"We have visitors," Kirinmaru said, "they're approaching the beach now."
"It's those pups and Riku, isn't it," Zero replied, "about time they showed up. I wonder why Riku took more than a week to get them here. I thought they would be in a bigger hurry."
Kirinmaru replied, "Sesshomaru melted his eyes out of his head, remember, it took him this long to heal."
"I'll handle the half-bred little girls for you," she replied, making her way towards the exit of the cabin on Kirinmaru's ship, "I would assume they are after me and not you." She left the room.
The girls spread themselves out on the grass before it turned into sand. Zero revealed herself to them from the sky.
I wonder what madam will do, Riku thought, they're not ready for this level of fight but they insisted they could take her. He watched anxiously from the sidelines.
Moroha dove in with an attack first, but Zero twisted her up inside her webbing. Just as she moved in to Setsuna, Towa came up from behind her and cut through her staff, only only to make a cut, not break it completely.
"Scourge of swallows!" Setsuna called.
Zero attempted to dodge but Moroha launched an arrow at her, making her body the attack.
"Oh, enough of this!" she said. She created a fire ball over her head.
The girls scattered at first, then Setsuna turned around. "Cyclone burst!" Instead of disapating the attack like she was hoping, her wind instead grew inside of it and engulfed everyone in flames. Setsuna attempted to cut through the fire, but the heat broke her naginata blade into pieces.
They screamed as the burns hit them. Zero mocked them. "You three never heard of the phrase, 'don't fan the flames?' Wind auras make fire auras even stronger. I suppose you didn't have fathers to teach you these things."
Setsuna leapt back onto her feet. Enraged, the blood blade in her arm pulsed. She struggled to maintain control by grabbing onto it tight.
"Setsuna!" Towa shouted. What's happening to her? she thought.
"Is that a-?" Zero asked, shocked.
Before she could finish, Moroha came up from behind Zero, arrow in hand. Zero dodged in time for Setsuna's blood blade to reach itself out of her body and strike Zero across the back.
Zero immediately started bleeding from her gaping wound. She couldn't stay on her feet and hit the ground hard.
"What just happened?!" Moroha asked, panicked.
The scent was unmistakeable, death was fast approaching Zero and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Setsuna gasped as she watched Zero rithe on the ground in agony, struggling to take in breaths. Did she just...kill her?
"Madam!" Riku exclaimed in horror.
"Setsuna you weren't supposed to kill her!" Towa scolded, "What about Mother!?"
"I didn't know this thing on my arm could kill her," she explained desperately, "I was so mad and so ready to strike her down, and now she's..." she watched as Zero took her last breaths, then fell limp against the ground.
Moroha said, "Oh no, this is bad."
Towa said anxiously, "Maybe the red string of fate won't activate." She tugged at her ears under her headband. Her sister didn't really just kill their mother, did she? Even as an accident, dead was still dead!
The sky directly above them suddenly changed color into a deep red and purple. The clouds swirled in an ominous pattern. A man appeared above them, floating. His skin was tan, he had long dark red hair, and his face half covered in scales. Kirinmaru. He slowly lowered himself to the ground to meet the girls.
The bloodlust coming off of him is so intense, Towa thought, I can barely stand in front of him and he's not even that close to us. She resisted the urge to step on the otherhand stepped behind her, as if she could read her mind.
"My dear sister," he said sadly, gazing at the corpse, "it appears a mixed breed has taken your life." He looked at the three girls. "Which one of you is responsible for this?"
Riku answered, "It was Setsuna, my lord, the one with the long white ponytail."
Setsuna blushed, suddenly being put in the limelight. "Now wait, who are you?" she asked.
"My name is Kirinmaru," he said, "I am the great kirin demon of the east. It appears you have a blood blade, and at such a young age too. You've barely reached your double digits and yet you already posess a weapon within your own body." He was impressed. Usually such power took much longer to develop in a full blooded demon, nevermind a half-breed like her. "Perhaps I've been underestimating the great dog demon's half-breed grandpups."
Towa asked, "What are you saying?" A weapon within her own body? she thought.
