Merripit House: The Dark Daiyokai

Divine Army

If daiyokai had as weak of teeth as humans, Sesshomaru would have ground his to a pulp hours ago. Frustration, anxiety, impatience, dread … At the end of all things, he certainly would have an excellent idea of what it feels like to life in a human's head. All these emotions at this rate couldn't possibly help his well-being or extend his life.

"Breathe…" Liu reminded him. "You're not helping anyone if you pass out."

"Do not lecture me," he snapped. "I am quite aware of the gravity of the situation." Barely half an hour had passed since he last smelled Jenny's blood and heard a muffled scream. While these weighed heavily on his mind, it was the silence that truly dragged his soul down.

Looking around at the crowd of war deities beginning to grow impatient with idle conversation, Liu gave him a knowing look. "Do you think they are?"

He shook his head. "I have tried explaining a thousand times. They do not care about my 'squabble' with my son. Nor do they believe that the Goddess of Death has amassed as much strength as I claim."

"You still don't have an army?" With a marked absence of explosions or fanfare, Jackie appeared at his side with a glare in her eyes just for him. "Do you have any idea what Theda's doing to —" She shut her mouth before she could really rip into him. "Whatever. Daiichi's building his army from the dead soldiers and yokai scattered all over the world, and it is big."

"Rosario already told us that," Liu interrupted. "She's giving us an overhead visual of his forces."

The fiery red hair on her head seemed to twist and grow like a flame, alluding to the fury building under her translucent skin. "Did you know that his south flank is weak?" she snapped, her hands in fists and her teeth clenched. "Or that he's keeping a part of his army concealed in the ocean? Or that he's stolen a crap-load of grenades and other fun explodey things?"

"How do you know all this?" the daiyokai patiently asked with an even tone that suppressed his urge to shake the truth out of her.

"Jenny told me. She's got a great view from the fortress. Figures she might as well try to help you where she can. Are you going to save her or not?"

His steely glare intensified. Even when dead, Jackie's bravado began fading slightly, the barest hint of fear manifesting as her feet shivering in her boots. Sesshomaru took a step closer, towering over the raging ghost. "According to you, she's with Theda. But I know that Theda's very presence expels spirits such as yourself. That means you can't get anywhere near Jenny. How do you know all this?"

Jackie's spirit seemed to dim and shrink under the presence and power of Sesshomaru, despite the fact that his voice never raised from anything more than an intense conversational volume. Everyone around noticed. Though the gods and mythical creatures had already given them a wide berth, they took a collective step back. Liu alone stayed put, standing firmly at Sesshomaru's right hand. But even he noticed the chill and tension in the air. "Jenny," she said, swallowing, "has been making some unscheduled trips to the Underworld."

His nostrils flared. His fists clenched hard. His eyes filled with red. "With or without the Meido Stone?" he asked, carefully emphasizing each word.

Planting her feet, Jackie finally looked him in the eye, though every other sign of courage she'd born before had fled. She took a deep breath. "When Theda took back her heart, she wanted to know if she could kill with her own hands again. And more important, if she could bring people back from the dead. More than once. Unlike Tenseiga, Theda doesn't have limits. So she's been … practicing on Jenny," she finished in a whisper.

Like a spark that swells into an inferno, Sesshomaru's whole body burst with rage and power. The hair on his head and the fur over his shoulder raised like hackles on a dog's back as his face twisted into a snarl. A deep, furious growl tore through the earth, shaking the ground noticeably. His fists clenched, dripping with a green poison, and his eyes blazed red, and yet he hadn't moved an inch. The youki that flared and swarmed around his being sent every living thing within a mile radius scrambling for cover, and despite being dead, Jackie panicked and fled for her life out of fear that Sesshomaru might possess the capability to erase spirits through the sheer force of his anger alone. The gods surrounding him not only took notice of his state, but struggled to keep from bowing low to the ground under the weight of his fury.

Yet Liu stood firm in place. Putting a hand on Sesshomaru's shoulder, he pulled the daiyokai's attention to himself. For all the damage the daiyokai's released youki did to the vegetation around them, not one cut or blow landed on the thief. "Boss lady says to go to the south," he said calmly, though with effort. "I think we need to listen to her."

