Buried beneath the mountain, Sesshomaru had spent an eternity in darkness. There had been no pain, no anger, only cold emptiness.
A vast nothingness.
He'd never imagined death before, it wasn't something a powerful demon such as himself should have to worry about; he couldn't say his expectations hadn't been met. He couldn't say much of anything, he was detached; a part of the great void that enveloped him.
Everything had grown quiet.
So so quiet.
Eons passed and he slipped away, beyond existence.
Until he heard a voice, a small hum at the edge of his consciousness.
"So, the Great DemonSesshomaru met his end at the hands of a mortal woman, hm?" The voice sounded amused, as if this were all some sort of cosmic joke, "What happened to that ambitious conqueror who would never have allowed himself to succumb to such weakness?"
Sesshomaru realized that even in death, he could still be annoyed.
"Who are you?" He asked. Something coursed through his consciousness, almost a light tick at the edge. The voice sounded familiar, but in death his thoughts had become muddled and foggy, did he know this…being?
"Someone not so different from you," it answered, "Some might even argue that we shared the same fate."
"What do you want with me?" Sesshomaru asked, "I don't have time for your games." Not that he had anything else to do here, but if he was going to spend eternity in this place he vastly preferred the silence to some incessant pest here to toy with him.
"Impatient as ever, you haven't changed a bit," the voice responded, his tone warm with laughter, "And yet, in some ways, you've changed a lot. Caring for a mortal child, father to a half-demon, sacrificing your life in an attempt to save the mortal woman that you willingly married? …You've come a long way from the demon that sought only conquest."
Sesshomaru's annoyance grew.
"You refuse to identify yourself, and yet you appear to know a significant amount about this Sesshomaru," he scoffed, "How do any of my affairs concern you?"
The voice became quiet. It was a long time before it answered.
"There was a demon, forced to leave this world and his sons behind," the voice was low and melancholic, "Only able to watch from the netherworld, unable to offer guidance as his sons had to grow on their own, he knew no greater pain. He would not wish that upon anyone else. You have a family that needs you Sesshomaru, you must go back."
Sesshomaru thought of Futeki and Rin. They were in danger, Naraku would've reached the village by now, had Inuyasha protected them as he'd commanded? Frustration grew, he had to know that no harm would come to them.
And Kohana…
Sesshomaru hadn't been able to save her. Grief and shame welled up inside him, she'd been deafened to his voice and was beyond his reach. He couldn't stop her alive, he certainly wouldn't be able to help her in death.
"Do you mean to say that you possess the power for me to return?" Sesshomaru huffed, "We've passed beyond the world of the living."
"Sesshomaru," the voice sounded offended, "Have you forgotten the Tenseiga?"
"It was buried with me, there's no one left to wield it."
"A sword, forged from your father's fang, capable of restoring the lives of a hundred beings in a single swing, and you believe it requires the assistance of someone else to rescue you?" The voice grew, thundering through the void, "Do you not recall when the sword has spoken to you, urged you to save a life, protected you from danger?"
Images slowly came into view, shafts of sunlight breaking into the crevices of a boulder, Sesshomaru found himself looking down at a crumpled lifeless being laying helplessly beneath a pile of rocks. Coated in dust and blood, there was a hole through the body's chest where its heart should've been.
His body.
His corpse.
"The Tenseiga was a gift to you to teach you compassion, much like the Tetsusaiga was given to protect Inuyasha; they were left behind in this world to carry out your father's will."
A sudden glow caught Sesshomaru's attention. The Tenseiga, still unsheathed from his battle against Kohana and Ronuku, rest against his corpse, pulsating softly as a pale blue light shone from the blade.
"And it is not my will for you to die in a wretched place such as this!"
The fogginess suddenly cleared, realization crashed into Sesshomaru.
He looked to his left and saw a being bathed in Tenseiga's light; a tall imposing figure clad in armor and furs stared at him with familiar golden eyes, as intense and calculating as his own. Over two hundred years had passed, yet rarely a single day went by without Sesshomaru remembering him.
