Pearl of the Underworld by MissTeak

Prelude

I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters who would subsequently appear in this story.

A/N: MissTeak’s here with a full length canon universe drama/adventure story! I hope you guys will like this one; all of you have been such fantastic friends and readers throughout these years. You made fanfiction writing the best thing that has ever happened to me, and now I found myself unable to live without writing fanfiction.

This chapter will be a preview chapter, since I am still working on other stories as of now in other fandoms. Whether I would expand this into a full-length story really depends on whether the readers want me to.

This story deals with the supernatural, and there will be adult themes throughout the entire story. You’ve been warned!

Pearl of the Underworld

Chapter One

Prelude

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The sobbing grew louder with every step he took.

The harsh, breathy sobs punctuated the deathly silent night air, before rising in volume to end in an agonized, unearthly wail. The agony and sorrow that resonated so strongly in the desperate wail crashed against his senses like a tidal wave. The power of the angst was sufficient to make anyone on earth forget all other emotions; that was how raw and angry the pain was.

Lord Sesshoumaru of the Western Lands stopped abruptly in his steps. His hypersensitive hearing strained to pick up the exact direction from which the sorrowful cries were coming from, but try as he might; he was unable to pinpoint a location. It was as if he was caught in the middle of a vortex, and the sorrow was swirling all around him while growing more intense by the second.

“My most honorable Lord Sesshoumaru, why have you stopped?” His retainer, Jaken, asked in utmost surprise. It was most bizarre to see his lord…confused, not that he would ever dare speak about it. The surroundings were still deathly silent and almost pitch dark, and the toad demon’s demonic instincts did not pick up anything out of the ordinary.

“Jaken.”

“Yes, my lord!”

Sesshoumaru cast a sideward glance at the retainer by his feet. The toad demon did not seem to be fazed in the least, even with the blood-curdling cries of sorrow resonating throughout the vicinity.

“Did you hear that?”

Jaken was genuinely confused; what could it be that Lord Sesshoumaru was talking about? The night was silent, almost completely so save for the sounds of their footsteps shuffling against the gravelly dirt path earlier. “Hear what, my lord?”

Something was amiss. Ignoring his faithful retainer, Sesshoumaru took a deep breath of the air, something that he usually did not have to do to pick up a subtle scent. Yet all that registered in his senses were the natural scents of the woods and running water from the deep mountains. There were no other scents, but he could have sworn he heard cries.

He could not be wrong; there was someone, or something, in the vicinity. What the young demon lord could not comprehend was his inability to detect whoever the sounds were coming from.

Cautiously, he took a measured step forward.

Bone-chilling wails rang out loud and clear into the night of the waning moon, and almost simultaneously, Sesshoumaru felt his trusty sword Tenseiga throb almost violently with a burst of demonic aura. The powerful force vibrated through the demon lord’s entire being and almost instinctively, Sesshoumaru swiftly pulled his sword out of its sheath and held it in a defensive stance in front of him. Tenseiga’s demonic energy roared and flared down the length of its blade, illuminating the surroundings with its aura.

“Show yourself.” He warned icily, well-aware that there was someone or something that was present in the area. There was something fishy going on, given that Jaken could not sense a thing. Being his retainer, Jaken was not a weak common demon; he should have sensed the cries by now.

The wails died down into a series of choking sobs, and if Sesshoumaru had been more of a weak individual, he would have felt his heart break. It was sad, with raw anguish rolling off in waves.

“Lord Sesshoumaru, what is going on?” Jaken shrieked in panic, raising his trusty Nintoujou staff high up into the air in preparation for battle. Looking around them cautiously, the old toad demon maneuvered his position such that he was standing back to back with his lord. Despite so, his demon senses still failed to pick up any hint of danger; the night was calm and silent as it had been. Was his lord out of his mind?

“Show yourself, whoever you are.”

Jaken gulped. Something was wrong, terribly so. He had followed Lord Sesshoumaru long enough to identify his fearless lord’s characteristic manner of dealing with potential threats, but this time round, he knew Sesshoumaru was unsure. “My lord, please enlighten this lowly one-”

“Silence, Jaken.”

Another high-pitched whimper of fear echoed around them, though Sesshoumaru noted how Jaken did not seem to notice anything. That sound did not belong to anything on this vast earth.

“This Sesshoumaru will not repeat himself.”

A few more sobs, and then he saw a flash of white emerge briefly from behind a tree. It was as if that creature was trying to peep at them. A pair of unearthly dark orbs stared unblinkingly in what Sesshoumaru could decipher as fear and wariness despite the distance between them. In that instant, their eyes met.

The next instant, Jaken found himself standing all alone on the dirt path as Sesshoumaru took off with his superior demonic speed in a flash of brilliant green to reach somewhere along the path. His lord materialized in a flash approximately about twenty feet down the dirt path, and Tenseiga was instantly raised and held out in front of him.

Jaken knew enough about the ancient ways of the sword to know that Sesshoumaru was holding Tenseiga in an offensive stance, poised to strike and attack, but he was pointing it at…nothing.

