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"Inuyasha, the Tessaiga?" Sesshomaru queried causing the half demon to look up both in surprise from the graveness of his tone and the sudden change in his demeanor, as he stood up straight with eyes piercing.
The relaxing moment completely shattered as they were all seated in the children's play room along with his mate, her babies and Sesshomaru's children enjoying the quiet family bonding. All movements ceased and a gentle silence descended upon the room, even the smaller children who could not possibly understand their father's announcement waited with bated breath for him to clarify his statement.
The half demon prince continued to gaze at his brother still unsure of what he meant as he remained silent, however, the blanks in his announcement was duly filled by him. "I need to traverse to the gates of hell and beyond to free my mate's soul from its prison of darkness, and the Tessaiga is the easiest and only way, because as we speak her time amongst the living dwindles."
Inuyasha sighed, his relief evident. "Just tell me when," he answered eagerly, and Sesshomaru nodded his answer of yes to him, then eased back into the role of doting father swiftly as if the tense moment had not transpired.
After hurriedly reassuring and saying goodbye to his pups, he asked of his brother and his mate to remain and look after them, along with the human priestess who was summoned previously to attend to Kagome's immediate needs. Friends and associates that were loyal to him were few and far between, but Inuyasha was someone that he trusted implicitly.
In the privacy of his personal gardens a few hours later and below the rooms where his mate lay in a comatose like state, he and his brother stood silently while Inuyasha concentrated on opening a portal to the underworld, this was something he has never quite attempted to do before; yes, he has dispatched his enemies to the underworld, but opening a path that led from the world of the living and to the land of the dead as a roadway that one could travel, was something that he has never done or tried to do before.
"Meidou Zangetshua!" he commanded while rotating his sword above his head, the portal opened, but like before it was a gaping hole of blackness above them, only a globe of swirling energies that would pull anything and everything that was caught, enveloping it and sealing it away for all eternity within Hades. "Fuck!" the half demon hissed out in anger and obvious frustrations as his many efforts were deemed futile.
"Brother," Sesshomaru addressed him, and he paused in surprise of the use of the endearment, but he also took the time to calm down by taking long and deep soothing breaths of air. "Relax Inuyasha; we have seen the gates of hell, replicate it in your mind's eye, and then open the portal." There was quiet reassurance in his words and tone, and the half demon felt encouraged and appreciative that his brother believed in him.
Inuyasha calmed, closed his eyes with Tessaiga in hand while the tip was embedded into the partially snow covered grass. Sesshomaru watched as his brother's aura receded and quieted, and the only sound that remained was the gentle pulse of his heartbeat.
The priestess stood up from Kagome's side after spreading her reiki over her, trying to establish if she and the baby were alright, but something jolted her into awareness; rushing to the balcony and looking below she saw the lord and his brother, and it seemed as though they were both deeply concentrating on something. But what choice did she really have? The lord must be warned, and with that thought she yelled. "Master, Master," the Daiyoukai looked up in surprise with a frown marring his brow, while Inuyasha winced at the shouting and cursed, "bitch," when his hard fought concentration was broken.
"I must apologize for interrupting," she said timidly when she had their attentions. "My lord your wife is alive because she is strong and has a deep desire to live, but I sense a foreign power within her. It is yours, is it not?" she asked. "What of it?" he responded impatiently squinting and looking up on her while Inuyasha remained quiet.
"The life that grows within her womb, I can sense that it is very powerful and it is eating away your essence at a rapid rate," concern widened his eyes briefly, while fear fluttered his heart making the blood rush too quickly to his brain causing him to feel lightheaded; the priestess took a deep breath before continuing. "The rate in which the babe is developing and feeding, she will not last for more than seven days, half the time that we had thought…You must make haste or she will die!"
A sense of loss and disappointment were the feelings he felt at the moment. Despondency seized his very soul and he could not look away from the woman or her from him, because although she had not known the priestess before she became ill, her beautiful, serene face and aura had drawn her in with its warmth and kindness.
