The Demon's Love

VII

He was getting tired of this useless searching. Where was the damn boy? He had to find him quickly; his own safety depended on it.

'Naraku is getting impatient.' He thought. 'I had better find him fast.'

His 'father' had been in a very bad mood lately, ever since Akago had died. His attitude only worsened when Kanna was unable to find the boy, whom Naraku said was called Lucretia.

According to his brother, Hakudōshi, this Lucretia was most likely with the dog-demon known as Kael. If not, then he was probably with the undead priestess, Kikyou, or Kael's half-brother, Inuyasha.

'Inuyasha.' He thought. 'You're the one that is causing my master so much aggravation. You and your mate, Kagome. I'll look forward to killing all of you. And I'll take my time and do it slowly.'

But first he had a demon slayer to kill and a jewel shard to recover.

'This is going to be fun.'

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"Lord Kael, can Rin go swimming?" the young girl asked. "Please."

Naevia held her fan over her eyes and looked up at the blazing sun. "A swim would feel good right now."

"I wouldn't mind a quick dip, milord." Said Jaken, agreeing with Rin and Naevia for once.

Even Ah-Un made a grunting noise in agreement.

Kael stopped walking. A nice bath did sound pleasant. "Very well, we will stay here for awhile."

"Yay!" cried Rin. "Come on, Lucretia!"

She ran towards the water and jumped in fully clothed, not caring if she got her garments wet. She stayed under for about 30 seconds before she came up laughing, her wet hair covering her face. She moved her dark locks aside and looked at the others still on dry land.

"Come in, everyone! The water feels nice!"

Naevia smirked. "I think I'll find my own spot to bathe." She glanced at the boy next to her. "But I'm sure Lucretia would like to play with you."

Lucretia blushed and looked at Naevia like she was crazy. "I would?"

She pushed him forward. "Yes, you would."

Realizing how close he was to the water, Rin splashed Lucretia. "There, you're wet now too! Come play with Rin!"

Lucretia was blushing madly. Naevia rolled her eyes. He was so shy. She decided to give him at little push. She let out a small puff of breath, which turned into a mighty gust of wind, blowing Lucretia into the water. He came up, spitting out a mouthful of water and gasping down air.

"Hey!" he shouted angrily.

Rin suddenly jumped on his back, laughing happily. "You're funny, Lucretia."

Naevia snickered. 'Well, it looks like my work here is done. Time for some rest and relaxation.'

Jaken eyed the retreating Naevia suspiciously. "What is she up to?"

Kael resisted the urge to sigh. "Jaken, you are blind." He said. He knew exactly what the wind-demon was doing, and he wasn't sure how he felt about it. He decided that he should have a talk with her. "Jaken, keep your eye on everyone."

Jaken groaned. "But I was hoping to go for a soak."

Kael gave him a look before kicking him right into the water.

"Soak all you want." He said, before heading in the direction Naevia had gone in.

Jaken floated to the surface, spitting out a stream of water. 'This isn't exactly what I had in mind.'

Kael continued to walk in Naevia's direction until he saw her clothes hanging over a tree branch. A moment later he saw her completely nude form sink into the water. Kael's heart sped up. It was really rare for someone to get his heart to start racing. A gasp even escaped his lips at the sight of her. Never had a woman ever made him react this way. His demon side demanded him to charge over to her now and take her right then and there, but his rational side kept him in check.

"You going to stand there all day?" Naevia asked. She was resting in the water with her back to him, leaning against a rock, but had known he was there. She had heard and smelled him. All of him; including his arousal. It made her smirk, knowing that she could get that type of reaction out of him.

With great difficulty, Kael turned away and went over to a nearby secluded area where he stripped and settled into the water. He took a deep breath, trying to maintain control. The sight of Naevia's naked backside was stirring up emotions and desires within him. True, he had seen her topless before when he had pulled her out of the river after she received a severe wound, but the situation had been too serious at the time to think about anything else, and he had also been considerate enough not to look at her chest.

But now, with just the two of them in this secluded area, she was doing things to him that was making it difficult to control himself. He closed his closed his eyes, willing away these thoughts and emotions. He decided to distract himself by having the conversation he had originaly come here to have with her.

"I know what you're trying to do?"

Naevia smiled. There were several things she was trying to do. "Whatever do you mean?" she asked innocently.

"You know what this Kael speaks of."

"Care to elaborate?"

"With Rin and Lucretia."

Naevia rolled her eyes. Of course, he was avoiding the situation going on between him and her. She could smell his arousal, and she knew he was trying to control himself. He didn't like not being in control.

'I wouldn't mind him controlling me.' She thought naughtily. "I am simply bringing them closer together. I think they make a cute couple."

"Rin is but a child."

