Author's Note: Hello readers and thank you very much for choosing to read this story. I would like to start off by saying that I do not have ownership over Inuyasha or any of its characters. The story will be in Alternate Universe however not the usual universe people read about (i.e. modern day). The setting will be a fictional place and a fictional time however it bares resemblance to the setting of Ancient Japan and a crossover with ancient Europe (if you're a Square-soft/Square-enix fan, think Star Ocean: Till the End of Time except with an Asian twist). To be honest, it's my first try on something scifi-ish. I was inspired to write this after watching Full Metal Alchemist, Inuyasha, Elfen Lied, and Blood Plus. Then I was even more encouraged to write it after re-playing Final Fantasy 8 (the song Succession of Witches in the game kind of inspired me too xD!). Once again thank you for reading this story and I hope you enjoy it.

Reviews and Constructive Criticisms are welcomed. I ignore flames ;D.

(FOR THOSE WHO ALREADY READ THIS CHAPTER) BY THE WAY IF YOU'RE WONDERING WHY THE SAME CHAPTER IS UPLOADED, IT'S BECAUSE MY STORY GOT DELETED HERE'S THE SAME CHAPTER! NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE UPDATED...WHEN I FEEL LIKE IT (LOL) THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS BTW

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Chapter 1: Succession of Witches

The ominous atmosphere and silence of the cathedral could've frightened even the gods themselves. Yet in this very cathedral was the sole foundation of hope in the citizens' eyes founded. On the graceful yet dark stained glasses on the sides of the church depicted a story so inhuman and at the same fascinating.

The Succession of Witches.

Haunted faces of the condemned and the horror of the condemner's justice were filled in each illustration.

While in the altar of the calendar sat a stone of pure marble; a work of art that served the devil's purpose.

"Are the preparations ready?" a monk questioned in the darkness, cloaked with crimson robes.

"Sir…" replied nervously by his zealous apprentice. It seemed his voice quaked as he uttered the word.

"What has gone wrong?"

"…"

His answer could not be voiced for beyond the doors that protected the cathedral was a monstrosity they could ever imagine. Horrors and screams echoed loudly and torturously through the walls.

The monk gaped in horror. After months of preparations and practice, the hour has come. Time has stolen from him the one thing that mattered…

"Sir we must leave!" begged the zealous apprentice. His body quivered fearfully under his black robes. His eyes shone with great fear at his superior. He could already feel of it of course. Both of them could. The demonic presence was about to enter the cathedral, and it seemed from the screams that their bodyguards were massacred. "He's come to pass judgment my lord!" His mouth was left open and shaking. He did not know what to do.

The monk tried to think of an escape. The cathedral was an enclosed area in the castle. There were no escape routes or trap doors they could use. Confound it!

He then gaped at his apprentice, staring at the frantic hands that held on to him. "We must protect her."

As if broken by a spell, the apprentice immediately let go of his master and was taken back by his response. "That's blasphemy! The gods can protect themselves!"

THUMP

The great doors were almost opened by a great force from outside.

"My lord!" begged the apprentice. "What can we do to protect the lady?! We are mere mortals who have no power over life and death!"

When the monk gave him no answer, the apprentice quickly fled to the altar and stood before the Witch's Statue.

"What are you doing?!"

"There's no other way!"

"Do you not trust in the lady any longer?!"

Driven mad by fear, the apprentice laughed maniacally. Though he learned of the demon's intrusion hours before, he didn't know it could easily defeat the castle guards and the other monks housed in it. If his master wasn't willing to save his young and selfish apprentice, then the apprentice must end it himself. His eyes burned with rage and fear, perplexed by the confusion of emotions itself.

"Don't do it!" yelled the outraged monk.

Putting his hand underneath an opening in his cloak, the apprentice took out a dagger. It was dull yet it gleamed like silver. The hilt and guard were decorated elaborately with gold and bronze, with a gothic cross as its crest. Then, without a moment's hesitation, he plunged the blade's end upon his heart and instantly pulled it out, killing himself instantaneously.

A crimson shadow seeped on the marble floor as the dead apprentice fell to the ground. A dark pool of blood surrounded the corpse, staining the pure white marble of the altar.

The monk's face was aghast with horror and melancholy. His only apprentice ended his faith and life with the Witch to escape a mortal fear. Alone and clueless, the only action to do was to wait for judgment to pass on him, waiting for the doors to open.

