Between Eternity & Time
Chapter 4: In Your Future, and My Past

(Sesshomaru's flashback; set 150 years in Inuyasha's future and 50 years into Sesshomaru's past)

It was a time of peace among the inhabitants of the island, both youkai and human alike. That was, until an enchantress from the Continent had returned with a vendetta against the House of the Inu no Taishou. Upon finding out the old dog general had long since passed into the netherworld, and his eldest son had now inherited his title and duties, the enchantress' rage grew tenfold, and she sought to curse the seed of her misery instead.

She followed the youngling across the land for many decades, taking note of things here and there that may come in handy later. She also witnessed his adoption of a small human girl and thought, perhaps, she would curse the girl so as to witness the young demon lord's agony. However, while she noticed the cold youkai cared for the girl, she also knew that the child had nothing to do with her vendetta. Nor would the girl live nearly as long as she'd like for the curse to truly cause the kind of anguish she wished for the new lord to endure.

It wasn't until she came upon a chance meeting the demon lord had with another inuyoukai, a half-breed, one who seemed to know the elder male very well. She found out later they were half-brothers, the hanyou's sire being the same as Sesshomaru's.

Her wicked smile had widened then. Another son of the dog general who had shamed her clan so long ago... The perfect candidate for her revenge to put the demon lord through as much suffering as their father had caused her...

She had smirked then, making quick work of the spell she would cast on the young one, and when he'd stumbled into a secluded area, devoid of any of his companions from the village she attacked quick and precisely. The half-demon didn't even know what hit him before he was unconscious and she'd begun the ritual.

It took nearly three hours to complete but it was successful. She took care as she moved the cargo to a safer locale. It wouldn't do, after all, for her revenge to die just yet, now would it?

She grinned manically as she took off then, taking to the sky in search of the Lord of the West.

Oh, how she would enjoy this encounter.

Sesshomaru was unamused with his current predicament.

The witch had found him wandering around the countryside by himself one evening and, initially, he'd paid no mind to her as he simply altered his intended course. However, she'd flung her magicks into his path causing his step to falter. His mood had turned sour then, for he detested being interrupted with the intentions of others.

Though the magicks she'd sent hurling his way were strong, he noted, stronger than anything he'd ever felt before, and that in and of itself was the only reason that he held his tongue and asked her what it was she wanted so bad as to aggravate him.

And almost immediately after, he had wished he hadn't said anything.

She'd told him, in agonizing detail, of why she had returned to "this forsaken island", and that her main objective was taking revenge on his family for the wrongs they'd caused her. Neither of which Sesshomaru had been the least bit interested in as she told him how his father had single-handedly destroyed her clan.

Yet silent he stayed as he could feel the old power radiating off of her in droves. So much so to the point he thought he was having a hard time breathing. He'd only felt this power from one other being throughout his vast life, and that had been the old tree Bokusenou his father had known since his own puphood. Ancients that had powers like this were very rare these days, if not near extinct, and one whose aura could make him short of breath virtually impossible. Yet here she was before him speaking in her foreign tongue.

Her accent was strange to him, and she didn't try to alter it at all, despite being aware of the language the island used. He could make out most of the words she spoke, certain ones sticking out more than others such as "abhorrent", "devastating", "crucial", "revenge", "brother".

Sesshomaru's mind had been taken aback at that last word she had murmured as she paced about, a cautious eye on him at all times.

"What does he have to do with any of this," Sesshomaru had demanded. Inuyasha, was, after all, the least connected to their family. Why would the woman involve him in her feud with the daiyoukai of the West, he wondered, his instincts yelling at him to be weary of her words where Inuyasha was concerned.

Perhaps it was the companionship they had settled themselves easily into over the years since their human comrade's deaths so long ago that made him feel protective of his brother... or perhaps he'd simply grown to know the importance of family and the treasure a sibling was... Perhaps it was something akin to that...

"The youngest son of the dog general whom destroyed my clan will be the one to brave the brunt of my anger, dog demon. You will be the one to anguish and suffer for it when he dies," she cackled derisively as her silhouette faded away when Sesshomaru attacked. Her voice echoed all around him, "The agony the young one will suffer will undoubtedly bring the Inu no Taishou to shame, even from his grave. And will further shame the one who carries on his crown."

"Inuyasha has absolutely nothing to do with your vengeance, woman!" he bit out, seething inside at how unexpected this encounter had been. He hated not being in control, not knowing his enemies...

"He is an unfortunate bystander, but one whom you share the same blood with. The same blood which spilt that of my family's ions ago. The same blood that will drip lifeless onto the ground when the curse I've placed tears him apart forevermore."