Sesshomaru tore his shoulder away from Liu's grasp. "I will not abandon her to the tortures Theda is putting her through!" he snarled. "I must protect her."

"Jenny's literally dying to give you this information. You want to make her sacrifice worthless?"

"I want her back!"

His roar threw the thief off his feet and shook the forest. But more important, it rang through the ears of every last god and deity waiting for a leader to take them to war. A blinding burst of youki flooded the forest, knocking branches off trees, sending small wildlife scattering for miles around, and alerting everyone too far to listen that war had been declared.

When the light quieted and the area settled down, Liu stared at the daiyokai in confusion. He wore a white kimono and hakama with blood red details on the sleeves, black lotus petal armor and boots, and spiked shoulder pauldron. The very warrior he had first met those few months ago stood before him.

After pausing to catch his breath, Liu rolled over and stood back up. A mischievous grin appeared on his face for some reason. "Then what are you waiting for? Let's go get her back."

It was then that Sesshomaru looked to his left, to his right, then spun around to look all around him. Standing in a semblance of formation, hundreds upon hundreds of gods and deities of war stood ready for battle. Even on the edges of the army, he spotted his mother with a bloodlust in her eyes. They heard his cry, and they listened. They looked to the one who would lead them to war, and to victory.

A familiar rush quickened the beat of his heart. His eyes and brain immediately sought for strategies. His feet begged to race off to tear out the throats of his enemies, and lead his new army to do the same. As he clutched his sword, a red energy filled and surrounded him.

"So, where would you like me?" Liu asked, feeling a bit out of place. After all, he stood only half as tall as the average god, and had no real military training.

"Rally the humans," Sesshomaru replied. "And then get creative."

"Got it. Rosario? I need a ride."

As Liu slipped through the crowd, the gods gathered around their new leader. Without a word, their march began. They smelled the tang of decaying flesh on the air not too far off. With Sesshomaru at their head, they drew talons, swords, clubs, all manner of weapons and sharpened teeth.

Breaking through the treeline before Daiichi's forces, they sounded a war cry and tore through the first flesh their fingers could find.

It felt like breaking through water and gasping for air. Every single time. Her head ached and swam. Her lungs burned with reintroduced oxygen. Her whole body felt covered with the stabs of pins and needles.

Theda didn't look all that bad; just like she was winded from a long sprint. Jenny found her bent over, panting for breath a few yards away. Every time she came back to life, the goddess looked horrifically exhausted, but less so each time.

"Is it really that tiring strangling me?"

"Oh no, not at all. That part's easy. It's the …" She paused to catch her breath. "It's the bringing you back to life that kind of wipes me out."

Jenny raised an eyebrow. "My apologies."

Sometime between murdering and subsequently resurrecting Jenny, Theda had moved her into the fortress into something resembling a bedroom in a high tower. At least that's what Jenny could only assume due to the wind drifting through the windows and the fact that the dusty and unfurnished room had the round shape of a tower to it. She stumbled to the window, quickly orienting herself with the position of the sun, and scanned the armies below.

Seemed that the silent prelude to battle had ended. The forest had come alive with motion. Even the trees had moved forward to attack. Massive creatures emerged from it's depths to take on the undead yokai surrounding the fortress. And these ones had a strength and a bite to them that even Jenny could feel from her vantage point.

It seemed at first that the forces clashing against Daiichi's army hit a wall of sand that wouldn't break. The battle line stayed stationary, growing fiercer and bloodier. Neither side would relent an inch of ground to the other.

But then a red flash of light burst out right in the center of the battle. Then a second and a third flash. Jenny squinted hard to get more detail, but it was too far away. Despite this, a smirk crossed her face because she knew: Sesshomaru wielded Ketsugō-kiba. It shielded him in this fight from outside attacks, allowing him to make a bit of progress. Then the red flash abruptly shot out in a wave that tore through the ranks, and the attacking force surged forward.

This new army had a few aerial fighters who swooped down and dropped massive trees and rocks and snatched up an undead yokai or two to drop them into the sea. But it was the dragon that caught her eye. He unleashed infernos upon the undead creatures, but his focus was kept on the trees that provided them cover. As he swooped low, the woman riding upon his back lashed out with dual swords to slice down any that would try to stop them. Jenny smiled as Rosario cut off the head of a scorpion-type demon. "That's my girl."