Alas! The doors burst open, revealing a dark figure upon the doorway. The monk's fear blinded his side as the pressure in the atmosphere seemed to have become overpowering. Sweat trickled down his hooded head, making his face glisten upon the light given by the stained windows.

All he could see in the darkness were red eyes that glowered in the bleak shadows of the cathedral.

"Save me…" the monk panted breathlessly as he fell on his knees, staring upon the dark creature. He felt weak and helpless, like a prey being hunted down by the heinous predator of life. His bulging eyes widened in horror as the dark creature pulled out a long katana. It gave a scarlet sheen, showing the blood from its previous victims. And slowly the demon took steps toward the monk, piercing him with the devil's blade.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Rin opened her eyes to the sounds of screams echoing in her mind. She felt a jolt of dread and terror waking her from her peaceful dreams. Her eyes wandered around her shabby tent, looking for danger. Still lying down on her straw-made bed and pillow covered with a rag of a blanket, her body shivered with fear as the sound of gentle rain poured softly on her weak tent. Looking up, she found small holes through the water-proof cloth where tiny rain droplets fell on her head.

It's raining…

She could feel the soil beneath getting damp as the rain gradually became stronger. Lifting herself up, she put her worn-out blanket over her head to cloak her body and exited her shelter into the world of rain.

The angry winds blew gusts at her; trying to push her away from the direction she was headed. Carefully walking around the tent, she disassembled her make-shift shelter and wrapped it an oilcloth, tying it to drenched back.

It was still late at night for the world was pitch black. Dark clouds loomed in the skies, blocking the luminous moon. The rain grew heavier and heavier as it started beating her young and feeble body, as if frozen rocks were being poured down from the heavens. And the frigid air cracked her skin, making it more painful to go on with just a yukata and a rag cloth to protect her from nature's anger.

Rin used the silhouettes of the surrounding trees to guide her path. She knew uphill was a cave in which she could rest. However, what she didn't know was what horrors or creatures it housed.

The soil beneath her gave way as it turned into dense mud, preventing her bare feet to walk the speed she wanted. It seemed as if she was sinking into the soil, but Rin paid no heed to it for giving into fear would mean to be devoured by it.

I can still make it, she thought persistently.

The heavy tears the clouds made flooded everything in sight for not only is the soil turning into mud, but it seemed that the road she walked had flowing water. Thunder and lightning roared throughout the night sky, frightening the vulnerable.

However, even through the storm, Rin persisted.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

"Where is she?"

"… Not here."

Two dark shadows stood in the altar where the apprentice and monk's corpses lay lifeless and drenched with blood. Anger seemed to have swelled in one of them for the creature clenched his fists tightly.

"She must've fled when they learned of our intrusion," added the feminine voice. Dressed in a black hakama and topped with a robe of similar color. The sleeves were elaborately decorated with cherry blossoms with petals as pale as the moon hovering in what seemed to be a night sky.

The other creature loomed over the shadows, making his appearance to be invisible as it was protected by the darkness. "It amuses me… the obsession these humans have." The man's voice trailed off. He observed his vicinity, studying the art of sculpted marble and paintings decorated upon the walls depicting their religious history. "I just adore the art, though."

Unsure of what to say to such a random statement, the woman's eyes squinted. Her scarlet eyes continued to watch her superior, confused with his reaction.

"I hear the rain."

"Should we leave?" she asked. His spontaneous change of subject bothered her for it was atrocious of him to speak in such manner.

The man grinned at her question as his eyes fell upon her. He stepped away from the shadows, revealing a man with long, untamed raven hair, eyes similar to the woman's, and a face as pale as the moon's. His hand held a pale sword stained with drying blood.

"Do you think she's not so far?"

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Rin sighed in relief. After finding the cave empty, she gladly set up a bed by using the dead leaves found on the ground and her rag as her covering. Then she quickly positioned herself to sleep while clutching a sheathed dagger close to her chest. On the dagger was a familiar gothic cross engraved with gold and bronze and its sheathed lined with silver. She closed her eyes, breathing heavily and her body frantically shivering from the rain. Her ears listened carefully to the sounds nature made.

I never knew, she thought sleepily, that even the world weeps in its darkest times.

Her dreaming mind meandered into her past. Back to a time when she was young… when her deceased mother was alive.

"Once upon a time…the land was young and humans were only in small numbers. Demons walked the earth with such terror and hate that the humans revered them as feared minions of hell. Using this point of a view, a group of corrupt and zealous humans practiced arts of demon slaying and later took heinous leadership over the humans."

