Legacy of the Moon
Arc II: Dawn of Dreams
Chapter 19: Twist of Fate
Have you ever thought about the relationship between the moon and the water?
They reside in two different realms, one in the sky and the other on the land but this huge distance seems to be nothing in front of their relationship because if we look at the surface of the water at night, the moon is always there in its embrace. Water is so delicate that even a feather fallen upon its surface creates ripples but when the moon touches it at night then neither are there ripples nor any sound because their relationship is natural. This is an everlasting relationship and it can't be restricted by the concept of time and dimensions.
Story up to the previous Arc
The events of the previous Arc were set around a few weeks before Kikyo sealed Inuyasha in the Tree of Ages in the Feudal Era. While according to the Present timeline, Sesshomaru visited the Soul Society roughly 50 years before Ichigo met Rukia for the first time.
In the previous Arc, Sesshomaru was forced to travel to the 'Present' from the Feudal Era because his sword Tensaiga was stolen by an ancient Hollow Orkos. The same ancient Hollow abducted Mila Rose and Sung-Sun in order to lure Halibel to his secret hideout in the Negal Ruins. His ultimate plan was to trap both Sesshomaru and Halibel inside a chamber where she could stab the Daiyokai's heart to break a seal. Orkos achieved it successfully but in the process, Sesshomaru and Halibel developed feelings for each other. The ancient being didn't want them to be this close and thus by the end of the Arc, he manipulated the memories of Halibel in order to separate both of them.
Sesshomaru got deeply affected by the strange behavior of Halibel towards him and thus he decided to leave immediately and never return to the 'Present' again. During his entire journey, the Daiyokai had multiple interactions with the Soul Reapers and he made some good friends such as Yoruichi, Urahara, and Byakuya Kuchiki. Despite him fighting against a lot of powerful Soul Reapers including the Head Captain Genryusai Shigekuni Yamamoto himself, he ended up known as a friend of Soul Society, a powerful being who revived hundreds of Soul Reapers back from the dead.
The next 50 years in the Feudal Era
Only after a few days of Sesshomaru's return to the Feudal Era, Kikyo sealed Inuyasha in the Tree of Ages and took the Shikon Jewel along with her in the afterlife due to which the Bone-eater's well stopped its function as a time portal. Sesshomaru resumed his conquest and defeated a lot of Yokai clans including the Panther Demon Tribe.
However, after a few decades, Kikyo's soul reincarnated as Kagome in the 'Present' World of the Living and the Shikon Jewel returned along with her. After she grew up into a teen, she travelled to the Feudal Era through Bone-eater's well breaking the seal which Mayuri Kurotsuchi put on the well.
In the Feudal Era, she freed Inuyasha from Kikyo's spell and soon the Shikon Jewel shattered into numerous small fragments that scattered far across the land. Now both Inuyasha and Kagome decided to tag along and collect all of them to reform the jewel. Meanwhile, Sesshomaru, who had grown colder during this time, pursued Inuyasha to take possession of their father's sword the Tetsusaiga but failed and lost his left arm in the process. On the other hand, Naraku had also started to create hurdles in the path of Inuyasha's group along with interfering with Sesshomaru as well.
As their adventures continued, Sesshomaru stopped pursuing Inuyasha's group while he also acquired Rin as his new companion and a new sword Tokijin which was eventually discarded by him. Inuyasha on the other hand gained a few close friends such as Sango, Miroku, and Shippo.
In time, Sesshomaru grew extremely powerful and acquired his left arm along with a sword of his own i.e. Bakusaiga. Inuyasha also grew stronger as new abilities were added to his Tetsusaiga. Ultimately, with the combined efforts of everyone, Naraku was destroyed from the World of the Living while Kagome made a wish upon the Shikon Jewel due to which both the Jewel and Naraku disappeared to the non-existence. Due to the disappearance of Shikon Jewel, the Bone-eater's well stopped functioning but after 3 years, it regained its ability of a time portal. Afterwards, Kagome returned to the Feudal Era and started to live with Inuyasha while Sesshomaru continued his conquest and started to visit his mother often.
The next 50 years in the Present
Since Sesshomaru didn't visit the Present for almost 50 years thus everyone had lost hope of seeing him again. Byakuya thought that it might be his decision to not interfere with the present since he was an honorable man from a royal family. Both Yoruichi and Urahara had also accepted it as fate and eventually stopped the investigation that they were carrying out on him. In time, almost everyone forgot him except a few individuals who used to remember him at times.
In the meantime, Isshin got married to a woman named Masaki and they got blessed with three children, a boy named Ichigo and two girls, Yuzu and Karin. However, sadly Masaki died in a mysterious accident during an encounter with a Hollow from whom she was trying to protect Ichigo.
