The Sickness

Levante tensed the moment Xavier spoke up the first time, knowing he wouldn't like whatever he was going to say and was proven right. Xavier never wasted time in pissing people off, not to mention he knew all the right buttons to push if he knew you. At the moment, he hadn't just pushed, but kicked a rather sore button for both Issa and Levante.

His reaction was similar to Issa, though he didn't bother saying anything. No. He was too angry too talk. Instead he focused soley on the man, no the thing in front of him. If Venik hadn't been holding him in check, he would have attacked Xavier by now.

Sesshomaru, while not knowing Akasha as well as some did know her and he thought the balant sign of disrepect was beyond words. "You disgust me." It was going be followed by something else but Kanzi stopped Sesshomaru from doing anything violent, if force by needed since she was physically stronger of the two.

Xavier stopped laughing, but the grin never left him. "I disgust you? As if I care, dog-boy. I can say whatever I like, it's not 'against the rules' as they say. By the way, who is the little maid behind you? She looks like she'd be fun to-" Before he could finish, there was a flash of gold, and his head jerked down and to the side, a loud crack echoing as his jaw was savagely broken by a sudden strike from Leila.

"Shut up, you disgusting bastard! Just because those ancient idiots tolerate you doesn't mean we do! I'm sick of your shit! One day, you won't be protected by fucking politics, and when that day comes, you can bet your ass that I'll be watching as you're finally put down!" Xavier straightened as his jaw fixed itself, and chuckled lightly at the enraged demoness. His next words sent a chill down everyone's spines.

"Leila Glainie has just struck me. This constitutes a challenge and, as such, it is my decision as to how I will respond." Leila's anger drained from her as she paled. Then, Xavier grinned almost maniacally. "I decide to accept." Leila shifted, obviously trying to move, only for Xavier to grab her by the hair, then slam his fist into her chest. Her armor caved in and she coughed up blood, her chest collapsing from the blow. Before anyone could stop him, Xavier lifted her up, grabbed her firmly, and broke her back over his knee. The agonized scream that tore from her lips was horrifying, before Xavier dropped her to the ground. She simply laid there, twitching, struggling to breath, her eyes rolled back into her head. Xavier smirked, and bowed. "I believe my work here is done. Don't bother trying to retaliate on that, laws clearly state I was within my right to accept her challenge. And she won't die, but I think she's learned her lesson. Farewell for now." He disappeared in a flash of fire, laughing as he did.

It was over before anyone could react, and Xavier vanished before Sesshomaru could savagely tear into him. Once the shock went away, Kanzi and Sesshomaru were among the first to be there quickly to check up on her. It didn't look good and though Kanzi did a good job of hiding it, she was trying not to panic. She never felt this scared before in centuries and it had absolutely nothing to do with fighting, but the thought of losing someone she considered almost like her own daughter.

Levante arrived a bit after those two did, his rage and disgust of Xavier grew, but right now there was something else to take care of, making sure Leila got healed up.

Leila was already unconcious, and Ruko was frozen where she was standing, her hands over her mouth in horror, tears streaking down her cheeks. Seigan was sitting still, eyes closed and a pained look on his face. Houjo had already disappeared, anger obvious on his features. His likely actions would be to try and get the rest of the council to stop protecting Xavier. Iliara was cradling Leila's head in her lap, crying, begging Leila to hold on. Of to the side, Venik just stared, eyes narrowed, at the place Xavier had once stood. Issa, after briefly expressing his hope that Leila would be alright, he left, wanting to make sure his daughters were safe. As for Akane, she knelt with Leila, checking her over. After a moment, she nodded, and gently enveloped Leila in her nine tails, pouring energy into her for several minutes. After a bit, her tails lifted Leila, setting her gently in Sesshomaru's arms. Her chest armor was now cracked open a bit, allowing for Leila's collapsed chest to heal. She looked, on the surface, to actually be healed, and she was breathing a bit better.

"Her own natural healing will take over from here. She will need several days to recover, most likely, and will likely need to do a bit of rehabilitation excercises, due to having her back broken, but there should be no permanent damage..."

Sesshomaru was very gentle with Leila and kept her close, he seemed visibly relieved as did Kanzenabi. That relief turn to anger though as she stood back up.

