All rights to Inuyasha and its characters are reserved by Rumiko Takahashi

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Chapter 6: Son of Lilith

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Sai, if there's one thing I can tell you about culture in the Annex world its that humans love their little myths and stories. They love to talk about gods and demons and think just because some drunken poet wrote down some story about a god that its true. Well, as it turns out, they usually get the idea though they tend to get the specifics wrong.

Sesshomaru-

Age: 1503

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It had been the night before their supposed departure from 'meditating by a stream 101.' Despite the learning curve of having Sesshomaru as a teacher Kagome had made amazing progress in discovering how to boost her physical strength and endurance. He had even helped her learn how to create a small protective barrier around herself and control her body to the point where she barely had to eat or drink anything. Which she thought was pretty freaking awesome.

The best part was that after her little episode with Sesshomaru it had only taken her five days to learn all of them. The unfortunate part was that also meant five extra days spent with the demon lord with whom she now had a empathic connection to. Luckily she could only feel his emotions when he touched her or vice versa.

Luckily the connection only affected her and touching Sesshomaru was easy enough to avoid. He wasn't big on hugs.

What was not so easily avoided was the scroll's link to Sesshomaru's past which, as is just so happens, was her current problem.

The lack of trees almost took Kagome by surprise when she woke up. A immediate weariness overtook her as she realized that she was getting used to this.

White sand stretched out for as far as the eye could see. A strange feeling of importance flooded her as she looked out into the desert. Something was happening soon. Kagome's hairs stood on end.

She'd felt like this before. Many times in fact. Back in school when they would show old news reports or films from important moments in history. The moon landing, the Berlin Wall collapsing, grand speeches from old historical figures, all of them felt like this.

"So, where am I today?"

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Blue eyes closed as Sesshomaru sighed in a veiled attempt to hide his boredom. The sound of the slow methodical trotting his horse made in the sand was literally the only thing he could hear in this barren wasteland aside from the wind.

The sun beat down on Sesshomaru's robes and bronzed skin forcing the immortal to pull down the cloth covering his face and take a quick drink of the water from one of his water skins.

Placing the pouch back in the white silk robes he had been given for his journey Sesshomaru pulled out his map and reoriented himself. "Oasis, oasis, oasis, where in Zeus's name is that oasis? Near Mount Quarantania wasn't it?" Sesshomaru sighed again. "Why the hell the Romans want this place is beyond me."

The horse reeled back shaking Sesshomaru's concentration. "What?"

Shaking its head the horse began making a strange neighing sound. "What! What is it?"

Looking up the immortal was treated to the sight of palm trees, grass, and water. "Oh…good job."

Slowly plodding along until he reached the oasis Sesshomaru then jumped off his horse and began filling his water skins anew. The lapping and gulping sounds his horse was making right next to him reminded him of the lowest of the three pouches he was keeping on his person. Pulling it out the immortal let the wine he'd gotten in the last village slide down his throat giving him a refreshing warmth in his chest. "Ahhh."

Sparing a glace to his side he held out the water skin towards the horse.

"Want some?"

The horse reared back its head in acknowledgment then continued gulping down water.

Sesshomaru recapped the skin and placed it on his belt. "Suit yourself."

Taking his map out once more Sesshomaru tried to again resituate himself. "Okay, now that we're back on track…"

The sound of a horse sprinting caught Sesshomaru's ear as he caught the sight of a rider and his horse rushing past the oasis and towards the mountain in the distance. "Someone's in a hurry."

Focusing again on his map the immortal was once again roused by the sound of another rider chasing the first. "Hn."

Before Sesshomaru could look back at his map again several more riders raced past. "…Odd."

Curiosity getting the better of him Sesshomaru looked back and found the strangest of sights. The desert was rising up to meet him. The entire horizon was filled with sand and the sound of wind racing towards him in a deadly fury. "Oh…hoooly SHIT!"

Jumping on his saddle in one swift motion Sesshomaru kicked the horse into motion and whipped the reigns. "KYAH!"