Hueco Mundo and Soul Society had also gone through a significant series of events. Halibel acquired a new companion in the form of Apacci. The reign of Barragan ended with the arrival of Aizen in the Hueco Mundo. All the powerful Hollows including Halibel and Barragan, sooner or later joined Aizen's army and they were turned into perfect Arrancars by him with the help of the Hogyoku. Eventually, he managed to gather 10 powerful Espadas in his army for the purpose of bringing the Soul Society down. On the other hand, Rukia transferred her powers to Ichigo during his teenage under special circumstances due to which his Shinigami powers activated inside him and later he saved her from the death sentence, given to her by the Soul Society. Ichigo met Orihime, Uryuu, and Yasutora Sado and all four of them became a team.
When Ichigo and his friends invaded the Soul Society in order to protect Rukia, Aizen revealed his true intentions to everyone. He left for the Hueco Mundo to reign over his kingdom of Hollows and declared war upon the Soul Society. While different Arrancars attacked Word of the Living a few number of times, Aizen sent Ulquiorra to abduct Orihime due to her special abilities and succeeded in his attempt. Later Ichigo and his friends invaded Las Noches in order to rescue her. Soon they received help from the Soul Society in the form of four Captains i.e. Byakuya, Kenpachi, Unohana, and Mayuri Kurotsuchi. Ichigo and his friends defeated the Privaron Espadas, Rudbornn, Aaroniero Arruruerie, Grimmjow, and Ulquiorra. Byakuya Kuchiki and Zaraki Kenpachi defeated Zommari and Nnoitra respectively and then they engaged Yammy in a tough battle. Mayuri Kurotsuchi took care of Szayel Aporro while Retsu Unohana simply treated all the injured warriors who seemed to be favouring Soul Society or Ichigo.
On the other hand, Aizen had already arrived in the World of the Living along with Gin, Tosen, Stark, Barragan, Halibel, and Wonderweiss along with all the Fraccions associated with these troops. Soul Society had dimensionally relocated the actual Karakura town inside it while a fake version of the Karakura town was prepared at its place as a battleground where Genryusai Yamamoto and the remaining Captains were ready to face Aizen and his army for the final battle.
Currently, in the Feudal Era…
Yang just came out of the Bone-eater's well and she was looking quite tensed. She swiftly roamed around and it looked as if she was desperately trying to find someone. After some time she came across Yin who also seemed to be looking for her.
"Hey, Yin!... long time no see," Yang mumbled happily as she saw her.
"Yeah, it's been over 50 years, after all, I was nearby and sensed your presence," she replied before she hugged her.
"How did everything go here?" Yang asked her.
"Everything went exactly how Lord Orkos anticipated... I have found what I was looking for, is it the time to execute our plan? Is that why are you here?" Yin responded.
"No, not yet… everything is going out of our hands, many powerful Arrancars have died while Halibel is in trouble. I have come here to find Sesshomaru because now only he can help us," She explained distressfully.
"Umm… but why he would help us in our plan?" Yin asked while narrowing her eyes.
"Lord Orkos has told me that we can bargain with him as long as Halibel is at risk, I must go and find him as quickly as possible," Yang replied as she started to fly away from here.
"You will find him in the sky palace of his mother," Yin muttered while looking at Yang.
"How did you know this?" Yang asked her with slight confusion.
"Yang… don't forget that I am in the Feudal Era for the past 50 years. I have gathered a lot of information here, not only about him but also about others who are linked with him," She responded in a serious manner.
"Alright, thanks!" Yang muttered before she started to leave.
"Wait, Yang! Don't make it suspicious… head towards north, you will find a wolf-headed Yokai there, convince him to guide you," Yin told her before walking away from there.
"Sure," Yang responded before quickly flying towards the north.
After some time, she came across a humanoid Yokai with a huge wolf-like head. He was leaning against a rock and seemed to be asleep. Yang rushed to him and shouted in order to wake him up.
"Huh, what? Where am I? What happened" Royakan murmured as he got startled by Yang's loud call.
"Where can I find Sesshomaru?" Yang asked him in a serious tone.
At first, Royakan gazed her from top to bottom and then answered, "Well, he is spending most of his time in his mother's Sky Palace lately," the wolf-headed Yokai answered.
"His mother's Sky Palace? Where is it located? Lead me to him," Yang requested abruptly.
"No, I won't go there without Lord Sesshomaru's permission and you shouldn't go there as well," Royakan replied.
"I don't care demon, just tell me where it is located," Yang spoke frustratingly.
"Alright! If you are so eager to die then my wolves will show you the path," he spoke before he opened his mouth wide open and a three-eyed wolf jumped out of his huge mouth.
Now Yang started to follow that wolf as it swiftly headed towards the Sky Palace and it didn't take them too long to reach close enough that it was finally visible to them. The wolf returned to Royakan while Yang headed straight towards that beautiful palace that was floating on the clouds.
Inside the Sky Palace…
Sesshomaru and his mother were sitting together in a chamber while she was lecturing him about the importance of marriage in his life being the only true successor of the great Dog Demon Empire. Suddenly a few guards asked their permission to enter the chamber and then they informed both Sesshomaru and his mother about a female trespasser whom they had just caught.
"A powerful female who is not a Yokai, interesting," Sesshomaru's mother mumbled upon listening to the news.
"She must be someone from the other world I visited around 50 years ago," Sesshomaru said to his mother.
