XIX: A Ray of Moonlight in a Dark Sky
Author: Nefertili
Fandom: Inuyasha
Rating: PG13
Pairing(s): Sesshoumaru/Kikyou
Genre(s): Romance, Angst, AU, Action
Warning(s): More battle scenes, some violence, fluff... What more can I say?
Disclaimer: None of the characters, except perhaps some, are mine. They are owned by Rumiko Takahashi.
Summary: Two years after ImotC, Sess is challenged to surpass an enemy in recovering a mysterious relic left behind by his mother. But can he protect Kikyou, who now carries his child, at the same time?
A/N: This is the third chapter to the last, to read it while the fun lasts! ;P
...o0o...
He broke free with a huge flash of light, a whiteness that was soon darkened by the smoke that rose out of the foot of the forbidding monument. Everything was silent, from the youkai to the forces of nature, as though they all held their breath to anticipate the upcoming clash between Sesshoumaru and his mother's younger, rival brother. Finally, in a sharp gesture, the smoke cleared and Sesshoumaru found himself glaring at a single, baleful eye.
Karatake had changed little since Suien sealed him to the Minetetsu before her death. He still wore the same robes of different shades of green, covered with a pattern of mottled bamboo. His waist-length hair, which was the color of a newly-opened shoot, was tied back in a low ponytail except for several long locks which he allowed to grow long over the left side of his face.
Only his eyes - or more precisely, his eye - seemed to have any difference in them. The pale blue orb seemed to have a kind of crazed hatred in them, which steadily intensified as he caught sight of his silver-haired nephew standing on a pinnacle nearby.
Sesshoumaru.
Inuyoukai and Moon Elemental regarded each other with a wary gaze. Beneath Sesshoumaru's neutral face, he felt his emotions seething to come face to face with his late mother's murderer. Why did he hesitate even a moment? He could have destroyed this filthy bit of life even before it had the chance to come to life again. And to think that this unwanted maniac is his own uncle, such was a great blow to his pride, indeed.
Karatake, on the other hand, had mixed and complicated feelings. It was as though the spirit of Suien had indeed come into the world again through her only son. Sure, those amber eyes, the silver hair and the slightly different markings on Sesshoumaru's head were obviously the work of Inu no Taishou's blood, but the over-all look of that face...he took more after his beautiful mother, indeed.
If the very resemblance was enough to drive Karatake mad, he was further driven to the edge by Sesshoumaru's cold look. That was the same look Suien herself gave him many years prior... She, his curse of a sister...he loved her beyond what siblings can give, but he took her from him and together, they formed this son... Sesshoumaru and Suien, they were a shame to the Children of the Moon!
"My little nephew," Karatake said, the first to speak after what seemed like an eternity of silence, "I have been waiting for you." A slight smirk began to form at the edge of his lips.
"I have only one business here," Sesshoumaru calmly retorted, and in the blink of an eye, he raised the Toukijin and leaped down the pinnacle in a graceful arc. Clouds of dust and particles went up at the base of the Peak of Iron as he struck at Karatake, signaling the start of the final battle.
...o0o...
With the help of the purple-eyed shinidamachuu, Mizutori and her charges finally managed to emerge from the thick mist cloaking the borders of the Tsukisawa. Isamu expelled the breath which he had been holding for a long time and gazed at the newly-risen sun, thankful to be alive.
Kikyou looked back at her mother-in-law's soul-catching demons that went back to the thick mist now that their duty was accomplished. She wondered if she would ever see them again. Mizutori bent her slender legs and lowered herself to the ground for them to dismount.
Umegae, Rin and Yanagi dismounted from Mizutori, but no matter what he did, Isamu could not get Kikyou to come down from her feathery seat.
"Kikyou-sama, we are safe now!" he said, trying to reassure the former miko. Umegae, carrying Yanagi carefully in one arm, had picked some edible greens from a nearby bush and given them to Rin, knowing that the little girl was obviously starved. Seeing that her husband and Mizutori were having some sort of problem with Kikyou, Umegae left Rin for a while and went to them.
"What is wrong, Kikyou?" Umeage asked kindly, gently cupping the young maiden's cheek in the manner of a friend.
Kikyou kept her head bowed, and her right still remained clutched in a fist. Mizutori gently nudged at her with her long beak, and she gradually raised her head. Her mahogany eyes seemed to have a look of determination in them, as though she was bent on fulfilling a purpose not yet carried out. She spoke, and her words utterly shocked them all.
"Mizutori, I need you to take me to Sesshoumaru."
At once, her companions began to attempt to dissuade her.
