Chapter Six: Tetsaiga, the Phantom Sword

The search party made its way throughout the lands, fanning gradually out with torches blazing as they sought the missing Priestess Kagome. Then some came across the device she used called a bike. 'Oh no!' said one 'Over here!'

The others rushed to his aid and crowded around the bike, staring.

Sota was up late that night, being unable to sleep thanks to a squeaking noise. As he made his way downstairs, he opened the front door to find his mother working on a bike. He wiped the sleep from his eyes. 'Mom, what are you doing out here?'

'Oh did I wake you up?' asked Mom 'I'm sorry, I'm just lowering the bike seat here for your sister.' She fell to a kneel by it. 'Remember, she left her bike over there, but here she can use mine. First though I thought I should lower the seat so that she won't fall down.'

'She'll be gone a couple of days this time.' said Sota 'Her backpack had a lot of clothes.'

'Thats right,' said Mom 'but if she has a bike ready when she gets home she'll have less to worry about when she gets back.'

Sota smiled. 'She's lucky to have you to worry about her. I'm sure glad I don't make you worry like that.'

'But I do, how can I help it?' she asked 'I'm your mom, you do still wet the bed…'

'Whoa, whoa, whoa!' said Sota, embarrassed. 'I don't do that, I'm in third grade! Remember!'

Mom laughed. 'All I really want is for you two to be happy.'

Sota couldn't help but smile again. 'Thanks, I know.' He looked up to the sky, and saw a shooting star. 'Quick, make a wish!'

'To be happy, and to win the lottery.' said Mom.

A wind blew over the scenic greenery, adding a sinister edge to what had been a green and wondrous place. Kagome kept trying to speak, trying to tell Inuyasha that the figure that was his Mother didn't have a face. Yet she could not.

Far across the lake, Mother looked conflicted. She did not seem disappointed, or angry, only sad. As though she had seen his choices and accepted them. 'Inuyasha, I must return now to the netherworld.'

'Do you have to?' asked Inuyasha, out of reflex.

Mother created a great flower, which she cast into the lake. As it fell it shattered before her eyes. Inuyasha kneeled down by it. 'The petals, look into the water.'

He saw himself racing across a bridge, following a ball. At the far end of the bridge was his mother, standing forlorn. She had been rejected by her family, a disgraced women kept alive but unloved. And it was his fault, his Fathers fault.

His younger self cast aside the ball and ran into his mothers arms. A love he had not deserved. 'That is me… back when I was still small.'

'You remember,' said Mother 'thats good. As a child I often held you that way.' She wrapped her arms around him, pressing against him. 'I held you to my heart, just as I am doing now.' Inuyasha wanted to believe that she was really mother, yet…

Inuyasha turned around, as if to return the embrace. Mother set her hands to his back, her arms digging into his back. 'I'll never let go. Not now, not ever…'

'What was the name of your love?' came the question, simple and to the point.

It was a simple test, and Mother seemed surprised by it. 'Your father, Inutaisho.'

'Wrong answer,' said Inuyasha.

She recoiled at the words. The statement was simple, and made with a point.

Inuyasha drove one clawed hand through his Mothers chest. Even though Kagome knew it wasn't really her, she flinched as she saw it happen. Izayoi, or whoever she was, leaned forward, badly injured over Inuyasha. Yet Kagome saw tears in Inuyasha's eyes.

As the blow was struck, the water became a black and bubbling swamp. The grass became darker, and Kagome became aware of many goblin like creatures keeping her chained up.

'Its and illusion, this place, his mom, all of it…'

'Kagome,' came a cry. 'snap out of it! Its me! Me, Myoga!' Suddenly Kagome felt a piercing sensation on her neck, and her hand came out of its own accord to swat it. Kagome arose as the goblins fled.

'What do you know, I'm less paralyzed than I thought.' she said.

'Happy to hear it…' said Myoga as he fell to the ground, flattened.

The maiden fell to the ground, as Inuyasha removed his claw from her chest, the last of her influence falling away from him. He had wanted to believe in the illusion, but his own sense had rebelled against it.

'My boy…' the faceless creature sobbed as it fell to the ground. 'my precious boy…'

'Save it,' said Inuyasha 'it was a simple question and you couldn't answer it. I thought it was weird that the whole time we were talking you never made any statements about my life that you couldn't have heard from the rumor mill. My mother wasn't in love with my father, yet no demon could ever conceive that a human might be chosen over them. Their ego would never allow it.

