Legacy of the Moon

Arc I: Forbidden End

Chapter 3: Reflection or the Reality

All of a sudden, the war ended in the blink of an eye with absolutely no trace of even a single creature of the night or Dracula's castle left in the World of the Living. Everything just disappeared into the thin air for an unknown period. However, Chupacabra was the only castle dweller who was deliberately left in the World of the Living for an unknown purpose by Dracul himself.

The enemies of Dracul got scattered with time while Zobek got busy building strength and finding a way to reach Dracula's Castle which disappeared mysteriously. On the other hand, Chupacabra managed to remain hidden from all of his potential enemies and managed to reach the eastern side of the world in order to fulfill the purpose which Dracul had given to him.

The western region of Feudal Japan…

More than 400 years had passed since the day Sesshomaru took birth and now he had turned into an adult Daiyokai, who was equally attractive as much as he was powerful. Throughout his childhood, he remained closer to his mother than his father because of the way she raised him. On the other hand, it's been several years since Toga died while battling against Takemaru in order to save his human lover and second wife Izayoi. The reason behind his death remained a mystery for everyone because he was too powerful to be killed by the hands of a mere human. There were speculations that he was killed by otherworldly entities.

However, before his death, the past two decades proved to be dramatic not only for Toga and Izayoi but also for Inukimi and Sesshomaru. Inukimi at one point allowed Sesshomaru to go away from her so that he can re-establish the scattered empire of his father. Inukimi's hatred for Toga impacted Sesshomaru in an unhealthy manner. She hated him so much that she raised Sesshomaru in a way that he can surpass his father in terms of power and influence. Her hatred had fully conquered her motherly love. Over time, Sesshomaru turned into a cold-hearted killing machine which Inukimi saw as a sign of being powerful, and thus she never bothered speaking to him heart-to-heart.

A few years later, Izayoi died of sickness and left young Inuyasha behind while Sesshomaru gained Tensaiga after which he solely concentrated on his aim of the supreme conquest. Several years passed like this, he also gained two comrades in the form of a small Toad-Demon named Jaken and a two-headed Dragon Yokai. On the other hand, Inuyasha grew up and met a priestess named Kikyo who was the guardian of the Shikon Jewel and popularly considered as the reincarnation of Midoriko. There were several times when Inuyasha and Kikyo got the chance of working together and soon they developed feelings for each other. Inuyasha wanted to become a full-fledged Yokai using the Shikon Jewel but the couple had no idea about the evil intentions of a man called Onigumo. Kikyo met him recently and she was providing him with the treatment in a cave unaware of his evil intentions towards him.

Present – Feudal Era (A few weeks before Inuyasha was sealed by Kikyo)

It was a fine evening with the golden rays of the setting sun illuminating the entire land. Sesshomaru had defeated a huge Octopus Yokai recently and now he was passing through a dense forest along with both of his companions, Jaken and the two-headed dragon Yokai. The blood of that Octopus Yokai was a sticky black liquid that had dirtied his clothes during the battle. It was getting hard for Jaken to continue walking beside his lord due to the stench which was coming from that Yokai's blood.

"Amm… Lo..Lord Sesshomaru," Jaken spoke hesitatingly upon getting tired of holding his breaths. Sesshomaru continued to walk and responded without even looking at the Toad Demon, "What is it, Jaken?"

Jaken swallowed before he gathered some courage and complained indirectly, "I think… that Octopus Yokai was quite umm… stinky, isn't it, my lord?"

"It doesn't matter… he is no more now," the Daiyokai replied in an emotionless manner.

Disappointed by his lord's response, the little Toad Yokai decided to take the risk of complaining directly, "I..I mean to say… fighting him has made our clothes pretty stinky too… umm… maybe." Now Sesshomaru stopped and stared at him with his cold golden eyes, which was enough to utterly terrorize him. "We will stop as soon as we find a river or a lake," he spoke before he resumed walking while Jaken took a deep breath of relief to know that his complaint didn't turn out to be hazardous for him.

Soon enough they came across a river and just as Sesshomaru decided, all three of them stopped there to take a bath. Sesshomaru placed his clothes and the Tensaiga on top of a nearby rock before he stepped into the water. On the other hand, Jaken and the two-headed dragon Yokai sat down at the place where the water was shallow.

Suddenly all of them noticed a tiny white object which had just fallen into the river out of nowhere. Sesshomaru sensed a strange kind of spiritual pressure from it and hence he immediately dived into the river in order to investigate it. Within a few moments, that tiny object was in his grasp and it seemed to be a piece of a bone while the spiritual pressure was extremely weak like that of the remnant energy of a corpse or a detached limb. "This energy neither belongs to a Yokai nor to a human then whose bone is this?" He whispered in his mind while holding it in his hand underwater. However, before he could have arrived at a conclusion, the sound of blasts caught his attention and he immediately rushed toward the surface.