"Kikyou-sama, he would not want you to leave this place, where you are safe..."
"Why would you with to further hurt yourself or your child, Kikyou?"
"Please reconsider your decisions, my lady... The Minetetsu is the most dangerous of places at present!"
But Kikyou shook her head firmly, and for the first time, she opened her right fist and they were temporarily blinded by the bluish glow of the teardrop-like jewel nestling on her palm. After a few seconds, the sudden burst of radiance from the Mitsuseki died down and the jewel assumed the clarity that marked itself in dormancy.
"Bless my soul," Mizutori said in a throaty voice, her sapphire eyes glued to the now clear, colorless jewel. "That couldn't be..."
Rin, who had eaten her fill of the succulent cresses, now joined the flurry of others inspecting the jewel. She looked up at her foster mother and asked, "What is that? Where did Kikyou-sama get it?"
"Yes, Kikyou, what is this mysterious gem?" Umegae and Isamu added their questions.
In whispered words, Kikyou began to narrate the true story behind Sesshoumaru's reasons for seeking to defeat Karatake, which went back to the murder of the Lady Suien his mother and the sealing of Karatake. Of Lady Suien's jewel, which she now carried in her hands...why it should be joined with Tenseiga before it can be fully unleashed...why she should now reach her husband before it was too late...
"I need to get to him," Kikyou said again, closing her hands over the Mitsuseki and holding her hands against her chest. "If I have to go alone, so be it. You have all been so kind to me; I don't want you to die trying to help me..."
Umegae broke her off gently, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Of course you are going to Sesshoumaru-sama," the Shikayoukai Queen said, "and we are coming with you."
Kikyou looked up, her eyes widening in surprise. Several faces looked back at her. They were all lined with fatigue; all of them were covered with the dirt and grime of the previous days, but they all smiled at her and nodded with agreement to Umegae's words. Even little Yanagi stirred in her mother's embrace and one of her little hands reached out to Kikyou.
"Ik...yo..."
Yanagi's cute efforts at saying her name made Kikyou's eyes well up with tears of gladness. She held out one of her hands and grasped the much smaller one reaching for hers. Umegae smiled and held her baby closer to the former priestess.
Isamu stepped forward and held his naginata in a manner of one renewing old allegiances, placing one hand over his chest.
"In the name of the Deer Clan," he said in a regal voice, "I shall fulfill my oath to the very end. We will protect you, Kikyou-sama; I won't fail this time."
"For the salvation of Lady Suien and the honor of her family," Mizutori said, "I vow to help you, Lady Kikyou. We won't stop until our cause is done!"
Rin raised herself up to her toes and kissed Kikyou on her cheek, saying, "I am going too, Kikyou-sama. I love you so much!"
Kikyou found herself hugging Rin and letting her tears escape freely from her eyes. The others stood watching her for the next few moments until she finally wiped her tears away with the back of her hand, her determination renewed.
"Then let us not waste more time. Take us to the Barren Wastes, Mizutori...to my husband!"
...o0o...
"Is this all that you can do?" Karatake taunted, narrowly dodging the swings of Toukijin without exactly fighting back himself. "You are not even half as good as your mother!"
"To provoke an enemy would be a great mistake..."
Suien's words to him when he was still a child repeated themselves in Sesshoumaru's mind. He had not failed to notice that his uncle was actually not fighting back, and was merely dodging his attacks. It was as though Karatake was testing him...playing with him... That annoying smug smirk was flattening his patience to a dangerously fragile thinness...
I know, Mother... Sesshoumaru answered automatically in his mind, still managing to keep his focus.
Karatake's grin began to widen with the passage of each moment, as though he knew of the inner struggle of his nephew and took pride in foiling his efforts.
"You look so like her," Karatake continued, surprisingly getting hold of the blade of Toukijin with his bare hand and leaning his face so close to Sesshoumaru's that they can feel each other's angry breaths. "How touching it is...a son avenging his dear Okaa-san's death..." He pushed his adversary backwards with a considerable amount of force.
Sesshoumaru, however, managed to land on his feet on a rocky outcrop of the Minetetsu several meters above. Beyond them, their respective soldiers were also absorbed in battle. Karatake's minions, driven with mad desire more than anything, attacked with crazed cries, seeking to kill as many of their adversaries as they can.
The Deer Demons, however, held on firmly amidst the losses they were struggling with, of scores of their people succumbing to poison or injuries too fatal for their full youkai healing ability... None of them won't come down without a fight.
"How pitiful you are," it was Sesshoumaru's turn to taunt. "Mother was right to reject you when you tried to take her for your own. Probably, her only imperfection was in having such a shameful brother as you."
