AN: I just want to mention how much I appreciate the support I've received for this story! Thanks everyone!
This room was more similar to the one Kagome imagined. It was full of leather and rich mahogany. There was a raised row at the very end of the room where the panel sat, behind a thick, polished wooden table, waiting for them with deceptively blank expressions on each of their faces. Kagome counted seven in all.
In front of the table was a pair of chairs, equally polished. Sesshomaru briskly walked toward them, leveling an intense look at every member of the panel before taking a seat with the softest of sniffs. Kagome followed directly after, moving somewhat skittishly to sit beside him. All of them were looking down their noses at her. Wonderful. A glance to her left made her realize that Sesshomaru was doing much the same thing.
This prompted her to look down at her lap. Let them think that she was the meekest human that they'd ever met!
"Lord Sesshomaru," spoke the demon sitting in the center. He was alabaster pale with a shock of bright red hair that shot upwards like a flame. Kagome was immediately irritated by his snide tone and frowned, hidden by her bangs. "It appears that your arrogance really does know no bounds."
"It is not arrogance," replied Sesshomaru evenly, "If you possess the power to back it up."
"So blatantly ignoring the laws of our world is allowed if you're powerful enough to "back it up"?" a dark skinned demon spoke up, tone less snide, but the fact that it was like cold iron didn't sound very nice to Kagome either.
"I am merely stating that I have the means, connections and resources to hide a human that I wish to take with me into my next life," he said, looking coolly back at the panel.
"Be that as it may, Lord Sesshomaru," said yet another member of the panel, a slim looking fox demon, "This human and her presence here is a very serious breach of security. Our system has not had a human infiltrate it since the Renaissance, and the main reason we have called you here this evening is to discuss how this happened, exactly."
"It happened easily enough," the dog demon answered, brushing a strand of silver hair behind his pointed ear. "My future mate is a flight attendant. I simply had a demoness attendant scheduled to board the Phoenix Flight call in sick and put Kagome in as a replacement."
"That is all?" The red haired demon said incredulously. "Can this flight attendant vouch for this claim?"
"Of course, as well as the pilot of the flight and head stewardess." Drawled Sesshomaru, looking bored.
"And the reason you decided to use our system for the first time with a human in tow?" Asked the demon on the far left.
"My own aircraft was having technical difficulties."
There was a silence for a moment at the panel as the members shared some looks. The cold emptiness in Kagome's stomach lessened somewhat as she realized that her companion really did have an answer for everything. To all who looked at him, Sesshomaru merely appeared to be bored and slightly irritated at being detained.
Kagome also noticed that everything he said was at least an echo of the truth, so she highly doubted her tears would make much of a difference regarding lie detection. The demons of the panel looked frustrated that they were blocked at every turn by his rapid, confident responses. As they began murmuring among themselves, Kagome allowed herself to breathe out in relief.
Then she saw Sesshomaru tense minutely beside her out of the corner of her eye. Apparently what they were discussing was something he did not like.
"Lord Sesshomaru, we would like to interview your intended alone, if you would indulge us." The redhead said, smirking before running his cold eyes over her body. Kagome suppressed a shiver, looking to Sesshomaru for guidance. He appeared to be calm on the outside, but Kagome could see his claws lengthening slightly as he stood.
He bent over, silver hair tickling her cheek as he hovered close to her left ear. "Remember what I said about their noses, and how they feel about humans and females." With that, he straightened abruptly, walking out without a backward glance.
Kagome felt the eyes of the council upon her then, and she looked down at the floor quickly. She knew Sesshomaru was behaving in character, but she couldn't help but feel utterly abandoned by him.
"Human," addressed the one she guessed was some kind of elemental. "You will explain the nature of the spell you used to ensnare Lord Sesshomaru."
"S-spell?" she spluttered, looking up at them in shock. "I don't know any spells, um…Lord Demon."
"Lord Sesshomaru has remained without a mate for his entire life. You expect us to believe that he would just suddenly become infatuated with you? A mere human?" the fox demon inquired, dropping her polite act from before.
"Well…" Kagome said quietly, looking down at her shoes, "I look at my life every day in disbelief… and I think, 'How could someone like him love someone like me?" She looked up at them, looking down their noses at her. "I never thought for a second that he would give me a second glance, honestly," Kagome said, liking the note of desperation that found its way into her voice. "I am very lucky that he wants me at all, I think."
"I disagree," said the redhead. "I think that instead you are very sneaky, human. Lord Sesshomaru would never lower himself to be with a filthy human. His family history should attest to that, if he even told you about it." He sneered.
"Actually-" she began, but was suddenly overpowered by the energy of each demon flaring in irritation.
"We are not here to listen to your lies, female!" The dark one hissed, eyes glowing orange. "Reveal the secret if you wish to leave here with your life."
"I didn't…" Kagome tried again, folding beneath the energy of the panel members. She suddenly felt much more nauseous than she did before, on the plane. She felt her long dormant powers rising within her, and she covered her mouth and doubled over, trying her hardest not to throw up. "I didn't do anything," she gasped, fighting to keep her priestess abilities contained. Why was she reacting this way?
Their energy rose as hers did, making the feeling worse. She could only hope that they didn't realize what she was.
The panel started talking amongst themselves again.
"I think the woman is telling the truth." Kagome thought that one might be the fox demon. She sounded disappointed.
"How can this situation be plausible at all?" hissed the fire demon.
"I am just as stumped as everyone else, but they are telling the truth. I would have smelled the deception on them from the start-" claimed the fox, before being interrupted.
