In Time, Death

By Alesyira

Summary: Shippo had been right. Her luck had indeed dropped her into the middle of the blasted affair with no earthly idea what the heck was going on.

The Meeting

- 1650 -

The light was blinding. She heard a few noises of surprise and the scuffle of chairs as various weapon were drawn. "Enma, who the hell is this?" an angry, unfamiliar voice demanded. She tensed, a brief moment of terror flashing through her. Someone could easily lash out at her unexpected arrival and kill her where she stood while she couldn't see anything to defend herself.

"A snack, looks like," muttered a grouchy male, which was followed swiftly by a loud smack. "Give me a break, it was just a joke."

Joking was good. Joking meant she might live to see tomorrow.

A few seconds later, the light faded enough to see where she was. She took a steadying breath and blinked the blur from her spotted vision to stare around the room at the various occupants while searching for the closest exit.

She immediately recognized two of the people present. "Oh! Sesshoumaru-sama! And Koenma-sama…" she trailed off and glanced down at her device to check the date. '8/12/1650? ' Her gaze drifted to the box of text that popped up helpfully on the screen. 'Meeting agenda: Great War's casualties are close to reaching Reikai's capacity. Need solutions. See attachments for further details.'

She mentally groaned. If this was the same Great War, Shippo had been right. Her luck had indeed dropped her into the middle of the blasted affair with no earthly idea what the heck was going on. She peered closer at the small text in confusion. There should be no such things as attachments hundreds of years before computers were invented. What the heck kind of weird technology was this? She refrained from shaking the vesper like she wanted to. She was not a cave-dwelling fool. She was a capable girl from the future that would probably (eventually) figure out how to use the tools at her disposal.

Sesshoumaru, whose reactions and battle instincts had been honed from centuries of strife and conflict, was absolutely unimpressed by randomly appearing females. He watched with thinly veiled disgust as a majority of the room's occupants were startled into sudden commotion at the unannounced arrival. He noticed as Koenma's slight surprise thinned out and ended in a short laugh before he closed a well-worn notebook with a shake of his head.

His eyebrow twitched in mild irritation as he briefly closed his eyes to collect his thoughts. The only reason he'd attended this gathering was out of morbid curiosity to see what idiotic plan the Reikai had in mind regarding their current troubles.

Reckless and idiotic struggles for control over the lands had stretched well beyond their island territories into the mainland. Even their carefully protected communities were at risk, as imbeciles thought they could or should intrude on the bordering lands and roads. He had plenty in his guard that enjoyed taking care of the encroaching troubles, but he grew weary of having to kill so many that dared to steal from or murder innocent travelers in the lands between. He'd begun to suspect some illness must have affected the brains of both human and youkai, alike.

He remembered this woman from 150 years ago, partly due to Shippo's relentless storytelling about his adventures with the time-traveling girl from the future. He had been present when she'd left their time to return to her home hundreds of years in the future. He'd even participated in their strange little ritual to reopen the well's magic for her final trip through time.

He hadn't anticipated that she'd literally drop into this meeting that, until that moment, had been a complete waste of his time and energy. To see her back again was an interesting development, one that held promise, given the timing of her arrival.

He raised his eyebrow and clasped his fingers together on the tabletop. He gave her the smallest inclination of his head and said, "Miko," in what passed for a greeting.

A tiny, thankful smile crept over her lips as she nodded back. She hadn't realized how tense she'd been until that moment. She'd held her energy close while in the presence of so many unknown and powerful individuals. Now that he'd shown he recognized her and announced her status, she felt herself relax. She allowed some of her energy to slip free and follow her natural inclination to get a feel for the room's other occupants. A dozen completely unfamiliar strangers stared at her. Two visibly flinched as her energy swept the room: a tall youkai male with long, crazy white hair and a scowl on his face, and the imposing not-youkai-nor-human figure sitting at the head of the table. Something was wrong with that one, and Kagome frowned in concern.

"A miko? Here?" The crazy-looking one blurted, slamming his hand down on the table.

"Now, now, having another mortal representative is no cause for alarm," said a human male sitting across the table from where Kagome stood.

"Says the mortal who is in no danger," growled a humongous youkai male that sat on the floor instead of a chair.