Naevia snickered. "I'm not trying to get them to do anything like that. But you can't deny the fact that they like each other. And I don't mean only as friends." This made Kael growl, causing Naevia to snicker again. "I see that you're playing the role as the overprotective father. But trust me, Lucretia is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. And he's very strong. He is fully capable of protecting her when necessary."

"This Kael is well aware of the boy's nature and abilities."

"Then what's the problem? Why does he not meet your approval?"

Kael paused as he tried to think of an answer. "Rin is young."

Naevia shrugged. "As is Lucretia. And I told you, I'm not trying to get them to be intimate or anything, at least not for a few more years. So what are you worried about? Are you afraid you're going to lose her?"

Kael didn't reply. Naevia smiled. "Ah, the fear all father's have of losing their daughter. Well first off, that won't happen for at least 9 years. Second of all, Rin is definitely the type of person to want a family of her own some day, as is Lucretia. The two of them are perfect for each other. There is no way you could ever stop that, and I think deep down that you intend to let her find a husband."

Kael closed his eyes. "Yes, some day." He agreed quietly.

"Third of all," Naevia continued, "when she does find someone to be with, you won't lose her, you'll gain a son-in-law." She paused, waiting for him to say something. "So, how do you feel now?"

Kael grumbled. "This Kael needs to think." He said.

"Throw it again, Master Jaken!" Rin cried.

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Jaken groaned, looking at the rock in his hand. Rin and Lucretia were playing this game where Jaken threw this rock, counted to 10, then Lucretia and Rin would try to get it from underwater first. Lucretia won mostly, being a faster and stronger swimming, but Rin won a few times, not counting the ones that Lucretia let her win.

"Fine, but this is the last time!" Jaken yelled for the 100th time.

He tossed the rock and counted. Rin quickly dove under to find it while Lucretia gave her a head start. He still ended up beating her.

"Throw it again, Master Jaken!"

"No more!" Jaken shouted. "I want some time to rest as well."

"Ok." Said Rin. She turned to Lucretia. "Hey Lucretia, lets see how far we can swim underwater before we need to come up for air."

Lucretia shrugged. "Sure."

"Rin will go first!"

She dove under and began swimming away. Lucretia watched in amusement as she got much farther than he had thought she would before finally surfacing.

"How'd Rin do?" she asked.

"Very good!" he called back.

"You're turn. And don't try and let Rin win again."

He turned red with embarrassment. 'So, she found me out.' "Ok, I won't." he said and dove under.

He managed to swim twice the distance she did, finally resurfacing several feet away from her spot. Once he surfaced, Rin paddled over to him, smiling.

"Wow, Lucretia, you went far!"

He blushed and smiled at her. "You went far too."

Rin smiled and sank under until her mouth was below the surface and she began blowing bubbles. Lucretia chuckled at her playfulness. He glanced back at the direction they had swam in and saw Jaken asleep.

"I think we wore Jaken out." He said.

Rin looked at the toad-demon and giggled. Then she noticed the sound of rushing water.

"Lucretia, you hear that?"

"Hmm? Hear what?

"This way."

He swam after her until they reached what had caught Rin's attention. This one area had a rock formation that made a natural waterslide.

"Ooh, this looks like fun!" Rin cried. "Let's ride it!"

Lucretia hesitated. "Rin, I don't think we should."

"Please."

She gave him that pleading look. How could he say no to that? He sighed in defeat. "Ok, you win."

"Yay! Rin goes first!"

"Fine, just watch out for rocks."

"Rin will!"

She went down the 'waterslide', squealing happily the whole way down. Lucretia waited until she was far enough ahead before he began to slide down it as well. It was very long, much longer than either of them thought. And at the end, there was a sudden drop into a larger and deeper body of water. The two splashed down into it and came up laughing.

"That was fun!" said Lucretia.

"Let's do it again!" cried Rin.

They swam to land and looked up at the rock structure they had slid down. It was much longer than they had expected. How far had they gone? Oh well, it didn't really matter. Once they found a way back up, they could just follow the running water back to Jaken.

"Lucretia, look." Said Rin, pointing to something in the sky. "Is that Lady Naevia?"

He put his hand above over his head to shade his eyes from the light as he looked at what Rin was pointing at. At first he thought it was Naevia, but quickly changed his mind as whoever or whatever it was got closer.

"Rin, we've got to-"

Rin never found out what they had to do, because whatever it was they had spotted had suddenly swooped down at them, nearly crashing into them. He stopped a short distance away and turned to face them. Whoever they were, they were riding an origami paper crane, which he was using to fly. He hopped off, and the paper bird shrank, which he then put into his robes.

"Well, look what we have here." he said.

Lucretia looked at him and gasped. No wonder he and Rin had mistaken him for Naevia. He looked like a male version of the wind-demon. He was clearly a demon himself, though Lucretia couldn't tell what kind, but he had a sinking feeling that he knew where this demon came from. Or, more specifically, who it came from.

