What the Darkness Brings

What the Darkness Brings
By: I Agree

Disclaimer: I own nothing

PART I: The Consequence of Recovery

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Chapter 8: Would You Like To Hear A Story?

Two Weeks Later

He was sure his father was laughing at him from wherever he was. Or maybe he would be annoyed at his son’s inadvertent hypocrisy.

Over a century ago, he had criticized his sire for not only his immense love of the human race, but for associating with them so freely. It wasn’t right for youkai to dabble with those weaker than they. It was entirely too easy to become attached to the creatures… entirely too easy to hurt them, to influence them. They were endearing at times, even humorous and entertaining. They needed to be protected, what every youkai loved to do – aside from destroy that is. Their flesh was so frail and easily broken.

Most youkai, like he, preferred not to associate with what could eventually become a meal. No matter how disgusting human flesh tasted, if one became hungry enough, one would eat anything. Not only that, but their stench and manner were hardly anything to admire. Oh, he had never hated them. How could he hate something he really knew nothing about? And they had such interesting anatomies, so evolved, yet so simple.

But he had never felt the need to relate with them. He was the superior race, not they. His people had superior intellect, physic, and power. Humans were like cockroaches... annoying yet surprisingly resilient. Well, at least if you cut a humans head off they would die straight off. His poison did nicely for those damned bugs… but he was digressing.

Now he was glad he’d never done this before – spoken continually to a human, - because he found another reason to find humans annoying: incessant talking.

Or maybe it was just this girl.

“You know, your stoicism is absolutely horrible.”

For the hour he’d been there, after bathing her again (a necessity both had gotten used to), she hadn’t shut up. He’d heard more about her than he ever cared to. He knew about the time her little brother decided to throw several dozen frogs he’d saved from something called ‘science class’ into her room. She didn’t stop… why didn’t she stop? Shouldn’t she be tired now by all that talking?

“Really, silence is totally overrated. It isn’t ‘golden.’”

She told him about the time when her grandfather threw a fit when she had brought her first boyfriend over and tried to purify the ‘poor boy.’ Then of course there were the stories about the time she had her first tooth pulled, her first ‘sleepover’ (which she claimed to have been a disaster), and not to mention the first time she’d ever gotten sick on a ‘rollercoaster.’ Whatever the hell that was. After which, he had tuned out her stories in favor of… well, ignoring her. It gave him only a modicum of relief for there was still the issue of the headache inducing voice in the background. She was impossible to entirely ignore.

“Come on, Sesshou-Maru, you actually should talk to people. You might make some friends.”

But all her stories had been told within the first twenty minutes of his arrival. For the last forty, she had annoyed him with her constant pestering for him to reciprocate and tell her a story of his youth.

“It’s only fair! I told you about my horribly embarrassing stay at day camp didn’t I?”

Sesshou-Maru rolled his eyes, refraining from informing her that she had volunteered that story. He had neither asked she tell him nor demanded it in any form. He had no obligation whatsoever to tell her anything. He had no desire to share a story about his past life, for it was that… his past life. It was something he really had no need for anymore. Why bring it up?

“You know you were very much nicer the last time you were here. At least you acted like you were interested.”

And it had been getting tedious to act like he was listening. He was sure actually listening would be easier. It had been better then, though, because the monk and Nezumi had been there to occupy her time with conversation. He was unlucky this time. All of the others in the odd pack had previous engagements they needed to honor.

“Aren’t you a lord? Shouldn’t lords have great social skills?”

Good god he was going to go insane with her constant questions and demands. Why couldn’t she leave him alone? He knew he shouldn’t have come hours early. From now on he was going to keep to his noon schedule with her! This was most objectionable.

“One story isn’t going to kill you.”

But he was going to kill her eventually. If she didn’t stop that is.

“Honestly, Sesshou-Maru. All I’m asking is for one simple-“

“Shut up.”

For a moment she was indeed quiet, until her annoyance got the better of her. “Hey, I-“

“Shut up. You have spoken non-stop for more than three quarters of an hour or so, trying to get this Sesshou-Maru to tell you about his childhood. It is very obvious that I am not going to tell you anything, no matter how you cajole, beg, or demand.”

He braced himself (though not much) for her angry tirade, knowing that, while it was still noise from her, it would be better than her trying to get him to talk. At least she wouldn’t expect him to respond. No she would shout herself hoarse then proceed to ignore him until he apologized or she became annoyed with the silence (guess which would happen first).

Blessed silence reigned.

Frowning, Sesshou-Maru scented the air, searching for the reason for her silence. He blinked when he smelled no anger, no sadness. There was only a slight annoyance in her scent

Frowning in confusion, Sesshou-Maru scented the air his hand on her back pressing slightly more gentle than what he usually did. He frowned when he smelled no anger, no sadness. There was only annoyance in her fragrance. Annoyance and expectance. What was she waiting for?