The horse tore into the ground under it and raced forward. Sesshomaru knew he had to reach the mountain and fast.

Moments stretched into the eternity and the sound of the roaring wind became louder and louder.

The mountain seemed to grow larger and larger but always seemed just out of his grasp. Sand kicked up around Sesshomaru as the wind sent granules of quartz into his eyes. 'Come on, come on, you can make it!'

Minutes of heart stopping waiting passed before the immortal realized there was no way he could reach the mountain in time. A look back showed Sesshomaru a wall of sand reaching into the heavens descending upon his tiny form.

Within seconds sand blocked out his vision and turned the day's sky into eternal darkness. Sesshomaru could have sworn he heard his horse cry out before he was suddenly sent airborne only to land on the darkened dune knocking himself unconscious.

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The immortal had lost all sense of time. The only thing he knew was that his last breath of air had probably saved his life though he had no idea how much longer that would last.

The weight of compacted sand pressed down on him like and anvil.

Summoning his strength Sesshomaru burst from the sand and crawled back onto his shifting prison. Dusting himself off and pulling the sand encrusted cloth from his head the immortal shook out his shoulder length silver hair. He hated this part. Every time he wanted to go somewhere some god wanted tribute. Tribute that they would inevitably try to use so that he would be bound into their service for all eternity.

Best to just get it over with.

"Okay. Okay." Sesshomaru looked up to the sky speaking as sarcastically as possible. "I'm sorry."

Dark clouds formed from clear skies and loomed over the vast desert.

Sighing the immortal spoke again with a little more reverence in his voice. "Fine. I'm sorry I intruded upon your domain oh great dessert god!"

The clouds above him darkened ominously.

"Yes, I know I'm not supposed to be outside of my territory but I'm traveling these days. I have no intention of staying in your realm and I do not seek to interfere with your works. I only wish to pass through. You see I was on my way to Egypt and-"

Rain began to fall.

"…Right…" With a voice still tinted in sarcasm Sesshomaru hesitantly opened his arms in a prayerful gesture. "Oh, great and powerful god of this land, what must I do to broker passage?"

The rain stopped and the clouds began to part. Just as Sesshomaru was about to put his arms down a flaming sword shot down from the heavens and embedded itself in the ground not a meter from his feet.

Stepping forward Sesshomaru placed his hands on the sword causing the flames around it to dissipate.

The immortal weighed the sword in his hands before responding. "You know…the Olympians would have given me a sheath as well just out of common courtesy."

The sun darkened and the sky turned red.

Sesshomaru took a defensive step back. "Okay! Touchy subject."

Blue skies returned and the clouds parted.

Examining the sword he noticed several symbols from different cultures all roughly translating to 'defend.' With a sigh Sesshomaru bound the sword with his sash and continued on towards the mountain that was decidedly not Qarantania.

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There was no heat from the sun and thirst did not touch Sesshomaru's throat yet the immortal was still disquieted.

"I hate this desert. I hate this sword…" Sesshomaru looked up to the sky. "And I'm not particularly fond of you either."

From nothingness he sensed a new presence by his side. "Greetings."

Sesshomaru looked to his left finding only a human in dirty robes. He was by no means extraordinary except for the suddenness of his arrival. The man wore a uncut beard and long hair that did little to improve his obviously worn appearance. When he spoke his voice was dry and weak.

"It would seem we are to travel together."

Sesshomaru knew the language of this land well though he had a sincere distaste for it. Regardless he switched tongues seamlessly. "So it would seem."

"I am Yeshua ben Yosef. What is your name?"

"I have no need to give you my name."

"It is impolite not to introduce yourself to someone who has given you the courtesy."

"…I have many names. One for each land that I travel. You may call me Karael."

"From where do you come Karael?"

"Very far away and I have no need to know from whence you came."

"Very well. Are you here because of my father?"

"I know many by the name Yosef. But none have sent me."

"That is not the father I speak of."

Sesshomaru took another look at the man and cursed himself for not noticing it the first time. "In a manner of speaking."