Kirinmaru's eyes went wide and he suddenly jumped backwards. Before any of the girls could say anything, the ground shook violently, nearly knocking them down. Blue light burst up from below and flew through the air .
Moroha asked, "Where did all this demon energy come from?!"
A massive amount of blue demon energy cut across in front them so fast and violently it nearly pushed them backwards. Kirinmaru quickly drew his sword and braced himself for a dragon strike attack. It cut through the trees and the scenery and revealed the ocean and beach as Kirinmaru managed to fight it off and cut through the energy with his own sword and fire power.
"What was that?!" Setsuna asked in awe.
Kirinmaru thought, If I hadn't braced myself, that attack would have put me out of commission more than a week.
A white ball of light appeared next to the girls. Sesshomaru faded in as the light disappeared. He took a look of each of them. Moroha was still surveying the damage in shock and awe at the unbelievable display of strength. Towa looked him in the eyes, and with her eyes glanced at Setsuna and then back at him. While Setsuna hung her head in shame and stared at Zero's dead body in horror.
"You did this, Setsuna?" he asked calmly.
She whiped her head around at Towa and said, "You told him?!"
"I didn't say a word!" she insisted, putting her hands up in defense and covering her mouth.
"It's true," Moroha added, "I didn't hear her say anything."
Setsuna growled, then turned back to her father and admitted, "I killed her but I didn't mean to! She broke my naginata and this thing on my arm came to life all on it's own." She showed him her blood blade. "Honestly, I didn't expect her to die so easily."
Sesshomaru took her hand, and examined it. Her own power is already too much for her human-made weapon to handle, he thought, interesting, and at such a young age at that. He revealed his sword and Setsuna yelped and jumped back away from him. Towa jumped in front of her before realizing it's wasn't the bakuseiga he drew, he had grabbed the tenseiga.
"Whoa," Moroha said, "Dad once told me the tenseiga can bring people back to life, but I didn't think it was real."
Sesshomaru cut down the minions of the underworld with ease. While the girls all stared at the empty air he just cut through in confusion.
Zero took her first breaths once again.
Kirinmaru made his way to back to the scene gracefully and said, "She lives once again. I should thank you, Sesshomaru, but I know you didn't do it out of the goodness of your heart."
Zero on the otherhand was less than pleased. She opened her eyes and got back to her feet in great haste. "You did this, Sesshomaru?!" she asked him, completely ignoring her own brother, "You brought me back to life!? And you did it with his fang of all things?! Tell me you didn't!" She stared at him in disgust.
"I know of no one else with such a power," Sesshomaru replied calmly. Rin was now safe. He wanted to feel relief over such a horror of a situation, but he couldn't. Relief was too positive. Besides, Zero was now standing before him, madder than he had ever seen her before. He didn't know when he'd get another chance to strike against her after everything she had done to him.
Riku stepped forward and said, "Madam, if you choose to fight, you should first take back what's rightfully yours." He opened a pouch and revealed four rainbow pearls he had collected.
She looked down at this in disgust and hatred as she asked, "You brought my own tears back to me?!"
"I asked him to," Kirinmaru interjected, "because without them you've been acting afool, dear sister, and I can't take it any longer."
Towa leaned in to Setsuna and whispered, "What's going on? What are they talking about?"
Setsuna's ears twitched as she whispered, "I don't know. I'm lost."
Zero ranted, "Kirinmaru, how could you!? You made him bring my tears back to me, and at such a place full of sorrow at that?! Do you really want to see what I can do with all seven of my original tears?" She used her powers to bring the ones in the pouch to her hand, glowing bright. She then took the other three straight from Moroha's rouge, and each of the twins' eyes. "With these tears I'll show you true misery, Sesshomaru," she taunted, "everything I've done to you in the past was just a warm up leading to this moment!"
She grabbed the one closest to her, which just so happened to be the red one. She recoiled as memories of Moroha's upbringing flooded her. She screamed in horror and shook violently as an image of a grown woman with long black hair and soft eyes appeared before her.
Zero growled. Her face twisted and some scales and reminents of horns appears on her face as she hissed, "...Izayoi's essense..."
A smile broke across Sesshomaru face. "Is there a problem, Zero?" he taunted.
