Crimson Butterfly and Frozen Beast

Chapter 3:

Rin entered the room and her tears had dried as she felt how dry and empty it felt inside. She could feel warmth missing from this family temple. She walked directly behind Sesshomaru as this dryness in the temple frightened her. Sesshomaru noticed the fear in Rin through her smell.

Sesshomaru grabbed Rin's hand and pulled her to the side of him. She looked up at Sesshomaru wondering what his thoughts were, but when she saw that Sesshomaru was holding her hand while walking she begin to blush red.

"We will be out of here soon. I need you to help me though, although i wasn't counting on a humans help," Sesshomaru said.

Rin looked up at Sesshomaru and stared at him. "What will i be needed for?"

"You saw those crimson butterflies didn't you?" Sesshomaru asked.

"Yes i did," Rin answered.

"Then you are the one who can use the camera obscura and capture the ghosts of my terrored family," Sesshomaru said.

Rin stopped and let go of Sesshomaru's hand. Sesshomaru stared at Rin's face and also smelled how angry she was.

"You mean you weren't there to help! You just needed me!" Rin vexated.

"What other reason should i help you for? If you were caught by one of my oni demons i wouldn't care. You walked into my territory."

Now Rin really wanted to slap this guy and leave but then she thought about how he could destroy her easily with that whip he had carried. She had shut her mouth and fell silent. "Alright...i'll listen. If i help you, do you promise me that you will help me out of this place and that i can live?"

Sesshomaru felt her anger cease and she grew her silent self once more. He felt a little compassion for this woman since she was the key to his family's true peace. "I promise..." He said with a little smirk on his face. He still felt the silent coldness of this woman...why am i now thinking of her as a woman.

He grabbed Rin's hand once more and walked her toward a sliding screen room. He pulled one of the partition screens away and led her to a table where the camera obscura was laid right next to a dimming lamp.

"This is the camera obscura. I am sure we have past some family ghosts following here, but they have done us no harm so far," Sesshomaru said.

Sesshomaru understood that Rin was an important key when he knew that she felt the unsteady and dry presence of his family's abode. He wanted her to stay and in order to do so, he knew he had to give her some respect. Most demons would force humans to do thier bidding by threatening to kill them, but Sesshomaru knew this would not help the situation since fear would only cause the girl to end up letting one of the ghosts kill her if she was hesitant.

Rin examined the camera and saw a few lenses and storings of filament.

"I got rid of the type 07 film that was inside and replaced it with 99 cases of type zero film," Sesshomaru explained..."Type zero film has high exorcismal power and should destroy any ghost you come upon if you are a good snapshot."

This thing kills ghost?...Rin thought.

Sesshomaru took the three lenses and helped Rin attach them. He explained to her how the camera worked and how to upgrade it.

Rin couldn't help but feel as if she was a puppet through all this. She knew nothing of this house she was in and barely understood the task she was given. All she knew is that she was supposed to "destroy" ghosts if that was even possible. Rin felt shivers go through her body and she knew she felt afraid.

Sesshomaru sensed Rin's fear once more and grabbed her hand. He held it gently and stared Rin in the face with concerning eyes.

"You will be alright. I promised you. Don't you remember?" Sesshomaru said.

Rin actually felt herself calming at his concern. Wether he might be faking it or not. She felt good.

Sesshomaru helped Rin up and escorted her to the next room.

The next room was a library. It was encircled with book and any wall that was uncovered carried a picture of what Rin predicted to be Sesshomaru's family members.

Sesshomaru let go of Rin's hand and walked over to an open door that led to a study. Sesshomaru grabbed some books on the table next to the door. "I will leave you to this room. If any ghosts come near, you know what to do."

Rin nodded and Sesshomaru closed the door behind him.

Sesshomaru turned around and sniffed close to the door expecting to smell the fear of this...woman. Amazingly to Sesshomaru, he did not smell fear. He gave a half smile at how this Rin was brave. After sniffing the door, he sat down at one of the desks and read a book that had encrypted gold letters that said, 'Western Regieme - Royal Generations'.

Rin could only feel a sense of finally being free for a while to gather her thoughts. This youkai had saved her in order to use her somehow, but she wanted to know what this was all about. She couldn't help but feel curious.

Rin searched throughout the library for a while and looked through the books. She saw one that talked about a ritual. The book was called 'The ceremony of the crimson butterfly'.

Rin read through scraps of the book and found one particularly interesting.

part two of the ceremony of the crimson butterfly

the gate to hell requires a sacrifice. every year, we allow a pair of twins to be sacrificed in order to appease the gate of hell. The elder twin must kill the younger twin in order for the ritual to follow through completely. Unfortunately we also must sacrifice a foreigner who has traveled to our western lands as a kusabi...

Rin was about to finish reading, but Sesshomaru grabbed the book out of her hand before she could finish.

"You don't need to be reading this," he said..."unless you like realizing what situation you're in."

"Of course i want to know. Whatis so special about me and how can i help when i am just a "human"? If i am a key, then what do i unlock?" Rin said this calmly as she could.

Sesshomaru grabbed Rin and pulled her back. She was stunned and stared at Sesshomaru.

"You feel it don't you?" Sesshomaru said.

"Feel what?" Rin responded.

Just then Rin felt shaky she grunted as she felt and awful pounding in her heart. She looked over Sesshomaru and found a ghost of an inu youkai in a bloody and torn kimono crying.

"Hurry, take a picture of her!" Sesshomaru yelled.

Rin did as she was told immediately and took a picture of the woman. When the snapshot finished, the ghost died out and she felt the loud thumping in her heart go away.

"What was that?" Rin said.

"That was my mother," Sesshomaru answered.