The Climax
Besieging the House of Inu
"Have you found anything of value?" Rakuyama asked, awaiting a response from her most loyal servant.
Norihisa and Rakuyama were seated in a carriage designed to look more like a sled. Arctic wolves of bone and jagged fur were pulling the carriage skywards on a trail of snow and ice. They were entering inu territory soon. Norihisa tapped the wall behind him with his fingers, making a flap of cloth open, and blushed at the scent of his new servant steering the carriage. She still smelled of flowers and mineral bath soak but now had a touch of shadow mixed in it. Rakuyama hummed at his response. Her servant seemed quite pleased with his new toy.
"To the Floating Castle," he commanded, feeling delicate fingers graze his before closing the flap. Norihisa then continued, "There is a necklace holding something that is called the Meido Stone worn by the lady of the inu house. It has the ability to revive the dead only once among other grand powers. It seems to be of use to you most."
"Interesting," Rakuyama responded with narrowed eyes and a wicked smile on her face. She lifted up her hand and materialized a gold mask in her detachable claws before holding it between her fingers. She touched the bottom of the lip in a gentle caress with one other finger to say, "I'll have you open a pathway with the rebellious one. I want the boy with silver hair spared."
Eyes glowing white like the moon, Norihisa turned into shadowy mist and left the carriage behind to infiltrate the House of Inu. Soldiers could sense the Netherworld's burn either by smell or instinct and prepared to defend Milady. A sudden burst of snow covered the palace grounds and made the air thinner and colder. At least a group of six shadowy figures in masks or somewhat physical form attacked relentlessly in the same manner as before in the Mujina Woodlands. Swords, claws, and yoki energy blasts were clashing just outside the palace doors. Some soldiers were drained of their insides in combat, others were able to best the shadowy demons. Numbers were slowly dwindling, however. Milady's ears perked up at the sudden intrusion before she narrowed her eyes. Norihisa walked onto the premises with sharpened icicles in his hands that reached to his ankles. In a burst of speed, he killed several inu soldiers and let his small army devour at will. A possessed Takamuku soon followed him in letting out a blast equivalent to cannon fire from his mouth that decimated more numbers and destroyed more ground. They continued on like this until the two made it to the castle.
Inside, Milady was simply waiting at her throne, unmoved by the destruction. Norihisa and Takamuku entered the throne room quite elegantly and politely despite the chaos going on outside. She sighed and said, "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to see either of you here. I would offer a refreshment, but it looks like you made yourself at home. What do you want?"
"We're only here to occupy you, Milady," Norihisa replied, snapping his fingers to summon the shadows in the throne room. They made quick work of the guards. He then said, "Perhaps, you would like to be escorted outside for a little while. That throne has to be relentless on your back."
She rose from the throne, entertaining the possessed inu for a moment, and walked down the stairs until she was approximately 30 paces in front of both men and the few shadows. Dropping her fur overskirt to the floor, she dashed at Norihisa and punched him twice before throwing him at a wall. The fur skirt left behind melted into the floor to open a portal that engulfed Takamuku whole and bent in different directions to unleash vicious bites before spitting him out. Dismissing the fur attachment behind her, Milady's eyes glowed before a singular tanto materialized into her hand. In another burst of speed, she slashed at the other shadows, who only managed to barely keep up with her swift attacks, and transformed into her true dog form to unleash two swipe attacks. Takamuku transformed into dog form himself with icy armor on his shoulders, head, and tail. He shot a blast from his mouth that hit Milady, but she recovered quickly and bit at the young soldier's neck to down him.
Right after he performed a tail whip, Sesshomaru tackled Takamuku into the nearest and bit at his mouth to tear into the flesh. His teeth stung from the arctic temperature inside of the soldier, but he continued to latch onto him until Takamuku let out an oral blast that dropped a chunk of ceiling onto Sesshomaru's head and made him release the soldier long enough for a retaliation that knocked the western lord back.
"Milady! Sesshomaru! Stop!" Homugi shouted, running into the throne room.
Norihisa growled angrily at the blue merle beauty before shouting, "Take her weapon from her!"
Shadows came at Homugi to surround her, but she defended herself quite well and struck some of the shadows with her mace. Each one disintegrated to ashes as she cut and clubbed away. Fascinated by this, Milady reverted back to her more humanoid form and watched Homugi go to war on her own. To think, this was the same girl who liked making flower crowns and putting them on her son's head. Her strength was impressive! Furious at Homugi's intervention, Norihisa charged at her while Takamuku hopped over to his side. Homugi remained in her humanoid form as she acrobatically flipped over to defend Sesshomaru, which confused and silenced him, and gritted her teeth when she heard a slow applause sound in the room. Norihisa grew quiet as Rakuyama entered the room. She removed her Crown of Victory from her head and crossed her arms over it to press it against her chest. The crown transformed into armor and her spire of ice became her sword.
"It appears I'm late to the festivities," Rakuyama purred, exchanging a glance to each person in the room. She then turned directly to Takamuku and said, "Your fighting spirit is actually quite beautiful, Takamuku."
