Rivers Keep Flowing
Chapter 25: Hammering Out The Plan
Things I do not own: Spirited Away, Inuyasha, Yu-yu Hakusho, sanity.
Things I do own: The original characters that do not belong technically to any mythology, lint, and a stick of string cheese.
A few moments passed by like a snail on a desert highway . . . slowly. Foods of various kinds were brought in by kitchen staff, hoping to tempt the hunger of the pregnant women and to appease the hunger of the others. Pitchers of water and juices were offered as well. Most of the group picked at various dainty dishes. Chihiro, BlowingWind, and Jewel merely stared at everything and turned green. Water was about the only thing the poor things wanted, the pregnancies already screwing with their stomachs.
In short order, introductions were made. The establishment of the identities of everyone in the room, and their relationship, seemed to calm everyone vastly. At last, it was down to the green winged dragon and the pale being.
"The name is Finnigan. No jokes, I like my name, and I've never had a wake, although I am partial to scotch. I was supposed to be Jewel's guardian while she grew and then later her assistant. But there was once upon a time a certain witch that panicked when she saw me and banished me for some reason. My singing isn't that bad."
Jewel frowned at that. Something was pulling at her memory, but she couldn't quite figure out what it was. Somehow, she thought she recognized the little guy.
"Why would I need a guardian, or an assistant for that matter?"
"You're Ireland's Sacrifice. For what I don't really know, but you are supposed to give up something for the good of the land. I was supposed to keep you safe and out of trouble until you made your sacrifice, but your mother put you under some protective spells to keep all spirits away from you. You weren't to come out from under her protection until a bit before your 24th birthday."
"I'll be 24 on August 6th."
"I know. When you came out from under her protection, you were no longer in my realm of influence. So, uh, you kind of got zapped. Yeah."
Here, Marcella cut in. She knew that she was the witch that the little dragon was referring to.
"So, that day you weren't trying to spirit my baby away?"
"Good heavens no! I'm too old and set in my ways as a bachelor to raise a pup, and she was a bit young to have a maiden's first tryst! Besides, she has a temper like a house fire and I wouldn't last to long if she had decided do a jig on my back. I just like teaching them to sing and dance, oh, and tell stories."
For some reason, Jewel couldn't get the image of the little thing singing 'The Lord of the Dance' and River Dancing out of her head. It was a highly amusing image. Wait a bit, if he was old, then why was he so tiny?
"How old are you Finnigan?"
"4,000 years old."
Sakananushi and Ten couldn't help but snort, but Sakananushi was the one that spoke.
"There is a dragon that's more of a runt than you are Kohakunushi!"
Obviously, neither of the size challenged dragons found it funny. The Irish dragon had an excellent comeback though. Taking a good nostril-full of the scents of the room, he looked the fish guardian in the eye.
"At least we can attract females to den with. Besides, it's not your size, it's how you use it, especially with the humans."
Finnigan had a point. Sakananushi was still very virgin. Kohakunushi obviously wasn't as of recently, and Finnigan had his share of breeding under his figurative belt both with dragons and the odd human that the villagers would expect him to eat. Well, you could say that he fulfilled part of it, and it was always a riot to reveal that not only was the big scary dragon not big and scary, but more like a tiny dragon, he also could be pretty darn seductive if he felt like it. Irish dragons didn't always mate for life. Sometimes, there was the odd one-night flight. To further drive in his point, the little guy waggled his eyeridges suggestively.
Jewel wasn't sure if she should blush, or ask the little guy how on earth he could be anatomically compatible with a human. The Irish dragon and the fish keeper glared at each other, and Jewel found herself in the one possessive coil of a deliberately overly amorous laughing dragon, to the consternation of her two actual suitors. Sometimes, being single sucked.
"Finnigan, if you start building me a nest, I'll do that jig."
"Fair enough. Can I at least annoy him?"
"Not if it means that you slither all over me. I've had enough slithering."
Huetziatl coughed and looked away as his ancestor looked at him questioningly. An uncomfortable silence settled over the table as Jewel realized what she said and blushed. It hadn't been that bad a sensation now that she thought about it, but she would have preferred to be more in control of the situation. Ew, what was she thinking, it had to be a result of the baby. Carrying a dragon's kid probably gave you some weird attachment, even if they had a huge tendency to be jerks. Yeah, that was it.
