A/N: So this chapter was originally meant to be around seven pages long, but once again it ran away with me. As a result I've decided that I would divide it up into two chapters. The second part will be up by the end of the day I just was too lazy to do it all at once.
This is the first time that I've ever tried to come up with my own "legend". I wasn't quite sure how it would turn out, but even I'm amazed by how well it did. Sometimes I just surprise myself. The demonic notes that I'm referring to was inspired by the different notes that are in perfume. So that's the context that it's being used in. Also most of the content in this chapter is the flashback of Sesshomaru and his mom's conversation.
As always, thank you, thank you, thank you to all those who have reviewed and I hope that you enjoy and review again.
I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters within it.
Sesshomaru was beyond irritated. This had been one incredibly aggravating week for him. And it just got worse.
Sesshomaru and Jaken were patrolling his lands - something that Sesshomaru usually loved doing. Although, he loved doing anything other than the paperwork that came with being lord over such a huge territory, which was precisely why he left all of that boring stuff to his mother. At least while out on patrol there was a chance that he might come across someone who might pose a small challenge. At home, which he had always considered the floating castle to be, the challenges that faced him were much more numerous, but they weren't the type that he was constantly looking for. They were more like the aggravating, mind numbing challenges that went with being the Lord of the Western Lands with no mate and a mother who wanted grandchildren desperately. As a result, Sesshomaru was on patrol for the vast majority of each year. Anything was better than dealing with his mother and her machinations.
Sesshomaru and Jaken were walking through the forest, when he picked up a familiar scent. This scent put him on edge, and was the perfect conclusion to what had already been a vexing week.
What was she doing here, he wondered angrily. She normally never sought him out unless it was very important, and even then as a last resort. Sesshomaru sighed as his mind conjured up all types of possible scenarios that would draw the elusive woman out of her home. Any of them could be plausible, but then again knowing her, she could just be here to annoy him which was something that she was very good at.
As they came around the bend of the path they were currently following, the scent got stronger. Sesshomaru tried to deduce the reason for her seeking him out by her scent, but could detect nothing. She was probably here just to annoy him then. She had a tendency to pull something like this every once and a while. Sesshomaru let his aura flare. With any luck she would pick up on the fact that he wasn't in the best of moods like Jaken had. The little toad had been very quiet for the vast majority of the day. There was a subtle shift in the scent - she was amused.
Clearly she was refusing to be put off. So be it then. Sesshomaru and Jaken were very close to her now. She was standing just beyond the forest.
As the two approached the edge of the forest, Sesshomaru mentally prepared himself for what was to come. Walking out of the forest, he approached the female who watched him with cool but laughing eyes.
"Mother," Sesshomaru said.
Sesshomaru was on his way to visit Rin; he'd sent Jaken on an errand. It had been five years since he'd left her with Inuyasha and the old priestess. Unfortunately he wasn't able to visit as much as Rin wanted. Once Naraku had been defeated Sesshomaru had had a number of affairs to attend to. On top of that his mother had insisted that he start doing more than just patrols. So he'd had very little time to spare in which to visit her. However he made it up to her in the form of gifts. At least once a month Rin received a gift from her previous guardian, and very elaborate gifts they were too. Things like fancy kimonos, silk slippers and combs made out of the finest stones, gems and metals around. While Rin appreciated the gifts he gave her, Sesshomaru knew that she appreciated his visits even more. He knew that if he went to visit her without a gift she would still be happy.
It had been close to a year since he'd last visited her, according to Jaken. Rin had to be close to fourteen summers old by now, which meant she would be old enough for him to confirm the truth of his mother's words.
It turned out that Funaho had a reason for seeking him out. Sesshomaru went over his last conversation with her yet again, still unable to wrap his mind around what she'd said.
After he had approached her, Funaho told him that she needed to speak to him about something that required privacy and ordered that he return to the floating castle with her. However once there, she seemed to have forgotten the matter that had required him to return with her. Sesshomaru was just about the leave - he had been there for close to three days after all - when . . .
