Author's Note: Reposted with my love and apologies. Please enjoy.
Disclaimer: "If we shadows have offended, think but this and all is mended,
That you did but slumber'd here while these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme is no more yielding then a dream."
-Midsummer's Night Dream
Omnia Mutantur
By: Lady Erised
"Later on he will understand
how some men so loved her,
that they did dare much for her sake."
- Bram Stoker, Dracula
Chapter One: Zinnia
Kannon stands and watches her Court. She is alone, and in a female form because it is the one most invoked. In truth, she wears this skin as one would wear clothing-neither pleased nor displeased with such a guise but forced into for duty's sake. She can be he, and be him as fully as needed or desired. She can be nothing if needed or desired. She can be everything. It is the nature of Kannon.
This is Kannon. She is love, and compassion, and mercy and grace. She is ocean, and storm, and hurricane, and tsunami. She is all-Mother, and loving arms. She is a child-stealer, and ravaged womb. Kannon is a god. She can see all but cannot act. She is defined by humanity and their need and use for her. Before she was Kannon, she was triple Goddess, before that, she was another guise, and another name. Soon, she will be Madonna and Hebrew. And one day, soon, she will no longer be needed by at all, and she will pass from memory and be no more.
But for now, she is Kannon and Kannon hears all cries. Every pain, and sorrow and prayer for love, compassion, relief or just understanding. All of them. Those screamed in desperation and anger towards the heavens, and those muttered into the silence when it is thought no one is listening. She hears the pleas of Youkai and Ningen and God.
She hears you now.
And she heard them then in the Sengoku Jidai.
They are gone now, of course, these children of legend. Long passed and dead, and Kannon weeps for them as you probably do as well. They lived- and died- as all do: like flowers or spider webs, strong in their own right woven together to make something beautiful for a time, then torn asunder and destroyed as if they had not existed at all. And perhaps there was some embroidering; perhaps there were loose ends, and corrections. That is expected.
She remembers Jaken whose loyalty could shake the foundations of the earth, and warm the most jaded heart. She remembers Sesshoumaru whose beauty hid everything but his heart. And she remembers Rin.
Rin.
Rin who destroyed all so utterly. Kannon didn't really blame her, how could the human or the Youkai have known about what was to come. The future was the domain of gods and as is the nature of gods, Kannon is bound from interfering from the choices made by either. In the end, Rin was only human: bound by that greedy destructive nature as all human are. Why should Kannon blame or hate Rin, for being what she was? It was all the matter of nature, and choice.
And they all chose that path, everyone; Sesshoumaru, Jaken and even Rin. They choose it and she abided by it. It was not hers. Kannon is compassion, and memory. For all that price of terrible end, Kannon was merely defined by it, marked by it, and left to keep vigil. So she does.
But that is then, and this is now.
And Kannon stands and watches her Court. She is only vaguely concerned with the servant that appears by her side. The woman is Celt, and to her Kannon is Epona. It doesn't matter; Kannon doesn't think to change her appearance. The woman will see her Lady as she desires.
"You bring me news?" Kannon asked as she watched her girls mill about the Courtyard, concerned with what they were deprived in life: the simple duties and toils.
"Sesshoumaru Lord has abandoned his pursuit of Naraku for the moment. He hunts Tama now."
"Predictable. His mind seeks reconciliation for what his soul cannot remember." She mused, and inclined her head. "Tama?"
"He continues to find solace with the human raiders." The Celt inclined her majestic head. "Was this your intention milady? Should Sesshoumaru and Tama be joined again, the wars will begin…"
"I cannot interfere in the affairs of Man or Youkai." Kannon deadpanned.
"But you already have, milady. The girl child."
"Rin." Kannon named her before turning and watching the Celt. Upon face to face with her mistress, the warrior woman blushed and turned down her eyes. Kannon ignored the action. "Where is Rin?"
"In the gardens you made for her."
"Does she still wait for him?"
"Of course. The Celt shifted a wave of her red hair out of her face. "Your magic did not work. She remembered."
Kannon inclined her head just slightly, a light frown powdering her lips. "What creature is this that she defies the will of a God?" She asked lightly then seemed to answer herself. "I think to know."
"Milady," The Celt returned. "I don't understand. What could be out of your power that would caused her to recall what you deemed her not?"
"Benzaiten."
"Milady?"
The Goddess shifted her head back to her Courtyard. For a moment, Kannon looked angry and indeed nature itself seemed for a moment to reflect the mood. and smiling sadly. "This is Benzaiten's doing. Rin's love was not mine to take. Her memory, likewise. Now I see. Now I understand. I will lose him." Kannon told her in a voice that was not bitter but sad. "I, who am love, will lose him to a small child of Man."
"He has forsaken her."
"For now."
"But if you desire Sesshoumaru, what is Rin to challenge you?" The Celt stepped forward, and put her hand on Kannon's arm. The God laughed as she changed her form into her male persona because it suited her better and made her feel stronger for the moment. He turned and smiled reassuringly at the girl, placing his hand over hers. "You can fix this, Goddess. You can change this."