Sesshoumaru's mock using such an evenly-placed voice successfully angered Karatake. He was to learn later that the Moon Elemental was probably the least patient person in the world, and Karatake furiously leaped after Sesshoumaru, bereft of any weapon but his own abilities which his nephew had yet to see.
"Hybrid of a Moon Elemental! A shame to the race of the Tsukiyoukai! That's what you are, Sesshoumaru! That's what you are!" Karatake began to shout continuous curses at Sesshoumaru, attacking in the earnest now. Though he had no sword, his hands seemed to be made of tough steel which couldn't be cut by any sword. He would hit the blade with his bare fists, and even Sesshoumaru was having a hard time maintaining his grip on the Toukijin. "You are the embodiment of the Spirit of the Moon tainted by the blood of the Dog...he who is your father!"
Sesshoumaru found himself being forced to retreat backwards as Karatake beat at the Toukijin with his clenched hands. He knew that a sword will not be able to endure a succession of waves such as what his uncle was now doing. He must think of a good counterattack quickly...
"Indeed, I have the blood of two youkai races," Sesshoumaru answered, backing further upwards the Minetetsu to avoid Karatake's blows. Though his face retained the neutral mask, his anger was already boiling to its highest limit within. The nerve of this wretched demon to call him a hybrid, a half-breed...such terms were reserved for lower beings only. "But the blood that flows within my veins is far cleaner that what flows in yours."
"Ha, my boy," Karatake retorted, his single eye narrowing in annoyance. He punched the rock wall beside him with his left hand, causing a shower of broken rock and debris to fall between him and Sesshoumaru.
"Suien already made a great mistake when she pushed me away and to be with your father instead," he continued, at the same time charging against Sesshoumaru with his iron fists raised. "What good did that do? All that it got her was an impertinent son, an oppressor like his father. And what did the Inu no Taishou do in return? Went off with an inferior human lady...that's what you fools call love, indeed."
He once more grabbed hold of Toukijin's blade, his fingers clamping themselves tighter over the metal.
"And for you to fall in love with a mortal woman, Sesshoumaru...you are in all ways just like your foolish father!"
The thought of Kikyou powered Sesshoumaru's will. He sent off an Azure Dragon Blast out of Toukijin while Karatake still held on to it. Karatake was blown downwards by the force of pure energy, and there was no mistake about the surprise in his icy blue eyes as he pelted to the rocks below, Sesshoumaru following close behind ready to launch another blow.
"You are wrong about Father," Sesshoumaru said, an unmasked hatred evident in his amber eyes. "He did not abandon my mother."
"Didn't he?" Karatake said testily, getting up quickly from the rubble in renewed combat with the silver-haired taiyoukai. He began to smirk again. "How do you explain then, the Inu Taiyoukai's liaison with that ningen woman?"
"He did not abandon Mother!" Sesshoumaru nearly shouted, another Souryuuha aimed at Karatake, who managed to leap out of its way this time.
Or did he? Sesshoumaru had long been thinking about this delicate topic for many years, and he was careful to hide his doubt from his uncle. As the elder son of the Inu no Taishou, he knew that his father remained single for a great many years since the death of his mother. Sesshoumaru was only a little child when Suien was killed, and he was already in his adolescent years by the time Izayoi came to the picture.
But between that long, gloomy interval, his father raised him alone and shunned all other female demons who tried to fill in the place of the Lady Hanazuki. Sesshoumaru used to be so confident that Inutaishou wouldn't take another woman after Hanazuki, but Izayoi changed all that...
...o0o...
"What are you doing, Mother, Father?" a young Sesshoumaru innocently queried of his parents, whom he unexpectedly came upon sharing a passionate lip-lock.
Inu no Taishou and Suien immediately broke their kiss and gazed upon their son who looked up at them with questioning eyes, more curious than they had ever seen him before. Hanazuki picked him up and carried him in her arms. His father ruffled his shoulder-length silver hair, and Sesshoumaru playfully swatted Inu no Taishou's hand away.
"We were kissing, Sesshoumaru," his mother said in her usual wont, as though she was talking about the most ordinary of things. The Inu Taiyoukai could not help but shake his head slightly at her straightforwardness. He didn't know how he would answer Sesshoumaru if he were in her place.
"Why were you kissing, Okaa-sama?" Sesshoumaru continued to ask, lightheartedly grabbing hold of Suien's pointed ears, as was his way of getting her attention.
"It's because we love each other, you little rascal," his father replied with a growl, tickling his son. Sesshoumaru let out a laugh and begged to be transferred to his father's shoulders. Once he was sitting on Inu no Taishou's shoulders, Sesshoumaru rested his chin on his father's silvery hair, holding on to his high ponytail.