"No one is in any danger here. This is a peaceful gathering." This response came from a tall, quiet male with a few too many ears and horns. His eyes remained conspicuously closed.

Koenma beckoned to a vaguely familiar girl standing along one of the walls with an armful of scrolls. He whispered something to her and waved in Kagome's direction. Her eyes wide and glimmering, she hurried over and leaned close to speak quietly as the others argued. "Kagome-sama! I'm Hisako. I studied under Noriko-sama."

Kagome's eyes widened. This girl became Noriko-chan's apprentice? Her lips curled in absolute delight to see the progression of knowledge through the generations.

"I'm ever so pleased to finally meet you in person!" She pulled an empty seat toward the table before gesturing, "Please, sit down. Can I get you any refreshments?"

"Koenma, you also know this girl?" the tall, imposing figure asked from his seat at the end of the long table.

She glanced at the male sitting two seats away to her left that, despite being hundreds of years younger than the last time she'd seen him, still looked exactly the same. A distinct blush flushed across his cheeks at the sudden attention. She blinked in surprise. 'If he's met me before today, then I really hope I haven't already made a fool of myself… ' She gave him what she hoped was a pleasant smile and prayed that he didn't have some really embarrassing response to the question. "Er, yes Father, I've spoken briefly with Kagome-sama. It's been a while."

She marginally relaxed. There was still plenty of time for mortifying recollections to come to light. She watched him with interest as he got up to stand close to his father's chair and spoke quietly to explain further.

Kagome turned her attention to Hisako who still stood patiently at her elbow. "Yes, thank you. Some tea would be nice." Hisako nodded and hurried from the room. The elder watched her as his son spoke but did not seem particularly impressed, which seemed to indicate Koenma hadn't revealed any interesting details about her. She kept her fingers crossed that he held his secrets close (whatever they might be) until she could speak with him in privacy.

Koenma finished speaking with his father and straightened, requesting to switch spots with the green-haired female sitting next to Kagome. She shrugged and took Koenma's original seat, and he sat a little closer than she'd have liked under normal circumstances. He leaned toward her and asked quietly, "How many times have we met, now?"

"Just on the day that you gave me this," she started to hold out her device, but he casually put his hand over it, nodding.

"I see. This is an interesting development. I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon, but I've been doing some research with Hisako, and just a few weeks ago we may have come up with a solution to one of your problems."

She had met him only briefly in the future, but his behavior then had been hastily explained away as Hisako telling him all about her story. His current behavior —and lack of personal space— showed her that had been a complete ruse and that he'd met her at least once even before this moment in the past. She turned her eyes up to the ceiling, sending a mental prayer to whomever might be listening to please put her life events in correct order so she could maintain a shred of her sanity.

She turned her attention back to him, absolutely no clue what she might have told him about. 'One of my problems?' She nervously twiddled her fingers, wondering what the heck kinds of problems he knew about that she did not. As far as she could tell, the only problem she had was the inability to… she paused, thinking. How the heck was she supposed to get home? There's a problem.

Hisako returned after a moment. She held a delicate teacup on a saucer which she placed in front of Kagome along with a pair of pale grey gloves. "Thank you, Hisako. That will be all for now." Hisako nodded brightly and stood back against the far wall, waiting in case she was needed again. "I wasn't sure what color you'd prefer, but I believe this will be of some use."

She picked up the gloves and fingered the soft fabric. Tiny symbols were stitched into the hem along the cuffs. She pulled on the left and flexed her hand, interested in the slight fuzzing of magic that seeped into her skin. She hummed thoughtfully. A problem she'd forgotten about was accidentally sharing power through touch. It would be a little problematic if she accidentally did it in this room full of unknowns and revealed something to the wrong person. She turned to him with a soft smile. "Thank you," she murmured. "They're lovely."

He ducked his head to hide his expression. He seemed genuinely happy to see her, but his smile was a bit strained. She wondered at this. What had happened to cause him to be so familiar with her, yet squirming as though he felt bad about sitting beside her?

"Sorry about the surprise visit. This is the first time I've done… this." She waved vaguely around the room with her bare hand, and he nudged her with his elbow to put the other glove on. She tugged the smooth material over her fingers and leaned closer as they both looked down at the tiny illuminated screen. "I'm supposed to be here for some reason to discuss this..." she squinted at the minuscule text. "War?"