He shook his head slightly and continued with his ministrations, bent on ignoring her unusual silence.

But it didn’t take long for it to annoy him. Which annoyed him even further… when had silence irritated him so? Especially hers?

He wanted to question her lack of response, why wouldn’t she be angry with him? He had rudely told her to quiet down and she hadn’t tried to chastise him at all. But he couldn’t say anything. Not without her demanding something more of him, or perhaps she would call him on it. He had told her to be quiet, she’d tell him, why would he question her silence?

He sighed, deciding to nip the problem in the bud. “Would you like to hear a story, then?”

Her head turned and she smiled at him brightly, her annoyance replaced with triumph. “I would love to.”

He nearly rolled his eyes, recognizing her silence now for what it was. How completely female of her, to manipulate him with silence; he’d thought only the ‘evil’ females did that. But it was rather endearing that she became excited over such a small thing, just to hear him. And for some reason, he wasn’t irritated with her blatant maneuvering. “What would you like to hear?”

Her answer was unsurprisingly immediate. “How about your past relationship with Inu-Yasha? He told me that you two didn’t know each other until he was about Shippou’s age.”

How strange, that she would want to hear about that. How strange that Inu-Yasha had told her even a little bit of that. It wasn’t something a girl like her would want to hear. “Before I begin then, I must warn you. This Sesshou-Maru was two hundred and four at the time, an adolescent, barely reaching adulthood. Even youkai have their times where they are ignorant and foolish and I was so at about this time.”

She nodded eagerly, wanting him to get to the story. But there was understanding in her eyes. After all, she was an adolescent as well.

He turned back to his massaging, what better was there to do anyway while she merely lay there? “I did not want to meet Inu-Yasha. He was the reason my father was deceased and I resented him for it. However, his mother had died from an illness awhile back, and I was obligated to look after him.” He shifted his hands down to her right leg, feeling for the tension he’d know to be there. “I hadn’t known his caretakers had forced him off on his own.”

He felt her muscles tense up again. “What?! Why would they do that?!”

“Calm down priestess.” He sighed and delicately felt down her spine, “If this Sesshou-Maru’s story makes you react so violently, I will not continue it.”

She made a noise of denial, but she tensed up even more with his threat of silence. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

Sesshou-Maru sighed and began to work on the muscles again, continuing his story. “Isn’t it obvious why they sent him off? He is hanyou, a scorned breed.”

She hummed sadly in understanding. The corner of his mouth twitched, “Searching him out was easy enough. He was still young and immature – not unlike he is now – and I had extensive training in tracking. I found him hiding from lesser demons who wanted to make a meal out of him. He didn’t recognize me, of course. He’d never even laid eyes on me before. He tried to fight, naturally, his instincts overshadowing his common sense. I had to knock him out in order to travel peacefully with him.”

“Well, no wonder he doesn’t like you! You’ve been a bit violent to him ever since you’ve met him!” Her tone and scent were of enlightenment, not accusatory. Sesshou-Maru let it go this time, ignoring her in favor of continuing.

“I did not want to bring him to the Western palace, I myself did not want to go there anyway.”

“Why didn’t you want to go home?”

He repressed a sigh, keeping the scent of her curiosity in his head. “I do not like home.”

“Why don’t you like going home?”

He shifted his hand to her other leg, pressing his thumbs against the tense muscles. She squeaked in the bit of pain his actions caused, but she didn’t tense. “Those who live there are no better than thieves and cons waiting for my demise.”

“Oh…” He waited for a moment for the next question, and he wasn’t disappointed. His nose was simply burning with her confusion and curiosity: “So, why do you go home?”

“It is a magnificent place, one I hope to make even more attractive with the eradication of my enemies.”

“Well, if it’s so pretty, then why don’t you go home more often to see it?”

“I do not need to continually go to places and refresh my memory.”

She turned her head to stare back at him, and he was the met with large, inquisitive blue eyes. “Photographic memory?”

“Foe-toe-graff-ick. What is that?”

Embarrassment and uneasiness suddenly permeated her scent. He found he enjoyed neither. “Er… It’s just a fancy word to describe a memory so good that it’s just like seeing a… a painting each time you think of it… It’s like you see everything at once… I think…”

“If that is what this… foe-toe-graff-ick memory is, then yes. It is common among Taiyoukai.”

Her eyes frowned at him, “Isn’t that… distracting though? To see all of those things at once? Can your mind process it well or do you go crazy every now and again?”

“You forget I am not human.” Her eyes and scent begged him to elaborate. “Some youkai believe human minds are only meant to process so much to keep them alive. For Taiyoukai, very few things can kill them, we are allowed a more... broad perspective.”

She didn’t seem at all insulted with his assessment, “That’s an interesting concept.” She turned suddenly and grabbed the book nearest to her. Mathematics? She flipped to a random page without so much as a single glance and flashed it in front of his eyes. Closing it, she waited expectantly.