A group of six Hollows assaulted both Jaken and the two-headed Dragon Yokai. The two Yokai were caught off guard by those Hollows and had a tough time fighting against them. Jaken was countering the energy beams of those Hollows using his staff of two heads while the two-headed dragon Yokai was shooting lightning beams from his mouths. Eventually, both Jaken and the two-headed dragon Yokai were defeated. After putting them out of the way, those monsters left after one of them stole Sesshomaru's Tensaiga.

Upon coming out of the river, he witnessed the signs of devastation all around the place. Trees, rocks, and even the ground seemed to be scorched and damaged by some sort of powerful spirit energy while both Jaken and the two-headed dragon Yokai sustained some injuries as well.

"Lord Sesshomaru!... Lord Sesshomaru!… You came… please stop those monsters," Jaken pleaded to him. Sesshomaru moved his sight all around and noticed that his Tensaiga was gone, "Where's my Tensaiga?" he asked the toad Yokai in a serious tone. Jaken tried to anticipate his lord's anger and hence answered in a low voice, "They stole it My Lord… they were neither Yokai nor Hanyo… all of them had a hole somewhere in their torso and they were also wearing masks and armor made up of bones.

Upon listening to the description, Sesshomaru immediately put on his clothes and decided to pursue them by following the trail of their spiritual pressure, leaving both Jaken and the two-headed Dragon Yokai behind.

It didn't take him long to find those creatures. "Strange! Their spiritual pressure is almost as violent and powerful as a Yokai's and yet a lot different," He whispered as he was observing their spiritual pressure while pursuing them. Soon enough those creatures reached the Bone Eater's well and jumped inside it one by one due to which Sesshomaru became highly suspicious of them because of the rumors that Bone Eater's well is a gateway to another world.

Now Sesshomaru also jumped inside the well without wasting any moment. By now those creatures had already disappeared inside the well while he started to experience a free fall in an endless space with lots of lights surrounding him. "Is this really some sort of dimensional portal?" He murmured while witnessing that the endless space had started to get darker slowly.

The present – Modern World (around the year 1950)

Inside the storeroom of Kagome's house…

Everything inside the Bone Eater's well turned to normal once again and Sesshomaru found himself standing at the base of it. He was still wondering about the experience he had a few moments back because now everything was looking normal. He came out of that well and noticed that he was actually inside the storeroom of a house. After noticing the interiors of that room and the objects kept around, it didn't take him long to connect the dots and conclude that the Bone-eater's well had indeed brought him into another world which was actually the same world but 500 years ahead in time. However, he didn't allow this fact to slow him down. He immediately came out of that storeroom and tried to sense the direction in which those creatures could have gone.

However, it seemed that he had lost the trail because he was sensing a similar type of spiritual pressure from almost every direction. He realized that this world must be full of them. Now he tried to sense the direction in which Hollows were present in vast numbers. As soon as he caught the trail of their spiritual pressure in large numbers, he decided to proceed in that direction without realizing that it was going to lead him to Karakura Town. Now he adopted his light orb form and rushed towards the Hollows with immense speed.

Surveillance Chamber in the Department of Research and Development, Soul Society…

It was a large building with multiple chambers containing the most advanced technology of the Soul Society with various devices and instruments. Hundreds of the squad members were working on their respective panels inside the surveillance chamber of the building. It seemed like another usual and peaceful day for them until one of them got up from his seat all of a sudden and rushed towards Lieutenant Akon's cabin who was also working on a control panel along with his assistants.

That squad member was clearly in panic and he whispered something to Lieutenant Akon which not just shocked him but also made him quite worried. Lieutenant Akon immediately commanded the radar to display the live streaming of the northern outskirts of Karakura town. As the screen in front of him started displaying, they saw Sesshomaru, who was moving towards Karakura town in his light orb form.

Lieutenant Akon quickly pressed some buttons and the next moment, radar displayed Sesshomaru's approximate power level along with its structure upon seeing that everyone present there got utterly scared and confused. Lieutenant Akon wiped the sweat from his forehead, "Ca..Captain… damn! He is not here… somebody… somebody, report this to Captain Kurotsuchi, immediately!" he shouted at his assistants. Upon receiving the instructions in such a manner, some of the squad members immediately rushed towards the chamber of Mayuri Kurotsuchi with a printout of the displayed information while the environment of the entire surveillance chamber turned from peaceful to chaotic as the news spread.

Laboratory of Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi, the building of the 12th Division…

Mayuri Kurotsuchi was sitting on his hi-tech chair and having tea while Nemu Kurotsuchi was standing right beside him. All of a sudden, some of his squad members came running to him without realizing that they just entered his laboratory without permission. "Did you forget that I can turn all of you into specimens for my experiments as a punishment for entering here without my permission," Kurotsuchi spoke in an intimidating manner as he got up from his seat, "Nemu, capture all of them," he added as he ordered his Lieutenant.