She tapped on the first attachment and skimmed the summary. "Geez. 50 years, now? I have never regretted turning down history lessons so much," she muttered quietly.

She hummed in thought, looking around at the room filled with unnaturally powerful leaders discussing their problem, and a not-too-distant memory clicked into place. Shippo had tried to tell her about this war, but it never failed that he'd pull out the least interesting stories when she was ready to drop off into much needed rest. But then, she'd heard this story before, hadn't she? Once, from the Goshinboku, during one of its meandering storytelling sessions while she'd had the brief ability to hear its words. Something about the gods having to make a difficult choice to separate the warring sides. Was this the same thing Shippo had been trying to tell her about?

She frowned and tapped a gloved fingertip to her lip, thinking quickly. She motioned for Koenma's strange pen and his notebook. He gave her a funny look but turned to a blank sheet and pushed it in her direction. In small text, she wrote a carefully worded question. "How many realms are there, currently?"

He murmured quietly, "Four."

She turned to stare at him in bewilderment. What?

She shook her head. Trying again, she wrote, "Has the Makai been split apart from the Ningenkai, yet?"

He lifted an eyebrow in confusion and shook his head with a quiet, "No."

"Enma, we do not have time for this. I believe we should cease these pointless discussions so that I might rejoin my warriors."

The tall being at the end of the table nodded. "We have joined here today to discuss peaceful resolutions to the war. The stakes have risen beyond acceptable limits, and we have all agreed that the next major battle will result in far too much loss and destruction. Our offices are nearly at capacity right now. Renovations and expansions have already begun, but they'll not be completed for the next few decades. Does anyone have any suggestions?"

One of the larger youkai with a great ruff of red fur thumped a clawed fist against his chest. "The humans should just surrender their lands to us. We were born greater and shall always be greater, regardless of their little weapons and rapid breeding."

Exasperated sounds echoed around the room.

Kagome immediately raised her hand.

Enma's eyebrow twitched in irritation. "Yes?"

"What is the root cause of this war?" Several looks of confusion were shot her way, but she shrugged. "If this war has been going on for so long, surely someone knows why it's happening?" It seemed like a valid question, both for someone who had lived through the last 50 years as well as someone who had been living under the proverbial rock by ignoring her magical history lessons. (She promised herself she'd apologize to Shippo when and if she got home again.)

There was silence around the table for a moment. Koenma cleared his throat and summarized, "Essentially it boils down to disagreements between the mortals and magical creatures. Land ownership, who should rightfully rule, and whether it's fair to eat the mortals."

"They reproduce so damned fast, I don't see why not," the wild one groused.

One of the humans replied, "Raizen, when the things you're eating are complaining about being eaten, it might be a good time to find something else to sate your appetite."

Kagome nodded. 'Normal war stuff, minus the eating. If I didn't already know how they worked things out, this would be a tricky one to solve.'

"Where I come from, humans and most magical creatures live in separate realms. Maybe that's the solution here. Give them their own lands and they won't be mashed together to fight anymore." She noticed Koenma nodding along beside her, a thoughtful expression on his face as he flipped through his well-worn notebook.

"What do you mean, most?" The voices of two individuals she didn't know overlapped. "What do you mean, where you come from?"

"Well, there are exceptions to every rule. I'm technically magical, but I'm also mortal, and so I lived in the mortal realm," she clarified. She wasn't sure how to give additional details on the where question without opening a veritable can of worms all over the meeting room table.

"What you're suggesting…" Enma started to say, narrowing his eyes at her.

Sesshoumaru interjected, "This realm was created in such a manner. Reikai and Earth separated several thousand years ago."

"But the number of souls in circulation at that time was minuscule in comparison! The amount of power required for such a spell at this point—"

Kagome leaned forward. "Excuse me, but is there even someone here that can accomplish such a spell, given enough power?"

There was a pregnant pause around the table before Enma answered with no small amount of suspicion. "Yes."

Feeling excited about the resolution to their issues dangling just within reach, Kagome was ready to blurt out her plan, but Koenma placed his hand on her arm to give her a warning squeeze. She stopped to look at him in surprise. 'Why is he being so familiar with me?'