"Well, I guess that means it's my turn. Hi! I'm Death, and I hate my job!"
He had been deliberately chipper on purpose, hoping to at least put somebody at ease. It obviously hadn't worked though, and the sparkling smile soon fell off. Those who didn't already know the frightening pale Asian guy spat out whatever was in their mouth. Poor Death was really aggrieved that his parents had actually named him Death, it never made introductions easy, although it did make his job easier. Then again, their names had been Passage and Transmutation. He was doomed from the start in the name department.
"Don't worry, I'm on strike! I ran into SoaringHawk, recognized him from shadowing BlowingWind so much, and wanted to offer my services. All of us 'Grim Reapers' are on strike right now until we figure out the mess that's going on with our lists."
That didn't really do much to calm the humans that were still alive, or the Meso-American travelers. Ryu decided to play little hero again and steer the conversation back into a safe area for his mate. She definitely smelled scared, and not the good kind either. She probably thought he was going to keel over at any moment with Death in the room after what had happened.
"Wind, you should at least try to eat something more than a bite of chocolate."
"I'm not hungry."
"But think of the baby. Come on, you haven't really kept much down lately . . ."
"WHAT!"
Shock described the look on Marie's face aptly, along with a good pinch of anger. Wind, instead of folding under her mother's scolding like she wanted to, merely kept her chin up. She was a bit over 25 years old, and hadn't seen her since she was 18. She was a woman for crying out loud, and certainly more than of age to be pregnant if she felt like it.
"For the baby then."
"Oh no you did not young lady! Did you forget about the curse? How could you wish to inflict another man, that you professed to love so deeply, with his own premature death?"
Ryu stiffened, realizing that he had just been mistaken for the boyfriend of her youth. It didn't matter that the same spirit was now his son, he still felt jealousy. He could also smell Wind's suppressed tears, hear the thundering of her heart, and feel the shaking of her body as she flashed back to memories of eight years ago. First, he soothed his human, but then he reprimanded his human's mother.
"Sh. It's ok honey, he's still with you. It wasn't your fault. I'll be with you to raise our pup. How can you speak to your daughter that way? She never got to be his mate, I'm not dead, and I am not afraid of a little curse."
Marcella narrowed her lips. This is precisely the reason that their own mother had not allowed them to date in their youth. Their husbands had already been chosen for them, fine young men of good standing, privy to the knowledge of the clan curse. She herself had been content with the arrangement, knowing that if the curse claimed her own husband, she would only be saddened at the loss of a friend and partner. The traditions of her clan were much better than the chance at being devastated at the loss of a love, but no, Marie had to run off to America to be herself. She could easily tell that the man holding her sister was nothing more than a ghost, just the same with her ancestor.
"You know sister, if you would have just done as mother wanted and allowed her to set you up with a suitable man to take care of you until his death, perhaps you would not be reacting to this news so violently. No, instead you wanted to date before marriage, to love a man, and ran away. You bear the evidence of your mistake stamped all over your face even now, my younger twin."
"And you are so bitter because you have never allowed love for a man other than father and the rest of the family in your heart. I only want a normal life for my child, where she can live a happy life-time with a husband by her side. I want for her what I could not have for myself. How could you just give yourself away like you did?"
"The curse was designed to act against the first man or woman our family laid with. It stands to reason to not love the first, and to take a second after properly observing the passing of the first, provided a suitable match can be found. After the first is gone we are free to love if we wish. Mark was a good man, but definitely not what you would call my soul-mate."
Jewel saw that this argument between the reunited sisters wasn't really going to go anywhere. You could see a lot of this at clan reunions, everyone sniping at each other out of pain or irritation. It was sort of an unspoken rule to not love one's husband or wife in more than a friendly way, other than the marital duties to insure the line's continuance. Carefully getting up, she put a hand on her mother's shoulder, attracting the older woman's attention.
"Mother, Aunt Marie, please don't fight about the curse. I have always wanted to see the two of you make up, hearing the whisperings of your fights with grandmother. As soon as I choose a husband, the curse will no longer exist and our children will no more have to worry."
