In the beginning by Deaville

Prologue

IN THE BEGINNING

It was cold.

There was no other way to explain it. Kagome sat huddled for warmth at the base of the tree. She swore blatantly in her mind at the time period she was in, again wishing that a heater to take the place of the group's small campfire would magically appear sometime in the next five seconds. Quickly she congratulated herself on thinking ahead for once and bringing an extra set of clothes rather than having to wear her skimpy school uniform.

The snow drifted down majestically above her head covering any surface the cold white powder could find. Winter had come to feudal Japan once again. From Kagome's perspective the temperature was much lower than any she had seen in her own time, although it was probably just the absence of a nice cup of hot chocolate to look forward to that made things seem even colder. She suddenly remembered the blanket she kept in her amazingly overweight backpack. In a blur of motion she snatched the cloth from it's pouch and covered up in the blanket's protective grasp.

Inuyasha sat in a circle with the rest of the group listening to Myoga the flea. From the looks of Inuyasha whatever Myoga was saying it didn't seem too important. Unfortunately from what Kagome was hearing it most certainly was. "If you are so dedicated to defeating Naraku then you should at least go there." Shouted Myoga, trying desperately to reason with the stubborn half demon that would not even look at the flea.

"For the last damn time I'm not going to!" Yelled Inuyasha obstinately.

"We need to at least consider it an option." Miroku countered with usual serene voice. "Just because you don't want anything to do with your father does not mean that we should dismiss anything that could potentially give us an advantage."

"That's right. If there's a way to defeat Naraku hidden there we should at least take a look." Sango said, nodding her head in agreement.

"Please Lord Inuyasha I beg of you! If not to go there to pay respects to your father then you at least see your rightful domain at least once!" Myoga exclaimed, trying once again to plead to Inuyasha's sensibilities.

"Fine!" Inuyasha shouted. "We'll go to my father's stupid castle. But I'm not doing it to pay my respects, I'm only going there to see this archive you've been yapping about."

The rest of the conversation ended with Myoga's cheers of joy, Miroku congratulating Inuyasha for finally being sensible, and the loud cracking sound of Sango's giant boomerang hitting Miroku's head for some lecherous transgression. Normally Kagome would have joined in on the conversation and the fun but she was too comfortably nestled under her blanket. She watched with amusement as the night's antics carried on all the while trying to catch some sleep. Yet alas, it was just too damn cold.

******

Miroku, Sango and Shippo had split apart from Kagome and Inuyasha in favor of returning to Sango's abandoned village to make much-needed repairs to their weapons. In light of this fact Inuyasha had quickly tried to escape his fate of approaching his father's lands. Unfortunately for him Kagome was just as quick to remind him of his promise. She had to admit, she was curious.

After days of endless walking Kagome now gazed in awe at the giant castle they were approaching. Even Inuyasha was having a hard time trying to look unimpressed.

"Welcome to the center of the Western lands." Myoga exclaimed sounding more like a tour guide than a servant. "This castle and the lands that surround it are rightfully yours."

Marveling at the scope of his father's dominion Inuyasha expressed his surprise. "Really? The old man left all this to me?"

"Yes, he decreed that once you came of age you would rule the West just as he did decades ago."

Inuyasha pondered this a moment trying to find an appropriate answer. "What about Sesshomaru? Since he's older wouldn't he inherit everything?"

"Well... you see... your father decreed that even if Sesshomaru was in power during the time of your coming of age he would immediately relinquish his rule to you."

This time it was Kagome who spoke "What? Why?" The idea that a first born son was supposed to just give away his right to rule to his younger brother was preposterous in this time period. Why on earth would Inuyasha's father do something like that?

Although...it would explain Sesshoumaur's resentment towards Inuyasha.

"I do not know." Admitted Myoga woefully. "Most that served under Inuyasha's father are long since dead and the castle is abandoned so there would be no one to ask. And the Great Lord did not give me more specific instructions in his will."

The rest of the trip was made in silence. Each of them not daring to say a word as the great castle loomed ever closer with every step they took. The land near the castle was overgrown with shrubs and different weeds; obviously the area surrounding the castle had been a garden of some kind. Once inside the group was met with sheer extravagance. A giant fountain took up nearly all of the first floor with only small rooms and staircases of to the sides. No water spewed forth from the mighty structure although from its appearance it seemed to be in working order save for the dust it collected.

They made their way up floor by floor each resembling either a collection of bedrooms or some kind of dojo. Finally after Kagome swore she would not trudge up another set of stairs they reached a floor that looked like one enormous office. Myoga was quick to point out that this was where the ancient scrolls were.

Inuyasha jumped straight from where he was standing into a giant pile of scrolls and paper that had seemingly been left there to rot. It did not take long for Inuyasha to analyze the scrolls that looked important and those that did not. The ones he found illegible or boring he began to toss haphazardly behind him, ignoring Myoga's complaints that he was trashing the place.

Kagome sighed and went about searching for the historical texts. That was why they came here. Myoga had previously suggested that Inuyasha's father led a long life and had many battles with fearsome opponents. And that maybe the records of those encounters could hold some strategy to defeating Naraku. It was as Kagome commented earlier 'worth a shot' since several years had passed since their evil nemesis had appeared. Yet they still had not defeated him. For all the power that Inuyasha gained and the allies they collected it never seemed to be enough.