For at the tip of the sword’s blade, there was nothing but thin air.

True fear gripped Jaken; he could not even imagine the idea of his lord having lost his mind. Sesshoumaru couldn’t possibly be crazy, could he?

Sesshoumaru held Tenseiga firmly in his hand, staring unwaveringly in concealed surprise and morbid fascination at the individual at the other end of his sword. Dressed in a shabby white katabira, the traditional funeral robes, the creature had its face concealed by long, disheveled black hair.

Sesshoumaru had suspected it to be what it was moments before their eyes had met, but it was the feet, or the lack of them, that confirmed his suspicions. Beyond the knees where calves and feet should be was a mere wisp of pearly appartition. There was no scent or aura emanating from the creature.

The demon lord’s eyes widened a mere fraction.

The creature in front of him was clearly a yuurei, a wandering ghost who had been doomed to remain on earth due to the extreme emotions he or she had felt at the point of death. Predominantly females, the yuurei had suffered badly in life, dying a premature and sudden death from suicide, murder or battle. Having its life torn away from it so abruptly resulted in a surge of powerful emotions, be it anger, sorrow or worry. The strong emotions had been carried along into the afterlife barred the spirit from moving into Hell where it could get reincarnated into another life.

The land of the living had no place for a creature like this, which was no wonder why Sesshoumaru could not pick up its scent or sense its exact presence. But why was it that he could see it?

“Please… don’t hurt me…” The ghostly whisper floated by his senses, though it was clear that the ghost was not directing the statement at him.

“Vacate this land, before I remove you personally.”

The wandering ghost looked up at the sound of Sesshoumaru’s voice, and long dark hair parted to reveal a pasty white face, void of any traces of the essence of life. The skin was almost completely white to the extent of being pearlescent. The blank, unearthly doe eyes staring at him earlier now brightened considerably with a confusing mixture of fear and elation.

It was a female, and Sesshoumaru silently noted how young she was.

“You can see me?” A sweet, feminine voice, no longer marred by the sobbing and wailing, echoed around the two of them. Her pale lips turned up in a hopeful yet melancholic smile, something which told him of the beauty she possessed when she had been alive. “Can you really see me?”

Tenseiga throbbed again with a flare of demonic aura, and the female spirit cried out in surprise and flinched as if afraid of being burned. She hastily retreated in an instinctive self-defense reflex. Her immense fear proved to Sesshoumaru that she had been subjected to dangers and threats ever since she had died.

Of course, Sesshoumaru thought. Tenseiga is a sword to restore life to the dead by slaying the messengers from Hell and supernatural creatures. It comes as no wonder that this Sesshoumaru, the rightful owner and master of Tenseiga, could see the wandering spirit.

But what did Tenseiga want him to do? The erratic pulses of demonic energy radiating off his sword told Sesshoumaru that there was a message Tenseiga wanted to convey, but he had no idea what it was.

The spirit was without a body, so unlike how he brought Rin back to life, Sesshoumaru was unable to do the same for this wandering spirit. Besides, he had no incentive to do so.

“Please, can you really see me?” The voice was filled with disbelief as it echoed and reverberated around Sesshoumaru, resembling an echo more than a clear voice. The ghost raised a hand, extending it shakily towards Sesshoumaru’s leg. “What has happened to me? Am I…dead?”

“Silence, creature.” The demon lord said icily, watching the ghost stiffen and pull her hand back almost instantly. “Do not attempt to taint this Sesshoumaru with your unearthly filth.”

The derogatory comment from Sesshoumaru should have been offensive and fearsome, but the ghost was anything but scared. Instead, the smile became wider, and tears sparkled in the ghost’s lifeless eyes as she looked gratefully and hopefully at the demon lord.

“Please, I beg of you, honorable Lord…help me, please…” The ghost pleaded piteously, bowing repeatedly with its forehead almost touching the earthy ground. Her sweet voice enveloped Sesshoumaru in a vortex of swirling sorrow as it echoed. “I have no idea where I am and there are some very…very scary creatures out there that are after me…”

It had to be those Hell messengers and guards who were trying to take this soul away from the land of the living, but somehow, this ghost had obviously managed to hide from them so far.

“You’re dead. Your exact location is no longer a matter of concern. The only place you belong to now is Hell. This Sesshoumaru is warning you for the final time. If you do not vacate the Western lands this instant, this Sesshoumaru will see to it that your soul is obliterated.”

Her lifeless eyes widened as tears streamed down as if they had a mind of their own. The sorrow rolling off her entire being was almost too uncomfortable for Sesshoumaru to bear; never had he come across something so tragic, so painful. She must have died too suddenly for her to even figure out what exactly had happened to her, and part of him was irked to know that this bizarre case of abrupt death took place somewhere on his lands.

