Chapter Nine: The Omega
Sesshomaru had returned without a word, carrying Ayami, who was senseless, and whose wrist, neck, and ankle were tightly bound with bandages. The cloths only just held back the tide of her blood; they were deeply ensanguined. She was blanched white, and laid limp in the crook of Sesshomaru's arm. Terror was still written clearly on her face.
In contrast, there was no emotion on Sesshomaru's. He was as blank and cold as slate.
Rin cried out in alarm. "Ayami! What happened to her?"
Jaken said nothing, but narrowed his large, yellow eyes in suspicion.
"Mount Ah-Un, Rin," Sesshomaru replied. "We take to the skies." He did not wait for them to follow orders, but rose heavenward, still holding Ayami.
Rin scampered onto the two-headed dragon and tugged the reins. Hardly needing the command, the creature rose to follow Sesshomaru, whose form was already very small with the distance. Jaken, who was late on the uptake, had only the time to flounder for hold on the dragon's tail. Rin couldn't make out the details of his infuriated rants over the wind, but could hear his frustration all the way.
Sesshomaru landed on the grounds of a castle in the sky. Before him was a woman, sitting on a throne of gold and scarlet as if anticipating his arrival, wrapped in a fine kimono and a robe of sapphire lined with a pelt of white fur. On her brow was a blue crescent moon identical to Sesshomaru's, and beneath each honey-amber eye there was a single magenta stripe.
"You come again Sesshomaru, and so soon after your last visit?" the woman asked. Her lips were curled into a coy smile, her amber eyes alight. "I haven't seen you in a century or more, and now you come twice within a few short months. What is the occasion this time? More questions about your father, perhaps?"
Sesshomaru scoffed. "Hardly."
The female youkai rose to her feet. "Then, if it isn't a question, and assuming your pride is still too strong to ask your mother for aid, I take it you come with news. Perhaps concerning that creature you're holding, son?" Her cunning smile said that she thought knew it all.
Sesshomaru approached his mother and dropped Ayami unceremoniously at her feet. Ayami did not stir from her slumber.
Ah-Un landed behind Sesshomaru, and Rin slid from the saddle as Jaken tried to find footing after being thrown around by the dragon's tail. "Lord Sesshomaru," Rin called. "Hello my lady!" she greeted kindly, grinning and dipping into a small curtsy.
His mother looked at the girl with a raised eyebrow. "You still keep the human girl and the little demon at your side?" she asked. "I am surprised."
"The company I keep is no business of yours."
His mother acted as if wounded. "Such coldness…even towards your own mother."
Sesshomaru did not react. Rin came up to his side and stood by his leg. Jaken stayed a ways behind with Ah-Un, looking none too pleased to be where he was.
Sesshomaru's mother looked more closely at Ayami, paying particular attention to her bandages. "It is not the normal way that one marks a mate, but I suppose it is effective. No one will be left with any doubts about to whom she belongs."
The sly comment produced a squawk from Jaken, and Rin looked up at Sesshomaru, anticipating an answer.
"Lady Mother or not," Jaken protested, waving the Staff of Two Heads above his head, "no one gets away with implying that my noble Lord would take such a disgusting creature to be his mate…!"
Sesshomaru had only to say the imp's name for the little demon to back away, lest he incur his Lord's wrath.
"Is it true, Lord Sesshomaru? Is Ayami going to be my mother?"
"You do not need me to tell you that she is not my mate," Sesshomaru answered both Rin and his mother, his eyes several shades darker.
"Indeed?" Sesshomaru's mother asked. "Then why mark her at all?"
"She is indebted to me. I have chosen to have her repay that debt by acting as Rin's guardian."
Rin's eyes lit up and she broke out into a huge grin. Jaken only groaned, having suspected that this was the case.
"The number of people at your side grows, Sesshomaru," his mother commented. "What an odd little family you keep: a little demon, a young girl, and now a mortal woman." She turned to her son and smiled coyly. "Why did you bring her here, Sesshomaru?"
His eyes narrowed. "I do not need to explain myself."
"Bring her, then."