"You are a man of few words."

"I wish to be done with this…quickly if possible."

"You may be disappointed. Even if the mountain is near."

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Kagome watched both Sesshomaru and his companion reach the foot of the mountain. Before them stood a massive stone archway that opened a pathway reaching upwards into infinity. The feeling was stronger here and the atmosphere almost leaked story book legend and epic fantasy.

As the immortal moved to walk up the path Yeshua stopped him.

"What lies above is for me alone. You may follow me for a time but soon we will part ways."

Sesshomaru said nothing and stepped around the man.

Both climbed the mountain for days following the pathway into the sky until Sesshomaru came upon a grotto of grass and stone. It was here that he stopped and rested while Yeshua continued on.

Time flowed as he waited for Yeshua's return. Until one day Sesshomaru heard footsteps coming not from the path above but the path below.

Drawing his sword Sesshomaru stood at the opening of the grotto and drove the blade into the ground.

From the path came five travelers several young but one old. Their leader halted them before Sesshomaru who stood tall behind the sword with his hands on its pommel.

"We seek passage."

Sesshomaru glared at them with emotionless eyes. "This path is occupied. Turn around."

"The road is long and we have traveled far."

"Then you are welcome to wait with me until the way opens."

"We have no time to wait. We must pass now."

"Patience is a virtue. Surely one so old knows this. Though perhaps you are afraid your time will come before I relent."

"I have some years left in me yet boy."

"The skin you wear suggests otherwise. Cast it aside and be done with your lies."

The travelers paused some time yet attempting to fool the immortal until the flesh faded from their forms revealing five creatures from hell all as deformed as the next. "Our quarrel is not with you outcast only with your companion."

"The path is closed. Stand away."

Walking staves turned to swords as the demons stood their ground. "You know what his kind did to your people. You should feel no allegiance to him."

Sesshomaru said nothing.

"Stand aside Son of Lilith. This is justice for our kind and yours. That and know well our Lord is generous both in power and in anger."

The immortal's eyes narrowed and his grip on the sword's pommel loosened. Wicked smiles decorated the minions of hell as they knew their words had struck true. "You speak of blood for blood…pass as you will. My sword shall not harm you."

As the leader advanced Kagome saw in Sesshomaru a coldness she had only previously seen in amber eyes. This was the demon lord she remembered so well.

The immortal's claw sprung from the pommel almost faster than the eye could see. But in that movement he easily reached out and tore through the leader's throat. Emotionless as the day Kagome met him Sesshomaru looked down on the other demons having already decided their fate. "I however will not be so merciful."

And so he slew them with grace and speed becoming of the demon lord he would become. With his hands drenched in blood Sesshomaru withdrew the sword from the ground and returned to his grotto.

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Yeshua returned from the summit three days later exhausted and victorious.

Sesshomaru said nothing but tended to the man's hunger and thirst with fruit and water from the grotto.

"My trial has ended."

Looking down from the mountain Sesshomaru saw an army standing at the foot of the hill advancing slowly up the path. Dark Legions spread far and wide for as far as the immortal could see. "I think not."

Yeshua regarded the immortal with quiet dignity. "My father seeks to test me once again. It is as if he takes pleasure in striking me with torment."

"How many times has he struck you?"

"I have passed the test of temptation. But I fear this will be a test of pain."

Sesshomaru stood silently for a moment watching the darkened figures advance. "For the first blow to fall is not necessarily a bad thing. It underscores a point about love and trust that a child may even profit from. But the second-"

The immortal drew his sword.

"In this case, there will be no second."

Yeshua stirred uneasily. "You need not throw your life away so needlessly. My father will not allow us to die. His power will protect us."

Celestial fire surrounded the sword augmenting its welder with strength, speed, and endurance far beyond the imaginations of most. "No. His power will protect me and I will protect you."

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Sesshomaru spent one day traveling down the path before he met the foot soldiers of the Dark Legions. Vile and deformed as the five before they ran up the narrow path and met only death.