Kannon looked at the Celt, for a long time debating and then he nodded slowly. "Yes. You are right. It is time to change this." Kannon pulled from her servants grip and walked into her palace.
And appeared in a quiet, thick forest area. It was late at night and there was a small camp site not far from where he stood. Several horses were bound to the trees, their lovely heads bowed in slumber and silence. Kannon reached over and stroked the nearest one behind the ear lovingly. The birds fell silent at his appearance but he paid little attention to them as he made his way to the camp, stepping daintily over the swords and gear that is at his feet and shaking his head in disdain.
He saw the Master of this group, the so called King of thieves sleeping with one hand around his sword. He was an old wizened figure, dressed in white and black. His long gray hair was tied down his back and whipped around him like a tail. He wore iron claws over his fingers that clicked as he moved them against one another in slumber. Kannon could smell blood on the man of various ages and could see the servants of the Underworld nestling near him, and Kannon understood.
This man, this King, knew of death and cruelty.
Kannon hissed darkly and turned directly into the wait of a Fox demon. Tama had his axe to Kannon's neck, pressed just coolly enough to the skin that Kannon could see his reflection on the blade. He feigned a smile and looked up.
Tama had changed greatly since last he saw him. He had lost an eye and not tended it, turning the skin to scar patches and blackening the area darkly. His armor was still well-kept and had recently tasted blood. Kannon could smell it all over him, as well as much more: anger, fear, and above all else, desperation.
"Well met, Tama Lord." Kannon greeted cordially.
"Stay away from him." Tama hissed angrily.
Kannon frowned and glanced back towards the old man. Tama did not flinch. No. The God inclined his head and scanned the group that surrounded by them, unmarked by the God and Demon in their midst. Kannon meant to ask about whom Tama had spoken but a familiar scent caught his attention.
Human's. Rin's.
There was a man sleeping behind Tama. Kannon had not seen him before. It must be a family trait, he thought idly, to hide their importance in a guise of impotence. The boy was barely a man. His hair was short, cropped around his young ruddy face that still held the childish fat. He had a series of thick scars ripping through his cheek and forehead, marring whatever beauty he may have possessed. His mask, a Samurai's style mimicking a Youkai, rested just above his head keeping vigil. His arms were folded over his chest like death. He wore a brace of gauntlets on each arm. On each were two birds, carrion crows, facing each other and swooping towards the center to devour some dead object.
"So this is Daigo Jomei." Kannon whispered thoughtfully, ever mindful the axe to his neck. "Older brother of the human who dares claims a Youkai Lord as guardian and consort."
Tama flinched only when Kannon used the word consort but the axe held.
Still, the God continued. "Of all who would think to guard the brother of Sesshoumaru's human, I honestly never suspected you."
"What importance are my dealings to you, Sea God?" Tama demanded. "Has Sesshoumaru sent you?"
"In a manner." Kannon offered gently. He looked again at the blade to his throat. "I come for his sake yes, but not in his wish."
"Then speak your business."
"I come to save his soul."
Tama faltered then and returned the axe to his back. "What words you bring to one a the Western Lord claims an enemy."
"Do you consider him one?"
"Of course not." Tama rebuked. "He is my Lord, my Master. Now and always. I would follow him to hell, had he asked." The Fox's face looked pale thin, drawn and shallow. "Perhaps I have." He looked up, eyes cleared and frightened. "You see this, don't you, All-Mother? Surely you see what Sesshoumaru refuses."
"And what is that?"
"That he and the mortal child are of two different worlds. They can exist together no more then a fish could live with a falcon, a flower with a raven. No good will come of this…abomination."
"The Inu no Taisho believed."
"And he paid for such folly with his life. His kingdom died without ever being realized. Is that what you wish for Sesshoumaru; that he, who gave Ryuhoji and his own mother for his kingdom, would have it waste away before its birth for the love a child who will die as easily as winter would pass. He would damn himself for his foolish whim he thinks to call love."
Kannon looked down back to Jomei and thought of this. Tama's words were true, he knew. Humans had their nature and domain and function, as he and the Gods did, as the Youkai and Otherkin had. Who were they to buck against was ordained by forces and fates that were old and ancient before even Kannon had come into existence, Kannon asked himself angrily and the answer came as simply as breathing.
He was Sesshoumaru, Lord of the Western Lands. And she was Rin who believed in him above everything else.
That was the strongest magic to break. Love had the power to negate all else. It had birthed universes and caused the death of Gods. It was a formidable foe.
But, like all enemies, it could be beaten.
"It is true what you speak, Tama." Kannon said simply. "And if you truly wish to defeat Sesshoumaru's love you will need something stronger."
Tama arched an his brow, waiting. "Like what? Your help?"
"My help yes. But something even more fickle and dedicated then that." Kannon nodded. "A human's love for his sister…"