"Father…"
The Great Dog Demon, the fabled daiyoukai that roamed the western lands, struck terror into the hearts of his foes, led his forces to victory against invading armies, exuded unmatchable strength and power; this great being looked upon his son's spirit…and smiled.
"Sesshomaru," he said, his voice strong and commanding, "You've worked hard to hone your power and strength, so much so that you've surpassed my own. But even beyond that…your heart has grown. You've become a fine demon. There's still so much you have to offer the world of the living, this is not your time."
Sesshomaru was speechless. He'd never expected that this moment would come, never expected that he would speak to his father again. For all the years he'd spent wondering, pondering, questioning his father's actions…the words evaporated from his mind.
"Please," his father continued, "Forgive me. You and Inuyasha deserved a father to guide you, more than just swords and a memory. I will not allow my grandson so suffer the same fate. Learn from my mistakes, and do for Futeki what I could not do for you."
Sesshomaru knew paternal affection, every time he looked at Futeki he felt pride and amazement. He wanted to protect his son, to ensure that he would grow up and become a strong demon in his own right; that he would one day go out and accomplish great things that no one could ever fathom.
In that moment, when he looked at his father's spirit, Sesshomaru felt that he finally understood.
The Great Dog Demon; His feelings had been exactly the same.
"Go, my son," he said, "Return to the world of the living, and live a long life. I will be watching over you."
A sudden warmth washed over Sesshomaru. Before he could answer, he felt as though he were sucked through a tunnel at the speed of light.
His eyes opened, he inhaled the dusty air.
Still buried beneath the broken remains of the mountain, his armor was shattered and half missing, his kimono still torn and blood-stained from the battle…
But he was alive. Though scars covered his body, a thick layer of tissue in place of the gaping hole in his chest, his wounds were completely mended. Sesshomaru felt stronger than ever. Energy coursed through his veins, his muscles craved action, and his claws itched for battle. The stone around him trembled as his demonic aura surged. Effortlessly he burst upwards out of the rock and into the sky.
The cold air buffeted his face, and his lungs drank it. He felt completely restored, as though his death had never happened.
Tenseiga…
He glanced down at the sword, still glowing in his grip. Everything, his time underneath, it almost felt unreal. How long had he been dead? Had his father's spirit really come to resurrect him, or was it a hallucination?
Whatever the case, he didn't have long to ponder it. Tenseiga pulsed, crying out in distress. The winds whipped around him in a frenzy, and Sesshomaru glanced up into the distance. To the south, a massive black dome devoured the landscape, lightning crackling around it as miasma poured from its depths.
Clearly, the battle had started without him.
It didn't take Sesshomaru long to arrive to the edge of the dome. He could've approached the half-sphere from any point, but the Tenseiga seemed to be urging him in a specific direction. As he passed over the edge of forest, he spied a huge scar in the landscape just at the edge of the dome. He landed on the torn up earth, corpses littering the ground before him.
The battle started here, he surmised. Naraku's demons littered the ground, amongst them some faces Sesshomaru recognized, all lifeless corpses laying helplessly. From the scene before him Sesshomaru couldn't tell which side the fight had favored.
The black dome roared before him, and he knew he would find the answer inside.
As he stepped forward, the Tenseiga rattled in his grasp, crying out at the carnage. At once a host from the underworld faded into view, minions sent to collect the souls of the dead and drag them down below. The little imps snarled and squeaked, swarming the corpses like hungry ants.
Tenseiga grew warm in his palm, and Sesshomaru glanced down at it. His father's memento, the blade that had but moments before resurrected his own life. He looked back onto the field at the faces he recognized.
They had come here to fight Naraku, and lost their lives in the process.
Raising the sword above him, blue light surrounded Sesshomaru, the air around him swirling with power. With a mighty swing, the Tenseiga cut through the air.