You are nothing but an imposter.' He clenched a fist.

'You are wrong…' said the imposter. 'all of you born of famine and war are my children… my beautiful children…'

At that moment a boat moored, and Jaken came into view. The green imp came through the mist, and halted suddenly as he saw Inuyasha standing where he was. Inuyasha looked to Jaken, keeping his fury bottled up. He just looked at him, and Jaken made for the boat.

He surged forwards towards Jaken, who stumbled back in terror. He raised the staff of two heads, but Inuyasha knocked it aside. 'No, please! Don't kill me! Let me live…' A choked sob came from his throat as Inuyasha gripped him by it. 'let me live a little longer…'

Inuyasha began to grip tighter, but then Kagome's hand came to his wrist. 'Let him go Inuyasha. He may be a mean, stupid little toad, but he is defenseless.'

After a moment Inuyasha let go of Jaken, who scrambled away to the boat. 'What was that thing, Myoga?'

'The unmother.' said Myoga 'Born from the grief of losing children to famine and war, she seeks to fill the void within herself by taking others souls. In this case, yours.'

Sesshomaru had been watching everything, and as Jaken had failed him he had mulled over the clues. Seen yet unseen, protected yet unknown by its protector. It seemed clear that Inuyasha did not know where Fathers tomb was, which meant he must have been its guardian without even knowing about it. Yet how could that be? It was a guess, but Sesshomaru began to suspect that it was hidden within a place not of this world. Certainly father had had the contacts to make such arrangements.

So where would he hide it?

Seen, but unseen.

He revealed himself, feeling rather impressed that Inuyasha had managed to so easily shake off the illusion. Perhaps he was not as weak as he had expected. 'Inuyasha, I know where it is now.'

Inuyasha looked up, and a terrible red glow came into his eyes. 'Sesshomaru!'

Sesshomaru surged forward and gripped him by the neck. 'Of all the places for him to hide it. All this time beneath our very own noses. Or to be technical above our very own noses. 'Father was determined to keep it a secret, which is why he choose here to hide it.'

'Does it look, like I give a FUCK what Father wanted?!' snapped Inuyasha.

Sesshomaru ignored his disrespect. He of all people had no right to speak so. 'Well then little brother, since it was obviously done without your knowledge, how would you like to come with me and find out?' And then he tore out his left eye as the human girl watched in horror.

Tearing the orb to shreds with his claws, Sesshomaru saw a single black pearl and sensed the power within it. He let Inuyasha fall to the ground, and Sesshomaru permitted himself a small smile. 'No wonder searching for it beneath ground was useless. Seeing, yet never seen, protected, yet never known to its protector. Our fathers tomb, hidden within a black pearl deep within your eye.'

'Will you just piss off already!' snapped Inuyasha.

Sesshomaru looked up in surprise. 'Your not amused?'

'You pretended she was my mother, tried to let her eat my soul, and then ripped out my eye!' roared Inuyasha, whose eye was still regenerating. 'YOU BASTARD!'

Her surged forward, but Sessomaru was swifter and leaped over him, striking him with his light whip several times. 'Die.' said Sesshomaru as he reeled. Yet as he brought down his final strike, the un mother leaped between them. There was a flash of light, and the mortal girl gasped.

The unmother landed in pieces on the ground, shreds of clothing falling around her. One landed on Inuyasha's shoulder.

'She gave her life to protect him…' said the girl.

'Demon spirit or not,' said Myoga 'she still had a mothers heart, and isn't protecting her child what a mother can't help but do?'

'My boy…' said the un mother.

'Touching,' sneered Sesshomaru, before ending the miserable creatures life.

Sesshomaru landed, having lost interest in the situation. Then the girl ran forward. 'Hey you!' she snapped.

'Kagome, stop!' cried Myoga 'Or he'll kill us both!'

'Be quiet,' hissed Kagome.

It was around this point that Jaken got back. Sesshomaru could smell him. 'Jaken, Jaken!'

'Aye milord!' cried Jaken as he approached. 'Lord Sesshomaru the staff of skulls is ours once more!'

Sesshomaru wasn't aware they had lost it. Not that he said as much. One did not express ignorance amongst inferiors. He brought the jewel before his face in satisfaction and activated its powers. 'At last the moment has come.' He dropped it.

As the jewel hit the ground there was a sound like water dripping into a pool. Sesshomaru struck the jewel with the tip of the staff of two heads, and the staff began to laugh as the glow intensified.