And with that she was gone, vanishing somewhere Sesshomaru could no longer sense.

He aggravated about what to do for the next few hours as he searched his sibling out, stopping for the night to check his affairs among their father's castle before taking off again.

He had to see what kind of curse had befallen the hanyou before it was too late.

The following day found him traveling to the small human village Inuyasha had declared to be his during the time of Naraku. The humans there had accepted him easily from decade to decade and saw him as their protector, and by way of that, had accepted Sesshomaru as well whenever he'd deem it necessary to visit his sibling, though he paid them little attention when he did.

As he approached the small town, he could hear cheering coming from within, and his brow furrowed as he caught the sound of his brother's name spill from the tongues of the ningen.

His curiosity seemed to grow as he entered the village, children running along his stride asking him inane questions they didn't really care for the answers to- nor did he care to grant them- only to stop dead in his tracks. His eyes widened.

For what he saw before him, being patted on the head, hugged and smiled at was his brother.

In his human form.

On the day of the full moon.

What in kami's name is going on? Sesshomaru's breath escaped him at the queer feeling that went through his veins, wondering if this was the curse the old witch had been going on about.

Whatever it was, he would not receive his answers this morning it would seem, because the second his sibling's- now violet- eyes caught sight of him, they went wide with what looked to be apprehension, then changed the next second to absolute loathing. An expression his brother hadn't given him for many decades. An expression that took Sesshomaru off guard to where the boy was able to mingle his now midnight black hair in with the other ningens and escape his direct line of sight.

Very well, little brother, Sesshomaru thought.

He would wait then, until the evening to confront his unruly brother and demand his answers whether his sibling wished to give them or not.

Sesshomaru stared up at the moon, having wandered deep into the woods south of Inuyasha's village to think throughout the duration of the day.

His musings ceased as he stood up, deciding it was high time he seek out his brother and see what was going on with his human appearance. However, before he got too far he caught a whiff of a scent that alarmed him down to his core and bolted without thought to his left, seeking the ribbon of a scent trail the other had left floating in the breeze.

There! Sesshomaru thought, his mind latching onto it fiercely, refusing to lose it as he turned another sharp left, heading toward an area he knew harbored numerous hot springs. Only one thought occupied his mind. How, how had Inuyasha wondered out this far in his human state and now smelled as such? Had he lost Tetsusaiga? Is that what was the cause of this scent-!

He stopped suddenly, pausing among the overgrown brush that separated him and the hot springs. He peered through the leaves at the white head that laid back upon a rock rather suggestively, the being naked within the springs, one hand clutching his hot, rigid length while the other ran carelessly over his body.

"Niisan, I know you're watching me," came a deeper than usual voice from the body with its back to Sesshomaru.

The demon lord breathed in the scent of the one in the springs, confirming his suspicion again and walking forward, cautiously.

He stopped short when his foot hit something on the ground; upon closer inspection he found it was Tetsusaiga...

The being in the springs turned to face him, hand still on his sex, giving him a rather sultry stare with slightly clearer, golden eyes. Eyes the exact same shade as their father's. Eyes that, when he was in his half-demon form, were much smokier than this... One jagged, lavender mark ran along either of his brother's cheeks, the furry ears that once adorned his white crown having been replaced with elfish ears that rather resembled Sesshomaru's own.

The daiyoukai stared hard as the thought hit him as hard as a mountain would. He's in his full demon form. How is this possible?

"Why are you no longer half-demon yet still in control?" the stoic demon lord demanded. "You were human earlier today, Inuyasha... What has happened for you to be like this?"

Demon Inuyasha blinked, confused. "Him? Hmm, well..." the demon in the springs ho-hummed, rubbing his hands along his chest enticingly, keeping his eyes trained on the body of the demon lord before him. Such power his older brother radiated... It was tantalizing. "We've put him in a safe location. After all, if his body were to perish, so would we."

"Him? We?"

"You did say you met the ningen earlier, correct?"

Sesshoumaru's brows furrowed. What on earth was going on...

"I saw you earlier... in your human form..." Sesshoumaru tasted his words carefully as he said them.

"Well whaddaya know," the demon made a distasteful expression, shaking his head. "Such a useless human; couldn't even explain to you what happened. Or did he simply refuse to clue you in, I wonder."

Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed further. He despised being kept waiting and with such riddles...

"Heh," Inuyasha laughed deeply. "Why don't you join me for a bath and we can put that pout on your lips to better use, niisan." He laughed a little harder when his older brother's eyes narrowed to mere slits, red flashing behind his lids.

"You always get so angry all the time. Maybe getting laid will loosen you up," the younger inu leered. "But if you're not interested now, I suppose I can take a rain check."