Towa thought, No wonder he doesn't smile. He looks so creepy. She instictively took a step back to avoid his glare.
"You knew this would happen!" she shouted, "First you bring me back to life with your wretched father's fang! Then you give me his human lover's memories! How uphorrand of you! I'll never forgive you!" Her face had contorted into the harshest of anger. "I'll make you pay for what you've done!" She leveled her staff and broke his tenseiga with ease.
Sesshomaru didn't even flinched as he examined the broke blade and calmly put it back in it's sheath.
"You can't kill me, Sesshomaru!" Zero taunted, "But I can make sure your precious pups live without a sire!"
Sesshomaru took out his baksiega, aimed it directly at her, and said almost too calmly, "No Zero, I won't kill you. But when I decide I'm through with you, you'll with I had."
The girls couldn't tell who struck first. They only felt the impacts of the three demons' energies coming together as one. Moroha shouted, "We have to get out of here! A-Un!" Together they jumped on his back and flew up into the sky away from the blasts.
Green electricle energy, spider webs, and dark red fire burst energies out from the scene in every direction. A-Un had to dodge left and right to not get hit by a stray blast.
"What's happening?" Towa asked, "I can't tell!"
"All I know is every strike has a full intent to kill behind it," Setsuna said, marveling at the power she was witnessning before her, "I've never felt anything like it!"
They watched as Sesshomaru flew in the air and struck a bakuseiga attack at Kirinmaru, then at the same he turned around and used his fur to grab Zero from mid air. He spun her around in his fluff and pulled her in close enough to use his posion claws to rip across her exposed chest, leaving a wide open gaping wound full of his poison. She screamed in agony as he released her from his grasp and threw her to the sand below.
The wind picked up, whipping tornados around the girls as A-Un struggling to fight against them. The tides in the sea clashed together, and lightning struck from the heavens above.
Moroha said, "This fight is so intense I can barely look at it!" She covered her eyes from the bright lights.
Setsuna! A desperate voice called inside her head, Setsuna! Setsuna!
"I hear a strange voice in my head," Setsuna said nervously.
"Those are called your thoughts," Moroha snarked.
"No it's a woman's voice," she said, "it almost sounds like Mother's, but why would I hear her voice?"
Towa said, "Try talking to the voice. Maybe it's her!"
She hesitated before she decided to respond. Mother, is that you?
Setsuna, I finally managed to break through to you! Rin said happily, Yes, it's me, your mother! I've been trying to connect with you for so long!
Another jolt of lightning hit the ground and created a huge crator in the sand below. Setsuna couldn't believe what she was hearing inside her own head. You're really talking to me right now? I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to almost kill you!
It's okay my dear Setsuna, she said calmly, my poor sweet Setsuna, it's okay. Please don't feel any guilt.
She replied, I thought you were asleep because of my dream butterfly.
I woke up once Zero died and your father brought me back to life and I'll likely fall asleep again soon, Rin said urgently, listen to me, Setsuna, you must stop your father from fighting!
A-Un flew up and around as another tornado formed around them. This time Kirinmaru launched a fire blast so large it nearly engulfed half the sky. Sesshomaru cut it in half with his bakuseiga, and his energy pulsed through it, ripping it apart like a firework. Setsuna asked, Why should I stop all this?
Thunder clapped across the sky in retaliation and sliced through the clouds. It reacted by turning heavy and dark, threatening rain.
Rin said, Your father's heart is closing up, I can feel it from here. He needs to keep his heart open to love and to do that he mustn't fight Zero and Kirinmaru right now.
Why would stopping a fight keep his heart open to love? Setsuna asked, That makes no sense. I don't understand.
Rin explained, Your father will never admit this out loud, but when his father died it hurt him. And not recieving his favorite sword, the tetseiga, as his inheritence, hurt him even more. Searching for the tetsiega out of jealousy and nearly killing his own half brother out of hatred nearly sealed his heart shut forever. When I came into his life, especially after I returned as an adult, and then giving him you and your sister, has kept it open. Being separated from us has closed it back up again. Right now he's feeling nothing but rage and revenge. If he doesn't snap out of it, his heart might never reopen.