'The old man laughs,' said Jaken 'it means the tomb will open!'

A portal leading into the blackest void opened before them, swirling with energy. Sesshomaru looked at it in satisfaction. He leaped through it.

Inuyasha watched alongside Kagome and Myoga as Jaken and Sesshomaru disappeared into the blackness. 'Their gone…' said Kagome.

'The portal!' cried Myoga 'We must move quickly before it closes!'

'I'm not going anywhere.' said Inuyasha.

'Do you want your brother to take sole possession of your Fathers treasure?' asked Myoga.

'Let him, what do I care?' asked Inuyasha.

'But sire…'

'My father is less than a bad memory for me!' snapped Inuyasha 'And I just found out he hid the entrance to his stupid tomb from me with neither my knowledge, or consent! Fuck him! He deserves to have his tomb robbed!' He glanced back. 'Lets go.'

Then he realized that Kagome was walking through the portal. 'What do you want, an invitation?' she asked as she passed through.

'…That idiot.' snapped Inuyasha, before charging after her.

For a moment they were passing between the worlds, weightless in a place of red light. As Inuyasha appeared, Kagome glanced back. 'You do realize that we're all going to die because of you, right?'

'Don't be so pessimistic,' said Kagome 'we have to go after him! No one does that, no matter who he is!'

'You're an idiot.'

Then they emerged over a series of rocky highlands filled with mist that shrouded all the world. Far before them was a giant skeletal dog body, clad in armor. It towered over everything around them. Within its eyes lay an ancient spirit far greater than they. Then they were falling, falling down towards the landscape far below.

As they did so, the skeleton of a great bird swooped in and plucked them from the sky. It carried them towards the dog skeleton, and Inuyasha looked down in disgust. 'Father.' he hissed.

'Those bones there are your dad?' asked Kagome, voice awed.

'What else would they be?' snapped Inuyasha.

'Not that he wasn't alive once too but…' Kagome looked up. 'What do you mean, what else? Their huge, okay!' The bird looped round the head, and went for the open mouth.

'Its true.' said Myoga 'Their huge because he himself was of incomparable stature.' They passed into the mouth. 'Here he is in truest form, undisguised. The treasure sword embedded in his bones. That is what Lord Sesshomaru is after.'

'I don't care about any of this!' snapped Inuyasha. 'The only reason I'm here is because Kagone was stupid enough to chase after the guy that completely wrecked me!' They descended down the skeletons gullet, which resembled more a cave.

It was a sword in a stone, a battered and ill maintained one. Even so, Sesshomaru could feel the power within it. 'Here is what I have sought… at last I shall take possession of the sacred sword. The lethal legendary blade known to kill a hundred in one stroke. Tetsaiga…'

He reached out and grasped it in one hand.

'They say it was forged of the fang in your fathers own mouth.' said Jaken. 'Once you possess the blade Tetsaiga, you possess his power as well!'

Power. Sesshomaru felt as if the sword was reading his thoughts, judging his every action, thought and deed. And suddenly it rejected him. The pain surged through his hand, and Sesshomaru released his grip. He looked at his burned hand in displeasure.

'Its not stuck, is it?' asked Jaken.

'Father has done his work well,' said Sesshomaru 'the blade is-'

And then he was roundhouse kicked in the face. He flipped backward and caught himself as Inuyasha descended on him, attacking with a savage assault. Sesshomaru, however, evaded him,

One minute Inuyasha nearly had his hands on Sesshomaru, and the next he was gone.

'Be more respectful,' said Sesshomaru. 'its our fathers tomb.'

'You know, your right!' snapped Inuyasha 'I hadn't thought about that! After I finish killing you I'll be sure to break it to pieces!'

'Lord Inuyasha, look back! Look back!' cried Myoga.

'What?!' snapped Inuyasha, looking back.

'The blade Tetsaiga!' cried Myoga.

'That thing wouldn't cut paper,' said Inuyasha 'and anyway I want nothing from my father.'

'Lord Inuyasha,' said Myoga 'you must draw the sword. And you, Lord Sesshomaru, you couldn't pull it out could you?'

'Do you mean to say Inuyasha can?' asked Sesshomaru.

'Of course,' said Myoga 'it was always intended that Lord Inuyasha should inherit it.' Myoga suddenly realized whom he was talking to. 'He was entrusted with the tomb, wasn't he? That should be proof enough if you ask me. Now hurry, hurry and claim whats yours.'