And she would have continued to study the battle if Daiichi hadn't so rudely interrupted her, storming up to her at the window, grabbing hold of her hair and yanking her backwards off her feet to drag her back to his mother.

"I told you to practice," he snarled as he threw her to the ground with a bit more force than was necessary. She could barely move as it was.

Theda managed to get to her feet. Which considering her emaciated state, had to be a feat. "I have. There are only so many ways I can kill someone wearing a perfectly bulletproof suit short of drowning her."

"So stop her heart."

Jenny didn't think Theda's face could get any whiter, but it did just that. "But — But I just barely figured out this resurrection thing. I don't have the strength to —"

"Do it." With a (as Jenny later put it, frankly overly dramatic and not unlike a supervillainous) flick of his cape, he stalked off toward the door. "Sesshomaru survived and has a new sword. I'm holding you in reserve until I need you, and I don't want to be disappointed when I do."

"Wait!" Reaching out to grasp his cape, the battered detective knelt at his feet and looked up at him. "Please, just let me talk to your father. I can convince him to surrender, and you'll have your victory with minimal bloodshed."

He tore his cape out of her feeble fingers. "If the feathered serpents don't tear him to shreds, I'm sure I can find something else to finish the job. Please be sure to scream loud enough for him to hear."

The door slammed shut and Theda sighed. "I'm truly sorry about this, detective."

"If you were sorry," she replied, "you wouldn't kill me at all."

"You don't understand. He's my son. I have to do what makes him happy." She stretched out her hand in Jenny's direction and squeezed it into a fist.

A sharp pain hit her right in the chest. She gasped in shock, but no scream would come from her lungs. The harder Theda squeezed her fist, the more Jenny's heart stabbed her with pain. The blood in her body turned still, cold and starved of oxygen to the point that her head swam and limbs tingled. Dizziness and darkness overcame her vision and she fell back, collapsing to the ground. Her breath came in short gasps. Try as she might, she could not move.

"I'm sorry, detective," Theda said, panting, as consciousness agonizingly slowly began to slip away from her victim. "Next time will be faster, I promise."

Jenny woke up screaming.

Dark. Cold. Wet. Lying on stone. A chain wrapped around her ankle. A buzzing white noise with 'Alice' slipped between the cracks filled her ears. No friends, no end to the night, no escape from whatever impending fate lay before her.

But rushing through the blackness came Jackie, glowing faintly with an orange light and warmth. She raced through the cave, forming the only source of light in this Godforsaken place. Falling to the ground, she wrapped her arms around Jenny's shoulders, trying to calm her. "It's okay! It's okay! I'm here. I'm always here. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

For some reason, despite her wanting comfort from her sister, her eyes grew cold and her fingers dug into Jackie's arms like claws before throwing her away into the wall of the cave. "You are useless," she snarled before pulling her knees up to her chest.

The words cut deep into her heart, but Jackie refused to be hurt by them. After all, she knew from personal experience that a person being tortured will say all sorts of things they don't mean. Crouching near her, she gently brushed hair out of her eyes. "I'm … I'm trying. Believe me, I'm doing everything I can."

"Theda has bludgeoned my head in, sliced my neck clean through with a garrote, and shoved my own gun down my throat. And now she doesn't even have to touch me. She can just stop my heart with nothing but a thought. There is nothing you can do to fix this."

"Sesshomaru can, though," Jackie replied softly. "He's coming. He's got an army."

"Daiichi's boxing him in." Wiping away tears, Jenny attempted to regain her composure. Logic and reasoning took over her brain, pushing out fear of dying in dark caves. "He's letting Sesshomaru punch through his forces so he can surround his army, kill the gods and use them as reinforcements. And he needs to watch out for Kukulkan and Quetzalcoatl."

Nodding as she listened, Jackie absorbed the details that needed to be passed along. "I'll tell him."

"Tell him now."