"Rin, Jaken, stay with Ah-Un." Sesshomaru lifted Ayami by her wounded wrist and followed his mother into the main pavilion.
His mother's toying smile was gone. "Lay her on the futon." Sesshomaru did so without excess grace or decorum. "Leave us. I will speak with her alone."
The burning in her blood woke her.
She was lying on a simple futon in the middle of a spacious but vacant room. She rose to her elbows, disoriented, and tried to gauge where she was, but out the windows there was nothing but sky, sun, and clouds.
"You are awake, mortal," a woman's voice said. "It took you long enough."
Ayami shook her head to shake the sleep from her mind and unconsciously began to rub her wrist, which was throbbing. Only after she had pulled herself into a sitting position did she turn around to face the woman.
Ayami peered at her for a long time, and she made no movements to discourage her. "Do you know who I am?" the woman asked after Ayami had time to look.
"You look like…my Lord. You bear the same markings…the same face, and eyes."
She smiled, but it was neither kind nor warm. "Perceptive, little mortal. I am Sesshomaru's mother."
Ayami pulled her knees under her and pressed her forehead to the futon in a deep bow. "My Lady," she murmured. "Forgive me. I don't know the proper way to show respect to a Taiyoukai."
"Enough. Face me. You and I have much to talk about. Sesshomaru has asked me to ascertain some things about you."
Ayami did as she commanded, but kept her eyes averted.
"Stand."
Ayami obeyed.
Sesshomaru's mother began to circle Ayami, observing her closely. "Hmm…tell me of your family."
"I was exiled, my Lady. I have no living kin to claim me."
"How very tragic," she replied blandly, still deep in thought. "Tell me your lineage, then."
"I am the fifth child of the Lord of a village far from here, and the only daughter."
"You are royalty among mortals, then?"
"…I was, I assume."
"Continue."
"What would you like to know, my Lady?" Ayami was trying to hide it, but she was very uncomfortable with how closely the female youkai was scrutinizing her.
"Tell me how you met my son."
"Rin had gotten lost one day and wandered into my village. I took her in as my honored guest, and that angered my father."
"Why?" The glint in her eyes told her that this woman knew full well why, but wanted to hear her say it anyway.
"Because she was the ward of a Taiyoukai," Ayami said softly.
The Lady Mother laughed. "You do not fear youkai as you should, mortal. Continue."
"We fled together, running from the samurai that my father sent to kill me. When I found Sesshomaru, we parted ways. It was after that that the samurai caught up to me and…killed me." It felt funny to say, she thought. Even the thought that she was once dead was foreign.
"A condensed version, surely. I can sense the bite of Toukijin in your heart, mortal. I know who it was that ended your life. Do not play me for a fool."
"Then surely you don't need me to tell you who it was that revived me, as well." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she bit her tongue, hard.
Sesshomaru's mother hummed; a sound rather like a snake's warning rattle. "You have an impudent tongue, girl. See that you bridle it in my son's presence."
"Yes, my Lady. I will remember."
"You will not live long if you do not." The Lady stopped her pacing and gracefully sat on the futon. Ayami, belatedly, sunk to her knees so as not to appear higher than her superior. The female Taiyoukai hummed a half-approval. "One more question, mortal, and I shall know what I need to about you."
"Yes, my Lady."
"My son," she said simply. "What is he?"
Ayami blinked, uncomprehending. "What…is he? I'm afraid I don't understand…"
"I asked you plainly enough," she repeated, irritated. "What is my son? What is he in your eyes?"
Ayami closed her eyes and thought for a long while. Sighing, she began. "Lord Sesshomaru is…strong. And…an able warrior. The best."
"One might deduct as much from a cursory glance, girl. You'll have to do much better than that."
Her brows furrowed as she thought on the question harder. "He is…the son of a great demon lord, and strives to become as great as his father was."
The lady's glare told Ayami that she had not been satisfied.
"He is…intelligent…and quick…and is not hesitant to charge into battle…he—he—"
"Mortal, you try my patience. What is my son? I will give you only one more chance to answer."
Frustrated, Ayami gripped the hair near her ears. She hardly knew what the lady was asking!