Her mother's eyes looked lovingly at the small child, whose eyes drooped heavily, almost asleep. Her voice echoed the story soothingly and reminiscently as if she was gazing upon old times.

"But they wrong. They were rarely any demons who committed acts of hate towards the humans. However, humans mistreated demons and killed off the innocent"

Her hands caressed her child's face as she watched her fall on the brink of slumber.

"But there were good humans who treated the demons as their own. Some fell in love with the other creature, and lived together as a family. Their offspring were gifted children who had unimaginable powers. They were called hanyou, half demon and half human.

This joyous union was frowned upon and soon they were ostracized. Humans and demons who had views that were different from their kind were left alone in the world, and their children were outcasts of society… never belonging to a human or a demon."

The sorrowful tale brought small Rin's attention to her mother. Her eyes gazed sadly upon the words she uttered.

"In a time of war and hate, a hanyou girl was born named Aishou. Growing up, she never had companions for there weren't any of her kind. Her father who was a demon, died protecting her and her mother from an angry mob of humans; her mother was killed by a priest who thought of her as a demon's whore and an impurity in the world.

Wrought with grief and devastation, hatred flamed in Aishou's body. The desire for revenge welled inside her, turning her into a merciless killer. Aishou then made it her oath to defeat the corruption that caused her parents' deaths.

Using her powers she massacred the demon slayers, unifying humans and demons."

Rin woke from her slumber. She was having dreams again of that night.

Trying to forget about her dream, her hazel brown eyes peered to the world outside of the cave. Out there, golden beams of the sun swept the forest as it slowly rose among the mountains. The rain clouds from the night before were nowhere in sight. Birds chirped sweetly in the morning air as the sky grew golden red, tinted by the sunlight. Thin, white clouds traced the sky as the gray remains of the night were washed away by the sun.

Deciding it was a good time to continue her voyage, she quickly packed up her belongings in the oilcloth tied to her back and her dagger hidden inside her yukata. Stepping outside, she couldn't help but notice the debris and damage left by the storm. There were several trees that fell to the ground with its roots sticking out from the soil; and muddy soil covered with brown puddles where leaves stay afloat.

Rin set foot on the path she previously walked and took the road that led to the village nearby. Hoping not only to find directions for her destination (which was the old capital, Heian Kyo), but also food.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The great dog demon Sesshoumaru gloriously walked the earthen path with his tiny and irritable servant, Jaken. He was on his way, sent by his father, to Heian Kyo, the old capital where the largest and holiest temple was located (though many humans call it a cathedral, he did not care). His mission? Sesshoumaru was uninformed of his purpose there, but since it was his father who ordered him to go, the great demon was obliged to do so.

Obligation or not, however, he did not like it. Heian Kyo was located in the eastern part of the country where much of the humans settled and continued the development of their civilization. His kind belonged in the Western Lands where the Celestial Wench … or witch, he could not recall what the wench was called… placed his kind to live in.

The walking toad beside him knew the irritation his master felt when it came to his journey. Being in an area filled with humans disgusted him.

Suddenly, Sesshoumaru ceased to a halt and so did his acquaintance. His nose silently sniffed the air, smelling the putrid stench of filthy humans. There was a group of them, probably bandits waiting somewhere in the forest and another human walking down the same path seemingly unaware of the bandits' presence. Immediately, his eyebrows furrowed. He did not expect to encounter humans until Heian Kyo, and this meeting irritated him.

"What's wrong mi'Lord?" Jaken asked loudly. His round, bulging snake-like eyes were filled with wonder and confusion at his master. What could it be that stopped their march?

Whatever it was, it seemed to have no longer bothered Sesshoumaru for after a few moments he went back to his walking.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Rin stopped abruptly after feeling an inauspicious presence around her. She looked around, looking for danger. However, danger was hard to spot for the trees seemed to have served as shelter for the shadows to creep.

Once in a while she heard leaves rustling or small twigs breaking, but she would convince herself that they're merely the forest animals. She resumed to her walk and slowly took a step. Once again she heard a twig snap.

Another step and before another twig could snap, Rin turned around sharply only to find her sight blinded once again by darkness.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

A/N: I would love it if you all would offer feedback. I hope it didn't bore you because after re-reading it I was bored of my own story! Haha. Well next chapter we'll wait and see, okay?

By the way Heian Kyo was the ancient name for Kyoto. However I am not basing this story on ancient Japan though the place resembles ancient Japan's setting… got me?

Oh yeah and I'm sure you're confused with the whole legendary tale and the religion. It will be gradually explained throughout the story, so don't fret!