Chapter 33: Knock Knock…..
Sesshoumaru did not bat an eye as Sango, Miroku and Kohaku arrived. Rin was temporarily overjoyed.
"You made it! Fabulous! We're stuck until we can figure out how to open this gate."
"Can't we just push?" Sango asked dryly. Rin pointed to the statue behind her in response. The demon slayer involuntarily stepped back as stone eyes rotated toward her.
"Stony and Rockie take their job a little too seriously," Rin explained. "Apparently only Inuyasha knows a way in."
"Uh…if he comes we'll have problems worse than sealed doors," Sango said.
"Don't not think I cannot handle my little brother, even at his worst," Sesshoumaru growled. "Powerful, yes, but also very untrained."
"I'd hate to see what he'd be like trained," Sango said with a shutter.
"He'd be another Sess," Rin supplied cheerfully, blatantly ignoring the glare a certain youkai gave her at that statement. "But since he can't control his youkai blood well enough his father had Tetsusaiga made so he wouldn't get out of control."
"Father should have had it welded into his damn hide," Sesshoumaru snarled.
"So what do we know about the gate?" Sango asked.
"The guards never sleep, eat, rest or stop guarding these gates. They respond only when you enter their range and will only talk to the master or former masters. I cannot, however, command them."
"Who does that?" Rin asked.
"Whoever holds the secret to their existence. My father knew it…I assume since they are here Naraku knows it."
"The secret to their existence? What is this, some sort of sci-fi?" Sango scoffed.
"These are no ordinary statues, but they must be linked to something in order to function the way they do," the inu-youkai pointed out, his golden eyes looking down his aristocratic nose at Sango who muttered an annoyed grumble.
"So Inuyasha knows the secret?" Kohaku piped up cheerfully.
"What secret?" a light voice farther back asked. All heads, except Sesshoumaru's, turned in surprise. Inuyasha stepped into the light, a bloody bundle with black hair in his arms. He looked tense, guilty and fiercely protective. Rin inhaled sharply as Sango let out a horrified gasp.
The bloody bundle was Kagome.
"It looks worse than it is," she said calmly. "I'm fine. Most of it isn't mine anyway."
"What happened?" Sango demanded, giving Inuyasha a deadly look that promised much pain, suffering and general torture when they got out of here.
"It smells like she rolled on a dead demon," Sesshoumaru said with his nose curling upward. "You need a bath wench."
"Shut up!" Inuyasha snarled at his brother, his eyes flickering red. Sesshoumaru's golden orbs narrowed slightly, focusing on his brother with mild interest.
"Your blood is restless at the delay in mating," the full demon mused, a small smirk crossing his lips. "You are slowly going insane each day she holds off on you."
"Doesn't every man?" Miroku asked, pulling himself into an upright position. "Much as this family bonding is good for you two, can we get back to the task at hand? I'd like to have some chance of living through the night if you don't mind."
Sesshoumaru gave him a glare most upperclass people give to someone they consider a cockroach not worth stepping on.
"Oh quit with the big bad demon routine. Whether I die from this poison or die from your claws…either way it's a nasty painful death. I already have one lined up right now, take a number," Miroku snapped.
There were several ways Sesshoumaru could have handled that situation. He chose to ignore it as if it had never happened. Behind him Rin gave a sigh and rolled her eyes.
"Inuyasha, do you remember what father told you about this gate?"
"Gate? What gate?"
Everyone gave him an exasperated look and pointed. Inuyasha looked at it for a second and shook his head.
"Never seen it before."
"It was the gate to the great hall," Sesshoumaru supplied, patience wearing thin.
"Which I never saw you idiot!" the Hanyou hissed. "You were the one raised in the great palace, remember? Not me!"
"But father told you of it!"
"I never met Father!" Inuyasha snapped, his ears flattened against his head as his eyes glowed intense gold. He was already growling, ready to fight his brother any second when a gentle hand touched his cheek.
"He's not worth it," Kagome said softly. "Sesshoumaru, perhaps if you clarified when you think he heard this great secret?" she offered, steel edging her voice to warn the older demon what she thought of his antagonistic behavior.
"The day you got Tetsusaiga," Sesshoumaru said through clenched teeth.
"That wasn't father," Inuyasha said with a snort. "Just a spell to explain the sword when I picked it up. It said I got Tetsusaiga and you got Tenseiga."
"And?"
"And what? Tetsusaiga was the sword to protect, Tenseiga was the sword to restore. All living would fear the Fang, but none but the dead shall fear its brother."
"Spells are always so criptic," Rin said with a sigh. "Hey Rockie! Stony! Any clues from that?" Stone eyes turned to her, but the statues did not answer.
"We need to get through those doors," Sango said. "Souta, any ideas?" she asked into the radio.
"Uh…knock knock?"
"Very funny," she replied.
"Hey, I'm only fifteen! I can't have all the answers all the time!" the boy retorted.
Sesshoumaru stepped forward, away from the group. Only Rin turned to watch him as he approached the statues. They moved to block the door from him, weapons ready to crush him without a second thought.
Tenseiga pulsed as demon claws wrapped around the hilt and drew it from its sheath. The statues each took a step back, stone eyes widening.
"The weapon not of this world," one said.
"We yield to you, master," the other added.
"Open the gate," Sesshoumaru demanded.
"Hey guys," Rin said, gaining everyone's attention. They all looked up in time to see the guards kneeling before Sesshoumaru, the heavy stone doors groaning as they began to swing open inwardly.
"Great," Inuyasha mumbled. "He's going to be more of an arrogant ass."
(Inside...)
"Naraku!" Kagura called out, breathless. "They've passed the gate."
"Took them longer than expected….and here I had such high hopes for them," the man in the shadows said calmly.
"You…you're not concerned?" she asked. "They mean to kill us! Everyone else is dead and-"
Kagura was cut off as a hand viciously backhanded her across the floor. Sliding into an opposing wall with a painful thud she looked up, a thin line of blood dribbling down her chin.
"You are weak, Kagura. I have little use for the weak." A strong hand wrapped around her throat, lifting her off the ground so that her toes dangled. Stars began to dance in her vision as her air supply was cut off. She tried to pull the hand off, but it was too strong, her feeble attempts all in vain.
And suddenly she was released, dropping to the floor in a crumpled heap as she coughed and sharply inhaled air into her deprived lungs. She reached up to rub her neck, but another object blocked her way. A metal object, all the way around her neck.
He had collared her. His own daughter. Horrified she looked up at him, fear and betrayal in her eyes.
"Don't tell me you didn't see it coming," he mocked. "Now go greet our guests while I get ready."
She felt her body respond without her will, sharp pain tingling up her spine when she fought against it. It was humiliating beyond belief. Now she understood what those prisoners went through.
Pity crept into her heart…ever so slowly.
'I will find a way,' she thought to herself. 'I will find a way to destroy you!'
(And elsewhere)
Kouga inhaled deeply, recognizing Kagome's scent with Inuyasha's. There were several other scents, some of which he recognized and some he did not. Those didn't matter to him now. All that mattered was getting Kagome away from that filthy half-breed, then getting the hell out of this place.
The mark on his shoulder throbbed, painful to be away from the one who had marked him not long ago. He would have clawed at it if it would dull the pain, but the only way to dull it was to be close to the one who gave it to him.
Ayame.
He snarled as he thought of her. Such a princess, such an alpha bitch…such a pain in his ass. Why did the old laws let the women get away with everything?