"How am I to know what he is?" she finally exploded, near tears with anger. "Except that he is an arrogant, soulless man who feels nothing! There is no warmth in him…not in his eyes or his touch. Everything he touches withers or dies. When he speaks, it is from the lofty pedestal he has set himself up on. There is no emotion, no passion, just cold—stone—I don't think he even has the capacity to feel anymore!"
"That," the Lady Taiyoukai responded coolly, "is the strength of youkai. Emotion hampers judgment and makes the heart weak and susceptible to attack. If he seems cold—as you so claim—it is because your own weakness. All these things you have said to me, they will allow my son to walk the path of supreme conquest."
Ayami's fiery burst of passion was extinguished by her calm reply. She remained stunned for a while.
"…And yet…" Ayami began slowly, in a voice hardly more than a whisper. She thought of Rin, and how different the cold demon was when the little mortal girl was at his side. She thought of the day they had first met; how protective Sesshomaru had been of the little girl, and how hostile he had been towards her as a potential threat to his ward. She remembered how he had not only remembered Rin's humble comment about having a family, but acted upon her wish, though he clearly despised Ayami and the thought of having her around was utterly repulsive to him.
None of these things seemed to fit the Lord Sesshomaru she had just described. Protective? Passionate? Loyal to a mortal girl, even to the point of sacrificing of his own desires? It was impossible!
"…Sometimes I think there is something more. Something that only his father and Rin know how to teach him—"
Ayami found herself on her back, stunned, tasting bitter blood in her mouth. Her face stung only after a few moments, and only then did she realize that she had been struck.
"There are times," the Lady's voice was calm, contrasting to the lightning-quick attack she had just unleashed that had knocked the breath from Ayami's lungs, "when truth is better left unsaid. Remember this, too, in the presence of my son."
The Lady left her on the floor to bleed.
Ayami couldn't catch her breath, and it wasn't from the slap.
What she had said earlier…was it even possible?
Sesshomaru's mother pulled Ayami from the pavilion. As soon as they exited, the Lady Mother spoke with a loud voice so everyone below could hear.
"You have chosen poorly, Sesshomaru. This woman is an Omega."
Sesshomaru fixed his mother in his heated gaze, but waited until she had descended from the dais, with an abashed Ayami in tow, to respond. "And how would that concern me?"
"I am merely telling you what I saw."
"That woman is not my mate."
"Nonetheless, she is your servant."
Sesshomaru spoke to Ayami without even glancing at her. "Join Rin and Jaken on Ah-Un. We will leave immediately."
Ayami was only too glad to do so. She could almost taste the tension between the mother and son, and she could tell that she was not wanted.
"What is the impurity I sense in her blood?" Sesshomaru demanded.
"Mortal. You never could stand the stench."
"That is not what I speak of."
"Oh? I don't know what you're talking about, son."
"You lie," Sesshomaru accused his mother. "You know full well the woman is not human."
"Perhaps," was her snide reply. "But if you want to know so badly, you should find out for yourself. Your poor mother grows old, Sesshomaru. I cannot do everything by myself."
Sesshomaru turned and abruptly began to move toward the others.
"Are you leaving so soon?"
"The only reason I came was to find out what that smell in her blood means."
"Then know this, if you must leave."
He stopped and turned his head over one shoulder.
"You will be the death of that woman, Sesshomaru, and if you insist on keeping her, she will destroy you in turn."
"I will not be felled by a mortal woman."
"But you said yourself, son, she is not mortal."
"Regardless."
"One does not have to kill to destroy. You, of all people—shamed by your father as you were—should know that."
His eyes narrowed. "What are you implying?"
"Are you so cruel, Sesshomaru?" she asked. "I have said it: you will kill that woman. She will not long survive in the marble halls of your keep. She will wither, and she will die."
"She's only a mortal servant. She is nothing to me."
"You said yourself, son: she is no mere mortal."
Sesshomaru hesitated, then brushed the comment aside with a scoff. "Ridiculous."
A/N: I WILL fix this chapter. I just can't get it to sound right...meh. Anyway, next chapter is where the action begins: I'll try to get it up before my Christmas break is up and I have to go back to college craziness.