"Takamuku, no..." Homugi whispered with sadness in her tone, clutching her mace. Sesshomaru was silent at this, reverting back to his own humanoid form, and merely looked at the soldier's form. Homugi then asked, "What happened to you, senpai?"
"Just a wild party, I assure you," Rakuyama answered with a light laugh, holding up a hand to signal Norihisa to stand down. "As a favor for bringing him home safely..."
She snapped her fingers, making Takamuku roar in agony, and dashed at Milady with unearthly speed before cutting her necklace off and snatching it from the air with her hands. Unable to react as swiftly, Milady's eyes widened as she saw the parting gift from Toga in another woman's hands and growled before enhancing her tanto with hyper-yoki energy to make the blade longer to form a basket-hilted, nine-ring broadsword. The rings were made of wisteria blossoms circling through the holes along the blade. Leading the attack to defend her beloved Meido Stone, Milady rushed at Rakuyama to volley the item in repeated motions. Sesshomaru and Homugi soon followed suit in stopping the arctic demon from stealing Milady's medallion.
Fending off Homugi, Sesshomaru, and Milady, Rakuyama redirected each attack simultaneously in a single motion and released a burst of blizzard power that sent them back. Homugi, however, retaliated differently. She removed a bottle of ink from a pocket in her bosom and rushed at Rakuyama to swing her mace at her. The Queen Kyonshi dodged effortlessly until Homugi broke the bottle and swung her mace directly at Rakuyama to hit her arm and burn it with peach tree ink. Letting out a screech, Rakuyama flipped backwards to avoid Homugi until Norihisa came to assist. Sesshomaru stopped him before leaping away to avoid Takamuku's attack. The same Takamuku that he used to eat lunch with, the same boy he used to pet fairy pittas with, and the same boy that betrayed him years ago was biting and clawing at him like a rabid beast. It had to be a result of Rakuyama's mental invasion. That meant she might have been far worse than the black wall demon he fought before. But then... if Homugi was here, where was his rival?
Milady fought alongside Homugi to retrieve her necklace from Rakuyama, but the Queen Kyonshi was proving difficult to fight as time went on, especially now that Homugi knew her weakness. How did the little bitch know about the ink? Hearing a song in the distance, Rakuyama stopped moving altogether and turned her attention to the outside. Milady and Homugi chose to attack together, but the Queen Kyonshi formed a wall of ice and snow telepathically before imploding it and sending them backwards.
"Nurikabe," she said with a serious face. She whistled, gaining Takamuku's attention, and commanded, "We leave."
"Not with my stone!" Milady barked with a visible snarl.
Summoning a vortex of snow, Rakuyama looked at the Meido Stone in her hand, placed it on her lips, and whispered, "Lead me to the True North to find my Dreamy Wonder."
Eyes burning red, Milady woke a fury so deeply buried within her that she became unrecognizable. How dare this cretin touch her stone! Before anyone to go in for another attack, Rakuyama turned to Sesshomaru, placed her fingers on her lips, and blew a kiss to him before saying, "I'll be back for you, my prince."
With that, she disappeared in a snowstorm to follow the sound of the ancient lullaby her comrade used to sing...
"Failure to protect the House of Inu is a dishonor!"
Sesshomaru, Homugi, and a few surviving soldiers stood before the Court of Elders and a disenchanted Milady in the Hall of Judgement. It was a round room lined with tapestries of historical moments within the inu line. The oldest of all inu was the one screaming at everyone. He was a man of average height and build with only armor on his torso these days. He no longer fought due to his age and carried a staff with two thin red tapestries with the eyes of the inu at the bottoms of both and flying inu in the centers. The soldiers could barely stand as they tried to defend their case against the attack on the House of Inu.
"Counselor, this was beyond our knowledge!" a guard defended, holding up a broken arm. "Ambassador Norihisa and our top soldier, Takamuku, were the main ones that led the intruders in here. They could've just easily escorted innocents here!"
"Both men were possessed and had the scent of the Netherworld laced on their person! You expect me to believe that you were so incompetent?" the elder argued, silencing the guards.
"Norihisa was attacked and killed weeks ago! The puppet that was left behind was just a husk of what remained of him afterwards! Takamuku had to have perished after him. He wasn't completely possessed yet. I told the court about those puppets earlier when I was sent to - !" Homugi tried, holding up a hand to her chest.
"We sent Teinosuke to handle the investigation! You overstepped your boundaries!" the elder interrupted, stabbing the floor with his staff. "You were tasked with assisting in documenting his findings for us to determine our next plan of action. Your selfish ambitions caused more unnecessary deaths than realized!"
"I did assist Teinosuke!" Homugi defended. "He personally asked me to look into the puppets. The accounts I delivered were joint reports. His being the headline! We told you that something was wrong when Norihisa didn't act like himself. He was slower, less enthused, too casual. This is the ambassador to one of the largest strongholds in the demon world. He should know all of the territories - claimed or unclaimed - like the lines on the palms of his hands and prints on his fingertips. Why didn't he know where he was going? No matter what part of this world you venture in, all inu are trained on how to find their way back home starting from year one. One of our own men had to find him, escort him to his own home, escort him to the court to relay his findings! No one thought to check him out?"
