Title: Animal I Have Become
Author: landofthekwt
Rating M
Prompt Horrify (Inuyasha et al #7)
Genre: Possession is 9/10 of the Law
Word Count 1801
Pairing: SessMom/ Inu no taisho Izayoi/Inu no Taisho Sesshoumaru/Izayoi
Warning Character Death
Summary: SessMom and Izayoi play 100 Candles.
It might have seemed innocent if the women had not been so desperate. The Lady had played the game of One Hundred Candles before. It had saved her when his generals had come to demand her surrender. Now she was just lonely. It had been over a year and she missed him desperately.
The ladies in waiting were called to tell the ghost stories. The candles were lit. The water was illuminated just as it had been a year ago. Surely, he would relent and come for her. She needed to hear the words "I love you." again from his lips just one more time.
The ritual began. Story after story. Horror and terror. Each tale more gruesome and horrible than the last. Finally she began her story. Her story told of a beast torn from its soul by fire and hate. A black shroud that stalked the night preying on defenseless women and children. When she was finished she blew out the candle leaving the room totally dark.
At the stroke of midnight he came. Thundering across the bridge. The women scattered screaming dropping their candles into the water as they went. A cloud of steam rose like fog over the water. The Lady stood firm. She had never feared him.
He stopped before her. It seemed as if he was examining her to see if she was all right. Finally, when he was satisfied that she was fine, he slowly sank into a human form with a ghostly hue. She stepped forward to embrace him, but found that his body was ethereal as the mist surrounding him.
" Why have you called me, My Lady?"
"It has been a year since you last came to me. Without you this existence has been empty. I yearn to join on the other side of the bridge."
"It is not your time. You have much to do yet in this world. Both Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru will need you before we meet again on the other side of the bridge. Be strong. You always had the courage to go on. Dying was easy. Living is the hard task "
She was shaking. He could not leave her again. Did he not know that her courage came from him? So long as he was on the other side of the bridge she could go on. He was still within reach and not gone forever. That was the real reason she had called for him. Why she would continue to call for him. She had to know why he had not come for her since the night the generals came. Why he come now..
" Why have you not come to me before?"
" It is not that I did not want to come to you. I longed to be by your side. The Gods of death forbid me from crossing the bridge and returning to you no matter what I felt. No matter how much I hate watching the three people I hate most in the world fighting each other I cannot come."
" Why were you allowed to come the first time?"
"Only my appearance could save you from the fate my generals had in mind for you. They feared me enough to allow you to live freely in the manner I wished."
"And why now?"
"I am not sure/"
In Kamakura the Dowager had organized the Court to play One Hundred Candles. It was considered a parlor game. Something for highborn women to indulge their fantasies about death and the departed. Women eagerly flocked to the game. The Dowager had dragged Izayoi along as a lark. Her lover was dead. Surely, she knew some good ghost stories. Jaken and Sesshoumaru had agreed to watch the boy. They expected an evening of fun. What could possibly go wrong?
The women told their stories and blew out their candles one by one until the entire room was dark save for Izayoi's lone candle. She told of a woman who had been affianced to a human fell in love with a demon. How her father conspired with her fiance to kidnap. The women cried when they learned that she was killed after she delivered her child. How her demon lover brought her back to life before he died in an inferno with her fiance.
When Izayoi finished a hush fell over the crowd. Then a mighty wind blew out the candles. The women screamed and scrambled over each other in the dark. They trampled each other as they headed for the exit.
There was a flash and then a darkness seemed to enter the room. Izayoi could feel a chill run through her. Something evil and malevolent was here. She could feel that it was seeking her out.
What had they summoned? When she had told her story she had been thinking of her beloved He had never been like this. To her he had always been kind and loving. The feeling in the air was feral. Whatever had come was an angry beast bent only on her demise. How could he hate her when all he had ever shown was love.
She was frozen in place. The last remaining human in the room. Even the Dowager had fled. Soon it would find her. There was no escape. No place to hide from this creature of the night. The question was what it wanted with her.