Unamused by her long winded explanation, Setsuna demanded, Why should I care about Father's heart? Since when has he cared about mine?!
He does care! Rin insisted, Setsuna please, look down at the battle you're witnessing firsthand. Look at how much power your father holds! Could you imagine a demon of his caliper traversing the countryside with no heart? Think of the devastation he could cause with no remorse or regret.
Setsuna watched as Sesshomaru nearly cut Kirinmaru in half, only for dark red flames to erupt from his body, stopping the blow just in time. She imagined his father's power making it's way across the Japan, just as her mother said.
I suppose you're right, she said, if Father does care about me like you claim, he won't attack.
"I have to stop the fight," Setsuna said.
"Why do you want to stop something so epic?" Moroha asked, now hypnotized by the light show, "This is amazing!"
Setsuna said, "The voice in my head is my mother, just like I suspected. She says Father has to stop fighting."
"You were talking to Mother?" Towa asked, then gestured down to the fight and asked, "How does she want you to stop all of that? There's no way!"
"A-Un," Setsuna commanded, "Take us directly above them!"
He turned and moved around another tornado formation to take them directly above the fighting. Before Towa could react, Setsuna leaned over A-Un's side and lept feet first between Kirinmaru and Sesshomaru-directly into danger.
It was as if it was slow motion. Sesshomaru sensed A-Un above them first, but he was already charging up his bakusega for another attack and watched Kirinmaru do the same with his own sword.
"Stop the fight!" Setsuna's voice echoed in Sesshomaru's head.
Sesshomaru watched as Setsuna slowly fell infront of his blade. He loosened the grip on his hilt as he forced his energy away from her body, but she was too close. His blade never touched her, but his demonic aura gripped her right shoulder at the same time Kirinmaru's aura hit her left. Setsuna shrieked in pain as fire and lightning hit her all at once. The last thing she saw was her father's face twisting in fear and horror.
Sesshomaru threw his bakuseiga away and slowly reached out as Setsuna's screamed in agony. Everyone watched as Kirinmaru and Sesshomaru's combined energies ripped Setsuna apart from the inside out.
"Setsuna!" Towa shouted.
"No!" Moroha yelled, "A-Un, take us down there!"
As Sesshomaru wrapped his arms around Setsuna, Kirinmaru's fire energy engulfed him and burned as his flesh and fur. It pulsed through his body and he growled in pain. Blood tore out from his fluff, his arms, and down his legs. He didn't care, he just wanted his daughter to be safe. But it was too late for her. He watched as the light disappear from her eyes. He grapped her and held her tight. The energy ripped her body apart. Her blood splattered at every one of her joints.
The demonic auras previously in the air completely disapated. The sky, the seas, and the air all instantly calmed as Sesshomaru held a dead Setsuna in his arms. He slowly lowered himself to massive crator he made in the sand.
Kirinmaru landed across from him. "I'm sorry, Sesshomaru," he said, genuinely sad, "I didn't see her in time to stop myself. That's unforgivable."
"That's what you get!" Zero shouted, still seething and in pain from his poison claw attack that had ripped open her chest.
"Zero," Kirinmaru said, turning away, "that's enough out of you. Riku, we're leaving. We're not welcome here." He collected them up and the three of them flew away and disappeared from sight.
A-Un landed in the middle of the crator. Moroha and Towa jumped off and ran to Sesshomaru's side.
"Setsuna, no," Moroha cried, "she's gone!" She didn't bother trying to hide her tears.
"What was she thinking?!" Towa asked desperately, "She shouldn't have jumped head first in the middle of a fight!" Her vision blurred as the tears came. She looked up at her father, curious to know if he was crying too.
He wasn't. Instead he gently placed Setsuna on the ground face up. Her empty eyes stared up as the rain started. Still kneeling, Sesshomaru took out the broken tenseiga and said, "Take tenseiga and bring your sister back to life." He held it out for Towa to take.
The sky opened up, as if it too were saddened by the unneccessary death. Towa asked, sniffling and stuggling to look up through the rain drops, "Do what?"
"The choice is yours, Towa," he said, still holding it out for her.
Towa saw the unwavering determination in his eyes. He actually believes I can do it, she thought. She took the broken sword from him and turned toward Setsuna's body.