"Is it nice, Otou-sama?"
"What is nice, Sesshoumaru?"
"To kiss like that..."
Inu no Taishou looked desperately at Suien, who looked as calm as ever. She nearly laughed out loud. He was clueless, as always. She must come to his rescue most of the time, whenever Sesshoumaru tends to ask those not-so-innocent questions of his...
"Well, your father and I like it," Suien said, giving her son a cheek pat. "I suppose it is nice, indeed."
It might be too simple an answer, but Sesshoumaru accepted it anyway. A few days later, when his mother went to the Borderlands to visit the Lady Azami, taking him with her, he narrated to Kikumo what he had seen and heard. She suggested that the two of them try it, but Sesshoumaru had turned away in disgust. He wouldn't talk to her for some time after that.
...o0o...
Sesshoumaru stopped for a mere second, caught up with the emotions of the memory. But a mere faltering was all Karatake needed. He rushed at Sesshoumaru, his fist ready to punch through his face. Sesshoumaru managed to regain his wits at once, and he narrowly escaped the blow by angling his head to the side. He managed to hide his surprise to feel a slight pain on his cheek. Seconds later, blood from the long scratch had spattered down his collar.
Karatake can cut using the wind, the way he can use Toukijin's kenatsu or sword pressure to cut his enemies without directly touching them.
"Probably thinking of your mother now, eh?" Karatake said as Sesshoumaru drew backwards, his sword still held alert.
Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes and lunged forward in attack. His sword was poised directly to cut his evil uncle in half; Karatake's eye and mouth were wide open as though in an expression of pain when the blade touched the crown of his head. But after a few moments, he let out a malicious chuckle, the triumph plain in his ice-blue orb. Toukijin couldn't cut him.
The Demon Prince leaped backwards before Karatake can have a chance to fight back. Now he knew he was in a dilemma. Karatake was a harder foe to deal with than he had anticipated.
"You thought I was weak, didn't you?" Karatake sneered, but otherwise he kept still on his place. "You thought that you can defeat me with what powers you have? Foolish thing to do, nephew. No blade can ever harm me. It shall be my pleasure to bring you to a death as gristly as that of your mother!"
With that, he did the unthinkable. Leaping forward, he engaged in a force-fed battle with Sesshoumaru to wrestle the Toukijin from his hands. Karatake had a hard time getting what he wanted, and his nephew was clearly a little bit quicker than he thought. Finally, he struck out at Sesshoumaru's dominant wrist. Toukijin immediately went flying from his hand, falling with a clatter a few feet from them.
Karatake managed to get hold of the sword first, which already spoke much of his own power. Before Sesshoumaru claimed the sword, never had anyone successfully held the Toukijin without being possessed by the powerful evil spirit within.
Sesshoumaru stayed still, though he eyed his uncle with a look of unmasked loathing. He flinched slightly at the pain on his wrist. Karatake must have sprained - or even worse, broke - his bones there. Sesshoumaru gingerly touched the injured wrist with his other hand, and he flinched again. It was most certainly painful. That was the first serious injury he had since Inuyasha hacked off his left arm.
Suien's brother was letting out a series of triumphant sniggers, observing the injury he had just inflicted on his rival's son. But he was not quite finished yet. Holding his stolen sword by its blade, he slowly and deliberately began to crush the metal with his grip. At some point, it appears that he would not make it, but Karatake forced his will on the sword until the sickening sound of breaking metal proved that he had succeeded. He afterwards threw the remnants of Toukijin down the nearby chasm, now confident that he will be able to defeat Sesshoumaru once and for all.
Karatake once more began his assault. Sesshoumaru leaped out of his attack's way when Karatake punched the rock on where he previously stood. Cunning bastard. His Dokkasou was confined to his right hand, unlike his mother who could summon it out of both hands. In robbing him of the use of his dominant wrist, Karatake had him effectively crippled.
"Now I am beginning to see more of Suien in you," Karatake mocked, following Sesshoumaru closely. "This was just how she looked before she died...desperate, but valiant. She fought until the very end... Pity, she just lived a wasted life after all."
His youki suddenly exploded. He opened his mouth, blowing out a breath of flames that came out in a wide sweep. Sesshoumaru managed to evade being burned by the white-hot fire by moving higher up the Minetetsu, but Karatake followed him anyway. From their elevated level, a searing canyon wind began to blow, adding their screeches to the wails of the lesser youkai below. The wind blew Karatake's hair out of his face, exposing his horrible secret.