"I hope more then anything Houjo is able to convince those fools to stop protecting Xavier. But seeing how they didn't even do anything even when Xavier attacked Iilara when she was pregnant, I won't hold my breath.."

"The idiocy of both councils is well known, though I'm not sure even they would put up with our own Xavier." Levante said, there were a few that came to mind, but they were usually rogue elements.

Sesshomaru stood up. "I'm going to take Leila back home so she can rest, Ruko, you can come or stay here, but I would like you to come."

Kanzenabi shook her head. "Go ahead. There's just something I want to talk to Akane and Levante about that needs to be about the way."

Her son seemed to accept that and said his farewells before leaving with the wounded woman, it was then Kanzi focused on Akane. "Besides the obvious of Xavier badly needing to be dealt with, its about my granddaughter." She was focusing on keeping calm, least on the surface. Those who knew her, she was giving a false air as she was instead planning something particularly unpleasant. "I was wonder if you Levante, or Akane or anyone present knows something that can calm the blood of half dog demons. There is Totosai, but he hasn't been well and been missing."

Ruko left with Sesshomaru without hesitation, though glanced back at Kanzenabi before she did. Akane, after listening to Kanzenabi's word's, immediately knew what she was wanting. "I see, you are wanting something like the Tessaiga that Sesshomaru's half-brother, Inuyasha, has. Something to keep her demon blood and instincts from overwhelming her. I think I can help. There is a dragon by the name of Beladeroc, though everyone calls him Blade. He's an extremely skilled weaponsmith, easily of the same calibur as Totosai. It's possible they even worked together, or that one taught the other. I'm not sure of which. I will contact him, and have him get in touch with you and Sesshomaru. As for Xavier..." There was a low growl from her throat, her eyes flashing red, but she suppressed it. "I can promise we will fight to have that bastard punished, or at least cast from the council so he can be...dealt with."

That seemed to satisfy Kanzi a bit, for the time being, she nodded. "Me and my son will be waiting then. I'm going to be heading back, I need to go check on my family." She left after where Sesshomaru and the others did.

Levante watched and sighed. "I need a drink now and I don't even drink." He shook his head and went to Akane, holding out out a small cube. "Here. This is something my friend Marcus had, it records things like a normal camera. I brought it with me upon finding out there was a case, figured it might be needed just in case..just not for this. You can use it if Xavier and the the other idiots decide to spin the story, it should help." The other people here he can trust, so he didn't have to worry so much about over hearing it.

* *

Sesshomaru once he got home excused himself to be alone for a moment as Ruko waited for him in the room after tucking Leila in for Fala to look after. Shippo was worried sick and stood there the whole time. He needed to talk to Inuyasha, so he began to dial on the phone and hoped he picked up.

Ruko simply watched tearfully as Fala hurriedly worked to make sure that Leila was as comfortable as possible. She was obviously worried, but she seemed capable of keeping calm in this case. As for Sesshomaru's call to Inuyasha... "Eh? What do you want, ya bastard?" Despite his words, his tone was more neutral. The bad blood between the brothers was pretty much a thing of the past, but he was in the habit of calling his brother 'bastard'. It was like a nickname now.

Inuyasha would know something was wrong, because Sesshomaru paused a bit before he said anything after that. "..There's something's that have been going on you need to know about.." He then explained everything, about Elsa and Elsie, the meeting and lastly, what had happened to Leila from Xavier. Someone Inuyasha knew and hated, but then anyone half decent hated that man. If you could call him that.

There was a low growl on the other end of the line, before Inuyasha spoke. "I'll be right there." He said nothing else, just hung up. Fala finished getting Leila comfortable, then sat down next to the bed. She'd gently stripped Leila out of her armor, leaving her naked, and pulled the bed sheet up to cover her. She placed a damp rag over Leila's forehead, then relaxed a bit.

"...What happened?"

"Xavier happened."

Kanzenabi walked into the room, her usual calm face was marked with worry and a bit of stress. "How is she doing Fala?" There was something she wanted to talk to the young Neko about anyway and this was the time to do it. More then that she felt better being by Leila's side. The only reason Shippo wasn't there was because Fala needed to undress her first.