It flowed over her. She felt tiny fingers flowing into her body until at last it touched her soul. Impossible she gasped. It could not be him. He loved her. Never would dream of possessing her for the malicious and evil purposes that the beast whispered in her ear.
Shocked beyond belief when she heard the horrible and monstrous things that the beast wanted from her. She shuddered at the thought of the beast inside of her taking liberties with her and her body. It had to be stopped. She could not allow his memory to be besmirched.
He started when he felt the beast inside of Izayoi. How could this have happened? The beast had been chained in Naraka. How could it have escaped? The questions would have to wait. For now he just knew that it had to be stopped.
"Kobito. You must release your summoning."
The Lady looked at him with surprise " Why would I do that? It has been a year since I was able to summon you. Why should I let you go now that I have you where I want you? Give me one reason."
The Inu no Taisho sighed. He would have to tell her. "Izayoi was involved in the 100 Candles at the same time you summoned me. What she released was the dark beast which was created when I died. It was part of me that was separated in the fire which killed me. Unless it is stopped now by Tenseiga it will kill Izayoi, Sesshoumaru and come for you. When it comes here it will take over me and use me to kill you. Is that what you want? Do you want me to kill you as a blind rampaging beast.? Is that how our family will die? Choose quickly or it will be too late"
The Lady pondered what she should. If she did nothing, Izayoi would die. Was she willing to condemn her mate to be a raving beast for all eternity? What would be the point? She was not willing to sacrifice Sesshoumaru, her mate and herself simply to gain her revenge against Izayoi.
At length she nodded. The Inu no Taisho sighed. She did not know what he must do to save Izayoi. If she did, she would never let him go. He reached out to touch her. Of course he merely passed through her. At least she would feel his presence as he passed and knew in her heart and her soul how much he loved her and how much he would miss being with her. With that he leapt into the great unknown.
Sesshoumaru felt a presence. Another was trying to possess him. Father. Impossible Father was dead. How could this be? Yet he knew it to be true. His own father or what remained of him was within trying to move him to action. He moved to confront the being within him.
"Father. Why are you here?"
":Sesshoumaru. The beast created when I died has escaped from Naraka. He is possessing Izayoi. We must go to her immediately. He will destroy her and kill all of you. Only Tenseiga can kill him, but only if he is driven out of her body"
Sesshoumaru did not need to hear anymore. He was not about to sacrifice Izayoi to his father's beast. Even if his father had to die it worth the price. He took his energy form and moved at the speed of light to the place his father directed him.
He found Izayoi staggering around the bodies of women trampled in the riot to escape. It was sampling their blood. The blood seemed to strengthen them. He materialized on Izayoi's back. She stumbled and crashed to the ground stunned.
That momentary lapse by the beast was sufficient. The Inu no Taisho. He leapt into the body of his beloved. The beast was just recovering its senses. It fought him with every weapon at its disposal. He grabbed hold of it and pulled it out of her body. For the moment he had it contained with his form, but he knew that he could not resist its pull for long.
"Kill it now. Draw Tenseiga and kill it now."
Sesshoumaru hesitated. He understood what his father intended. The man had taken the beast back within himself. Since his father and his beast were beings not of this world. Tenseiga could kill them. He drew Tenseiga, but could not deal the killing blow.
His father saw the hesitation on his son's face. The boy could not kill him when he refused to give up his swords before he died. It was truly up to him to save them all again. He stepped forward and impaled himself on the blade
His dying words were " Goodbye beloved. Take care of her, my son. I leave her in your hands."
Izayoi awakened and screamed. Her beloved was dying for her again. This time he would be beyond her reach. Sesshoumaru simply stared as the being which had been his father vanished from his life. The sword fell from his hand and clattered to the floor.
The Lady of the West felt the echoes of his passing in the Castle in the Air. He had lied to her. She could never reach him now. He was not waiting on the other side of the bridge. He was truly gone. Her beloved had died for Izayoi again. Izayoi must die.