Sesshomaru stood back up and said, "Whether she can be brought back to life or not depends entirely on you."
Moroha dried her eyes as it continued to rain and asked, "Towa, what are you going to do with that?"
"I'm going to put all the energy I have into this sword and hope it brings Setsuna back to us," she answered, "I'm her older sister. I'm supposed to protect her but I didn't!" She was supposed to be there for her as they grew up, instead she had spent so much time in the alternative future galavanting about. Towa's aura grew as she forced it into the blade, just as she did with her own sword.
Meanwhile, for Setsuna everything she could see was basked in a glorifying whiteness. It felt as though she was flying through the clouds. Structures appeared through the shadows, large rocks in the mist. I'm soaring through fog? she thought, What is this place? She looked ahead and saw massive dog demon bones clad in even bigger armor.
A white light came from behind them and grew larger, as if it was coming right for her. It was! She tried to dodge, but instead it came right to her and stopped her in her tracks. The light brought her down to a rock overlooking the entire area.
"It's best if you wait right here," a booming man's voice said. Suddenly he appeared in front of her, a tall man with long white hair in a pony tail, clad in a fur cloak, and dark blue jagged markings on his cheeks.
"Who are you?" Setsuna asked, "Where are we?"
"I'm your grandfather," he answered, "Toga, the great dog demon of the west. You're currently in the border between this world and the next."
"The border?" she asked, "What is that supposed to mean? I thought you were dead." She paused. "Does this mean...?" She looked around at her surroundings again. There wasn't a trace of life anywhere, and hadn't she just been in immense pain from all the demon energy she absorbed? Where did all that go?
He replied, "It's true, you were on your way to death before I stopped you. It appears you have much more to do in the land of the living. I know my son and those other granddaughters of mine will be happy to see you again. You should return to them, Setsuna."
"Return?" Setsuna turned to look at the whiteness, "But I don't know how to go back." Everything looked the same, which direction was back? She couldn't tell.
Toga said, "Fear not, I brought someone here to help." He turned to a woman wearing a colorful kimono, her hair was black and in a short ponytail, her eyes red and without pupils.
She raised her white and red fan and said, "Tell Sesshomaru Kagura sent you! Dance of the dragon!" The wind around Setsuna picked up and sent her flying backwards away from them both so quickly she couldn't say goodbye or thank either of them.
The energy blade in Towa's hand grew as she struggled to contain it's power. The rain had finally stopped.
Totosai, having sensed all of the commotion, came down from the sky in a bolt of lightning, sitting on his cow, he said, "My, it appears I came too late. Just when her latent powers were beginning to develop too. What a shame."
Together everyone watched as Towa's energy became the tenseiga. "It's working," Towa said, shaking all over, "I created the sword!" Dizziness overcame her. No, she thought desperately, no, I have to stay awake! I have to save her! Her breath became uneasy.
"Towa, you can do it!" Moroha said. She has to! She added to herself.
She's not going to make it, Sesshomaru thought as she watched her waver before his eyes. He walked up behind her slowly.
Towa desperately forced her eyes to stay open as the sword grew heavier in her arms, but her vision was tunneling fast. What was she supposed to do now? Earlier she watched her father cut the air above Zero, but why did he do that? Her legs were giving out from under her. Just as she was blacking out, she saw the minions of the underworld, strange beings hovering over Setsuna's body.
"I'm going to save you!" Towa said, unable to move, "Setsuna!" Her arms went numb. She couldn't lift them. This couldn't be happening! She had all the power she needed, but was still too weak to wield the sword! She had to push through!
Her vision faded. She couldn't hold herself upright anymore and began slowly falling forward. Just as she was blacking out again, an arm reached out from behind her, her father's hand engulfed hers as he grabbed the hilt and lifted the sword up high, then cut down the minions of the underworld. Towa collapsed into his fur and her energy disappeared.
Sesshomaru caught Towa in midair as her energy faded from the tenseiga. It was over. He leaned over and tenderly lifted Setsuna into his other arm as he waited for her to wake up.
"Did she do it?" Moroha asked anxiously, "Did Towa save Setsuna in time?"