He'd been summoned to his mother's rooms. It was about time she explained why she sought me out, Sesshomaru thought as he walked to her rooms, ignoring the dozens of females that were throwing themselves at him. Hadn't he told her to get rid of all these women? And was it him, or did they seem bolder than before?
When he entered her room, he saw that she was sitting at the same table she had sat at with Rin, looking out the window.
"Mother, I thought that I told you to get rid of those women," Sesshomaru said as soon as he entered the room.
Funaho turned to him; her face was impassive. "But I did get rid of them. Those are just the daughters of some friends of mine. They're only visiting," Funaho replied.
"Visiting," Sesshomaru repeated skeptically. They had been "visiting" for the last five years. "Send them home Mother," he said after a moment's pause. Gods, he could feel a headache coming on.
Funaho continued to look at her son before she began pouting. Why couldn't he just indulge me for once in his life, she thought. If the boy would just give me a grandchild there would be no need for me to put women in his path. At the thought of grandchildren her pout disappeared as she remembered the reason why she called him there.
"Sesshomaru," Funaho said as she got up and walked to her son. Once she was standing right in front of him, she cocked her head to the side, then reached out her hand and took a handful of his hair. After studying it she asked him, "When was the last time you had someone look at your hair?"
What was with his mother and her obsession with his hair, Sesshomaru thought. He just looked at her.
An hour later Sesshomaru and Funaho were sitting on the floor. His mother had insisted on washing his hair and was currently sitting behind him brushing it dry.
Sitting in the room like this brought back memories of how she used to do this for him when he was a child. She had always insisted on doing his hair when he was younger. It relaxed Funaho to no end to groom her son. It was usually during these grooming sessions, that she would impart something of vital importance to him. It was something that hadn't changed over the years. His mother could irritate him to no end with her fractious behavior, but whenever she was doing his hair she was completely serious. It was one of the reasons why Sesshomaru had given in to her without a fight. Now he was just waiting to hear what she had to say.
"Sesshomaru, have you ever heard of the Kazufuhei," Funaho asked. He sighed, so she was finally getting to the sum and substance of this summons.
"No," Sesshomaru said.
"According to legend, they are offspring of the very first union between a demon and a human," she continued. "No one really knows if they actually existed, or if it was just a legend. Not even I believed in them until just recently," his mother admitted.
What was she going on about, Sesshomaru wondered. Surely she couldn't have sought him out in order to tell him about a legend?
"Why are you telling me this," he asked.
But Funaho went on with her story instead, "The Kazufuhei and all of their descendants were capable of producing either a full blooded demon, a half breed or a human, regardless of which race their mate was. No one knew how this was possible, only that it was. Although if their mate was a demon then the chances of their child being born a demon was much higher, the same for a half breed or a human. Not only that, but their offspring had the tendency to be incredibly powerful. They were very desirable mates for demons." Again she paused, "But the humans feared them, as they fear anything that is different from them. Soon they began to kill the Kazufuhei off until only a handful of them existed. Those who survived the extermination hid themselves among the humans, marrying them and, as most were inclined to think, weakening their blood."
Funaho had finished brushing Sesshomaru's hair and was now examining the ends and cutting the ones that were split. "The Kazufuhei had always fascinated your father. He didn't understand how it was possible for a half-breed to be able to produce so many different types of children, especially in those cases where a full blooded demon was born from a union between a Kazufuhei and a human. He was looking for proof. Whether this was proof that they existed, whether the legends about the offspring were true, or . . . I do not know. But I do know that he was looking for them."
Sesshomaru was thinking about how his mother said his father was looking to prove the rumors about the offspring true. There was only one way for him to do that. "So was that the reason why Father took up with that human woman," he asked.
"No, I don't know why he took up with her, although that was my initial thought as well," his mother admitted. "But I think that you have outdone your father yet again Sesshomaru," she said. He could hear the pride in her voice. Unlike his father, his mother had always thought him to be perfect, more because she felt that she was incapable of producing anything weak and imperfect than anything else.
Now he was intrigued. Surely he couldn't have found one of these Kazufuheis'? But it appeared that he had as his mother confirmed with her next words. "You have found what your father spent his whole life searching for, and quite unintentionally too," she said.
