Chapter 17

It was absolutely insane and undeniably stupid.

There was a whole table filled with rich decadents of mouth watering temptations, so sinfully arranged in a manner that would make anyone go weak in the knees and Inuyasha just couldn't understand as to why Miroku was sweating bullets and pulling him to the other side of the castle, away from the party, away from all the food.

The hanyou decided that he would for sure sever all the connections that he had with his best friend for ruining the grand evening that was supposed to fill his rumbling tummy.

"Would you for one second stop the ridiculous pout and listen to me?" Miroku used his stern voice and Inuyasha raised his brow in response. There was an ugly crease in his friend's fore head, lines that duly conveyed the worry that he was harbouring, a worry that the second heir to the great demon Lord didn't seem to understand.

"I think Sesshomaru is upset" The fifteen year old informed and the youngest of the two rolled his eyes in an annoyance, sighed out loud before talking back in the bitterest tone known to him.

"Miroku, Sesshomaru is never non-upset. Didn't you know that at all?"

"This is different." Miroku hushed and Inuyasha followed his line of vision towards his brother. The usual cold look that manages to convey 'waste-even-a-minute-of-my-time-and-i-will-burn-you-in-to-ashes' was evidently missing. There was a loss in the depth of the yellow topaz, as if the God of the dark had devoured the light in his soul, as if the moon had wept and shied away in to the grey clouds, as if his heart drummed only for the sake of its duty, as if the purest of the silver had rusted and fallen prey to the edges of crimson.

The dragon princess, the heiress to the East, made her way towards the stoic heir of West, her eyes gleaming with hints of lust, with spirits of unspoken glee.

It was then, Inuyasha noticed that his brother was not in his usual self. The mindless wandering of the Princess's claws on his brother's hair spurred no reaction at all. The hanyou knew that his brother would mercilessly unleash his poisonous whip on anyone who dared to touch his pristine hair. (Anyone except for Kagome, of course). It was next to obvious that Sesshomaru was lost in a thought so deep and painful.

Inuyasha frowned, and his eyes made a hasty search for the cure. He sniffed once, twice, thrice before he grabbed Miroku and made his way towards the end of the castle to catch the trailing scent of his best friend.

~.~.~.~.~.~

The magnificent dome hall was drenched with the rarest of flowers, the drapes were from the richest silks, dancing along with the beats of mild breeze. Yet, the eyes of the heir never noticed the flowers, never took in the colours, nor the beauty, as his own world that he swore to cherish had left him, and withered to frost over. His vision blurred, breath flared and lips quivered, and his heart clenched inside his breast. Sesshomaru was in a state where he finally understood what it was like to be defeated, to fall, to succumb.

He felt numb and only when he felt the mild tug in his scalp, he came back to his senses, to the world where the reality was too tangible. He felt instantly dirty, the Dragon princess was almost clinging to him, desperate for his attention. A minute passed and he shrugged her off as rudely as possible, his anger and pain over his loss was reflected in the pits of his now red eyes, dark and dangerous.

He would have transformed, to satiate his beast, to roar away till the skies could quiver and tear, but a call from his sire tamed him down. He stood there before the lord, never bowing once.

"Sesshomaru, why is there a tiny fox in your room?" His father hissed and Sesshomaru rolled his eyes. He no longer cared if something is to happen to the orphaned fox, his world right now was in greyscale and all he wanted was to lie down or to engage in a serious spar that would tire him out, that would somehow empty the hot boiling anger inside him.

"It's my room, it's none of your business" Sesshomaru said. His annoyance was at his peak and he cared very little about the punishment for talking back to the Lord in the middle of the ball chamber.

Inutaisho was taken back a little, while he knew that Sesshomaru is a kid who would never kneel down, he was also someone who knew his place and the hierarchy very well.

"Well, my son, it is still in my castle and it is very much my business" Inutaisho said, his eyes narrowing with that of a rightful King. He had enough of his teenage son's bratty attitude.

"Oh, my lord, it was me who placed the kit in our son's room in the first place" Inukimi came in, with a brilliant smile adorning her face. She had been in the midst of the conversation with the other royalties, boasting around on how beautiful her young Kagome is, but then she had felt a surge of power, wave of a broken soul, there was a definite tug in her heart and her smile had vanished.

She had rushed to Kagome's chambers only to find it empty, hoping all the way that she would stumble upon the human girl in her son's room. It came as a surprise to find a tiny fox sniffling in the corner of Sesshomaru's room. She had to unleash her authority as the Lady of the West to threaten the guards on to tell the story behind the little kitsune. No one was able to give her the perfect picture of what had happened, but the bits and pieces were coherent enough to give her an understanding of what really had happened.

