Disclaimer: Not mine. Rumiko Takahashi's!
Author's Notes: Yes. I am obsessed with Shishinki! He seemed like a really great character. He will also have a small part to play in "The Challenge Posed" and a starring role in "All in the Family" if and when I finally get around to writing it.
You guys are awesome! Such great reviewers. This is my favorite story to write, so I am glad you all like it.
Shadowlands
Chapter 8: Tenseiga Upgrade
Mind racing, Sesshoumaru considered his options. His one chance to return to Earth had been stolen away by a demon from the underworld. Shishinki, one of his Father's old enemies, seemed to believe that the Meidou belonged to him, simply because he had invented the technique. Thus, if Sesshoumaru wanted to get back the Tessaiga, he would have to earn the right to it, by undoing the mess he had made in the Lands of the Dead.
And what a mess it was! Technically, this was all the miko's fault, of course. Kagome had tried to help him out in a battle against So'unga, and the shock of using her power had caused the Shikon no Tama to break. It did not simply break into shards, however, it decomposed into the multitude of souls which had been contained inside the Jewel. Midoriko had helped hold the demons at bay, momentarily, but now her soul was gone – a human soul in the Lands of the Dead either moved toward reincarnation or it perished. There was no happy medium.
Meanwhile, Kagome had passed out, since her link to the Shikon no Tama had snapped, and there was no more mystical Jewel to protect her life-force from the nasty side-effects of standing around in Hell. One of which was instant Death, for any mortal creature. In fact, when the Shikon disappeared, the only reason she had not died outright was because Sesshoumaru had formed a blood-bond with her earlier in the day. His youki had flooded out to sustain her life, leaving him weakened and pitiful.
So, now, it was up to him to deal with the demons that had been encased within the Shikon no Tama – one of whom seemed to be Naraku – then kill So'unga, and finally high-tail it out of this place. Easier said, than done. He had no Tessaiga to fight with, and his life-energy had been all but withdrawn by the miko, until Shishinki had halted the process, moments before he and Kagome both died.
Although his chances seemed horrible, Sesshoumaru had long since learned to work with what he had. Entering battle with nothing but luck on his side was unacceptable. He simply had to think of some alternative.
On the one hand, he wasn't completely weaponless. He still had the Tenseiga. He simply did not know how to use it effectively in the upcoming battle.
Sesshoumaru supposed it might be slightly useful. Although Tenseiga did not have offensive purification powers, like holy arrows fired by a priestess, the Tenseiga did have defensive holy powers, which it used to heal others. And prior experience had already taught him that its healing skills could be used to 'attack' certain creatures, specifically those that lived in or came from the underworld.
Thus, it would do little good against the 'living' demons that had been trapped in the Shikon no Tama all this time. But it might work against So'unga, to a certain extent.
Clenching his jaw in frustration, he gripped the Tenseiga so hard that his palm hurt. What good was optimism, at this point? They were both going to die here. Using Tenseiga to battle the demon-dragon from the netherworld, while using his teeth and claws to battle the multitude of aboveground demons – it would take forever, and he was already at a fraction of his strength. So, he would die, and then the miko would die too, without his youki to sustain her, and he would have failed. Utterly failed.
But failure was not acceptable. Not when another person's life depended upon his. There had to be a better way!
Maybe he was simply over-thinking the situation. Everything the Sword of Heaven did was counterintuitive. It healed the living, and harmed the undead. It did not cut flesh, it attacked souls. Even though the Tenseiga was a demonic weapon, it had holy powers.
Then, like a fog had just cleared in his mind, Sesshoumaru blinked. Holy powers! Of course! What all of this meant was simple: the Sword of Heaven could channel holy powers!
He was about to do battle with youkai – from the mortal world and from Hell. Sacred power would technically harm any demon. All he had to do was figure out a way to switch the sword's 'defensive' magic to 'offensive' strength. Then, no matter whom he attacked, he would win.
So, what was the difference between using holy power to heal, and using it to kill? As a demon, he could not quite say, but a priestess could do both, effortlessly. And currently, Sesshoumaru was bonded to a priestess. The blood-connection he had formed allowed him to transfer power to her; why should it not work in the opposite direction?