Both O'Drake matriarchs wore identical looks of confusion, and it was easy to see how they had once been hard to tell apart. The hints came back to the sisters, who could have themselves broken the curse if they had sought out the realm of the spirits in search of dragons. Instead, their destinies had lead them down other paths. Together, they spoke what was on their minds.
"But, it has been said that it could only be lifted by dragons."
"True, but it will still be lifted, and we are among dragons. Please sit down. Don't forget where we are."
"Then why don't you hurry up and spread them? You have a cousin and a niece or nephew over there with a curse waiting to be broken Jewel!"
Chihiro and BlowingWind choked on the air they were breathing. They had thought Yuukio was bad at pushing marriage and family on them. It was sounding like Marcella wasn't going to be happy until she had a bloodstained bed sheet to wave around.
"Mother, it's not that simple, and please don't do that again in front of others."
As the women sat down, they looked around the room again, remembering that most of the beings around them were some form of dragon. Not all, but most. As Jewel herself sat back down, the color dropped out of her face and her breathing shallowed.
"Jewel, are you ok?"
From their place across the table, two very different looking young men dashed to hover at her sides. One in dark kimono knelt down to support her, while the other brought a cup of tea to her lips, encouraging her to take in some kind of sustenance. How Huetziatl managed to convince her to drink it, he didn't know, but somehow he wasn't jealous that she was reclining in his rival's arms.
"Just. Got dizzy. Thanks guys."
"Stop getting yourself so worked up. We can wait until you are ready to choose your direction."
"We tried to tell you that you shouldn't have walked that whole way. Really, you are way too active when you are hurt or in shock. You could be on your deathbed and still get up and run down a dark hall and into trouble."
"What, and give you two more reasons to snipe at each other? Not attractive."
Chihiro and BlowingWind made motions with their fingers indicating respective scores, distracting themselves from the very real wish to puke. Someone had once said that the first three months of a pregnancy were the worst. If that was true, they were in for hell. Was it possible for morning sickness to be perpetual?
The five members of the Dragon Council could not believe how stubborn the Irish woman was. She was already pregnant, how hard would it be to allow such a simple thing as a physical union? It wasn't like the curse demanded a soul mating. One proper nesting would be a sufficient mating ceremony, and then the child would be free to stay with whoever she lay with, or to search for the other part of her soul. Did she even realize how many different degrees of mating there were?
Fujiyama snorted at the little love triangle in their midst. What an inconvenience. If they hurried up with it, his son would heal even faster, and be able to properly fight the battles he needed to. But no, he was being held back by his new cousin who just so happened to have a rather large fear of sex. Humans were so strange.
"Just nest and get it over with! It isn't so bad!"
Time froze. Somewhere, in some lab, a pig had wings grafted on, and flew all of three feet . . . straight down. A tiny meteorite struck the earth somewhere in the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia, causing a few locals to believe the sky had fallen. In America, the current President finally issued a letter of apology to the Emperor of Japan for the misdeeds done to Japanese-Americans in the interment camps on American soil in WWII. Ryu literally fell over with the shock of hearing his father's words. In short, the world had to have ended, since Fujiyama himself was actually encouraging a human to have relations with a dragon.
It was at this time that Koji and Ni finally arrived, both looking rather apprehensive.
"Chihiro! Why are you so pale? Are you ill? That dragon let you get sick, didn't he?"
Chihiro wasn't pale for long. In fact, she was beet red, causing the older beings in the room great entertainment to see not only the human, but her kami color as well. Despite the fact that he was flushed across the cheeks, the embarrassed spirit managed to have one of those 'well, what do you think' expressions.
"Noooo. I'm not sick. Not exactly anyway."
It was then that Koji noticed his lord's expression.
"Already? I thought you might have waited a little bit longer."
"Let's just get down to business Koji. What is this news that you and Ni have?"
"Akio and Yuukio have been kidnapped. Amatsu Mikaboshi tried to get Ni here to trade BlowingWind, Chihiro, and somebody named Jewel for the safety of his daughter, who has also been stolen."
Ni produced for the river lord the crane that he had received, as proof of his claim.
