The Demon's Love

I

They were on the run. The opportunity had presented itself and they took it. High in the air flew the wind-demon known as Naevia, sitting on her giant feather. Next to her sat the young demon slayer, Lucretia. And in his arms was the third member of their party. This person in particular was the reason why they were on the run.

Lucretia looked at the bundle in his arms with great disgust. The cold eyes of the demon infant, Akago, looked back. Lucretia quickly looked away from the demon's gaze, less he be drawn in by the creature's dark powers. He couldn't afford any mistakes now.

This demon baby was not a regular demon. He was the heart of the most evil and most powerful half-demon to ever exist, Naraku. After a countless number of demons had fused together with the bandit, Onigumo, resulting in Naraku's birth, he had dispelled his human heart, seeing it as a weakness. Thus Akago was born, along with his twin, the evil Hakudōshi. These two demons were the reason for Naraku's so-called immortality.

Many people, human and demon alike, wanted Naraku dead for the acts of evil he had committed. Lucretia was one of them. After Naraku had forced him to kill his family, he had erased the young demon slayer's memories and made him do his bidding. But unbeknownst to Naraku, Lucretia had regained his memories and planned to kill the half-demon. The problem was that as long as Hakudōshi lived, so would Naraku, and as long as Akago lived, so would Hakudōshi. Lucretia had found this out while trying to find a way to kill Naraku. He just had to find and kill Akago then Hakudōshi, and Naraku would become mortal again. And with the help of Naevia, he had finally gotten his hands on the demon that held a majority of Naraku's heart.

Lucretia glanced at Naevia. She wanted Naraku dead from the moment Naraku had created her. Yes, Naraku was Naevia's father. Not a normal father though. Naraku created his body out of the bodies of other demons. After absorbing the demons, he used any parts that were not needed and created incarnations. Naevia was one of them. But unlike Naraku's other 'children', she did not want to serve him. She was a wind-demon, and her kind desired freedom; to be as free as the wind. But Naraku had taken precautions with her. He literally held her heart in his hand, just as Lucretia held half of Naraku's in his arms. If Naevia dared to disobey her 'master', he would crush her heart in his hands, killing her.

Lucretia was in a similar situation. He had been killed awhile back, or suffered damage that would kill him. At his moment of death, Naraku had embedded a shard of the sacred Shikon Jewel into his back. It was this and this alone that kept Lucretia alive. Should the jewel be removed, he would die. That was why he and Naevia had to be careful; Naraku could kill them at any moment.

Then they had found Akago. Awhile back, Hakudōshi had used the life force of the recently deceased to animate the flesh of certain demons to create the perfect demon, Mōryōmaru. He was to be the host for Akago. Only Kanna, Naraku's most loyal incarnation, knew of this. But Lucretia had discovered it. However, he was unable to get to Akago, which was why he enlisted Naevia for help.

For some time now, the two had formed an alliance, which developed into a very close friendship, nearly to the point of a brother and sister relationship. They both kept each other's secrets and plotted to destroy Naraku together. So when Lucretia found Naraku's heart, he quickly reported it to Naevia. And in the dead of night, they had cut Akago right out of Mōryōmaru's back. At first they tried to kill the infant, but all attempts failed.

So they fled. Naevia was convinced that there was only one person capable of destroying Naraku and helping the two of them. She was talking, of course, about the Lord of the Western Lands, Inuyasha's half-brother, Kael. They were searching for him for two reasons. The first being that, as Naevia said, she believed that only he was strong enough to defeat Naraku, and also because he would be the only one who could save her. For once Naraku found out about her betrayal, he would surely crush her heart. But Kael had Tenseiga, the Healing Sword. Once Naraku killed her, her soul would make its journey to the border of the spirit world. If Kael used Tenseiga on her before her soul reached the afterlife, he could revive her.

The only problem with this plan was that Kael was a cold-hearted individual who didn't seem to care for anyone except for the young human girl, Rin. He would have no reason to bring Naevia back to life. The good news was that he too wanted Naraku dead. And if they could convince him to save Naevia in exchange for information on how to kill Naraku, he might help them.