“But honorable Lord…if you do not help me, no one else can. I want to go home…I want to see my dearest mother and brother…” She sobbed, while her frail, ghostly body lurched forward with her immense sorrow. Her waxy pale face was frozen in a mask of agony; and Sesshoumaru fought the urge to shudder.

“If you don’t help me…” The beginnings of a sorrowful wail made Sesshoumaru clench his jaw in discomfort. “They’ll take me away…!”

“This is purely a chance meeting. You, insolent creature, have no right to demand any form of assistance from this Sesshoumaru.” The demon lord’s eyes narrowed as he said coldly, effectively cutting her sobs off.

“This Sesshoumaru has a word of advice. Leave. You no longer belong to this place. The only place you belong to now is the Underworld.” Sesshoumaru detested the Underworld. More specifically, he detested the individual named Naraku who ruled the Underworld.

He turned to leave, and the ghost whimpered helplessly upon realizing his intent. Frantically, she floated closer to him, extending her lifeless and weak arms to try to grip his legs. Unfortunately, her ghostly body was a mere apparition with no solid shell, and her shadowy hand passed right through his legs.

She tried again desperately to beg with him. “Please, please honorable Lord…I’d be indebted to you for life if you would help me…”

“For life?” Sesshoumaru smirked evilly, his eyes narrowing in sadistic mirth as he watched her try to reach for him. Her hand passed through his leg again, and the ghostly eyes wept more tears of desperation. “Do you even have a trace of life in you? Besides, do you really think this Sesshoumaru would ever need your help? Cease this foolishness.”

Her head shook slowly and almost lolled lifelessly around her frail shoulders. She looked up at him, mouth gaping to reveal a deep black void, but it was those eyes, melancholic despite being void of life, that reminded him so strongly of Rin back then. The unearthly, ghostly voice spoke up again.

“It is fated for us to meet…why would it be that no one else, except for you, can see me? Please, I beseech you, honorable and fearsome lord…please help me…”

Sesshoumaru had no idea what this ghost needed him to do, and logically speaking, a departed spirit should leave when the messengers and guards from Hell made a trip to the land of the living to take them away. If she was with her corpse, he might have been able to do something for her.

He looked at her condescendingly, disgusted by the pathetic cries she was making, before turning to leave. He sheathed Tenseiga. Ignoring the ghostly sobs echoing behind him, Sesshoumaru took a step forward before calling out, “Jaken. Let’s go.”

“Yes, most honorable Lord Sesshoumaru!” The toad demon was almost ecstatic at the prospect of leaving; he knew very well by now that there was something his lord could see and he could not, and it was nothing pleasant.

Frantically, the ghost clambered on its knees alongside the demon lord’s legs. “Please, please…they would hurt me if they found me…you, Lord Sesshoumaru, are the only one who can help me…”

He ignored her, staring stonily ahead. Tenseiga was almost rattling with anxiety from its position by Sesshoumaru’s waist, its demonic aura attempting to reach out to its master. It was then when the ghost wailed and moaned piteously, and threw herself at Sesshoumaru’s legs in one desperate final attempt.

Both were expecting her to fall right through his body, but nothing had prepared them for what happened next.

The ghost felt her body collide into something painfully, and her eyes widened in surprise at the first ever solid contact she made since she found herself wandering in the white funeral katabira robes. Sesshoumaru stiffened when he felt the solid force hit something by his side, and to his absolute surprise, saw the ghostly apparition leaning against…Tenseiga.

The sword’s immense demonic energy died down upon the contact, and the ghostly apparition’s eyes widened as she clutched the end of the sword sheath tightly in her bony, gnarled fingers.

“I…I can touch this…” She gasped in disbelief, and Sesshoumaru stared unblinkingly at the point of contact between her and his sword. What the hell was going on?

Glaring at the ghost for what he hoped was the last time, Sesshoumaru gripped Tenseiga’s sheath and wrenched it away from her unceremoniously, leaving her to fall in a heap onto the gravel. She fell soundlessly, her body coming into contact silently with the ground.

“No…” Her ghostly voice once again rose like an intruder from the fourth dimension in the night air. “No….please.”

The demon lord walked forward, and it was then when Tenseiga jerked violently on its own will, straining to hold Sesshoumaru back in the direction of the piteously sobbing ghost.

“What…what’s wrong with you, Tenseiga?” Jaken cried out in sheer surprise to see such an uncharacteristic display of defiance from the sword to Sesshoumaru.

Sesshoumaru came to a dead halt in his steps and turned swiftly to look over his shoulder at the ghost who was sprawled on the ground. Her eyes begged him piteously, and one frail elbow propped her torso up while the wispy tendrils below her legs became so thin and weak.

He turned fully to take a step towards her, and Tenseiga calmed down almost instantly.

Staring down upon her from his superior position, Sesshoumaru felt confusion engulf him. His brows furrowed ever so slightly.

Are you telling this Sesshoumaru to help her, Tenseiga…?

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To be continued…

A/N: Please let me know how you felt about this preview chapter and whether this story is worth being expanded into a full-length piece of work! I will classify it as a oneshot for now.