"Lucretia, who is he?" asked Rin fearfully. "He looks like Lady Naevia."

The demon smiled. "Ah, you know Naevia. Or should I say knew." He chuckled, turning his gaze on Lucretia. "And you're Lucretia, the little runaway. That means, you're Rin, Kael's ward. How nice to meet you. I've been searching for you for several days now. You're not an easy person to find."

Lucretia growled and took a step back, making sure to keep Rin behind him. "Why were you looking for us?" he demanded, wishing he had his sickle. How could he leave it behind? True he was a skilled fighter, but that sword that the demon had looked deadly.

The demon reached into his robes and pulled out a lotus flower, which he held to his nose and sniffed, closing his eyes as he enjoyed the smell. "Just following orders."

Lucretia's eyes narrowed. "Whose orders?"

"My master's. You have something that belongs to him, and I'm here to retrieve it." His eyes snapped open. "Now give me the sacred jewel shard!"

He pointed the flower at them and a stream of flames shot out of it. Lucretia grabbed Rin and pulled her to the ground as the flames flew over them. Lucretia made sure to shield her from the heat.

When the flames finally stopped, the demon chuckled. "You've got quick reflexes, boy." He said, putting the flower back in his robes. "But I'm afraid that my master is getting rather impatient. So let's make this quick."

He snapped his fingers and several vines burst out of the ground. Lucretia quickly pushed Rin out of the way before he was ensnared by them, binding him tightly.

"Oh no, Lucretia!" Rin cried.

She ran over to the vines and began tugging at them, but her efforts were in vain. Several of the vines began making their way towards her. She yelped and jumped away when they began to wrap around her.

"R-Rin…" Lucretia moaned, struggling to breathe due to the tightness of his bindings. "Get… get out of… here…"

Rin looked up at him fearfully. "But what about you?"

"Don't wor-worry about… about me… Just go…"

Rin's bottom lip trembled as tears weld up in her eyes. "I'll get Lord Kael!" she cried, and took off.

The demon just chuckled. "You're not going anywhere."

He waved his hand, casting his spell. A fog appeared around Rin, so deep that she couldn't see.

"Wha…" she mumbled.

She jumped as a growl came from within the fog. Her eyes widened as she saw her worst fear. Wolves were coming out of the fog, surrounding her on all sides. They were growling and snapping their jaws, ready to attack.

Rin began trembling in fear as she fell to her knees. "No, please not that." She whispered fearfully.

The demon smirked as he watched her cower in fear. He turned his red eyes back to Lucretia. "It appears that she has fallen prey to my illusion."

Lucretia struggled to breathe as the vines wrapped tightly around his neck. "I-Illusion?" His eyes widened in realization. "Rin, it's… not r-real… It's ju-"

He was cut off as the vines wrapped around his mouth. The demon shook his finger at him while shaking his head and making a 'tsk, tsk' noise.

"Now don't spoil the fun." He said. "We're just getting started. But I'll take care of you first, then take my time with the girl."

The vines lifted Lucretia off the ground, bringing him right up to the demon's face. The demon smirked and Lucretia glared back. The vines just tightened.

"It's not smart to defy the one that has you at his mercy." Said the demon. "I could kill you very easily. All I have to do is remove the jewel shard in your back," he reached behind Lucretia, "and you'll join your father in the other world like you should have long ago."

Unaware of what was happening between Lucretia and the demon, Rin continued to cower in fear. When she realized that the wolves hadn't attacked next, she risked a peek. Big mistake. A wolf was right in front of her, less than a foot away, fangs bared.

She screamed and jumped back. When she looked up again, something else was walking through the fog. Relief hit her when she saw that it was Kael.

"Lord Kael, help!" she cried.

Kael looked at Rin and then at the wolves. "Rin, calm yourself. They are not real. They're merely an illusion."

To prove his point, he kicked one. His foot went right through it. Not wasting anymore time on the phony wolves, he turned his attention to Lucretia and the demon that dared to attack his companions.

The demon's hand had just fallen on the place where Lucretia's jewel shard was when Kael's energy whip struck his hand.

"What the hell?" he growled. He looked in the direction the whip had come in and smiled when he saw who it was. "Ah, Kael. I was wondering where you were."

Kael fixed the demon with his cold stare. "Release the boy." He ordered.

The demon just laughed. "I have a better idea. How about I wrap you up."

He pointed at the demon lord and several vines flew towards him. In an instant, Kael whipped out Toukijin. With one swipe he cut through the approaching vines. A purple mist escaped the cut vines, a miasma.

"Ah, ah, ah." The demon mocked. "You don't want to cut my vines."

"Well I do!"