Normally, blood-bonds between humans and demons were completely unproductive, and thus, not often created. Most mortals had no spiritual power to share, and if a monk or priestess was involved, the spiritual power was unusable to a demon – it was holy power. But Sesshoumaru had a unique advantage that no other youkai had. The Tenseiga could funnel sacred power through it – as proven by its ability to heal the living and purify the undead.
In theory, he should be able to draw upon his link to the priestess, then divert her strength into his weapon, allowing the Sword of Heaven to handle the holy magic instead of harming him.
Yes, it could work. In fact, it had to work, because Sesshoumaru could think of no other way to emerge from this battle alive, much less victorious. He absolutely had to find a way to use offensive spiritual attacks with the Tenseiga. Healing his enemies would be insane, and going into combat bare-handed would be only slightly less psychotic.
Closing his eyes, he blocked out the sounds of the thunderous battle below, on the foothills of the mountain range. Concentrating, he reached out to the threads of youki that remained in his body and ever so gently tugged on them. Beyond the indefinable space that divided him and her, he could sense her, weakly. But there was something wrong. The connection was not strong, like it had been earlier. There was no emotion inside of her, no health, or hurt, no information at all really. Just a current of power.
Youki was demonic-energy, so it naturally shied away from the purifying power of a priestess, but he forced the issue, pushing the remainder of his youki toward her. It felt like his spirit was pressing through a massive waterfall, battering him and pressuring him back. A few threads of his youki made it through the divide, somehow, tendrils searching out and wrapping around her searing strength.
Persuading her power to follow him was another matter entirely. The dog-demon growled in frustration, almost loosing focus. In this strange inner universe, without colors or life or names or feelings, all that remained was the blindingly pure soul of a priestess, burning at his youki.
But how could he borrow her spirit? For youkai, like himself, strength was tied to the blood – hence, the blood-bond he had made with the priestess. By taking his blood, she could gain temporary use of his spiritual strength. But the situation was entirely different for a priestess or a monk. In Kagome, the strength of her power and the size of her spirit and the purity of her soul were one and the same. And he could not 'borrow' her soul.
Abandoning the idea as unworkable, he pulled back his youki. A split second of warning was all he received, as he detected her spirit following his home. His vision faded to white, and then it hurt… even more than learning his Father had died, more than watching Kagura fall… With a frantic gasp, he pushed her aura toward his sword, letting the Tenseiga act as a conduit, so that he did not inadvertently purify himself, in his efforts to borrow her strength.
Apparently, there were reasons why a blood-bond between a youkai and a miko should not run both ways. Physically, he was faster and stronger, but spiritually? Kagome could probably vaporize his soul by accident.
The Sword of Heaven lit up like a torch, and then proceeded to grow brighter and brighter, until it hurt to look down at his hands. Sesshoumaru took this as a sign to begin. As he dashed toward the field below, the youkai stopped what they were doing, one by one, swirling to face the Tenseiga.
Well, at least he had their attention.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
About half-way through the slaughter, he realized he could have simply turned around and walked right back up the slopes, slashing Shishinki with the new-and-improved Tenseiga. Why this idea had not occurred to him earlier was hard to fathom. Perhaps it was that he had never backed out of a battle before, and a tiny part of him wanted to know how he compared to the multitude of demons once housed in the Shikon no Tama.
But honestly, a large part of the decision was based on Kagome. The one-eyed demon currently held the priestess in a state of suspended animation, seconds away from death. If he were to kill Shishinki, there was no guarantee that he would be able to reach her, form a portal between worlds, and then drag her through the Meidou before she died.
And strangely enough, he discovered that her life was more important to him than winning a battle against his Father's old enemy, more essential than defeating the one who challenged him. Even though his rational mind snickered, informing him it was weakness, it mattered not. He could not allow her to die, not when he had sworn to save her and handed over his weapon, Bakusaiga, as a pledge. And besides, he respected her – even liked her – after getting to know her better.
He had once told Kagura that he would not help her, unless she helped herself first. Above all else, he honored bravery – a quality the miko had in spades. Kagome would never have allowed herself to be dominated by Naraku, like the wind-demoness. The priestess would have died first. Not that he had been particularly pleased when this result finally came true for Kagura; by the time Kagura had proven her bravery to him, she was, in fact, dying because of it, and the Tenseiga had refused to resurrect her. But in any case, he thought, the priestess would never have begged and pleaded for 'aid' in the first place. And Kagome most certainly would not have tried to bribe him with shards from a dubious Jewel.