She immediately responded to the order of her Captain and the next moment, when her hands were only a few inches away from the already scared squad members, one of them spoke in a miserable tone, "Wait, wait! Please stop her Captain, we are here because Soul Society is in trouble." "I see… it better be because if it is not then you all are definitely going to be in the trouble," Mayuri narrowed his eyes as he spoke to them with utter seriousness. And as he did, one of the squad members handed him over that printout without wasting any second. The information seemed to be enough to widen his eyes with immense curiosity and responsibility at the same time.

"Amazing! this is truly amazing… we have found something so powerful and yet it is neither a Shinigami nor a Hollow nor even a Quincy. I would have loved to pay a visit to Karakura town personally but the power level of that light orb is making this entire issue quite critical and hence I am bound to wait for Head Captain's instructions before responding to it," Mayuri Kurotsuchi murmured abruptly with the excitement but also with a disappointment of unable to do about it as he, please. "Ca..Captain!" The squad members uttered hesitatingly in a very low voice. "Oh! Yes… Nemu, spare their pathetic lives," Mayuri ordered her after which she backed off immediately. "Thank you, Captain… thank you so, much… you are very kind, "all those Shinigamis murmured while bowing down to Mayuri and then they immediately ran away from the laboratory without wasting any moment.

Head Captain's Chamber, the building of the 1st Division…

As usual, Genryusai Yamamoto was sitting on his chair which was located in a corner of his huge chamber. He was busy with the paperwork when the messenger arrived there. "Head Captain, there is a top priority confidential message from Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi," the messenger spoke while sitting in front of the table on which Genryusai was doing the paperwork. "Hmm… confidential?" Head Captain murmured as he got up from his chair and approached the messenger in order to grab the report. He remained on one knee while Genryusai took the papers from his hands and began to read them. Both of his eyes got opened with shock as he read those papers and it seemed that the details were also reminding him of something very important which he kept hidden from almost everyone in the Gotei 13.

"This orb of light is undoubtedly a Yokai and it is truly unexpected to witness one after all the measures we took… how come such a powerful Yokai managed to escape Soul King's plan?" Head Captain spoke to himself in a very low voice. "Any instructions for us, Sir?" The messenger asked after waiting for a few minutes. Genryusai stared at him as he snapped out of his deep thoughts and replied, "Leave! I will take care of this matter myself." As soon as the messenger left, the Head Captain uttered further with determination and strictness in his tone, "I am one of those selected Shinigamis who was given the responsibility of keeping Yokai away from ourselves as well as from the Hollows. Now I will have to enforce this sacred law established by the Soul King himself, one last time."

Urahara Shop in the Karakura town, World of the Living…

It was midnight already and Urahara was busy cleaning the interiors of his shop while Tessai, Jinta, and Ururu were cleaning the lawn in front of it. Yoruichi, on the other hand, was upset with Urahara for some reason and thus she locked herself away in a room.

Suddenly a Hell Butterfly appeared nearby Urahara and conveyed to him the message from the Head Captain. "Oh! It is clearly an emergency… Yoruichi-san!" Urahara murmured upon realizing the seriousness of the situation and then he loudly called for her. Yoruichi was too upset to listen to him, "leave me alone, Kisuke! Don't try to disturb me if you love your bones," she shouted back at him furiously. Stunned by her angry response, he swallowed before making another attempt of convincing her, "I apologize for stealing your flower, Yoruichi-san… it's a message from Head Captain, please listen to me." Yoruichi realized that she must know that message since it was coming from the Head Captain himself. "Hmm… what is it?" she replied after a break.

She found Urahara standing in front of her room the moment she opened the door and then she stared at him in a serious manner, waiting for him to elaborate on the entire message. "It is a top priority but secret message… a powerful energy orb has entered Karakura town and he wants us to dispose of it before it can create any significant havoc," he explained the situation to her.

"Alright then, let's go but first, at least tell me why did you pluck that flower when you knew that I was taking care of it for months?" Yoruichi asked him after calming herself down in order to understand his reasons behind such an act. At first, Urahara got nervous but decided to answer despite his great hesitation, "Well, amm… I thought it would be useful in my experiments." After listening to his words, she became even more upset than she already was but decided to give him one last chance, "what kind of experiment was that, it must be something very important, isn't it?" she asked while holding her anger on the brink. Urahara spoke even more nervously, "he he he… it was just amm… important… yes, it was an important experiment… a pill to get rid of the upset stomach once and for all." The next moment a tight punch on his face sent him flying through the entire corridor, "Kisuke! You are a horrible person, ugh... I am going out to hunt that orb down; we are going to work separately this time," She replied angrily in frustration and immediately left to find that energy orb which was actually none other but Sesshomaru himself.

To be continued…

Author's Note:

Hello! My dear readers, I had posted 5 chapters so far but now they are 3. It is because I have increased the number of words per chapter. The latest 5th chapter is first-half portion of the third chapter and 6th chapter is last-half portion of it.