Sesshomaru whispered, "Setsuna," into her dog ears.
Setsuna's ears twitched just before her eyes shot open as she gasped for air. She leaned forward and looked at Towa passed out. "Towa! What happened? Where's the fight?" She looked around and realized her father was holding her.
"You stopped it," Sesshomaru answered, letting her go.
"Setsuna you're okay!" Moroha shouted, then ran in for a hug. "I was scared you were gone forever, but Towa brought you back with the broken tenseiga."
"She did?" she asked, standing up and examining the scene. The battle left it's mark on the landscape. She noted the massive crator she now stood in the center of. "I left this world," she said, "and I started to go to the land of the dead, but someone stopped me."
Moroha asked, "Someone was there?"
"The great dog demon," she answered, "our grandfather. He told me I should go back, but I didn't know how. Then a lady showed up out of nowhere and blew a bunch of wind around me to send me back here. She said to tell Sesshomaru that Kagura brought me back."
Sesshomaru was surprised to hear that name again for the first time in years. There were times he still thought about Kagura and her needless death. He never thought Setsuna would ever meet her.
Towa moaned and finally opened her eyes. "Setsuna," she muttered under her breath. She glanced up at Sesshomaru and shot herself up and out of his arms. "Setsuna you're alive!" she shouted with glee.
"Yes," she replied coldly, "thank you." She pushed Towa away from her. "Why you were knocked out? Did you almost die too?"
"Me?" she said, "No, I had to use up every last ounce of demon energy I had to bring you back to life! I'm so glad it worked! I was so scared it wouldn't." She hugged her sister tight. She did it! She saved her!
"The tenseiga!" Totosai cried, picking up the broken blade and the hilt, "Oh what have you done to it?! The poor fang is ruined!" He held he in his hands carefully, as if it would shatter if he touched it wrong in it's sad condition.
Moroha asked, "Why are you so caught up in a broken sword, old man?"
"Because I'm the one who's going to fix it!" he barked at her, "Who do you think you're talking to?!"
Setsuna replied calmly, "We don't know. We've never met you, nor have we ever heard of you. Who are you?"
Totosai said, "I'm Totosai, the demon swordsmith. I'm the one who forged the great tenseiga and the mighty tetseiga."
"Whoa, that's amazing!" Towa said, her eyes getting big and round at the sheer awe of his abilities, "Did you make the bakseiga too?"
"No, Sesshomaru created that sword himself once he came into his own as a great demon," he answered, "and I see Setsuna here is following in his footsteps. The reason your naginata failed you is because it's a human weapon. It's illsuited to your demon nature, and could not respond to your magnificent blood blade properly."
Setsuna asked, "My what?"
"The mark on your arm," he said, "surely you've noticed it! It's an energy blade of your own creation, and will react to whatever weapon you hold. This one wasn't up to the task. You'll need a new one." He grabbed her broken naginata and pulled out the materials, the crystals and ashes, right there and began hammering away to give her a new weapon.
Towa asked excitedly, "Will I get a blood blade too?"
Totosai shrugged and replied, "Beats me. Only time will tell."
She groaned and whined, "What is it with demons always being so vague?"
"I was going to tell you that the broken sword you wield isn't suited for your demon nature either, Towa," he carried on, "You can absorb demon energy, but you've been holding it within your own body. Being the half demon that you are, your body cannot withstand too much demon energy without being torn up from the inside out. You'll need a sword capable of withstanding powerful demon energy. The kyokone root should do the trick."
Sesshomaru, now curious for himself, asked, "The kyokone root? And where would that be?"
"Don't remember," he replied, shrugging.
Moroha said, "That seems sketchy. How do we know we can trust you and you're not sending us on some wild goose chase?"
"Then don't believe me," Totosai said, "nothing happens to me if you don't ever find it."
Ignoring her, Sesshomaru asked, "Totosai, you have no idea where it could be?"
"You live a few millenias and tell me you haven't forgotten a few things here and there over the centuries," he said hastily, blowing fire onto the blade he was carefully crafting. "Although, I'm sure Bokuseno would know where it is, or at least where to start searching."