So, yes, she was brave. She was also honorable; despite his half-brother's inadequacies, she had stayed by the hanyou's side all this time, merely because she promised to do so. Her word was worth its weight in gold, when she was serious about something.
Finally, Kagome was also kind. This was not a huge consideration, in determining why he liked her, but it factored into the decision. After all, she had tried to cheer him up, while they traveled through Hell. Even if her optimism had been somewhat ridiculous, given the circumstances, it had been appreciated.
All of which explained why he was currently blood-soaked (not merely spattered) and panting heavily, as he fended off yet another blow from a particularly stubborn steel-backed spider. This demon was the most likely candidate for the embodiment of Naraku's soul. Sesshoumaru wasn't certain if the spider-demon actually was Naraku, or whether it was simply an impression of him that had been left behind on the Jewel, but either way, the giant insect was causing him no end of difficulty. It had a tendency to hang back, using webs and snares to attack, along with poisonous fumes. It also could spit blobs of flesh, which transformed into additional warriors and puppets on the battlefield.
Baring his fangs, he tried to slide beneath the spider to reach its softer underbelly, but it sank down, blocking him with its armored back, once again.
So'unga chuckled nearby, chewing on the soul of a half-fish, half-snake demon with obvious relish. "Any time you want my assistance," the hell-dragon notified him, speaking with a full mouth, blood drizzling from his jaws, "Just let me know. That one looks tasty."
"You are surely the last person on my list of allies," snarled the dog-demon, not amused. Damned orochi and its ability to make all of this look easy…
"Your father always refused my generous offers, as well," replied the dragon, malevolence spilling into his tone. "More the fool, he." Obviously the fact that So'unga had been sealed into a soul-orb, like the Shikon no Tama, which was later sealed into a blade, still produced rancor in the evil-demon's heart. What little 'heart' he had, that is.
Sesshoumaru ignored the Hell-dragon for the time being, leaping backward to avoid being impaled by one of the spider's massive forelegs. The Tenseiga quivered in his grasp, and he spun to block the beast that had attempted to sneak up behind him. Brimming with purifying power, the sword sliced through the snail-like creature there, instantly reducing it to sparkling dust, and he immediately returned to the spider-demon.
The first few times this had happened, Sesshoumaru had felt slightly giddy, and decidedly jealous of the miko's powers. If he could regularly pulverize his foes with a single touch, turning them into glittering powder, then he would be one happy taiyoukai. But after a few hours of fighting, the glory of it had gotten old.
All the Tenseiga did was purify things, at the moment. It didn't have any special maneuvers or long-range attacks like his brother's sword. What about shooting diamond spears? That would be awesome too. And a broad-based offensive move would have finished the fight much sooner. He was exhausted.
In front of him, the spider-demon flinched and scuttled backwards rapidly, and Sesshoumaru took this hint to leap out of the vicinity, an instant before hell-fire scorched the earth where he had been standing.
So'unga had taken to attacking at random, thus making it harder to predict his attacks. To complicate matters more, the dragon had also started making his strikes lower-powered, but completely silent. Half the time, when the orochi-demon opened his mouth it was to mock or deride Sesshoumaru, but the other half, it was deadly. Unable to foresee when the dragon would assail him next, he felt understandably edgy and paranoid.
"Amazing. You dodged again," So'unga rumbled, glancing down at the charred stone. A less-fortunate youkai had been mostly incinerated and lay shrieking its distress. "This one didn't though."
Snapping up the carcass, the hell-dragon consumed yet another soul from within the Shikon no Tama.
The spider-demon looked at Sesshoumaru, and the dog-demon impassively looked back. But the chance of forming a brief alliance among his foes to defeat So'unga was less than zero. In this free-for-all, every demon fought for himself.
And Sesshoumaru was not about to take on So'unga without clearing the battlefield first. If he had to dodge maelstroms of energy right and left, then he wanted to ensure the ground was clear for landing. Being stabbed in the back by a weaker demon, simply because he had been paying attention to the major-players on the field, did not appeal. Thus, he started with the weakest demons and worked his way up toward stronger ones.