The immortal swept through them like a plague striking them down with a fury as cold as the blue in his eyes. Their hearts were as weak as their strength failing to strike him even once as he cut them down.

But it was on the third day, when no more of the deformed masses stood, that Sesshomaru met blades with the Legion's true warriors. With wings as white as their brothers the tiny gods came. Though they were the lowest of their kind and no match for the augmented immortal alone blood forged spears struck true now and again. Yet they could not kill him.

On the fourth day Sesshomaru reached the bottom with a tattered robe tinted with his own blood and saw the field filled with the Legion in numbers that had not been seen since the First Great War of Creation.

None advanced to meet him and he took no more ground for himself.

A voice materialized from nothingness.

A voice from Sesshomaru's past that filled him with such rage that it threatened to boil his very soul.

A voice that emanated such power that all who heard it were in awe and could think on nothing but its source.

An angel of old and storied power appeared between the immortal and the multitudes. His light brought fear and humbled all who called themselves powerful and forced all others to cringe away with fear.

In a robe of white and wings as pure as anything else in creation the angel stood speaking not with a booming voice but with a calm and regal air that flowed like wine from a cask.

"You are beginning to evince a moral superiority which I find both irritating and unattractive."

Sesshomaru stood, unimpressed.

"It has been a long time, hasn't it Karael. Or should I call you Sesshomaru?"

"I care not what you call me, Lucifer Morningstar."

"When I saw you last you came only up to my waist. Now look at you."

"…"

"I must admit I find myself surprised to see you in His service. Payment for crossing the dessert I hear. Not quite what you bargained for I imagine."

"You would not have shown yourself if you did not have something to say. Speak your peace quickly. I have all of hell to put down."

"I do look forward to the day you have time to speak with someone such as me. Strangely you have always complained that the Gods are too removed from their subjects yet you refuse to speak with the one who is always happy to converse."

"…"

"Very well. I offer you passage through this land in exchange for unhindered passage through path behind you."

"I am but one. And you have quite the army. Why negotiate."

"I have no wish to kill you Sesshomaru."

"I think it is because you know I have not taken a side and you yet seek for me to be your champion."

"An added benefit I must admit."

"You know the second I let you pass or strike at you with this sword I am bound to the fate of this land and its gods."

"Would that be so terrible? I can think of few gods as powerful as I and fewer still as fair. I know your heart Sesshomaru and I know what you want…or rather who you want. You know I can bring them back. No strings and no monkey's paw. Eventually a god will claim you. But here I stand presenting you with a choice.

Outcast and abandoned, immortal and alone, would you rather serve as a tool of celestial tyranny awaiting the beck and call of a power that deems you nothing more than the sword in your hands? Or perhaps you wish for freedom? For family? For equality?

I offer you a place in my Legion, a place at my side, not as a tool but as an equal. You could be so much more than this Sesshomaru, you know it and I've seen it. And the only way you are getting out of this without choosing a side is by killing all my brothers. Sword or not I think we both know how that will end.

Join me Immortal, Destined, and Son of Lilith. Stand with me and your outcast brothers."

Sesshomaru stood in silent contemplation staring down the blond haired and blue eyed angel that stood before him. And as he looked into the chilling depths of the first born he loosened his grip on the fiery sword letting it fall to the ground.

Lucifer smiled as he opened his arms to greet his new brother.

But Sesshomaru did not move. "You can not lie to me Lucifer Morningstar."

The angel's hands dropped. "You know better than most. I never lie."

"You mentioned only three choices. But I count a fourth."

"I never said you had only three choices. That's hardly a lie."

"Your lie was that you know my heart. If you did you would know two simple facts. I kneel before no god! And I admit no one as my equal!"

The angel grimaced summoning a golden spear to his hand.

"But I do admit two things Lucifer Morningstar. That I am only bound if I use the sword." Sesshomaru gestured to the fiery sword at his feet drawing the celestial fire around it onto his hands. "And that you and I have unfinished business."