Fala looked up, smiling weakly. "I'm not a doctor, I can only make her comfortable as she recovers. There's alot of bruising on her chest and back though... honestly, her chest and back are just two big bruises..but she'll be okay eventually..." Ruko let out a little sob, seeing how upset everyone was, and fled the room. She couldn't take seeing all that pain.

Kanzenabi frowned once Ruko ran out the room, thinking of maybe talking with her and that was when Sesshomaru came in, not seeing his mate.

"Where is Ruko?" He asked.

"She left, I think you should check on her." He nodded and then left out the room, leaving them alone. Kanzi sighed shaking her head as she sat down on the bed. "Still, Akane said she would be fine and there would be no pernament damage but I can't help but worry. I've known Leila all her life and her grand parents Reifer and Iilara for a while. I was there fussing over her when she was a little girl.."

She gently moved a few bangs from the sleeping girls head. "So when I say she's family, I mean that.." She lapsed into silence for a long moment, Kanzi was usually teasing or joking but today it was hardly the time and instead she was more solemn then usual. "Fala..I have to ask. Are you in heat? I noticed your scent a bit different and being what I am I can notice the little signs." The main reason she asked was because of Sesshomaru, being what he was it could cause a few problems all things considered if not handled.

Fala actually flinched, glancing away. SHe knew she couldn't lie to Kanzenabi about this, and sighed softly. "...I'm coming down from my heat. It was during the time that I said I was visiting with family..." She knew the conversation wouldn't end there. She knew Kanzenabi would soon find out just how bad things were, and then...well, she didn't know what.

Kanzi nodded. "How often? Sesshomaru is around and being a Dog Demon he may pick up eventually." Though from all she knew about heat, unless Fala took a mate there really wasn't much to be done.

Fala chewed her lip a bit before answering, bowing her head. "It...it's about every two weeks....and lasts one to two weeks each time..." She buried her face in her hands, trying to hide her embarrassment. "It...it's been going on for a few years, but I've been able to hide it....but it's gotten worse recently...that's why I have to keep leaving..."

"Hm.."

Kanzenabi didn't seem content to leave it completely be for now, Fala was embarrassed and she normally would have stopped but she was a bit worried. "Last question, does this effect you in any other way besides the usual?"

Fala hesitated, knowing this next part would likely upset Kanzenabi, but she couldn't lie to her..."It..." She paused, and placed a hand gently on her abdomen. "It hurts...alot...like I'm being stabbed...I...used to be able to ignore it, but now it...I just have to lay in bed and try not to move too much."

Kanzenabi closed her eyes for a moment, she seemed to be thinking. Then without a word, she went over and gave Fala a brief hug and pulled away. "I had no idea, I'm sorry I didn't notice until now." More importantly, she wanted to do something she could do and that's when the wheels in her head began turning. She would need to think on it more though..

"I'm going to leave you here to get some rest, its been a very tiring day." She said the neko. "I'll be in the guest room if you need me. Good night." She then left Sesshomaru's maid, her mind on a few things, one of which how to take care of Fala's problem.

* *

Sesshomaru, along with Ruko and Kanzenabi all arrived at the Isshan household around the next day. There the same butler from before opened the door for them and greeted them.

"We've been expecting you, Issac and Lady Elsa packed little Elsie's things and briefly explained the situation. I'll go retrieve them, one moment."

After they left for about ten minutes, he and the others came. Elsa, along with Issac and Elsie all came down the stairs. Elsa however was unusually quite and subdued today, she didn't seem haughty or arrogant, just defeated. Issac had a few of her things in a bag.

Elsa reached into a pocket and pulled a beautiful pendant, gently opening the little girls hand and placing it her tiny hands, probably the most gentle anyone had seen her be to the girl. Issac seemed genuinely shocked as did the other vampires that may have been present as they understood the significance of her giving that to Elsie.



"This is a family heirloom. It means nobility, strength, honor and integrity. Mommy hasn't been living to these ideals for a while..few have in our family for while now except for your grandfather. But, I think you can. I think you'll live up these just fine and make our house that much greater one day.."