Jackie's spirit glowed with the strength that comes from 5,000 years of aging. Jenny did not. And Jackie knew quite well how Jenny felt about being left in the dark deep underground. "I'm not leaving you here alone."

Jenny tugged at the chain locking her to the rock floor. Just like the first time around, it didn't budge. "I survived this once. I can survive the memory again. Go help Sesshomaru."

Blood. Teeth. Sweat. Talons. Claws. Flesh.

When torn to shreds enough, these undead creatures could fight no more. Or perhaps Daiichi saw no need to keep controlling unrepairable soldiers. But the instant Ketsugō-kiba touched any one of these yokai, the control over them broke and they collapsed at Sesshomaru's feet. He could certainly see how his father could feel like this sword was a cheat. Especially when its shield raised yet again to stop a flurry of arrows.

Sesshomaru would have preferred not taking an untested sword into battle, but he would rather use this sword over no sword at all. The more he swung and slashed, the more he understood how it functioned. The shield would automatically protect him, but not while using the blade to seal up an opponent's demonic energy, and it could be broken if given enough opposition. But he rarely gave his antagonists a chance to break through before he cut off their source of life.

Rosario's voice came into his ear through the radio. "Daiichi's sending in reinforcements," she reported. "Looks like from the East. I think they're trying to plug up the hole you made."

He sliced through the heart of yet another giant spider yokai before pulling down a massive wolf-like creature with a poison whip. "Take a squadron with you and cut them off. Liu?"

"Still working on it." The thief's voice crackled over the radio, which wasn't surprising considering his distance from the battle. "Promise, I'll give you an update when I have an update."

Grabbing a nearby goddess, a miniature old Celtic woman weaving mischief and misfortune amongst the undead, Sesshomaru gave her an order to find a few warriors to join Rosario on her mission. She scurried off within the blink of an eye, and the daiyokai rushed a particularly grumpy rock monster, taking him down with a flurry of sword strokes. Within moments, the creature collapsed into nothing more than a pile of rubble.

"Behind you!"

Spinning around, Sesshomaru came face to beak with the snout of a giant screeching harpy with dried blood coating her torso, the evidence of someone having ripped her guts out. Her talons slashed through his kimono sleeve, but with little more than an annoyed narrowing of his eyes and a flick of Ketsugō-kiba, he threw the lifeless husk of a creature backwards into a pair of charging red-eyed, over-muscled oxen, halting them in their tracks.

Floating over the carnage, Jackie glanced over the scene before her with analytic eyes. "Not bad," she remarked. "Not your father, but not bad."

He turned to one of his lead men, a four-eyed, six-armed man with a brass head. "Chiyou, hold the line. And where is Wepwawet?"

A man-like being with a wolf's head and the clothes of an Egyptian pharaoh, rushed forward, his hand covering a gash in his side. "Here, my Lord. I was delayed by Leviathan for a moment."

Jackie turned her head in confusion. "They speak English? But —"

"Retreat, Wepwawet," Sesshomaru ordered. "Find a healer before you return."

A scowl appeared on the fearsome god's face, but it seemed his leader paid no heed to it. Grudgingly, the wolf-man obeyed, slipping through the lines of warrior gods who offered him protection.

"Gods understand every language," the daiyokai said, answering Jackie's earlier question. "How is she?"

As she came down to his level, she found that she had no desire to sugar-coat the news. "Screaming. Crying. I don't blame her. Jenny says you're going to have company soon."

"I've sent Rosario and her men ahead to cut Daiichi's reinforcements off before they can replenish the weakness in his forces."

"He's not replenishing," Jackie said, shaking her head. "He's trying to box you in."

A bone-shattering cacophony of screeches filled the air, drowning out the sounds of battle. The noise alone froze Sesshomaru's forces, turning their heads around. Swirling in the sky and headed straight for the leader of the pack, a pair of colorful serpentine beasts large enough to block out the sun for miles and dwarf even the largest of the war gods, dove towards the earth.

"Oh yeah," Jackie said. "Daiichi's got feathered serpents too. Gods to slaughter gods."

Almost panicking, Sesshomaru raised Ketsugō-kiba and cried, "To me!"

And then, like a meteor hitting the earth, Quetzalcoatl and Kukulcan came crashing down.