"And I should trust the fox because . . . ?"
"Kohakunushi-sama! Chihiro and BlowingWind are as dear to me as my own daughter, who considers them to be good friends. I would never hand them over. Yes, I want my baby back, but if I sold out her friends, she would never forgive me. With your permission, I have a plan that should be successful in bringing our loved ones home."
As can be expected, Haku was no more moved to trust the fox that had not only stolen from him, but also orchestrated the destruction of his river in the first place. Instead, he sat unmoved. He had no ill will toward Tsukaimono, she was one of the few foxes that he could actually get along well with. Ok, so she was the only one, but let's not hold that against him.
"No! For all I know, you could have tricked Koji into bringing you here, and you plan to steal the women out from under my very snout."
"Perhaps the kidnappings are not the most pressing issue. Certainly an important issue, but not the one we need to worry about in the forefront of our minds. Whatever we do, we must do so as the safety of the women and children is not jeopardized. We also must keep the Sun safe."
Quetzalcoatl had been the voice of reason. None of his subjects or family were hostage, and so it was easier for him to keep perspective.
"I agree with the Amphithere Azteca."
With that, Susanowo detailed for everyone all of the problems that were going on with the Sun Palace, and how he thought a rescue mission would help restore the troops' morale. Quetzalcoatl outlined the prophecy of the destruction of the fifth sun, and then Maeve told her tale about the tapestry of Creation.
"All of which brings us back to the fact that those under my protection have been abducted to bring us out of safety. The enemy wishes us to leave the lair, leaving the females exposed. If we stay with the females, either we sacrifice the hostages, or we send a force to rescue them, leaving weakened defenses."
Chihiro was livid, how could he discuss the option of leaving her parents and friend in danger so calmly? Inside, Kohakunushi was roaring though, furious that he had been careless enough to not have a stronger shielding around the Ogino's home. For so long he had considered them safe enough to barely bother with protecting them. Chihiro allowed her rage to show in her voice, her words becoming as tongues of fire to lick at guilty wounds.
"So what do we do? I will not allow my parents to be sacrificed."
Huetziatl could feel his heart break with the woman's words. Yes, she had been one of the ones she smelled when his mate was pulled from the Bridal Chamber, but he still could not bear to see a woman cry. The tears that slowly outlined her cheeks like living and migrating crystals wrenched at him. She was a friend to his mate, and that was more than enough to give him reason to help. The young god stood, looking directly at the female.
"I will volunteer for any rescue mission, if no one else wants to go, then I will be happy to go on my own. I want to hear the fox's plan."
Ten was incredulous. Here was a dragon they didn't know if they could trust, and here he was 'volunteering' to go and rescue the hostages! Did he think that they would fall for that? Forget his speech about working together earlier, he still didn't trust the guy. Most especially he wouldn't trust him with the parents of one of the girls who had rescued the male's unwilling breed-mate.
"Then I'll go as well!"
"No! You stay with Jewel. I may not trust you, but I can tell that you will at least take care of her. I have seen how she looks at you, and I know who she chooses." Here, the dragon looked away from his Asian rival. "I can tell you it isn't me. I will not stand in your way."
Jewel looked up at the two men, feeling something inside her heart break, and there was a weird warm feeling while she felt a burden lift just a bit more. That dragon which had caused her so much anxiety was now offering to rescue the hostages, two of which were related to a woman who had stolen her away. She was now convinced that there was more to him than she knew, and she could see glimpses of the man that he probably once was. He was growing up inside. She wasn't sure what was happening, but she was sure that something was wrong about this. A barrier was giving way and something buried deep inside her was slowly working its way towards the surface, whispering arcane secrets that she could not quite catch.
"I want to help."
The looks of horror on her suitors' faces were mirrored all around the table, magnified when the other two pregnant mothers voiced the same thoughts. Loud no's resounded from all of the other mouths, and the three women were left staring sullenly at the table, helpless to do something to help their cause. It seemed that they were little more than brood-mares, pregnant and kept that way, barred from their proper roles. Arguments broke out about who would go and who would stay with the women, the female and tiny dragons the only ones content to stay behind to guard the human women with their children. During this time, those who were calm enough listened to Ni outline his daring rescue idea.