She stood up. "A-and, these are your family." She motioned to Sesshomaru and Kanzi. "That's your father and grandmother. His name is Sesshomaru and the grandmother name is Kazenabi. They'll take good care of you.."

Elsie looked at the pendant for a moment, seeming confused, then looked to Sesshomaru's group. After a moment, she looked back at her mother and grandfather. "I...am gonna live with Papa and Grandmama?" She looked back toward Sesshomaru, then to Ruko, standing in the back. "Who's that next to Papa?" The girl seemed to be getting a bit excited, but was holding herself back, but was also confused.

"That's your step mom." A brief flash of surprise went across Sesshomaru and Kanzi's face, but they said nothing. "I don't know her very well, but she seems nice I'm sure you'll like her. Mommy wants you to be nice to her when your at your father's house."

Sesshomaru then came forward, he had and was still excited about having his daughter into his life. But he had never had any children, he wasn't sure where to go from here but it wasn't like he was alone if he needed help. "Hello Elsie. This is the first time we've got to meet face to face, hasn't it? How are you feeling today?" He asked gently.

Elise looked up at Sesshomaru innocently, then smiled a bit. "I'm okay, Papa." She paused, then walked over to Issac and hugged him. "Bye-bye, Grandpapa. Love you." She then went over to Elsa, hugging her as well. "Bye-bye Mama. Love you, too." It had been explained that they'd visit, but she knew at least that she wouldn't see them as often. She then walked over to Sesshomaru and took his hand, looking up at him. "Can I explore when we get there, Papa?" Elise was obviously a very smart young girl, and also very curious.

Elsa hugged Elsie back when she got her hug. "..Love you too Elsie.." She then let her go and stood up watching, but didn't say anything else.

Sesshomaru actually smiled as she took his hand. "Of course." He stood back up, seeming a lot more content and relaxed compared to the stressful day yesterday. He looked at Issac. "You're welcomed to visit anytime, we have to get going in the mean time."

The elder vampire nodded. "I'll hold you to that."

Issac watched the group leave then turned to Elsa. "That was very mature Elsa, I'm proud of you for handling it that way. Why did you give up that pendant to Elsie? I knew how important it was to you."

Elsa sighed. "Because, I haven't lived up to those standards..and neither have most of our clan in a while, besides you. Honor, integrity, nobility and strength..." She shook her head. "I was angry at first, but when I calmed down and thought about what happened..and what Issa said to me, maybe..I was doing something wrong. So I thought it was time reevaluate myself and I came to the conclusion that Elsie, if she so desires will one day be a much better representation of our clan when she's older."

"Then what do you intend to do now from this point on?"

She closed her eyes. "I'm leaving. Not pernamently, but for a while. I..don't think I'll be able to grow into the woman Elsie needs if I stay here. Part of me wants to strike back somehow, but I know that would be foolish. I'm going to take a limited amount of money, and something's and set out into the world. On my own."

Issac watched her intently, then slowly nodded. "You're an adult so I can't stop you, if its something you feel you need to do."

* *

"Welcome home." Kanzi said as she opened the door for Elsie as they arrived at the large mansion. She had been told Ruko's name and a little bit about the place she was staying but not a huge overwhelming amount.

Elsie looked around as they walked in, seeming neither upset nor awed. She'd grown up in a mansion, after all, so moving to another one wasn't a big deal. She did notice that this one felt a bit more....warm. She looked up at Sesshomaru, and smiled brightly. "I like it, Papa. It's warm and comfy!" Ruko simply watched this, smiling softly. It didn't escape her that this was her new step-daughter, and she fully intended to be the mother Elsie wanted or needed.

Kanzi smiled warmly at this, it was nice seeing her son with his guard down around his daughter so to speak. She didn't have any doubts he would be a good father or not. Having Elsie over was good and it distracted her a bit from some more troubling things on her mind. Which reminded her, she was expecting this Blade to contact them soon but that could be any day. In the mean time, they would just have to be careful.

"I'm happy to hear that. I'm going to show your room now." Sesshomaru was glad Jaken was away doing some mundane business related things. The room wasn't too decorated yet, but Fala and Kanzi had added a few brief touches to it, but it did have some extra flare.