A wave of blue energy cascaded from the sword, washing over the battlefield and enveloping the corpses of Naraku's enemies with a warm glow. The denizens of the underworld screeched, dissolving instantly when the light touched them. One by one they vanished, until at last they had completely dissipated.
When the blue light faded, Sesshomaru heard a quiet hum fill the clearing, countless hearts beginning to beat once more.
"Wh…what happened…?" A voice coughed. A figure sat up, the tigress glanced around in confusion, her clothing ripped as though her body had been torn in two.
"…I'm…I'm alive?" Another voice answered. A human ninja stumbled to his feet.
Slowly, they all begun to stand, the samurai, the wolf demon…In the distance the ground shuddered as the squirrel pulled himself from his grave, the two-tailed cat growled as she climbed out from beneath a pile of corpses…
They all turned and faced Sesshomaru, their eyes full of shock and awe.
"You," the tigress coughed, "You saved us?!"
"That much should be obvious," Sesshomaru answered impatiently, "How many are inside?" He lifted his head towards the dome, they all turned to look at the hulking black mass behind them.
"That…wasn't here before we...died." The tigress uttered.
"It must've been them, Kohana and Ronuku," the samurai said, "Their power..."
Annoyed that they didn't have any answers, Sesshomaru strolled forward until he stood at the edge of the black wall. Lightning and power crackled around him, heated air blasted through his hair and tossed the tattered edges of his clothing.
"Are you going inside?" One of them asked.
Sesshomaru glanced back to face them.
"If you wish to fight Naraku, then you may follow. However, should you die again, know that I will not save you a second time."
They all looked at him, determination written on their faces.
No one fled.
Sesshomaru looked back at the dome, Tenseiga still in his grip. He raised the healing sword and struck it against the black wall, sparks flying as the earth before him shook. A hole formed in the dome, the darkness parting like a curtain, revealing the hellish landscape within.
Without waiting to see if the others made it through or if the curtain would close, Sesshomaru sheathed his weapon and dashed forward. All at once scents and sounds assaulted his senses; terrified screaming, the acrid tang of blood, the choking miasma, murderous howls…
He stood there for but a moment, taking everything in, until he caught the faintest trace of her scent. Immediately Sesshomaru struck out into the darkness, a flash of white bolting through the undergrowth.
The ground beneath him heaved and trembled, the path before him twisting in the mist. Even with his strong senses, Sesshomaru had to slow down in order to stay on the correct path and avoid wasting time running in circles. Every step pulled him downwards, the darkness choking any light from above, when suddenly he heard a familiar voice crying out in terror.
With a burst of speed, Sesshomaru darted through a copse to the edge of a pond. The moment he saw Rin in danger he acted before his mind could even register the situation; he grabbed the girl and dashed forward, a flurry of mud and water spraying into the air as the attack struck where the girl had stood only a heartbeat before.
"Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin shouted, her eyes wide with disbelief. Mud and scratches covered the girl's body, but as tears cascaded from her eyes, a bright smile broke out on her face and she sobbed with joy, "I knew you'd come back!"
She's alive, Sesshomaru thought in relief as he set the child down at the edge of the pond. He looked around, a chill shot through his body as he noticed his son's absence.
"Where is Futeki?"
"I…I don't know," Rin admitted through her tears, "We fell from Ah-Un and he disappeared, it was like he turned into mist! I've looked everywhere for him, but when I heard Lady Kaida's screams I came here and-"
A high pitched screech cut her off. Sesshomaru turned towards the sound, his eyes narrowing as he took in the sight of a feral grey-faced creature; the mortal woman that had taken his life.
Kohana stared at him, trembling as a host of emotions raged within her. She shook, the intensity of the black light in her eyes wavering, confusion warring waring with fury and grief.
"…How?" A voice shouted from the sky, as though it were echoing across a great void "How is this possible?!"
"S-sesshomaru! He's alive?!" Another voice called out from the same place, and Sesshomaru recognized it as Kagome's, "Kohana! Kohana listen to me, Sesshomaru is here! He's alive, he saved Rin!"