Sesshomaru nodded at hearing the old tree's name, and asked, "And how is it Setsuna has developed a blood blade at such a young age?"
He replied, "That's what can happen if you don't carry around several centuries worth of jealousy, longing, and pent up aggression that fuels your very reason to live." Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at him, wondering if he should strike him down for spewing all that out loud. I shouldn't have asked, he thought angrily.
Totosai thought, Although, if Zero hadn't screwed him over with that curse at such a young age, he likely would have developed the bakuseiga when his father was still alive, maybe even back when he was just a pup, maybe even when he was as young as Setsuna is now. Well, I like being among the living so I'll keep that part to myself.
"Jealousy?" Setsuna asked, "Longing, and pent up aggression? What are you talking about? I don't feel any of those things towards anyone." As she thought about it, she realized the only thing she had ever longed for were her parents, and as far as she remembered this was the longest amount of time she had properly spent with her father.
"My point exactly," Totosai replied, still hammering away at her naginata blade.
"Uh, guys," Moroha said anxiously, "we're suddenly getting surrounded by demons!" Everyone looked up at the crator edges to see hundreds of demons, all shapes and sizes, heading straight for them.
Totosai asked, "Oh, did I forget to mention the crystals and ashes I'm using attracks low level demons from across the land?"
Just as the three of the girls thought they were in for the fight of their lives, despite not having any energy left to fight, they watched as all the demons stopped themselves at the edge of the crator. They piled up on top of each other by the dozens.
Setsuna said, "They're not attacking."
"They're not stupid," Totosai said, "they know Sesshomaru is a powerful demon that'll kill them all if they move in too close. They're waiting for the right moment."
Sesshomaru used his energy to call to the bakusegia he threw away earlier in the battle. It flipped through the air and flew directly to him telekinetically catching it in midair. The girls expected him to use it right then and there, but instead he merely put it away.
"What?" Moroha asked, "You're not going to kill them?"
"Such lowlives aren't worth my energy," he answered. He pointed at the hoards and said, "A-Un."
With that, A-Un roared and raised both of his heads. Lightning spewed out in a circle around the crator's edge, killing all the demons in one swoop. The ones that could, fled for their lives, just barely missing his blasts of energy.
Towa gasped. Setsuna's eyes nearly fell out of her head in shock. Moroha exclaimed, "He can spit lightning?!"
"I didn't know that!" Towa said, "Why didn't you tell me he can spew lightning from both mouths!"
Totosai stopped hammering and said, "There. This new naginata of yours is the Yukari no Tachikiri. The blade that can cut the red string of fate." He threw it at Setsuna and she caught it with one arm. Her blood blade pulsed, almost as if it was pleased to have a new weapon to react to.
Sesshomaru's eyes widened in shock. This was this? The one he had been searching for this entire time was his own daughter Setsuna all along? He kept his reaction to a minimum as his anger came back to the surface. "Totosai," he asked, "why have you never mentioned this?"
"10 years ago when you asked me if I knew of anyone who could cut the red string of fate I told you the truth," he insisted, "I did not know of anyone at the time. Now I do, so there you go. She's the one you've been looking for."
"I can cut the string of fate!?" Setsuna said, holding onto her naginata tight, "Well what are we waiting for? We should all go to Mother right now and so I can save her and kill Zero for everything she's done to us!"
"We will not," Sesshomaru said quickly.
Towa stared up at him and asked, "But why? If we save her we'll be a real family again, the sooner the better. Isn't that what we all want?" Maybe her father liked being separated from her and her sister and mother after all.
Totosai answered, "Just because Setsuna is supposed to have that power, doesn't mean she knows how to harness it."
Setsuna scoffed, "I have the power therefore I can harness it!"
"Then prove it right here and now," he replied, holding up his pinky, "cut the red string of fate between your father and I. If you can, there's no harm done, and if not, there's still no harm done."
Moroha asked, "Why would there be a string between you and Sesshomaru?"
"We've known each other many centuries," Totosai answered, "and Sesshomaru's attempted to kill me many times over the years for not forging him a sword to his liking. That's enough to make a string form. Go on and cut it already, I don't want to sit here like this all day!"