"We keep the girl's in a safe spot. What we need to do is have someone impersonate at least one of them. I take the so called 'prisoner' to the castle according to the directions. Meanwhile, others follow us without being seen to infiltrate the castle and rescue the hostages while the 'prisoner' and I distract Mikaboshi."
"Excellent plan kitsune! Our rescue forces can also act as surveilance to better understand the weaknesses of his stronghold, and we could perform a pre-emptive strike once the hostages are safely removed. Thus we can weaken his power and ward him off until the children are born. Once the children are born, reality will be strong enough where Chaos will not be able to destroy the Sun! Perhaps you should work for me instead of Oinari, or maybe I can at least get him to lend you to me for a while."
"Thank you Lord Susanowo."
"Well, Kohakunushi will most certainly be on the rescue mission as they are his responsibility."
Green and the other members of the Council were unflustered, already deciding who was going on the rescue, and who would be guarding the humans. Since everyone else seemed to be arguing over it, it was obviously up to them. Since Japan was their turf as far as dragon authority went, things would be easier.
"Huetziatl volunteered as well. If he is on this mission, there will be less question of if he will betray the humans."
Red was being sensible it seemed. The sky really must have fallen.
"My son is in no condition for a stealth mission. He will stay with his human."
Obviously, Fujiyama was still having a little trouble with the fact his new daughter-in-law was human. If he couldn't say mate yet, at least he was acknowledging the new union in his unique way.
"Ten is healthy, he could go."
"Blue, we want the mission to succeed. We don't need rescuers killing each other."
"What about my nephew then?"
"Sakananushi it is then."
Green scratched down the list so far on a scrap of paper he hid in his robes. Quetzalcoatl, having joined his Asian Council brethren, frowned. Rainbow Snake left the little circle as he saw the sisters get in a rather physical fight. Apparently, they were just as bad as the rather infamous Yubaba and Zeniba. Finally, Quetzalcoatl added his input.
"We still need someone to pretend to be one of the women."
Four sets of male eyes fell on the now nervous ryu-onna. Nyuuhakushoku was out of the question as a female getting ready to be bred. They could use that fact to their advantage by placing her as a guard over the women. Therefor . . .
"Fine! I'll do it, from what I know of the women, I could pass off as either Jewel or BlowingWind with my temper, provided that I have a good illusion, and hide my face once there. Knowing him, he probably has a spell on the castle to dispel illusions."
"We were hoping you would volunteer Red."
"I want to help save my parents Haku."
"And I told you no! What if something happens to you?"
"I will not be treated like I am just an incubator!"
"I'm not treating you like an incubator, and not like a vessel either before you bring that against me! You are my wife, my mate! I want to keep you safe! But you also have to remember that you have a little life to protect as well. Not only that, but until your body adjusts to the changes it will go through, you will be weak."
"I am not weak!"
Slap.
Chihiro's eyes widened as she realized what she had just done, staring at the red mark on his cheek where her hand had struck. He had not even flinched at it, but sat still as a mountain. Never had she swung at him out of anger. Irritation and in the spirit of play, yes, but never had she hit him in anger. Remorsefully, she finally raised her gaze to his own.
Frozen steel cooly regarded her, his breathing even. The mask on his emotions was perfect, and she could not even fathom what he could possibly be feeling, but most likely hate. He must surely hate her for what she had done.
Haku was roiling. Yes, he was angry that she had dared to raise a hand to him in defiance. Hate was not among his feelings though, he could understand her very real need to feel like she was doing something. He was terrified that she would be harmed, that he would lose his love and his child. She probably hated him now, and this caused him to feel despair, a feeling all too familiar to him. He had given her so much, done so much for her, and now she threw it in his face. This was all his fault, he had spoiled her during his courting and wooing, and she now obviously doubted his dominance. You give a human an inch, and they would take several fathoms.
Still, he would not change that about her. He could forgive her this transgression. Neither aspect was going to let her go though. On this issue, they would stand firm. Carefully, slowly he pressed her stiff body to his chest, willing her muscles to relax and accept him, and really wishing he had some precious stone to help win her favor back. Finally, he had her tucked under his chin as the arguments continued to wage around them.