Kohana clenched her fist, glaring as though she were trying to figure out who he was.
"Another illusion," the other voice answered hastily, "Kohana, you remember it don't you? The feeling as your power tore him apart, as his blood spattered the sky, his corpse falling beneath the mountain…he is dead, you saw him die."
Kohana wailed and clutched her head, her bloodied left arm hanging limp at her side as she stumbled backwards through the water crying out.
"Lord Sesshomaru," Rin said, "Kohana…I tried to talk to her. Kagome helped and she heard me, but that voice told her I wasn't real, she thinks we're not here…"
"Whatever power has control over her mind is fighting back, be it the jewel or Naraku" Kaida limped towards them, wincing with every step, "I'm not entirely sure what the situation with Kagome is but…before this I was certain that Kohana was lost…I…" she closed her eyes briefly, grief and shame pinching her face before looking up again, "…I see now that some vestige of her spirit remains. Kagome seems to have made a break through, but as long as Kohana hears that other voice she refuses to see us."
Sesshomaru looked at the pitiful mangled creature that stumbled through the muddy water, tendrils of black energy flowed from Kohana towards the dome behind her. The proud spirited woman had been reduced to nothing but a broken power source, feeding whatever being possessed her, something far from Naraku's control…her powers had created this hellish vortex, the abyss that had swallowed his son and split apart his family.
That someone had the gall to take Sesshomaru's mate, his wife, and turn her into this…
"Lord Sesshomaru," Rin said, "Please, you have to save her."
The wind stirred around him, water trembling at his feet as Sesshomaru gazed out at the mortal woman he loved.
He was not going to lose this time.
He was taking her back.
The water exploded behind him, the spray flying towards the sky as the taiyoukai dashed forward. Possessed by darkness, Kohana looked up and glared. Matching his speed, she dodged away from him and raised her functioning arm to send out a wave of dark energy.
Sesshomaru ducked to the left and cast out his whip of light; the dark wave exploded where they clashed and sent sparks flying through the sky, yellow lightning dancing above the trees made even brighter by the swirling abyss above.
Kohana didn't wait to attack again, the dark tendrils behind her thrashed wildly as she leapt through the water and shot out another wave. Refusing to unsheathe his swords, Sesshomaru once again countered with his whip. The two danced around one another, their movements almost too quick to be seen. The water beneath them raged, waves raced away in the wake of their attacks as the thunderous clash of energies shook the trees around them.
Overhead Kagome and the voice were shouting, both vying for control over Kohana's soul as the wounded Kaida shielded Rin from the raging pond and the flying debris. They were all beyond Sesshomaru's focus, in the heat of battle he only saw the raging woman before him.
With every step he searched for a weakness in her attacks, some way to subdue her and release her from the jewel's control. Inch by inch, as he drew closer he caught the scent of blood and sickness emanating from her trembling body. Though Kohana fought with the strength of a demon, her mortal body seemed as though it would have given out long ago were it not for the power of the jewel.
She is being pushed past her limit, Sesshomaru thought, taking note of the threads that still connected her to the blackened dome beyond. So much of her energy was being devoted to maintaining the half-sphere that she could not hope to fight him as she had before. The foolish samurai, no doubt somewhere on the other side of the dome, was too far to help her…
Sesshomaru danced around her, quickening his pace with each breath. Kohana chased him, screeching furiously as she pushed her broken body faster and faster, pushing through the waves that crashed against her, fighting through the water. The taiyoukai sped up, daring her to match pace and keep up, darting past her and switching direction with ease.
Turning too sharply, at last Kohana faltered and fell forward. Before her body crashed beneath the water, Sesshomaru was behind her. Restraining her right arm with one hand, he wrapped the other around her chest and pulled her up.
She fought him, pulling and thrashing against him Kohana howled and tried to break free, but Sesshomaru refused to let her go.
