Amaranth
By Aycelcus
Rating: R (for violence and sexual situations in later chapters)
Disclaimer: I do not own Inu Yasha, its characters or likenesses. I am borrowing them for just a little while. Also, I do not own the Landers and any related characters. They belong to my best friend. I do own Cillara, her likeness and all things that pertain to her character. AKA: Don't own; don't sue.
Author's Note: Gomen, gomen! I know I promised this yesterday, but a whole bunch of stuff at work made me too busy to type this up. I suppose that is what I get for offering myself a deadline, ne? Well, here it is, chapter nine.
Chapter Nine: Lazarus Heart
He is dead. He is dead. He can't be dead. He is dead. Oh Goddess, he is dead.
A litany was burning through Cillara's mind as she leaned down towards the fallen Sesshoumaru. Her fingers shook on her free hand, for her other arm was still encased in his grasp. The sizzling, sick sound had ceased, and only a slight acrid smell intruded on her senses. She barely noticed Kagome and Inu Yasha standing there in shock. She barely noticed the hitching sob of her own breath as it tried to worm its way past her damaged throat. She barely noticed the way that little, sparking crystals were starting to grow on her skin where it touched his. With trembling fingers she touched Sesshoumaru's face, tracing along the purple markings on his high cheekbones, underneath his sightless, staring eyes. They followed his still-warm skin down to the small spot on his neck, where she had scratched and bitten him without realizing the consequences.
Her forearm was growing distinctly warm where his hand still gripped her, become almost burning. It drew her attention away, and she was shocked to see the amaranth encasing then both. She thought, oh no, please, it's going to take us both.
Just before she gave in to the burgeoning fear and started to rip away at the crystal, she felt a jump against her fingertips. A pulse, slow but steady, was beating against the vein in Sesshoumaru's neck. Somehow, he was alive. Somehow the amaranth had extended its spell to him. She understood then, if only deep in her bones, that he was now tied to the amaranth as she was. Sesshoumaru was quite unexpectedly immortal.
Somewhere in between the time that Cillara had touched Sesshoumaru and the time she realized that he was not dead, Kagome and Inu Yasha pulled out of their paralysis. They were heading towards the pair, shock and grief on their faces. Cillara knew that, even if Sesshoumaru could not die at her touch, a human and a half-breed would most certainly not be immune. So she stepped away as far as she could, pulling gently at the purple crystals at her wrist. They would break soon, possibly as soon as his poison-damaged blood was fully restored and he awoke.
"He's not dead. He's not." She said as they advanced. "But you cannot touch me. He lived through it. Neither of you would. But he is alive." And she sank to the ground and drew her knees up to her chin.
"What happened?" Kagome asked, her voice small and scared. Inu Yasha was examining his brother, avoiding the crystalline manacle that tied youkai lord to avatar. Cillara was silent for a moment before she answered.
"He came. He came and he hunted me down."
"Who came?" Inu Yasha growled. He had not missed the mark on Sesshoumaru's neck, nor the matching scar peeking through Cillara's loose, feathered hair. Kagome hadn't missed it either, as she asserted her miko strength and assessed the damage to her mate's brother.
"Chaos. The god that destroyed my home."
"God?" Kagome looked sharply to the winged girl.
"Yes, god. Immortal, omnipotent, all-knowing deity. Pick an adjective; it'll apply to one of them. And unfortunately this one is as petty and evil as you can get. He's after me, and now—" she reached over and gently ran her hand along Sesshoumaru's arm. "Now he is after him, and you, and anyone else on this world, just because I am here."
"What happened to my brother?"
"He… made my touch to be as poison. He knew about… what had happened between Sesshoumaru and I. He… gets his kicks from the idea that I'll kill whomever I touch."
"If your touch really is poison, then how did Sesshoumaru survive? For a moment, he was dead. I could feel it." Kagome brought her questioning hands over to where the two were joined, and Cillara flinched away.
"I am immortal. It is part of the spell that holds me. It is written in the amaranth. I was the last spell my lady managed before he tore her essence to shreds. I… somehow I think I bound myself to him, unintentionally. I think the spell now considers him a part of me. Ergo, he is now immortal, too. The amaranth will ensure it." She shook her wrist gently in emphasis, and tiny little cracks appeared along the edge of the crystal. Sesshoumaru groaned a little, unconsciousness fading slowly as the amaranth finished its task and prepared to shatter.