Where his left eye should be was but a hollow of deformed flesh. The majority of skin covering the upper left side of his face was crinkled and black, bearing a rough resemblance to tree bark that had been scorched in a forest fire. Sesshoumaru was used to such sights, and he had already known about his uncle's handicap thanks to Mizutori, that the sight of Karatake's malformed face did not cause him to falter a bit.
"You see this face?" Karatake said, a maniacal glow beginning to come over his face as he gradually stepped forward. "Your very own mother did this. Clever of her, right? But Suien should have been mine...she is my sister...she is mine! You and your cursed father took her from me! Cursed be the inuyoukai! You shall die, Sesshoumaru, and my revenge will be sweet indeed!"
He is insane to the core, Sesshoumaru thought to himself, but he said nothing. They were at the peak of the Minetetsu, and the top of the dark monolith was rough flat rectangle, offering a perfect place for the final combat. Karatake charged at him, his terrible face in a twisted grin. Sesshoumaru easily evaded the haphazard blows, but the pain in his right wrist was making him lose his coordination.
Finally, Karatake managed to land a strong blow on him that shattered most of the armor on his torso. Sesshoumaru staggered back, but he stood firm, the frown on his face deepening. Suddenly, the conversation he had with his father several days after his mother died replayed itself in his mind.
...o0o...
"You know very well that they were demons, Sesshoumaru," his father's voice had a sad edge to it. "The bodies they used were of man, but your mother was killed in the hands of a youkai. Do not blame those humans for her death."
His reply was cold. "Demons in humans' bodies, they may be, but human bodies they still are. They are nothing but weak ningen who are not capable of standing up for themselves. Why spare a thought for such a race?"
Inu no Taishou was silent for a while before he asked, "Do you hate humans because of their weakness?"
Sesshoumaru doesn't reply and moves away. A single tear then left the Inu no Taishou's eyes as he thinks to himself, "Alas, my beloved Hanazuki, have you truly died indeed?"
...o0o...
Sesshoumaru then recalled a flash of memory of him as a young one in a moonlit grassland, running towards his mother who had her arms outstretched in his direction. Out of a sudden, the vision became dark and bloodstained as he saw a fleeting vision of Hanazuki's last moments, that which he had never seen before. A spear was stuck to her breast; the dark rocks of the Minetetsu became stained with her blood as she fell into the blackness of the crags.
Mother, why am I seeing you at a time like this? his mind screamed. Okaa-sama, why?
Karatake's fist nearly came upon him again, forcing him to focus against his will. Sesshoumaru then decided that he must transform to his true form. That was his last resort. He had Tenseiga, but what is a use of a healing sword against the enemy?
His amber eyes began to change color, his slitted pupils constricting further. A frightful growl left his throat, making Karatake draw back in alarm. Even he was wary of the Inu no Taishou in his true form, and it would be the same with his son. But a soft voice penetrated the boiling state of his mind.
"Sesshoumaru..."
Mother, I am hearing you too...
Was he going to die now? Then, it took him a few moments to realize that it was Tenseiga speaking. The sword was pulsating slightly on its sheath. He had spoken once or twice with Tenseiga when it was absolutely needed, but the voice of the sword was always of the kind that was neither male nor female. But now, that voice began to modulate into something more familiar...into Suien's own speaking voice...as though her own spirit resided within the sword...
A sudden uproar below them made Karatake and Sesshoumaru look to the source of their pandemonium. Flying their way was a dot of many colors that became more and more distinct as it drew nearer. It was Mizutori, her wings flapping gracefully as she flew on the high breezes. There were several persons on her back, but at the very front of them was Kikyou.
...o0o...
Wee...that dang battle scene of Sess and Karatake caused me a quite a headache! But don't you think the part of little Sesshy asking his parents how it feels to kiss to be rather cute? ;P
Azn kawaii kikyo the devil: I will really be updating soon! Only two more chapters to go, and I'll be starting school in a few days. Gosh, I really need to write fast! -.-
The East Wind Melts the Ice: Darn right, HE needs HER!
Gossamer Wind: I really want him to die... -.-
Eruanne: Still the lotr fan, eh:D Though there's a certain similarity to the oliphaunt scene and the dragon scene, it's actually a typical (sort of ) battle tactic. Making the enemies kill themselves for you... Hahaha. At least I am sort of happy with the section I ended up with in school...
Cold Kikyo: Sesshy and Kiky are about to go together again, yeah!
Lady Fabmel: Hope you got my email! Thanks for the review!
WingedChunsa: That battle scene tired me out! XP I am glad the next chapter will contain the last of the battles. I am already tired of WARS!