He couldn’t help the slow smirk that crept across his lips as he stared at her, his tail flicking in amusement. In his minds eye he could still see the terribly drawn little pictures she decided to torture the text with. “May I inquire as to why you decided to make a likeness of Inu-Yasha being beaten over the head by a tree?” Her blush was as bright as a cherry, “And why you decided to try to portray him in a child’s temper tantrum.”

Her mouth opened and closed several times, her face red, and her hand clenching around the book before she looked away, burying her face in her arms, “It was a bad day for both of us okay?!”

Sesshou-Maru took pity on her – just this once – and continued where he left off, “I did not want to bring him home. Mother would have killed him instantly, and I was weaker than her at the time. He and I traveled instead.” He fell silent for a moment, the memory of a young inu-hanyou with white pup ears smiling up at him crossing his mind. “I trained him as well as I could, but I was young, too brutal. I did not know how to teach one so young. He ran from me several times.

“Eventually, he saw this Sesshou-Maru kill a human samurai. He did not take to it well. I was never able to have him return to my side.”

There was a short silence, and Kagome seemed to understand he wasn’t going to say much more without prompting. “Why did you kill the samurai?”

“He threatened Inu-Yasha’s life.”

Her head turned again, and she was staring at him in confusion. “Hey, why would you want him to go with you again?”

“He is my brother.”

The scent of her confusion intensified, “But you always try to kill him.”

“Yes.”

She became exasperated with him and his short answers, “Why?!”

Sesshou-Maru repressed a grin as he flipped her over onto her back. He raised her right leg, “This one is currently without an heir, Inu-Yasha is next in line to become the Western Lord and Inu no Taisho. There are others in my court whom have no liking for him or hanyou’s. Which ever. They would kill him as soon as they saw him.”

Her expression was sad as she stared up at him, and he marveled at how many emotions she displayed in such a short time. “But… why do you try to kill him now?”

Sesshou-Maru stared for a moment into her ocean eyes, before becoming overwhelmed by the emotion in them, “It is better to be killed honorably by family than those who are not of blood.”

AAAAAA

A slender, deathly pale hand touched a cloudy glass vase, testing its worth. It was a simple thing, rare, not many could shape glass so perfectly and most were colored or of clay. He had no need for either. This one was perfect. Not to mention there was a black spell wrapping it, keeping it from breaking and instilling it with a form of death.

Naraku smiled pleasantly at the elderly man selling glass objects and handed over a generous amount of gold to him. There was no need to be stingy right now and bring attention to himself. It would defeat the entire purpose of being out and unrecognized.

He watched as the merchant carefully wrapped and packaged the glass vase, waiting impatiently for it to be handed over. He eyed other merchandise covertly, wondering what pretty little bauble he should steal for himself… or maybe Kanna… Kanna could be such a sweet girl. She always listened to him, always obeyed his every whim.

“Here you are, sir.”

Naraku smiled pleasantly at him, accepting the package while stealthily slipping two small wooden dolls into his sleeve. He turned away with a self-satisfied smirk and headed to the area of the small village which housed the youkai he had originally come to see.

The old demonic sorcerer possibly knew everything there was to know about magic. From the simplest of spells to the most horrific of conjures. And he was exactly the type of demon Naraku needed to see. Knowledgeable with a very eager need to share said knowledge. He wouldn’t be asking for any names or money. The only windbag just wanted the world to be more intelligent… what an idiot. Who cared about the entire world or other people? If Naraku had as much intelligence as he, then he would be keeping to himself.

Naraku slipped quietly into the old youkai’s dilapidated hut, allowing himself to blend in very nicely with the shadows. Warily he eyed the clueless demon, taking in his form. He didn’t look all that intelligent… in fact, with the cross-eyed look and horrid overbite (he was some sort of owl youkai… which didn’t add to his appearance), he appeared entirely stupid.

Should he even ask this unusual looking youkai for the information he needed? Would he really know or was it just an inflated ego that had him boasting about his astuteness? The hanyou frowned. Well he came this far…

“Your pardon, Anori-san.”

“You have some nerve boy, entering my home without permission.” Naraku’s eyes widened fractionally at the old owls voice. Smooth, attractive, so unlike what his exterior was. And he wasn’t at all surprised…

He bowed slightly, “Your pardon, Anori-san. I came to seek some information from you.”

The owl turned his head and looked him up and down (at least he *thought* he was), “What kind of information?”

Hopefully the demon was… well, demon enough to enjoy mayhem. “Knowledge of two very, very dangerous and banned spells.”

Instantly the demons interest was piqued and a slow, rather evil smile appeared on his face. A bit of red entered the cloudy eyes, anticipating whatever he was about to share. “And just which ones are you thinking of boy?”

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A.N. I apologize for the long delay. You see, I’ve added another hobby to my long list and it’s been consuming my time (and money). But hey… making dollhouses rocks.

Please Regard Me Kindly,
I Agree