Part 12: A Blood Bound Boon

Some moons later Setomaru was practicing his sword work in the garden, trying to strengthen the muscles of his left arm when his lady mother decided to make her appearance.

Ever dressed in the pure samite of the northern lands Lady Saluki, was the personification of glacial beauty and grace. She saw her son was schooled in etiquette and the rule of law as befitting a proper prince, she tutored him on matters above Myoga's station but their relationship did not go much deeper than that.

It was strange that she would come to him…now while he was slightly rumpled. A full Daiyō kai ought never to be seen to sweat he knew it well enough, but the sun was hot and he had been purposefully pushing himself to his limits. Even his moko-moko hung a bit limp against his shoulder.

Seto unconsciously braced for the inevitable scathing comment. Her aquiline nose would twitch and she would roll her eyes and compare his sent to a damp human, a water imp or some equally loathsome creature. He waited for the usual reaction… It didn't come.

As she neared the prince became even more convinced something was very wrong. His eyes widened and his breathing hitched in his throat when he noticed there were tiny droplets of red on the collar and sleeves of her Furisode.

It reminded him of the bright stains the benibana petals had left on his own kimono after his first outing with Sora. But his nose told him these marks had not been left by flowers. They were blood, her blood, in instances of high emotion it was not uncommon for an Inu's claws to pierced the palm of their own hand. But he had never dreamed his mother to fall prey to such a lapse.

"Son," she whispered.

"Mother," he nodded in return. It was a very stilted exchange, Lady Saluki was normally cold. They had never had a casual relationship but this was something else altogether and Seto felt his hackles rise instinctively as if in response to some unseen threat.

She nodded her mouth set in a firm line and without preamble announced, "Your Sire is dead."

Golden eyes blinked uncomprehendingly. Seto didn't know how to react. If he had been able to shift forms he likely would have done so, howling his distress to the skies. But he could not…and his present form had already cried itself out under the sun's dispassionate gaze and the seemingly endless watches of the night after his Chichiue's ill-conceived departure. This Setomaru had no tears left and the fact there would be no reconciliation between them left a cold lump in his stomach that not even his poison could dissolve.

"The swords?" he asked tonelessly.

She sniffed and flicked her long silvery white hair over her shoulder. "Behold your birthright." She drew a sheathed sword from the folds of her robe and held it out to him. He stretched out his hand to take it and immediately sensed what was wrong—withdrawing his hand.

"That, that is Tenseiga." He announced confused, "Where is the Tetsusaiga where is Sou'unga?"

"You refused Sou'unga did you not?" The ice queen reminded.

"I did…but the death and hell blades are too dangerous to entrust to another. If Inu no Taishō is not here to control them no other Dai Yōkai in all the land is capable of wielding them in safety!"

"This is your birthright." She shook the sword hard enough that it rattled in the scabbard, "I can give you no other. If you would have the others for yourself you must grow strong enough to take them. You know how it must be for those who would rule the kingdom of the West. I have seen you schooled in the traditions of our clan. You must prove yourself worthy as your Sire Akita did…and your Grandsire Inu Toga before him. Do you understand?"

He nodded solemnly and knelt before her.

The sword of life sang as she pulled it free of its bindings. He felt the kiss of cold steal lightly first on one shoulder then the other, lastly, he felt it grace the back of his neck before he rose and took it from her hands, sheathed once more. "You have your Sire's gift, such as it is. I would give you one as well to guard you on your quest…if you will have it."

"What would you give me?" he asked trying to hide his nervousness. It was common knowledge the Lady of the West considered generosity a human frailty; and sentimentality a taint. A weakness any self-respecting yōkai could not afford.

Even as a pup he could never recall having received so much as a bone to teethe on from his mother's hand. Now, at such a time as this, the gleam in her golden eyes was peculiar and it unnerved him more than a little.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I would have you wear my armor and corselet. It served me well when I rode with the armies of my people…before Akita no Tasho caught and tamed me."

"You are many things, Hahaoya; I have never mistaken you for being tame." He frowned.

"Perhaps," She conceded with a shrug and there was genuineness in her eyes Setomaru never thought to see. The icy pools seemed to thaw just a fraction and he caught a glimpse of the depth of the sorrow and pain she hid behind her perpetual mask of indifference. He wondered if emotion had always been there beneath the icy veneer or had it come alive only recently in the wake of his Chichiue s passing? He could not say.