"Father, I believe we might have an option that will work. May I request a recess for the day to discuss details with Kagome-sama about what will be required?"

Enma nodded and waved his hand. Some attendees stood and began speaking amongst themselves, a few shot curious and suspicious glances in Kagome's direction, and Kagome found herself staring down at the hand still on her sleeve in confusion. "Sesshoumaru-sama," Koenma stood and helped the befuddled Kagome to her feet. "If you'll accompany us?"

They stepped into another room, where a pulse of ki sealed the interior against eavesdroppers. "How you drop in out of nowhere like this is going to end up getting you in trouble or killed one of these days."

She grimaced. "Yeah, one of these days."

"Sesshoumaru-sama, I understand you're familiar with Kagome-sama."

She chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her neck. "Familiar might be too strong of a word. Former allies is probably closer to the truth, unless something really crazy happened in the last 150 years."

A silver brow arched.

Kagome shrugged, "Anyways, Sesshoumaru-sama is the only youkai in that room that I feel like I can trust with this thing." She waved her hands vaguely before turning to Koenma. "How much do you already know?"

He rolled a shoulder. "Enough to know that if you don't trust any of the others with this, then we probably shouldn't."

She nodded, frowning. "How much power do you think that spell would require?"

"I wasn't around for the first casting that made Reikai a separate place. My father's right, though, the number of souls that would be affected is exponentially greater." He pulled a small blue bauble out of his pocket and waved it with meaning. "If he hasn't been storing up his power for such an emergency, then we'll need everything you can provide."

She stared at the odd little thing between his fingers. It looked almost like a baby's pacifier.

"Is your father the only one that can cast that spell?"

"One day, such a thing might fall to me, but right now he is the only one. Why?"

"Something about him… feels wrong."

"He can be a bit overbearing, bossy, and maybe even a bit cruel…" Koenma shrugged. "That's just how some people in charge are."

The tall youkai frowned. "If one cannot lead and inspire without cruelty then they are less effective and perhaps due for replacement."

Koenma's eyes widened in surprise, but Sesshoumaru waved his concern away with a vague gesture. "We are not here today to discuss your father's shortcomings. What is this plan you have in mind, miko?"

"Sesshoumaru-sama, I think it's better I show you than try to explain what's going on here." He watched as she pulled one of the thin grey gloves from her hand. "We told you about sealing the jewel and you know where I'm from, but something happened after I got back home. May I?" she asked, holding out her bare hand. He arched an eyebrow in curiosity, then tilted his head in agreement, wondering what random the woman had up her sleeve this time.

She cautiously reached out and touched the back of his hand with her fingertips, unsure what they'd both experience. The power of the jewel swelled in her chest to rush down her arm toward his skin. Their hair briefly puffed out with the sudden flex of power in the room before he compressed his aura back under control. His other eyebrow lifted to match the first. "I see."

"Based on what I've experienced with it, the effect is more pronounced with more people involved, and it's even greater when we complete a circle. I am not certain, but based on all the old legends surrounding this jewel, I think that in addition to myself, three participants might be the magic number." She stared back at the closed door. "None of the people in there feel like they'd be safe to show this, at least, not if I plan on going back home in one piece."

She bit her lip and glanced between the two of them. "Do either of you have any suggestion of someone who might be able to help without …y'know… wanting the power for themselves?"

Sesshoumaru paused for the briefest of moments before the very edge of his mouth pulled up into what might have been a smile. "Yes."

Baikal Khan happily lounged at the bottom of his lake, his scales shifting to catch eddies of chilled water as tiny fish meandered by. A hydrothermal vent near his tail belched superheated water and he shivered in delight before relaxing into bliss.

He was on the verge of dozing off when he noticed a flicker of unexpected youki intentionally prodding at his attention from above the surface of the water. He could ignore the irritant, or he could see what they wanted. No one disturbs a napping dragon unless they have very good reason.

He was a little surprised to see the dog lord from the southern islands hovering over his lake with a strange little female shaman in his arm. She looked at him carefully and nodded up at her companion without saying a word.

Curious.

Author's Note: Baikal Khan was introduced in bk2 ch17 - Khan. He's a water dragon and lord of one of the mixed communities on the mainland. He's very fond of keeping the balance.

Next chapter is probably about a week away :( Much remains to be written, there.