"If that world is really full of powerful women who are not human then I would like to visit it someday. Perhaps, it would be easier to find a princess for you over there," She responded to Sesshomaru while wondering about how that world would be.
"I am going to check who she is," he spoke while leaving the chamber along with the guards.
Sesshomaru reached the outer floor of the palace where the palace guards had brought Yang for interrogation.
"Yang, how dare you come here?" Sesshomaru asked her in a serious manner.
"Sesshomaru! Please listen to me, Halibel is in grave danger," She said abruptly.
"What happened to her?" He asked while narrowing his eyes.
"Aizen had gathered an army of powerful Arrancars and she is one of them. Currently, they are gathered in the Karakura town in order to have a decisive battle against the Captains of the Soul Society. Lord Orkos wants you to get her out of the battle because he can't come out in the open in front of everyone," she answered him.
"Hmm, I will go but not because Orkos wants me to, and if this is a trap then he won't breathe again," Sesshomaru said in a strict manner before leaving along with her to the Present.
Suggested Music: "United" by Hidden Citizens (feat. Ranya)
Youtube link: https/watch?v=elDrPupj0sE
After some time, in the Battle of Fake Karakura Town, World of the Living…
A fierce battle was going on between the Shinigamis of the Soul Society and the Arrancars of the Aizen's army. Suddenly a moment came in that battle which shocked everyone. A stream of blood splashed in the sky because Aizen just slashed one of his comrades. The victim was an Espada and that too none other but Halibel herself, who was fighting against Toshiro, Hiyori, and Lisa. "I am done with you. It seems you are not strong enough to fight for me," Aizen told her in his usual egoistic and calm tone. She stepped back a bit with her hand tightly wrapped around the deep wound at her belly while her eyes were wide open with the shock of Aizen's unexpected betrayal. "I…I don't understand…" She murmured in a weak voice. "Isn't it obvious? Even if I made any more of you sacrifice yourselves, it would achieve nothing. I went through a lot of trouble to gather you Espadas but I have never expected that your gathered strength will be inferior to that of mine," He spoke further in a serious tone.
Aizen's statement shocked her even more than she already was but it didn't take her long to realize that in whom she had put her trust, for whose sake her Fraccions died, and from whose side she was fighting for this long, he was merely using her all this time for his selfish plans. Now her anger reached its peak, she chafed her teeth while looking towards him furiously and the next moment, rushed towards him with all of her remaining strength placed into one final blow. "How troublesome!" Aizen spoke normally in a calm tone just as her weapon hit him on the right side of his abdomen. To her surprise, even after receiving such a powerful hit, Aizen had no expressions of pain or disturbance on his face. She was extremely confused while she was also rapidly losing her strength and consciousness. Suddenly Aizen's body got shattered like glass. It didn't take her long to realize that she ended up attacking an illusion and the next moment, she felt a sword slowly penetrating right through her skin at the back of her left shoulder. "Don't make me go through the effort to swing my sword twice on the likes of you," Aizen said while stabbing her from behind but before he could have slashed her completely, a turquoise wave of demonic energy shoved him away from her.
The scenario greatly shocked each and everyone present over there, especially Genryusai Yamamoto because the person who just saved Halibel was none other than Sesshomaru himself. The Daiyokai moved quickly and caught the falling Halibel in his arms while Aizen had deflected the energy wave by now.
"Lord Sesshomaru… long time no see. Besides, I had no idea that you will step into this battle only for the sake of a lowly Arrancar," Aizen spoke in a bit playful manner but Sesshomaru ignored his words and began to retreat from there.
Halibel, on the other hand, tried to get out of Sesshomaru's grasp but he didn't allow her to do so.
"Do not move, try to save your spirit energy," Sesshomaru spoke to her slowly.
Halibel was feeling as if her strength is fading away while she was also furious and frustrated by Aizen's betrayal and also because of the way Sesshomaru was holding her in his arms since during their last meeting around 50 years ago, she refused to even recognize him. All of a sudden Genryusai Yamamoto stood in his path and muttered in his usual strict tone, "I don't know how did you manage to come back to the Present again but how did you penetrate this barrier when my Lieutenant was guarding outside it?"
"Both your Lieutenant and this barrier proved to be fragile against my power," the Daiyokai answered him while staring straight into his eyes.
"You should know that interference in the affairs of the Soul Society can result in a punishment," Genryusai spoke while staring back at him.
It seems we both are too occupied for it at the moment, so now I shall take my leave," Sesshomaru replied and left from there while Soifon grunted at his rude response to the Head Captain.
"It is interesting to witness a demon so desperate to save an Arrancar, moreover Halibel who never allowed any men to even come close to her, accepted his aid with minimal resistance," Gin spoke while watching Sesshomaru fleeing with Halibel resting in his arms.
"There is nothing to wonder about, Gin… after all, both of them are merely a kind of primitive monsters. They are simply acting according to their beast-like survival instincts," Aizen responded to Gin's words.
"You are right, Captain Aizen!" He replied with a cunning smile.
To be continued…