"Kohana, return to your senses," he commanded. When she tensed up against him, her breath hitching in shock, Sesshomaru was relieved to learn that she had heard him, "Naraku, that foul jewel, they will not release you. You must break free on your own."
"Kohana, listen to him," Kagome urged, "Sesshomaru came back, he came back for you!"
"That's what you want, isn't it?" The other voice hissed, "Dream all you want Kohana, he isn't returning, he can't because you killed him!"
Kohana wailed again, the black energy surging around her. A blast of heat shot from her body, the dark tendrils coiled around Sesshomaru, burning where they touched and sending electric fire through his skin. Unflinching, the taiyoukai maintained his hold.
"Return to me!" The voice shouted, "That is your only hope! Obey me and I will grant you peace!"
In that moment, as the dark energy coated him and danced before his eyes, Sesshomaru spied a figure. Faceless, figureless, an opaque man faded into view before them, his body made completely of violet shadow. He stood before them, one of his shadowy arms gripping Kohana's shoulder as his other hand caressed her cheek.
"He will never forgive you," the voice said as the shadow moved forward, its face inches from Kohana's, "You've shed too much blood, taken too many lives, you can never go back. The darkness has claimed you, you belong to me."
Sesshomaru's fury erupted.
At once the earth beneath him shook, the dark tendrils around him suddenly burned away to ash as the taiyoukai's demonic energy surged. A gale whipped around them, water blasting away from their feet as he glared at the shadow in front of them.
"You dare to lay claim on this Sesshomaru's wife?" He snarled, his demonic aura rocketing higher with every second. The air around him became super-heated, the dead leaves on the trees around them began to smolder. The shadow recoiled, yet it still maintained its grip on Kohana's shoulders.
"You made a mistake when you presumed my death would stop me, that I would blame her for causing it," He continued, holding his wife closer, his fangs glinting in the light as his eyes burned furiously, "Your power is useless against me, Kohana has always been mine. I have returned to take her back and nothing in this wretched void you created will stand in my way!"
In the wake of his fury the darkness around Kohana shrank, the light fading in her eyes as she trembled in his arms.
"Don't listen to him," The shadow tightened its grip on her, "Kohana he's only an illusion, his voice it isn't real!"
"Kohana, you know he is!" Kagome shouted, "Sesshomaru loves you, of course he came back! He found a way, he came back for you!"
"I…I can…" Kohana spoke, her voice hoarse and weak, "I can feel him…Sesshomaru is…with me…"
"…He's right here with me!"
Her head shot up. The energy flared around her, her eyes glowed with power. Like a flaring star, a blinding white burst forth from the darkness that coated her.
"He's standing with me!" She shouted, an ethereal beast glaring at the shadow that clung to her, "As long as he's with me, I don't need you…I never needed you, you used me!" though her voice was hoarse she howled furiously, her fury unwavering she bellowed, "You used me to hurt everyone! I'm done letting you use my power, and I'm done listening to you! LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Fed by Sesshomaru's aura, the white hot flames around her surged, the brightness flaring against the darkened sky. The shadow wavered, tried to cling to her, but its grip weakened and the figure trembled. The moment Sesshomaru released her arm, Kohana shrieked and shot a burst of energy from it. Blinding light shot forth, and the shadow disintegrated.
As quickly as the light around her surged, it all suddenly died. Like a candle snuffed out, the aura around Kohana disappeared. No black light, no white. The grey-skinned woman trembled, her body went limp and her head fell forward.
Sesshomaru quickly grabbed her, his demonic aura dissipated as he held his wounded wife. Her mangled arm bled freely, as did the wounds on her head and torso, staining his tattered clothing scarlet.
"Se…sshomaru," She panted weakly, speaking through clenched teeth as she winced against her pain. Her brown blood-shot eyes looked up at him in awe and longing, "You're…you're alive…"
Suddenly she convulsed. Her eyes rolled to the back, her head fell to the side as her strength completely abandoned her, leaving her utterly still.