This spider-youkai was the first one to cause him a serious amount of difficulty. It seemed to divine all of his moves ahead of time, thus reinforcing his belief that this creature was a left-over, tortured piece of Naraku's soul. How else could it have known his fighting style so well?
Circling the spider in a wide arc, he placed at least one massive body between himself and So'unga. If the demon-dragon wanted to destroy him in a surprise attack, then he should not make it easy to do so. As if sensing his motives, the armored spider skittered to the side, attempting to leave an open path between Sesshoumaru and the ill-tempered dragon.
It was time to get serious. Since the spider-demon could predict all his moves, he would simply have to act more like So'unga, becoming an unpredictable opponent. After all, the hell-dragon was practically driving Sesshoumaru insane with non-sequitur comments – mixed together with offensive maneuvers. Perhaps this would work for him too?
"Hn," scoffed the taiyoukai, digging around for something suitably antagonistic to say. He was not used to talking during battle. "It would seem the Shikon no Tama failed to grant your wish, twice over, Naraku. How pitiful."
Ironically enough, this seemed to do the trick. Although Sesshoumaru did not put any sarcasm or heat into his statement, stating bald facts annoyed the enemy as much as slander. And the name 'Naraku' had a profound effect on the spider. Hissing, it reared back to spit a steel-shaped web over his head.
However, Sesshoumaru had seen this move once already, when the Shikon no Tama first decomposed. Curling into a tight ball, his legs rocketed him off the ground, avoiding the trap. Bewildered, the enemy crouched low, keeping its armored back toward him. This time, he ignored the armor and aimed for one of its eight eyes.
As the Tenseiga slid into its eye-socket with a sizzling, gory display, the sword, drunk on holy power, actually did too good a job. A moment later, when Sesshoumaru tried to pull back, he discovered the blade had been stuck to the hilt, inside the cavity of the spider's eye. With a shrill shriek, the giant insect thrashed back and forth, and he found himself loosing his grip on the blade, flying into the air, only to land heavily a few yards away.
"Where is she?" the malformed spider hissed, seething with pain and anger, "She should be here."
And with that, Sesshoumaru realized he had been right all along – yes, this was definitely a remnant of the Naraku that they fought aboveground. Only one other would know about the final wish made on the Shikon no Tama, and Naraku's ugly desire to entrap Kagome in the stone for all time. Narrowing his eyes, Sesshoumaru explained, flatly, "She is not here. You have lost, Naraku."
Fury seemed to lend the spider-demon strength, and it charged forward, mandibles extended, ready to bite and inject him with poison. He rolled out of the way, of course, but fatigue beginning to wear him down, Sesshoumaru was a trace too slow. One of the spider's forelegs caught his leg, cutting a gash across his thigh.
He stumbled. That would make his fight much more difficult, by decreasing the distance he could jump. And he had just been starting to regain some of the use of his youki, too!
On the defensive now, he retreated slightly, trying to form a plan to recover his sword. The Tenseiga was still imbedded in one of the spider's empty eye sockets, burning and blistering the flesh around it. And while he was pleased to know it was causing the enemy great agony, the spider-demon had proven its ability to fight beyond the pain. If anything, the fiery heat in its eye was spurring the creature to greater heights.
As his opponent advanced, suddenly, a tiny flickering light swooped down out of the bright white sky, and twirled frantic circles around the spider-demon's head. For a second, Sesshoumaru stared, thinking Midoriko had come back to assist him in battle. But then, he realized this was the same tiny soul that had been traveling with Kagome throughout most of the journey. The priestess had purified one of the corpses in the Land of the Dead, allowing the soul of a young girl to go free. Apparently, the impetuous little human soul had not traveled onward to be reincarnated yet. Instead, it had stuck by him for hours, as he fought, lingering in the background until it at last came forward to assist him, at the most unlikely of moments.
However, the unnamed soul did manage to aid him. It distracted his enemy long enough that he leapt onto the spider's head and yanked out the Tenseiga. The spider screamed, as he fell away.
Sesshoumaru pivoted toward the softer-underbelly of the insect, once he hit the ground, fully expecting the creature to block his attempt, but willing to try once more. Yet somehow, this time, instead of dropping to the ground, the spider shuddered and stumbled to the side. To one side, Sesshoumaru saw So'unga tugging the creature's massive hind legs, hindering its motion, crushing the armored shell.