"If the soldiers had to find him, and they were specifically trained to always find home as you say, why didn't they find him suspicious?" the elder asked calmly. "We send our youth to Yaban'na Tsume for more than just being able to defend themselves and learn of our laws. It is to recognize their kind first and foremost. If the Netherworld can mask a scent almost all generations of inu should be familiar with, that is where our problem truly lies. Moreover, whoever disturbed these cretins from the land of shadow and death is practically making a declaration of war."
Sesshomaru's eyes widened slightly at this before they returned to normal. He tuned the rest of the argument out for a moment to think. The elder was right. The Netherworld entering the living world was going to be a problem. This was only a taste of the trouble that came with visiting the land of the dead.
"Sesshomaru! I want the head of the bastard who dared to awaken hell itself to destroy us!" the elder shouted, breaking Sesshomaru out of his thoughts. "This is a disgrace to Lord Toga's name and the House of Inu! Either find the whereabouts of the Meido Stone or you will be deemed unworthy of ever taking up the throne! Homugi... you are off the investigation."
The Falling Action
Numa-o, the Marshland Ogre part 1
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The coolness of the fog and the beginnings of nature changing from the vibrant greens to more yellows and oranges signified the autumn season upon the living world. Dressed in no more than her black bodysuit, utility packs, and fur belt, the doctor enjoyed the cool breeze on her exposed skin. She was actually quite nervous. It had been some time since Homugi left her side to run to the House of Inu. Something had happened over there that claimed her immediate attention. Not wanting to pry, Meioshi let the blue merle beauty go on to prove herself once more on her own and wished her luck on her journey. If Homugi still felt ashamed, the doctor told her to follow the scent of the peach tree ink on her person. She could only hope that the girl had made it in time to stop Rakuyama and her minions.
Meioshi was on her way to the next part of her journey since the fight in the Mujina Woodlands. Bonitas and Caritas returned to Kako Seigi's side while she went on to address the Commander Oni after she was able to get the mask from the kyonshi. Experimentally, she placed the mask on her face to see why the kyonshi wore such a thing. Behind the mask's eyes, she saw something incredible. The doctor was able to see the temperatures of living things! That was the key to Shanwang's second part of the riddle. A mask that could see body temperature! The map was much easier to find after obtaining the Kyonshi Mask, especially once she froze the lava in the foundry for a moment. The map's markings and legend key solidified once cold air hit the smoke. Afterwards, she had to put the pieces together like a puzzle and the map appeared like a scroll in her hands. She never saw the supposed blacksmith Homugi spoke of, but she promised to return to unfreeze the foundry when requested. Perhaps the man would like dinner for his troubles. If not, she was sure she could accommodate for the trouble some other way. After all, blacksmithing was his livelihood. She understood what it meant to have that taken away.
Leaning on the back of Genso ShuShu-Sen, Meioshi closed her eyes to think of Shanwang's words as her boat sailed across unknown waters. She had to find something armored but not a soldier, snapping but not a twig, drifting doth the home, round water doth it live. Just as Meioshi was going down a list of marine animals, a bell rung and someone landed on her boat. Calmly, she looked up to see the trademark white, cuffed hakama pants and descending fur pelt. Sesshomaru. Well, shit.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing your mug again this time?" Meioshi asked sarcastically. By now, she knew what it might be.
Sesshomaru kept his composure as he looked down on his prey and said, "You are a threat to the House of Inu and the lands occupied within the Western territories. Involvement with these creatures of hell itself has cost the lives of many innocents, and it will continue to be costly as long as you walk on this fine line between the world of the living and the world of the dead. It has been ordered that I kill you."
Meioshi was silent for a moment, lightly chuckled, and then said, "Pity that. You see, my mortal enemy has immeasurable strength and skill that would wipe out this wretched world, and I need to 'power up' if you will in order to defeat this particular being. Unfortunately, that means I can't let you kill me, so you and the House of Inu will have to kiss my ass, you silly old dog."
SLICE! CLASH! Poison and frost meet between blades before Meioshi and Sesshomaru leap away from each other and land on the murky shore. The doctor's armor materialized and her eyes turned to that predatory orange coloring. Summoning her roningasa hat, Meioshi placed the item on her head and looked Sesshomaru directly in his eyes with a distinctive frown.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you don't like my boat," Meioshi spat, earning a wicked smirk and dark chuckle from Sesshomaru. "What is the meaning of this, Lord Sesshomaru?"
"I've no reason to repeat myself," he replied, lifting a claw to crack his knuckles. "Your punishment has been decided by the House of Inu."
More inu soldiers appeared to surround Meioshi, forcing her to look around and evaluate each demon and their level of energy. Seeing no way out of this fight, she hissed, "Shit!"