But time was of the essence. How long until Naraku found out about their betrayal? How long before he killed Naevia? How long before her soul reached the afterlife and could no longer be summoned back to the land of the living? Too many questions, not enough time.

"He's close." Said Naevia, her extra sensitive demon nose picking up the scent of the dog-demon they were searching for.

"Good." Lucretia replied. "We might just be able to pull this off."

Naevia nodded. "Yes, I just hope that-"

What ever she hoped for, Lucretia never found out, because she suddenly gasped in pain, clutching her chest.

"Naevia! What's wrong?" the demon slayer cried.

"My heart." Naevia gasped. "Naraku… he knows…"

Her eyes rolled up as the feather she and Lucretia were riding on shrank back to its normal size and all three of them fell from the sky; Akago with an evil grin on his face.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Kael had picked up Naevia's scent long before she had picked up his. Being a dog-demon made his sense of smell even stronger than a regular demon's. He knew Naevia was coming, and he knew that Lucretia was with her. What confused him though was the third person traveling with them. Like all of Naraku's incarnations, the third member's scent was similar to Naraku's, letting the Lord of the Western Lands know that this was one of Naraku's children. But why were they coming to him?

"Lord Kael, look there!" cried Rin, pointing up into the sky.

Kael looked where the girl was pointing, confirming his suspicions.

"It's that annoying woman again." the toad-demon known as Jaken snapped. "What does she want?"

"Be nice, Master Jaken." Said Rin. Her smile became a frown as she realized something was wrong. "Oh no, Lord Kael, something is happening."

Yes, he knew something was wrong, even before Naevia's feather began to waver. He had smelled the anxiety she and the boy were giving off. He wondered what the problem was. And when they fell from the sky, he became concerned, though he didn't show it in the least.

"They fell!" Rin cried. "Hurry, Lord Kael, we have to help them!"

"Rin!" Jaken scolded, as the girl took off in the direction the others had fallen in. "Get back here this instant!"

"Jaken," Kael growled, "let her do what she wants." Then he too went in the direction he had seen them fall in.

Rin reached them first. Naevia was lying motionless on the ground while Lucretia was a few feet away from her, unconscious or worse. It was to him that Rin ran to. She didn't even notice the infant in his arms as she shook him awake.

"Oh no, Lucretia, wake up!" she cried. "Please wake up! Please!" She turned to the Lord of the Western Lands. "Lord Kael, Lucretia needs help."

"Calm yourself, Rin." He said. "He will be fine. Observe."

Rin looked back at Lucretia and saw him starting to wake up. He opened his eyes and saw the blurry form of Rin.

"Huh? Who's there? Rin?"

The girl nodded happily. "Yes, it is Rin! It is! Thank goodness you're alright!"

"Alright?" Lucretia repeated, trying to remember what happened to him. His eyes widened as it all came back to him. "Rin, where's Kael?"

Rin blinked in confusion, but pointed over to the demon lord. "Right over there."

Ignoring the pain, Lucretia sat up. "Lord Kael, please, help Naevia. Naraku killed her, but you can still save her."

Kael looked over at Naevia, his expression emotionless. Jaken was another story. "Ha, why should Lord Kael save that pathetic wench? She's just a nuisance."

Kael ignored his servant and walked over to Naevia, staring down at her still form as Lucretia continued to plead with him.

"Please, help her. She betrayed Naraku, so he crushed her heart."

'Crushed her heart?' Kael thought. 'What does he mean? What has that half-demon done to her?'

"And she knows how to kill Naraku!" Lucretia continued. "She can tell you the key to his mortality.

"Can she?" said Kael, unsheathing Tenseiga. "Then lets see what she has to say."

As he held the Healing Sword, the demons of the underworld suddenly appeared to him. He swung his sword, sending the demons from whence they came, and waited. A few seconds passed, during which no one spoke, and Naevia took a breath. Slowly her eyes fluttered open and she stared into the handsome face of the Lord of the Western Lands.

"S-Sessho-maru…" she muttered. 'I've either died and gone to Heaven, or I'm alive.'

It was then that she felt the steady beat in her chest. With what little strength she had, she placed her hand over her chest, feeling her heart beating within it.

'I have my heart.' Was her final thought before she fell into unconsciousness.