The demon turned in the direction the voice came from to find several blades of wind flying at him. He quickly jumped aside, avoiding the attack. But the blades of wind cut through the vines binding Lucretia, freeing him. Miasma escaped from the vines, but Lucretia was able to get away from the toxic cloud before it harmed him.

Now that Lucretia was free, Naevia waved her fan again, blowing away the miasma. She smirked before her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened as she saw the demon.

'He looks… like me…'

The demon looked just as surprised to see Naevia as she was to see him. "Naevia?" he exclaimed.

Naevia got over her surprise and glared at the demon. "How do you know me? Who are you?"

The demon managed to get over his own surprise and smiled. "I thought you were dead. I guess I was wrong."

"Who are you?" Naevia asked again.

The demon snickered. "My name is Mugen no Byakuya. And I am your brother."

"Brother?" Naevia repeated. Her eyes widened. "No."

"Yes, dear sister. I am Naraku's latest incarnation. He created me to replace you. I guess you can call the two of us twins, though we weren't born on the same day."

Naevia took a step back. 'He'll tell Naraku that I'm still alive.'

Byakuya glanced at Kael. "So, you're traveling with the Lord of the Western Lands." He looked at Lucretia. "Both of you are. I guess Hakudōshi was right. I wonder how he and Naraku will react when they find out you're alive, Naevia."

Naevia growled. "You're not telling them anything! Dance of Blades!"

Byakuya whipped out his Lotus flower and unleashed its flames. Naevia's wind attack only increased the flames. Naevia gasped and sped out of the way of the stream of fire. Kael reacted immediately, charging at Byakuya. Toukijin sliced right through him. But something was wrong. Byakuya hadn't even tried to avoid the attack. He let Kael cut through him while smiling the whole time.

Kael became confused as Byakuya faded away. 'What is this trickery?'

That was when he realized that it was a trick. It was one of Byakuya's illusions again.

"Looking for me?"

Kael turned around and saw, not one, but three Byakuyas. He wasn't fooled though. He knew that two of them were illusions.

"What are you going to do now?" asked the three Byakuyas.

Kael didn't respond. Instead he unleashed his sword's power, striking down all three Byakuyas at once. They were all fake.

Byakuya could be heard laughing, though he was nowhere to be seen. "Am I proving too much for the Lord of the Western Lands?"

Kael growled. "You will not make a fool of this Kael."

He decided not to rely on his eyes and use his nose instead. No illusion could fool his sense of smell. It didn't take long for him to find Byakuya's scent. He was standing a few feet away, creating an illusion of the area around him to give himself invisibility.

Kael unleashed Toukijin's power. Byakuya dropped his illusion and jumped out of the way. He looked impressed. "Very clever, Kael, but you'll need more than a good sense of smell to defeat me."

"How about I join in?" said Naevia, unleashing her Dance of Blades.

Byakuya spared her a glance before he produced a barrier around himself, blocking the attack. "Sorry, sister, but you'll need more than that to defeat me."

Naevia growled. "Fine, try this! Dance of the Dragon!"

Her attack did nothing against Byakuya's barrier. He smirked at her and shook his head. "Pathetic."

He reached behind himself. At first Naevia thought he was going for his sword, but instead he retrieved a gourd that he was carrying on his back. He pointed it at Naevia and grinned evilly.

"Try this." he said.

A swarm of snakes flew out of the gourd. Naevia gasped and unleashed her Dance of Blades, slicing the snakes to pieces. But more just kept coming.

"How long can you keep this up, sister?" Byakuya asked, grinning.

His smirk immediately vanished as he gasped in shock and pain. Toukijin was sticking out of his chest. Kael had managed to get through his barrier.

"You should never have taken your eyes off this Kael." The demon lord said.

With great effort, Byakuya pulled himself off the sword. He turned to Kael, glaring at him defiantly. "You win this round, Kael."

He reached into his robes and retrieved the paper crane, which grew large enough for him to ride on. And he did just that, flying away.

"You will not escape!" Kael declared angrily.

He launched another attack, but Byakuya was too far up to hit.

"Get on!" cried Naevia, flying over to him on her feather. "We can still catch him!"

Kael immediately leapt onto Naevia's feather and the two were off. But Byakuya knew they were following him. He growled in irritation, waving his hand to create an illusion. Several copies of him appeared as the illusion of dark clouds formed. The copies vanished within them. A moment later, flames shot out of the illusion at Kael and Naevia. They lost his scent, due to the flames' burning smell.

Naevia stopped her feather. "Damn, he got away." She growled. "He'll give me away to Naraku."

Kael's narrowed eyes were the only indication that he cared. "Do not worry yourself over him. Neither he nor Naraku will bring harm to you. This Kael will see to that."

Naevia couldn't help but smile. "It's nice to know you care." She said, glad for the illusion of the clouds to hide her blush.