Setsuna leveled her naginata, and then attempted to do what she did when she killed Zero with her blood blade, but nothing happened. Everything stayed the same as she stared at the space between her father and Totosai. Nothing. She even waved her blade around and still got nothing.
"Do you feel any different?" she asked. They shook their heads and she fell to the ground in defeat.
Towa sat on the ground beside her. "It's okay, Setsuna. I'm sure you'll figure out your powers eventually. Mother is probably proud of you already."
She perked up. "I bet she is," she said, smiling.
Sesshomaru stepped forward with the broken tenseiga in its sheath and said, "Totosai, will you fix it?"
"Sure thing," he replied, taking it from him, "but I'm going to need something to bond it with, like a tooth or a nail."
Without hesitation, Sesshomaru grabbed his left index finger nail and ripped it out of it's bed. Moroha gagged and recoiled at the sight. "Ugh! Nope! I'm not demon enough to handle seeing that! Gross!"
Sesshomaru handed over his nail and asked, "Will this do?"
Totosai looked it over and said, "It's no tooth but I can work with it. It'll take me at least six days to fix it up good as new. With a tooth I could do it in three." He packed up his things and hopped on the back of his cow. "Good luck finding the kyokone root. You're going to need it."
"Wait," Moroha said, "don't you have anything for me? Not even some words of wisdom or encouragement or anything? Hey!" She blew away as he took off in a flash of lightning.
The twins got back to their feet. Setsuna said, "Now we have to find this Bokuseno person, whoever he is." She turned to see Sesshomaru now standing on the edge of the crater, A-Un by his side. She blinked in surprise, expecting him to disappear when she closed her eyelids but he remained. She asked angrily, "What are you still doing here?"
"Zero is out of commission and won't scheme against me for some time," he answered calmly, "and Kirinmaru is so ashamed of himself for nearly killing a child he'll stay away for now. We'll go together." Sesshomaru didn't even want to admit it to himself, but he knew he hurt Rin, and felt shame for it. The fact that he tortured Zero while attacking her was bad enough, even after the promise he made to Rin that she would get the chance to kill her someday. It was even worse that he accidentally killed his own daughter with Kirinmaru's help-something he was sure Rin was horrified to witness through Setsuna's eyes with the dream butterfly curse. He didn't want to face her, not in that moment. Besides, he knew the girls wouldn't find the kyokone root without him.
Towa asked excitedly, "We're all going to search for this Bokuseno person together?! Really?" It was as if they were going to be a real family again sooner than she thought.
Sesshomaru said, "I know him."
"You do?" Moroha said, "Wow, that was easy! I thought we were going to wander around for a while trying to find him, but this is way better."
Sesshomaru pulled on A-Un's reigns and said, "We're flying."
Moroha, Setsuna, and Towa got onto the back of A-Un. Sesshomaru took to the skies in the lead. Setsuna wanted to pinch herself. She couldn't believe it, he didn't disappear like always. They were actually flying together. She wondered if this was the first time ever.
But Moroha could sense something was up with the two of them. "What's the matter?" she asked, "I thought you two wanted to be with your father. If I was with my dad right now I wouldn't look so sour."
Towa admitted, "I am glad we're together, honest, but I can't help but think he's disappointed in me because I couldn't lift the tenseiga."
Setsuna said, "What are you saying? I thought you were the one who brought me back to life?"
"I tried to," she admitted sadly, "but it took all the energy I had to be able to make the tenseiga whole again. By the time I did that, I had exhausted myself so bad I couldn't hold it up. He had to swing it for me to kill the minions of the underworld, so you'd come back. I wasn't strong enough."
"I don't know what he feels," Setsuna confessed, "I've never been able to tell. He's too stoic."
Towa said, "I wonder if I couldn't lift it because I'm only half demon." She paused. "But what about you Setsuna? What's bothering you?"
"I couldn't cut the red string," she said sadly, "even though I'm supposed to be able to. Totosai even named my new naginata 'one that cuts fate' but it didn't do anything just now. I want to save our mother but...maybe that won't ever happen."
Moroha said, "You guys can't give up yet. You've only just started learning about your new powers!" The twins nodded at her. She was right. It might take time, but they still had that time to figure out their newfound abilities.