"I did not say you were weak koi. Please do not ask again, the answer is going to remain the same, even if you hate me for it. I love you too much."
At this time, the mirror that Jewel still held began to grow warm, heating itself and sending waves of energy tingling up her arms. Gasping in surprise, she looked down into the inky surface, watching as it swirled and brought an image to the surface. One man was very Spanish looking, Castillion by the look of it. The other, by the ceremonial garb he wore, could only have been Tezcatlipoca. The two were talking, and it looked like they were making a deal.
"Uh, guys?"
Still, the arguments between the others carried on. If these were the important pieces of the forces of Order, she would hate to see a meeting of Chaos.
"Guys?"
Nothing. But at least her mother glanced at her before beginning another shouting match with her sister, this time something about killing some kind of gift. The older woman did a double take though when she noticed the panicked expression on her daughter's face as she looked at the shew-stone. Thinking quickly, the human leaped to the center of the table, banging her sheleleigh for emphasis. For the briefest flash, she looked like the carefree teenager that she had been before she found out about her curse, the woman who had once nearly caught a leprechaun. The dragons though, saw a different being, saw her as one of their own who had been trapped by destiny to incarnate in human flesh.
"Now that I have your attention, I think Jewel has something that you may want to see. Baby, I need you to concentrate on what they are saying."
Arms trembling like bamboo in an earthquake, Jewel turned the mirror so that everyone in the room could see. Closing her eyes, she focused on listening, fearful of just how she was supposed to accomplish such a strange thing. Her little guardian draped himself over her head, wings spread wide and cupped around her ears, using his own magic to bring out her own gift that she had forgotten for so long. The room around her faded out, and she heard two voices, only one of which was familiar to her.
While Jewel was in her trance, Kohakunushi, Quetzalcoatl, Ryu, Ten, and Huetziatl snarled in rage. Haku was livid that the man that he had so graciously spared would be so eager to make such a deal in order to have Chihiro. Ryu and Ten were along the same lines, both wondering why they had not mauled the human one of the times that he had molested their friend. BlowingWind shouted, uttering every ill wish that she could think of, and all Chihiro could do was sit in stunned silence while her grandfather began swearing and cussing like he hadn't since his youth. Quetzalcoatl knew that his brother would never keep his deal, and inwardly mourned whatever had happened so long ago to turn his brother into the twisted being he had become. Huetziatl was afraid of what his Uncle would do to Jewel, but he was also quite willing to extract his revenge on the human that he saw. The boy was a descendant of one of the priests who had sealed him, there was no mistaking the aura around him. It was no longer safe for the women to stay in this realm, they needed to move, preferably somewhere that their enemies would neither know about, nor expect.
There was no more time to debate who would go and who would stay. The lists that were already drawn up would stand, and there was only one place that the women could be kept safe.
Ryu's problem would be his father's possible reaction.
Deep below the earth and far to the South, there was a certain dragon who was already making preparations. As he walked through his lair within the Take Clan stronghold, his black scales blended with the dark around him, while his red mane blazed with the heat and intensity of pressurized magma. Eyes, a humanesque shade of blue, were tinged with the passage of 2,000 years. When he was young, he had been taken from his mother's side and sent here by Creator, with his mate, for just this time. Of all the lives that he had lived, this one and the last were certainly the strangest.
If his sense of time wasn't too far off, he was finally going to see the faces of two entities that he had not seen since his own sacrifice. His eyes scanned the sleeping form of his lovely mate, taking in her green scales and flaming mane, as well as the gorgeous membraneous wings that she possessed. He hoped that all would go well with this pass of the thread through the weft. After all, if their forgiveness wasn't found in their past life, then they would not exist to help the weavers in this life. They had done this once, but did they have what it took to do it this time around as well? They had been so caught up in the crisis back then, how had they ever managed to make the right choice before?
"Well, at least I am finally with you in the way I had always wanted to be, even if we mess up and become nothing, I am happy."
A similar blue eye cracked itself open, leaving behind dreams of the clutch of eggs she was curled around.
"Ob-kun, have faith. All we can do is be prepared for when they come for refuge. Our descendants will perform correctly this time as well. It has already been done."