"I am content to wear your armor if you will it." He nodded

"It is there." she motioned to a cloth wrapped pile setting on one of the stone benches beside the entry to the garden. "It is Yōki infused and will grow as you do. It ought to accommodate your shoulder guard more easily than the banded style Akita no Taishō preferred. Try it on. See how it adjusts to you."

He nodded absently and went to don the armor as she had suggested. He felt numb and did not even notice her pale hands assisting his fumbling attempts to settle the breastplate beneath the spiked band stretching over his shoulder. There was still no way to determine how important it was in preventing the poison from overwhelming him.

The Queen moved to adjust the straps of the lotus-shaped Fauld around his slim hips. He never wanted affection from her, he knew to look elsewhere for support but now there was no one else. His Chichiue was dead. It was too much. He felt himself slipping into shock. His hands trembled so badly he could not manage to tie the sash. She took it from him and made the knot in short order then slipped the Tenseiga into it.

~O~

"I have two requests of you my son." The Inu queen whispered softly into his pointed ear.

"Ask." Setomaru blinked.

"First I would have your Sire's piece of the…what you call it, moko-moko? To remember you both by- It would be… a comfort, I think."

He nodded his assent, not trusting his voice not to betray him if he spoke. His piece had grown nearly doubling in length and thickness, The Dog General's piece was still twice as long. Regardless he suspected the two halves had been parted too long to return to the way they had been. If she would look after it, he could trust her to keep it safe.

"Secondly I would ask that your first quest be to deliver your brothers birthright to him in my place. I fear I am incapable of doing so without causing bloodshed."

"My…My what?" Seto gasped and blinked, the slit pupils of his golden eyes going wide.

"Your hanyo Half-brother, give him this." She pressed a large black pearl into his hand "I think you know where to find him. If not I'm sure your nose will lead you back to the healer's hut."

"Izayoi." He hissed through clenched teeth.

His dam nodded, her fingers closing to form a tight fist, claws piercing her palm let again. "Humans are so very fragile they break so very easily…but your Sire would not approve." She shook her head, "It was his final wish that she be protected…and the child.

Ours is a cruel world, especially for a half-breed. It is an abomination of course but your sire sacrificed his life for it. I will allow it the chance to grow to adulthood. Despite better judgment, I assure you."

'I have a brother!' Seto's mind was reeling. His Chichiue's last words echoed loud in his ears, 'Do you have something to protect?' perhaps he had misinterpreted the fervor in Inu no Taisho's eyes.

"Go now," She directed him. "I've had the servants gather supplies and pack them on that beast of yours. I've also given the order to have the anchor stones of the palace struck within the next few candle-marks.

I have lost my connection to this land. It perished along with Inu no Taishō. The winds will take me where they will. You must travel far and grow into the strong Dai yōkai you were born to be. Nothing less will be accepted of a lord of the west."

"Understood," He bowed to her and turned away. His steps took him to the gate and he did not look back. The two-headed demi-dragon stood tethered to a post at the edge of the wood. He mounted the beast without preamble and rode away from the only home he had ever known.

Seto did not look back till he felt the ground lurch beneath his mount's paws. The beast sidled and danced uncertainly as he reined it in. It was only by chance he happened to lift his gaze in time to see the massive castle rise above the trees.

He had known the palace was nearly as old as Gaia itself. Atlantean magic had shaped it from a giant chunk of levi-stone long before the fall of the ancients when the great North continent of Asgard had become Dai yōkai lands. Because of its nature and the changing politic and strategic demands of the western lands necessitated that the castle moved from time to time.

Inu no Taishō had chosen the valley where it had rested since the beginning of his reign. His mother was well within her rights to order it cast adrift once more. She was the Lady of the West until this Setomaru grew strong enough to rule in his sire's stead. At such time he could choose the best place for the castle to come to rest. But that necessity was still far in the future.

"I will do it," he whispered, caressing moko-moko absently. "I will become as great as you were otousan …greater in fact…just you wait and see." He clutched the black pearl in one elegantly clawed hand and tugged his beast's reigns with the other, galloping into the woods. His quest had begun.