Her heart instantly melted, almost thudding softly when she gathered the little green eyed baby in her arms. She coo-ed until the kid drifted off to the dream realm, placed him under the velvet blankets and continued her search of Kagome.

Her search was interrupted when she heard and felt a wave of fury from her mate and son, and the ongoing verbal spar was thus duly stopped by her intervention. She needed to find Kagome right now and any musings about the fox can wait. Her chest cringed on seeing the dark red tint on her son's eyes, the fading of their gold legacy was something that never sat well with her.

'Something is terribly wrong' her inner consciousness whispered. She had a heavy feeling bubbling under her chest, her little master plan had not yet worked and she was beginning to think that maybe there was a little back fire.

"Inukimi, Why is there a -?" The Lord started his question and was interrupted by the announcer who announced the arrival of the human miko. He raised his brow in an arch and held his breath. The arrival of miko usually meant that there was an upcoming chaos. His eyes swam across the crowded palace, in search of his almost daughter.

"Where is Kagome?" He asked, his voice almost as soft as a touch of velvet. He got a eye roll from his eldest son, which itself was out of character. His heart fastened when he caught a rivulet of sweat rolling over his mate's skin.

'Something is seriously out of place'

"My Lord" Kikiyo bowed.

"Miko" He gave an acknowledging nod. His mate came by his side, to hold his hands. He briefly wondered, whether such an act was something he had subconsciously asked for, an act of reassurance, or was it something that his mate needed right now, an act of hope.

"I came here as fast as I could. What have you done?" The miko accused and the royal family were duly confused.

"Pa-pa, Kagome is missing, her scent trail ended in the middle of the forest" Inuyasha came in with a news that seemed to startle everyone.

Sesshomaru was equally worried, but the sixteen year old did a fine job of masking his worry.

"Stop worrying. She is old enough to be bride and she is old enough to take care of herself" He said, his tone was bitter, fuelled with nothing but broken petals.

"She is just a kid" Inukimi whispered, realisation was drawing on her iris and she could see clearly as to what was troubling her eldest. A little mis-calculation on her part, but she was sure she could set it all right with a talk.

"Can someone tell me what is going on?" The Lord was frustrated and he definitely didn't like the look on the human miko's face. Here he was, busy organising a suitor ball for his Kagome and somehow she had gone missing, not just the regular 'she-got-lost', but he felt as if something that should not be tampered with is being unleashed. His fur bristled and his calculative gaze was towards his mate, silently asking her the reason for Kagome's run out.

"Wow, you are pretty" Inuyasha walked up to Kikiyo and touched her ending trail of black. Her eyes grew in size, and she visibly took a step back from the grinning hanyou who looked like he had found the key to the room full of treat.

"Um, excuse my youngest" Inukimi cleared her throat and pulled Inuyasha by his puppy ears. He yelped and Miroku grinned.

Sesshomaru smacked his brother's head and looked at the miko again. She hasn't aged a bit and he could see that she looked exactly the same as she was all those years back. His naturally curious mind was genuinely intrigued and before he could question further, the miko spoke up.

"Kagome is in danger. I have been looking out for her, for the past one year, I have been reading her stars and have completed mapping her horoscope. Today is a day that marks a huge blackout in my reading. I came running as soon as I can, but I am too late. I can feel that the evil has unleashed on its own and it has its claws on Kagome already. What have you done? Why has she willingly gone away from the castle? I tried conjuring her back, but my miko powers are being burnt. It's as if she is unwilling to come back" The miko explained and grunted when her powers slapped her back. The blush of azure vapours curled around her finger, unwilling to part from their mistress.

"What do you mean by black out?" Sesshomaru asked, his facade of being indifferent was cracking and his claws clipped in an unspoken anger.

"What do you mean by - she has left the castle willingly?" the Lord put forth his question in a panic. His hold on the Lady's palm tightened and she flinched, not from the pain, but from the worry that had encased upon them.

"The stars of each day represent the outline of one's day. Today, there has been a complete mess up, the pattern of her star is grossly wrong and I'm unable to foresee her future. It's as if there is a complete black paint spilled over her days in future. It happens only when someone dies, or worse, someone is turned in to a vessel" The miko answered.

"Vessel?" the hanyou wondered out loud.