There was a fissure of space in which to slide forward, and propel the Sword of Heaven into its abdomen. After that, the death-knell sounded for Naraku's final incarnation. The ending wasn't as impressive as the first time around, when Naraku had been fully conscious and purposefully trying to harm innocent villagers along with everyone else with explosions, clouds of poison gas, and lightning. Instead, this time, a purifying blade carved him up, leaving pieces of the giant, armored insect strewn all across the field.
Over top of the remains, a sinister sneer, full of rows and rows of sharp teeth, met his gaze. "Don't worry. I was not 'assisting' you," So'unga leered, "It was the only one left. Except you."
A quick glance to either side confirmed the truth of this. And an itty, bitty, tiny, miniscule part of Sesshoumaru's heart felt relieved that the evil dragon had done so much of the work for him. The rest of his mind began to dread the upcoming fight, though. So'unga had been picking off demon after demon, consuming them for strength. Meanwhile, he had been drastically drained of strength by the miko, and slicing other youkai into pieces did nothing to increase the strength of his spirit.
So basically, he was facing the same dilemma that he had a few hours ago, only the balance had tipped even further in favor of So'unga.
"My Father defeated you," declared Sesshoumaru proudly, holding his head high, "So shall I." Even if the circumstances under which his parent vanquished So'unga were completely different than the situation in which he now found himself…
The unnamed soul that Kagome had rescued flickered unsteadily by his side. "Go away," he whispered fiercely, lifting Tenseiga in front of his chest. "This one isn't like the others. It eats souls. Leave!"
The little, shining orb refused to listen. He shook his head minutely, wishing he could make himself understood. But there was no time.
Starting with a spray of hell-fire, like before, the evil dragon forced him farther away. The next attack would be the Dragon Twister, most likely, devastating the landscape like a hurricane of fire and lightning. With one injured leg, he had to keep running, because he could not leap out of the way in a sudden burst of speed.
So'unga took a deep breath, no longer caring to hide his attacks or catch Sesshoumaru off guard. They were the only two left on the field. It was time to make every possible effort to kill.
Instead of the Twister, however, the evil-dragon's next move was one Sesshoumaru had never seen. A wall of fire slammed into the ground, pushing forward like the tip of an arrowhead, the sides of the wall lagging slightly behind the crest. The amount of ground it covered, from left to right, compared to the dragon's wing-span.
Wide-eyed, he realized the only place to escape was upward – but he did not have the strength in his injured thigh to leap over the tall flames. Obviously, So'unga knew it too. Raising the Tenseiga to block, he grit his teeth and prepared to be scorched…
Only to watch as the inferno veered off-course, silently absorbed by a dark sphere of negative energy. The Meidou Zangetsuha – once his technique, then his half-brother's, but long before it belonged to either of them, Shishinki's pride and joy. It was an attack to nullify all others, when done properly, engulfing all matter and energy that lay in its path, even souls.
"Our agreement was for you to finish what you started," tsked the one-eyed youkai, leaning nonchalantly on the staff of his crescent-shaped halberd, "Not to pick fights with the denizens of Hell."
Baring his fangs, Sesshoumaru snarled. "Clearly, that is not what happened!" Was Shishinki blind?
But his Father's one-time foe was not looking at him; he was staring at the monstrous dragon instead. And unbelievably, wonderously, So'unga was backing away. As in, retreating. As in, the orochi-demon no longer wanted to fight…
His mind stalled on this, uncomprehendingly. The sum total of his knowledge about So'unga told him that the evil-dragon would never abandon a fight, because the beast wanted to destroy all life. Every creature So'unga came into contact with was a candidate for the next victim in the endless massacre. Was Shishinki really that powerful?
If he was so strong, then why didn't he try harder when they fought in the past?
A shiver of dread worked its way up his spine, and Sesshoumaru gaped at the smooth white mask that covered the mangled, missing half of Shishinki's face. An unreadable, dark eye gazed back, and without further ado, Shishinki held out the Tessaiga. "Thank you," he said. "As promised, the Meidou is yours now."
Bewildered, Sesshoumaru took back his Father's sword, gawking at the Tessaiga like it had grown horns.
"Just so you know," added Shishinki calmly, with a subtle smile, "I think you could easily have beaten him. But best to conserve energy for the journey home, yes?"