Kagome touched her own neck near the collarbone, pulling away her kimono; a small scar rested there in quiet proof. "You are mated to him. I figured that it might happen; you two have such a gravitation towards each other. The bite mark is how the youkai bind themselves."
As this moment, Sesshoumaru opened his eyes. The crystal at his fingers pinged softly, and then disintegrated, like Cillara's awaking in miniature.
Sesshoumaru opened his eyes to the sight of the forest canopy overhead, and his brother and Kagome crouched over him in concern. He moved his head slightly and could see Cillara crouched on the ground. She was as far from him as she could be; his fingers still gripped her slender arm, covered in winking dust. There was no searing pain, no burning of his palm that brought a black haze to his vision. There was only an odd sense of rushing, like a river through his veins. He could smell lavender.
Inu Yasha straightened as Sesshoumaru stared at Cillara.
"We probably should go back to the castle. We need to have a look at your injuries, as well, Cillara."
Kagome was prompting Sesshoumaru to stand. He did so without difficulty, pulling Cillara with him. He found that he still did not want to let go of her. The others avoided her touch, and he soon was supporting her as they walked back to the castle. He felt fine, if a little confused. She looked closer to death than he. Her neck was terribly bruised, and he grew angry as the memory of how she had gotten that way came back to him.
Inu Yasha and Kagome both tried to tend to Cillara and him when they reached the castle, tittering about as she protested.
"I will take care of her," Sesshoumaru said, all the force of his authority backing him up. "You should go check on the pups."
Kagome turned pale and hurried to the sleeping rooms. Inu Yasha lingered a moment more.
"I am fine." Sesshoumaru stated, and the Inu Yasha followed his mate up to the children. Meanwhile, Sesshoumaru had questions to ask his new mate, and bruises to tend.
He said nothing for a long while as he slowly removed her ripped, dirty clothing. She was wearing her armor, and he understood that she had been trying to run away, trying to draw the attentions of that thing away from the castle. Away from him. Such courage was commendable, but she had to understand that she was now his, and that she could not run from becoming the Lady of the Western Lands. Despite the fact that he still wanted to throttle her for ever attempting such a stupid maneuver.
He brought a cool, damp cloth up to her bruises. They were already beginning to fade, and he could see the bright amaranth dust in her skin. The latent power there made his fingers tingle, and he was acutely aware that there was dust in his own skin now. Clearly there were several unseen repercussions to mating this confusing, exasperation creature.
Finally, he spoke.
"I died."
She said nothing, but her eyes told him the truth.
"That creature was hunting you."
A nod, small and sad.
"You tried to run away."
Her mouth tightened, and then she spilled words into the silence she had drawn about herself.
"I did not want this to happen. I knew he had come. He will destroy this world. He will do it; he already has done it once, twice… I could not say how many times. I have slept for a long time. He could have taken other worlds as easily as he took mine."
"He will not so easily take this one."
A bitter laugh. "Yes, he will. He kills gods. Honestly, do you think, Sesshoumaru, that you are a match for a godkiller?"
Sesshoumaru leaned in closely then, his breath warming Cillara's face. "He will not take what is mine. Youkai Lords will not allow such an abomination to ravage this world."
Cillara fell silent again. He knew that she did not believe him.
"You will not run again," he reproached. He ran the cloth gently over her mark. "You are mine, now, despite what spells your lady imposed."
"I have to fight him. I have to stop him."
"You will not do so alone. You will not do something so foolish."
"He will kill you."
"I am not dead yet. I can feel the dust in me. If you cannot die, then I cannot die. We are bound. That is the way of the youkai."
"That godkiller doesn't care if you are immortal—"
His lips silenced her then, a kiss not quite of passion, and not quite of reproach.
"You will broach no more arguments."
"You realize I could kin Rin with a touch."
"Then you will not touch her. I don't expect you to go about placing your hands on others."
Cillara sighed then, and leaned her head against Sesshoumaru breast. She was surprised when she felt a light chuckle rumble deep in his chest.
"I told you that you could not kill this Sesshoumaru with poison."
Cillara was incredulous. He was joking. He was poking fun at her in the middle of a disaster she had desperately wished never happen again. The first joke she had ever heard from him. She shook her head, and then gave him a wry look.
"Well, technically you did die."
Sesshoumaru simple cocked his head in an arrogant gesture.
"I am still alive, aren't I?"
A.N.: Next chapter to be fun. Wonder yet if Cillara has any friends that aren't dead? Well, there are a few, and they have been a-hunting her too.
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