"Yes, a vessel, where her soul is annihilated and is replaced by someone else's. She becomes a vessel for a living soul of someone's"

"Miko, Sorry for my interruption. But, what made you to study Kagome's stars?" Miroku asked out of blue. He had been wondering as to what made the miko to look on to Kagome's life. While he is genuinely pleased and happy that there is someone powerful looking out for his best friend, he was also equally worried as to what made her, or gave rights to study Kagome's star.

Kikiyo took a deep breath. They were seriously running out of the time and while she is obviously duty bounded to answer to their questions, this was not the time for a chit chat.

"As I said years back, she is my incarnation. She is here for a reason and if we waste even a quarter of a minute without any endeavours to search for her, her reason for existing may become void and she will not be one of us again" The miko whispered and everyone stilled.

"Sesshomaru, I'm so sorry" Inukimi said in a voice so soft, so broken all of a sudden. Her eyes had no white and it was as if the gold had turned pink from bleeding. Her lashes were wet, unspoken fear and guilt resided in the tip of those drenched streaks.

"For what, mother?" he whispered, afraid to ask further. His fur was quivering, from a threatening anger, from fright and from the pain of loss. He didn't care, he didn't care if her heart beats for someone else, he didn't care if she is destined to live with someone else, tugged under the fur of some male. All he cared for now is to see her safe, see her breath, see her unhurt.

"The ball was my fault. She loves you and only you. I played along, manipulated you and your father to see you rise up, to hear you finally accept that you love her, that you would get down on your knee and carry her to the moon, to see you finally smile and laugh with her. I'm so sorry my son." She whispered and his wall of chest stilled from the impact of a loud thud.

There was a pulse of raw pain, a ripple of a disrupted roar, a cry that transcended the gates of heaven and hell itself. The world shook, shivered under the pain of a broken heart. The skies tore and the rush of torrents never soothed the ache of burn that Sesshomaru felt.

He remembered her blue silk, her painted cheek, her look of goddess like a touch of miracle, he had broke her, made her cry, made her grieve and it was all his to blame. He shouldn't have believed other's words, he lacked the trust, his judgement on her was wrong. It was his fault that she ran out of the castle, it was his fault that she thinks she is unwelcomed in her own home. Silly girl, doesn't she know that she is his heart, that he lives for her?

The guilt was enormous, heavy and he fell down on the hard earth to pound away his loss. Even the edges of rust wouldn't hurt him as deep as the truth. The twinge in his heart was almost breaking its way out, and he could feel the pricks of saline in the rim of his eyes.

My Kagome..

"Sesshomaru, come on, let's search for Kagome" Inuyasha whispered, hugged the shaking shoulders of his brother, only to be pushed aside roughly.

"She will be fine" He roared and the palace vibrated under his voice. It was a silent vow and he glared above as a threat to the stars and Gods, if anything is to happen to his Kagome, he would travel to the depth of the realms to thrash out the thrones of the Gods.

"We need to hurry" The miko urged and the Royal family agreed with a nod.

"Let me come too" The wolf price said, his eyes had the same fury, and for once Sesshomaru didn't push him aside. The dragon prince and the King too came forward to give an aid to the Inu family. An ally was formed and they headed out in search for their lost happiness.

"Miko, do you have any clue as to what would have happened?" Miroku asked when they were about to leave the floors of marbles.

"I hope I'm wrong. But it seems like she maybe with Naraku now" She whispered back and the Lord halted in his steps.

"Naraku – the half demon?" He asked, his face had gone white and a sheen of swear was bleeding in his temple.

"Yes" The miko answered and moved ahead, towards the dense forest, her vapours of blue hissed and curled around her palm.

"My son, we need to hurry" The Lord said, his voice was stoic, and lacked the usual boom. The shine of the moon paled visibly, drowning in the shadows of the darkest sky, the glitter of the stars were curled and lost in the onyx folds.

"Father, who is Naraku?" Sesshomaru asked, his steps were fast and heavy.

The Inu Lord stopped for a second, his nose flared, his armour and blades tucked in its destined places, waiting to be mercilessly unleashed, his shoulder shook with righteous anger, with a tremor that none of his family had seen before.

He spoke with a venomous voice, vengeance spilling with each syllable.

"Naraku? – He will be a dead being when the Sun rises to claim its place in East by tomorrow morning"

~.~.~.~.~

A/N : First of all, I would like to apologise for the long break.

There was Dussera, and then Diwali, festivals that are celebrated in a super grand scale over here.

And then my laptop broke and then my knee broke..

There would be a regular update once I get a new laptop, which will be pretty soon.

Hope you have all been well. Please do let me know about this update:)

Love you all !