincent returned to his rifle and fired a round at the dragon's heart. He reloaded the gun and looked at the blue object in the sky which seemed to be coming closer to them. "Shit."

"What is that thing?" Aeris screamed, gripping her staff in both hands now.

"Giga-Flare! It's headed right for us." Vincent stood still for a moment and yelled for everyone to evacuate. He grabbed Aeris by the arm and tried to pull her out of the blast range. She didn't move. "Come on, we have to leave."

"No! Sesshomaru is still fighting. Besides, I've been nothing but a burden so far, it's my turn to help out. Go if you want to. But I'm gonna fight along side Sesshomaru." Aeris spun her staff over her head and a yellow light streamed from both ends. The light grew in both size and intensity until the entire village was protected by a barrier.

A reflect spell. Vincent starred in amazement at the gargantuan shield created by Aeris.

Blood sprayed from Sesshomaru's sides as Bahamut Sin grabbed him in his mouth and bit down. Sesshomaru screamed as the creature shook the demon from side to side. The Tokijin and Tensaiga slipped free from Sesshomaru's side. As he reached for the blades, Sesshomaru caught site of the blast heading straight for the village. He closed his eyes and thought about Aeris and Vincent and how Sephiroth would become stronger from their deaths. His eyes turned crimson and his fangs grew twice their size. Sesshomaru, still in Bahamut Sin's jaws, was transforming. Bahamut bit down harder in a desperate attempt to kill the transforming Sesshomaru, but it was in vain. Sesshomaru broke free, and with his unleashed powers easily overtook Bahamut Sin. He gnarled at the Dragon's throat, unaware of the threat approaching.

Aeris held strong, the Giga-Flare heading straight for her.

I hope it's strong enough.

The blast hit her spell, she grunted as she tried desperately to keep the barrier up. Finally the Flare stopped moving and headed in the other direction, straightBahamut Sin. Aeris looked up as her shield dissolved, she saw a big white dog fighting with Bahamut Sin. She screamed when she realized what was going to happen. The Giga-Flare impacted on Sesshomaru and Bahamut Sin in a brilliant display of blue light and fire. Everyone cheered as Bahamut Sin disappeared. Aeris, however, dropped to her knees, tears flowing from her eyes.

What did I do? I killed him! I killed Sesshomaru. She thought to herself. It was all her fault, if she had just given him a few more seconds. If she hadn't cast Reflect and just an ordinary barrier, he would still be alive. If didn't try to be a hero, then her love would be okay, but he wasn't.

Vincent searched for days looking for any kind of sign that Sesshomaru was still alive. On the fifth day he found something. The Tokijin, the Tensaiga, and a strange locket.

Aeris had been crying for the past five day now, she tried to hide it but he could tell. Everyday he came back from looking she would be drying her bloodshot eyes. Vincent neglected to tell her about the weapons and armor. He walked into the room and hid the weapons and armor in his cloak so that Aeris couldn't see them. He walked into his bedroom and hid the blades under his bed As he pulled the sheets back down he looked at the blades once more and realized just how Aeris must be feeling. He patted the weapons and felt a strange energy jolt from the Katana, Tensaiga. A strange aura emanated from the blade, it must be responding to Sesshomaru's death. He pulled out the ring that Lucrecia had given him and thought about what happened to him after Lucrecia betrayed him and left him for dead.

He tucked the ring back inside his shirt and lowered the sheets so the blades were hidden from Aeris. He walked out into the living room and sat down next to Aeris. She collapsed in his arms and cried her heart out. Vincent searched for the right words and found none. He tried to remember what his mother might have said in a similar situation, the death of a loved one.

"Aeris, listen, maybe he's still alive out there. Sesshomaru's real resourceful, maybe he wasn't hurt at all," Aeris didn't seem to be feeling any better. "It's okay, cry all you want. Listen to me though, it's okay to be sad don't be ashamed. Remember when we went to that waterfall," Aeris shook her head in between sobs and listened. "Well there I met someone, who I happened to love very much. She had told me never to come back to her again. She was very angry with me too. Do you know what I did when I ran off?"

"No, What?" Aeris wiped a few tears from her face and looked at the gunner.

"I cried. I never thought I'd see the day when I could be so sad. it's okay to be sad. You don't have to be ashamed. Just let it all out, but don't bottle it all up, let it out."

Aeris grabbed a tissue and blew her nose. She had accumulated a rather large pile on the floor. A ring came at the door and Vincent patted Aeris on the back and went to answer it. A elderly couple was standing there. They seemed rather sad, they asked to see Aeris. They walked over to her and sat down next to her. They talked to Aeris for a while and helped her through what was going on in her life right now. Vincent watched as Aeris stopped crying and showed the couple a faint smile. He was happy to see that people still cared.

Don't worry everyone. The story ain't over yet. It's up to Vincent and Aeris now. But what is this feeling that Vincent can't shake? Why is the Tensaiga acting like this around him? These questions and more will be answered later on. Don't worry.