'Shut up!' snapped Inuyasha 'I don't want it! I want nothing from my father, as far as I'm concerned I don't have one!' Was it his imagination, or did the blade seem to recoil at those words. A voice echoed. Then he remembered something, something said in passing that tore at his thoughts. 'Myoga, is it true what Jaken said?' he said in a low tone. 'Does Sesshomaru possess a weapon which can bring back the dead?'

'It… it is true,' said Myoga 'however I do not see what that has to do with-'

'Then I'll take that instead.' said Inuyasha. 'and unlike Sesshomaru I'll actually use it!'

'You dare?' asked Sesshomaru on a calm tone.

Suddenly his eyes glowed red, and he roared skyward in a manner that shook the walls. He surged towards Sesshomaru, who narrowly avoided having his chest caved in. A piece of his armor shattered and fell away as the demon was driven back beneath a flurry of attacks.

Even so, Sesshomaru remained calm. 'You fight as though you were still a-' He narrowly stepped away, his throat nearly cut.

As the battle waged on, Myoga and Kagome watched in horror as the battle went on, both Sesshomaru and Inuyasha moving faster and faster in a terrible flurry of limbs. 'Oh this is terrible!' cried Myoga 'Inuyasha's demon half is becoming more and more prominent!'

'Demon half?' asked Kagome 'What are you talking about?'

'The tetsaiga is essential to containing Inuyasha's feral half.' said Myoga 'By rejecting it, he has rejected the protection offered by the sword! He might be in control now, but its only a matter of time before he becomes a mindless killing machine! If he finishes with Sesshomaru, we're next!'

Inuyasha slammed Sesshomaru up against the wall, gripping him by the the throat as they struggled. 'Give… me… your sword!' snarled Inuyasha.

'I would rather die.' said Sesshomaru, before throwing him down and rushing at him.

There was no longer any semblance of order to the battle. No one was using fancy moves, or anything of the sort. The two fighters tore at each other with claws, ripping their garments. Both snarled and snapped at each other, and Inuyasha went so far as to bite Sesshomaru on the arm.

'Oh we're doomed!' cried Myoga. 'Doomed!'

'Inuyasha, sit!' cried Kagome.

Inuyasha was slammed against the ground, and Sesshomaru stepped back. His outfit had been torn to ribbons, and his chest was bared. He really was very muscular. Kagome could not help but notice that Sesshomaru was very good looking. As Inuyasha rose, the red gleam gone from his eyes, Sesshomaru spoke:

'Are you done?' he asked 'I am.'

He surged forward and slammed Inuyasha against the wall, before baring one of his clawed hands. 'I don't think you've met my poisoned claws.'

Inuyasha had only a very few moments in which to react. 'What would Bankotsu do in this situation?' He came up with an idea.

He lashed out with one leg, and Sesshomaru doubled over, stepping backwards while clutching himself. Jaken stared in horror. 'You kicked Lord Sesshomaru in the crotch!' he accused.

'He ripped out my eye!' roared Inuyasha in return.

'You kicked Lord Sesshomaru in the crotch!'

'He ripped out my FUCKING EYE!'

Sesshomaru arose and unleashed his poison claws. Inuyasha ducked away just in time for the entire wall behind him to be melted by green acid. Inuyasha sped away, trying to get some distance, but Sesshomaru appeared in front of him. He lashed out with one claw, but Sesshomaru leaped away and drew out his light whip, slashing him repeatedly with it.

Beating him backward, he threw Inuyasha down. Inuyasha rose and charged again, but Sesshomaru caught him with one claw and lifted him up. 'The time has come… DIE!'

Kagome had been edging towards the blade to avoid the fray. At one point she had nearly been knocked over by a flying skull, and had taken hold of the tetsaiga. Then she saw Sesshomaru on the verge of killing Inuyasha,

'Inuyasha!' cried Kagome.

The blade came free. Everything stopped.

'Oops,' said Kagome.

Sesshomaru halted his attack, and looked up. Both Inuyasha and Sesshomaru glared at her where she was holding it. Kagome took it in both hands. 'It… just… came out… uh…'

The glaring continued.

'Sorry?' she said. 'Now what?'

Authors Note:

Here we are, chapter six. I admit, the scene where Inuyasha kicks Sesshomaru in the crotch has been planned from the earliest stages of Inuyasha and the Band of Seven. Not much to say, other than I feel like this chapter is of lower quality than the rest. Tell me what you think in the comments, and suggest how I might improve things a little.

See you soon!