Kagome let a large pile of scrolls fall as Inuyasha blindly tossed a discarded group of paper into it. Kagome sighed again realizing that this could take forever. Suddenly from under the pile of scrolls something flashed a blinding light so bright it felt as if it had seared her retinas. Falling sideways she brought her arms up to block out the light. This of course caused her to ignore the fact that she had fallen and could not use her hands to slow her descent. Kagome realized this only when her head hit the ground with a resounding thwack!

Kagome woke to Inuyasha kneeling beside her with a worried look on his face. "Are you okay Kagome?"

"Yeah" she replied. "Did you see that light?"

"What light? I saw you just standing there and then you collapsed."

Kagome groggily stood up listening to the loud thumping noise that her head was apparently making. "You had to have seen it." Her wandering eyes immediately found the offending scroll. "This one, right here. Light just shot out of it. It was so bright I thought I was going to go blind."

Myoga hopped onto the scroll and began to inspect it. A look of surprise leapt to his face. "This is a guardian's scroll!" Seeing the confused expressions on their faces he explained. "This scroll was written by a guardian, they were the sworn protectors of the western lands under your family's rule. They were a powerful group of demons that fought for justice and defended the laws of the land. This scroll was obviously written by either one of their scholars or Inuyasha's father himself. The blinding light you saw must have been the scrolls protective spell. Normally the spell not only denies access to those who it will not allow reading but it also shines slightly to those it finds worthy of it's knowledge. The blinding light you saw must have been gathered up for decades waiting for someone to find the scroll."

Inuyasha stared at the piece of parchment carefully. "So your saying since this was written by a powerful demon it could have information on how to defeat Naraku!"

"Doubtful. Most of the scrolls written by guardians were burned for reviling some sort of dangerous traps and pathways to unnatural strengths, this one most likely survived because it held useless information."

Inuyasha then said exactly what Kagome imagined he would "Feh, then what use is it." And with that he turned back to the large pile of scrolls and began his search again.

Kagome stood uneasily and held the scroll out. At first she wanted to place it down but she found that she simply could not. The scroll called to her, almost as if it wanted to be heard. Kagome decided that she would look at it later when she had more time. She snatched up her backpack and stuffed it into one of the numerous compartments. Resuming her duty she scoured the numerous scrolls for something useful.

*****

Days went by in the archive room when Kagome finally decided that it was time she went back home. Inuyasha surprisingly agreed with her and proceeded to carry her back to the well while Myoga stayed to look for anything that could be of use. It took only a few hours for Inuyasha to reach the well running at full speed. Kagome surmised that Inuyasha's reason for going so fast was that he needed the exercise and not that he wanted to get back to his tedious task. At the well Inuyasha stated that he would be back in a week or so with a useful scroll or not. As he departed Kagome jumped through the well and back to her own time.

Kagome slept well the first night, basking in the glory of the electric heater. She returned to school were she had to deal with her friends, who apparently thought that she had recovered from some strange disease. (This was no doubt her grandfather's doing.) She then passed through each of her classes dismally wondering what her professors were talking about.

After a long day she returned home ate, took a bath, did her homework (or at least tried), and prepared for bed. Abruptly, as if awaking from a dream, Kagome remembered the scroll in her backpack. Reaching in the compartment she had stashed the scroll in. She slowly pulled out the small roll of paper. Not entirely surprised to find it glowing a faint blue, she opened the scroll only to find... nothing. There were no words.

She cursed and flung the paper into the corner of the room just as she had seen Inuyasha do so many times in the past few days. Staring back she realized that she probably should not have lost her temper at something so trivial. She picked it back up. But when she did a faint blue light shone through the paper and turned black. Words suddenly formed before her eyes. Hurriedly she placed the scroll back on the table to try and fully unfold it.

The scroll only took up a small area of her desk seeing as how it only unrolled to a quarter of a meter in length. Puzzled she began reading and found she could not stop. She was drawn to the words etched into the paper by the strange light. As she drew nearer to the end of the document the words seemed to shift and form new patterns continuing the story. Something she also found strange was that the letters and words were not in any language she had ever seen before. In reality the looked more like shapes than anything, yet she found that her mind instantly translated the markings into something she could understand.

Now partially understanding how the scroll worked she started to read and translate the words into her diary. Kagome looked quizzically at the clock she kept on her desk. What had seemed like minutes had actually taken seconds. She shrugged and simply added it to the strange powers the scroll seemed to possess.

As she translated she read aloud for her own comprehension.

*****

I am a guardian. I have delved into the minds of many men and women in my time. I have read their thoughts and their emotions for greater understanding. I will now write the history of a great but soon forgotten war. Who so ever is able to read this has my utmost confidence in being that you will use this knowledge for good. This scroll has been enchanted so that any who would wish to destroy it will never be able to find it. This scroll is my contribution to the world. I only hope that after reading this you will find a way to prevent history's repetition.

For this I must use a character for my story. The character I use has had the most impact on this war than any other. While he did not start this war, in a way he has finished it. And in a way this war will continue to rage as long as he lives. Remember now that everything I write is the truth in the perspective of the character. Remember these actions for they have happened and will happen again.

Without further warning I shall begin. This is the tale of Lord Sesshomaru and his descent into darkness.