"Inuyasha-"

"Yeah, yeah. So here's the skinny. Basically- for whatever reason- we split into three... I guess you could say."

"Three? What you're saying makes no logical-"

"It's a curse. That's all I know. I don't know why, and I don't know who did it. But I know it's a curse."

...What?

"Stuff like that leaves a funny feeling on your skin for a while. Anyway, we stashed the dud in a cave where his body will remain safe. That way we can go and live our separate ways."

What?

The taller inuyoukai couldn't help but ask, "What do you mean by dud?"

A sly smile creased over the now-demon Inuyasha's face. "Dud. The failure, the flop, the letdown, the- Heh, well I suppose you know him better as your half-breed brother."

That was when it hit Sesshoumaru like a mountain of boulders.

There were THREE of them then. Two of which were actively roaming the world freely. One, whom was his true brother, that was locked away. That was why the human Inuyasha he'd seen earlier that day had exuded nothing but anger and resentment (masking his fear and fragility), and this... this demon form of his sibling radiated nothing but sexuality and confidence.

This is unacceptable!

Sesshoumaru bolted forward, capturing demon Inuyasha by his throat and slamming him into a boulder not too far off, saturating his own clothing in the process. "Where is he," the youkai sneered.

"Easy now, no point in getting all riled up, niisan. He's basically a shell of what you used to know. Without me or the ningen he's just a souless, fleshy doll."

He didn't mean-

"You know what I mean, niisan."

If what he was saying was true... Then the half-demon Inuyasha... could not exist if one or both of the sides which made him half-demon were not willing to transfer back into his body.

Sesshoumaru didn't even register when he'd been thrown back to the other side of the spring, his brother- No, this demon form of his sibling- pinning him easily. His eyes widened almost inpercievably.

The younger demon laughed. "Surprised? I'm the demon part of him, not to mention of the same blood of our father; of course I can hold my own against you. Now, I wasn't able to do that when we were all in that one form, but that's because of the blood craze, but mostly because when that sword of father's left my hands, the ningen and I would battle for dominance so fiercely that I'd inevitably win and force him into submission. That's a heady experience each time it happened. Being kept mostly dormant will do that to you, though, I suppose," he said thoughtfully.

"However, since I'm completely full demon now, I'm more than aware of everything, including my abilities," demon Inuyasha smirked. "Now, about that rain check, niisan." Inuaysha eyed the struggling daiyoukai under him.

Sesshoumaru knew his little brother wasn't overpowering him but the fact that he kept his grip right on the vein on his neck with sharp claws kept him from lashing out and pushing the younger male away from him.

"You'll indulge my hunger, won't you? I'm terribly unsatisfied sexually. That stupid half-breed wouldn't even make a move bolder than a kiss on any of his human women. He wouldn't even indulge that lecherous monk when they'd been alone traveling for months."

Sesshomaru's eyes flashed. What was WRONG with him? This wasn't his brother at all. Not even a fraction of his personality was like this... Did he truly not know his sibling at all to find this so bizarre?

"Niisan, you are too easy to read," demon Inuyasha laughed throatily, leaning heavily against the taller male. "You're like an open book."

"Do not presume to know-"

"Oh, I'll presume, alright. Because unlike you, I know you. Right now you're thinking how strange I am from the brother you knew. And it's true, you know. But regardless," demon Inuyasha brushed his lips lightly over his elder brother's cheek markings, inhaling his heady aroma.

"I'll let you in on a little secret, niisan. Parts of each of our personalities make up that of your half-breed, but not completely. It's like a recipe, I suppose. You have two different ingredients, and when combined, they make up something completely different. So while I know you don't have a care in the world for me or the ningen, you are quite fond of that half-breed," the demon said scathingly, his voice turning darker, angrier. "Why is that, niisan? Is it a taste from father?" he bit out.

That had been the last straw.

Sesshomaru pressed himself back at an odd angle against the boulder and then vaulted the unsuspecting demon on him away.

"I don't have time for you, or your childish jealousy. You will return to his body, along with the ningen."

"Oh, you think so, do you. No way in hell," he snarled, eyes bleeding red.

And that was when Sesshomaru witnessed something he thought he never would. Inuyasha transforming into a white inuyoukai, its size comparable to his own transformed state. It was surreal and took him off guard for no more than a widening of eyes before they snapped shut, opening wider in electric red and blue, his body's girth changing as well.

He would meet his brother in battle, if that was what it took to save him.

Chapter end.

Author's Note: The fact that I'm bringing this fic back to life is thanks to a certain fanart over at deviantART which you can find in my profile labeled "Between Eternity & Time Revival Inspiration".