"The fear smell from the stinking human is distorting your senses! We-"
"Silence!" growled the large demon in the corner, voice gravelly. "Regardless of either circumstance, we must decide what to do with them. We cannot let Lord Sesshomaru walk away from this untouched. What would that say to others about our position here?"
"Lord Sesshomaru is very formidable, perhaps one of the few demons who could see to our destruction…would it truly be wise to make him angry?" reasoned a demon that hadn't spoken previously. "We could cover up the situation easily on our own. He is older, and extremely magnanimous, rumors say. He would honor our request for silence."
"Are you suggesting we do nothing?" One of the demons spat.
"Is one insignificant human enough to stir the anger of one of the most powerful beings on earth?" the reasonable one countered. "Just let them go free."
There was some quiet arguing back and forth, them some silence.
"Allow Lord Sesshomaru back inside the chamber," called the fire demon, and Kagome looked back briefly to see Sesshomaru stalking down the aisle to her. He looked a nearly livid.
She swayed slightly in her seat, relieved. Then she must have blacked out for a second because Sesshomaru was suddenly there, at her right ear.
"What has happened?" he inquired, eyes roving her intently.
"I think I might be sick," she choked out quietly. "It just…came on suddenly."
Sesshomaru let out a growl and stood, glaring intently at the panel. "Explain."
"Oh, it's nothing we did," the fire demon said nonchalantly. "Maybe it's morning sickness. Perhaps you've sired a bastard half-breed, just like your father." The smirk was wiped off of his face when Sesshomaru's expression went dark and his massive demonic energy washed over all of them, including Kagome. She whimpered, struggling to keep herself in check.
Unfortunately, a demon on the end that had been silent for most of the exchange managed to rise from where he was cowering and pointed a clawed finger at her. "I saw it! A spark of holy power! She is a priestess!"
There was a collective gasp from the group, and Kagome could hear their shouts to each other about her danger to their entire operation. Their energies flared once more, causing her body to tingle uncomfortably. She felt her control slipping and clutched her suddenly throbbing head before letting out a scream as her powers exploded outward. It bathed the entire room in a blue light, and in her rapidly blurring vision she could see the members of the panel leap from their seats and press themselves against the back wall.
She vaguely felt herself being lifted and thrown over a broad shoulder. She slumped in relief, knowing immediately that it was Sesshomaru. Her vision blurred again and started tunneling. All she could see now was the color white. Eventually she realized that she was moving along a brightly lit hallway at a blinding speed. This didn't do much for Kagome's already curdling stomach, so she hid her face in the back of Sesshomaru's pullover, squeezing her eyes shut so tightly it nearly hurt.
The next thing she knew, water was being splashed on her face. "Woman," Sesshomaru urged. "Wake up. We need to leave."
Immediately, Kagome rolled over and emptied her stomach's contents into what she discovered was grass. It appeared that they were in the forest surrounding the complex.
"I'm so sorry," she said, sitting up weakly. "I couldn't…I tried to…"
"Silence," Sesshomaru snapped, taking off his outermost layer and throwing it over her. "Put that on and drink some water," he commanded. Kagome obeyed without a word, gladly bending over the stream they sat by to rinse the horrible taste from her mouth.
"They have raised the alarm and shut off all normal paths of departure from the island," he muttered quickly after she sat up again, draping what she realized was his computer bag over her shoulder.
"Will you be able to hold on?" He asked her, which confused Kagome to no end.
"Hold on…?" she asked, looking up at his rapidly elongating face. Realization dawned. It appeared that she would just have to. "Yes," she answered, shielding her eyes as Sesshomaru immediately transformed with a burst of blinding red light. When it dispersed, what she saw made her mouth drop open.
Sesshomaru had been large enough back when she and Inuyasha retrieved the Tetsusaiga, but she remembered that his father's massive bones had easily dwarfed him. This Sesshomaru was colossal, easily equaling the size of the late Dog General, if not surpassing him.
Kagome could only gape as Sesshomaru lowered his great head, growling and nudging at her slightly with his nose. She took that as a cue to climb aboard, which she did with some difficulty, but managed by digging her fingers into the downy fur of his ear and using it like a ladder.
Once she was settled in the valley between Sesshomaru's vast shoulder blades, Kagome sunk down into his fur quickly as he began to move. The wind immediately bit at her face and she ducked down completely, hearing his roaring bark and random crashing sounds as he cleared the forest.
It was dark where she sat for the most part, but Kagome could see the reflections off of the surrounding trees from the attacks from other demons as they fell upon them. Sesshomaru seemed unfazed for the most part, running unchecked through the fray. He leapt easily over most of the compound, heading directly for the peak on the far side of the island.
Just when Kagome felt comfortable enough to let out the breath she was holding, Sesshomaru let out a ferocious snarl that sounded a little less confident than usual, and upon looking over her shoulder, Kagome found herself face to face with the fiery-haired elemental demon from before.
His face was terribly burned on one side from Kagome's holy power, freezing his face in a terrifying grimace. Kagome shrieked, scooting backwards, but the demon grabbed her ankle, infusing his grip with energy.
Kagome felt a burning unlike anything she had ever experienced. She couldn't breathe, couldn't scream. There was just pain.
"How does it feel, bitch?" the demon snarled, moving up on hands and knees to cage her beneath him. "It hurts, doesn't it? Just imagine how it's going to feel when I give you a face to match mine!"
Adrenaline coursed through her, making the pain dull and her vision clear. Kagome saw the demon's hand reaching for her cheek and reacted, throwing her hands up to hit his chest squarely with her palms. There was another blinding flash of blue light, and Kagome watched as the pain rose up and the stars overhead started to blur…