Okay, so he found one of them, why was that significant? And more importantly, who was it, Sesshomaru thought trying to rack his brain for answers.
As if reading her son's thoughts, Funaho supplied him with the answer. "I think that Rin is one of the Kazufuhei."
For a moment, Sesshomaru's mind went blank. Rin, he thought.
"And what makes you think that," he asked. His voice wasn't as steady as it normally was.
"There are a couple of ways of identifying one of the Kazufuhei. One is to get the girl with child and wait for it to be born. Because you're a demon, and an immensely powerful one at that, the child would probably be born as a full-blooded demon as well," Funaho said. Sesshomaru didn't miss the hopeful note in her tone. Clearly that was the method she was hoping he would use.
"Are there any other ways," he asked and was rewarded with a soft growl from his mother. He turned and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
Funaho turned his head back around rather roughly. "Have you noticed any changes in Rin's scent," she asked.
Sesshomaru went completely still.
"I see," Funaho replied. "When the Kazufuhei are afraid or their bodies are under a great deal of stress, their scent changes, usually to resemble that of a half breed or a demon. Whatever scent the Kazufuhei gives off is a huge indication as to the race that their children will be born as."
Funaho moved to face her son and began inspecting his bangs for split ends. Once she was finished she returned to her place behind him, and picked up the brush again. She was almost finished.
"I couldn't help but notice that Rin's scent strongly resembled that of a demon's after I restored her life to her," Funaho said.
Sesshomaru was feeling very weak at the moment. Had her scent really changed when that happened?
As if once again reading her son's thoughts Funaho said, "You were too busy feeling happy to really notice. But I did. At first I thought that it was strange. . . How could a human suddenly smell like a demon? But then I remembered the tale of the Kazufuhei.
"Sesshomaru," his mother said. "There is still another way for you to tell if Rin is one of the Kazufuhei. When she goes into heat, her scent will contain some demonic notes. If it does then you need to bring her back under your protection at once."
Sesshomaru was still reeling over this explanation for the change in Rin's scent that he'd noticed when she had gotten sick, but that last line got his full attention. "Why," he asked.
Funaho sighed. "Sesshomaru, I'm not the only one who's heard about this legend. I'm sure that once Rin goes into heat, other demons will find those traces of demonic notes in her scent just as curious as I did. It will only be a matter of time before they put two and two together and then try to take her as their own."
Having finished brushing her son's hair, Funaho once again rose and sat in front of him. "There are several demons who want what is ours. They will have no qualms about using Rin in order to get it. Even if Rin was to have a child with the weakest of demons, that child would probably have the power to be a thorn in our side. Therefore it is best if we keep her under our watch and no one else's."
Sesshomaru stared into her eyes and saw that she was dead serious. She honestly thought Rin was one of the Kazufuhei otherwise she wouldn't have even suggested that he once again become Rin's guardian.
Sesshomaru turned his head to the side and stared out the window for a long minute, digesting everything that his mother had said to him. After he'd gathered his thoughts, he turned to her once again and said, "They would be a fool to touch her. Rin still carries my scent." It was all over the gifts that he gave to her so regularly.
"She may still carry your scent, but you are no longer there to look after her the way you once were. By the time word reached you that something happened to her, the damage could already be done. She could be with child. What's more, regardless of who becomes Rin's mate, her children will most likely be born as demons," said his mother.
That's right because her scent took on that of a demon at times. Sesshomaru was more than a little dazed. But his mother continued, "How do you think those villagers would react then? How do you think her mate would react?"
Sesshomaru didn't need to think, he knew. He was already aware that she wasn't fully accepted in the village because of her association with him. They would probably kill her.
"If you're still having trouble believing me, then go and see for yourself. But if I'm right you will bring her under you protection immediately," his mother said. Then without warning her face resumed it's normal stoic façade, she was the one he got it from after all, and she asked him if he'd finished looking over the terms of the trade agreement she had been working on.
So now here he was, on his way to see if his ex-ward was one of the descendants of a race that had long been thought to be extinct, or simply legend. He was thirty minutes away from Edo when he heard a very familiar scream rent the air.