And when she was contacted yesterday to care for her, saying no was never an option. Rubbing the palms of his hands fiercely across his face, over his aching, burning eyes, Sesshomaru could only wish that he could wipe away the memories of the last few days as he did so. He had thought that it couldn't get any worse, but fate had one last little trick in store, one further twist of the knife, or was it his mother? He couldn't tell, but the thought made the unfortunate and evil situations that befell him, his children and Kagome even more unbearable to think of.
Steady hands gripped his shoulder and broke the spell of doom, the last thing he remembered before turning around and facing his brother was an image of Kagome's stunning face and wide ocean blue eyes.
Quickly they got over the shock and were in character once more, Inuyasha loved Kagome and he always would, she was the first and only friend whom had ever accepted him completely for who he was. He concentrated even harder because he could see the sadness in his brother's eyes, and he wanted him to be happy with Kagome and their baby; because deep down he knew that all she ever really wanted was to be loved, and to raise her children with the male she chose. A sense of guilt washed over him because he had hurt her all those years ago, and for that he would always regret. This was his way of making amends, and he would not fail.
The landscape, trees, the ocean, mountains and rivers, his friends as they travelled across Japan searching for jewel shards, flashed across his mind's eye like the moving pictures on the television in Kagome's time. It happened in a blur but he saw it all, the moment came and the memories stopped; he was standing in front of a mountain with a tunnel like opening. He smiled knowing that with one command of the Tessaiga he could succeed.
Raising his father mighty heirloom he shouted, "Meidou Zangetshua," with his eyes tightly closed, the feeling of his brother's hands on his shoulder caused him to open them, and the sight that met his eyes was amazing, a miracle in itself, for he could hardly believe that he had opened a portal with a narrow path ahead leading into the underworld.
With no words spoken between them the Daiyoukai jumped up into the portal and unto the narrow pathway; he paused looking fleetingly behind him and nodded. Inuyasha took the opportunity and spoke. "I will keep it open until you return." His body moved taking him into the darkness, while Inuyasha watched until the portal swallowed him up into its shadowy depths. He sighed, "Mmmph," making himself comfortable sitting on the grass, because until Sesshomaru returned, he would not leave this spot.
"It has been three days and my hands and face won't heal, curse you human bitch," the demoness cried out in anguish as she dipped her partially burnt off hands into a large bucket filled with a restorative potion for the umpteenth time, while lord Ryoma watched slightly amused. "No! Nooo!" she screamed out long in frustration as the potion remained purple signaling its failure.
With another scream filled with rage the buckets were kicked over forcefully spilling its contents all over the floor and wetting the boots of the dragon, turning with fiery eyes ablaze with anger and displeasure she spat out her frustrations. "Why won't you restore my body when you have the power to do so?" she half asked and demanded of him of him loudly.
Chuckling softly he responded. "You are not one that I can trust, for I have aided you in your quest for dominance, I have saved your life…And yet, here I am still waiting to be compensated." The look that met his gaze after he spoke was undesirable, it was a look filled with malice, hatred and desire, because she was greedy, but vain. Sitting still he waited until she battled with her dark soul on what a suitable payment would be; smiling internally he continued to wait. And wait he did.
After it was deemed acceptable by him that he had waited long enough, he got up and approached the demoness resting her body down on a long and comfy sofa. Eyes the color of mercury looked down on her with curiosity and bewilderment, for here she was contemplating his compensation with her face and eyes disfigured, and her hands damaged and crippled, the smell of the priestess's purification energies still wafted in the air through her injuries, and yet she refuses to comply.
The hated look she threw his way was cold as her eyes darkened while the animal slits stood out feral and prominently, maybe it was done to intimidate him or she was just being a willful and spiteful female, he did not know or care for that matter.
But one thing was certain; she would not benefit from his aid ever again if she did not play fair. "I will not wait any longer," he said after awhile, and lady Harumi sat up on her daybed doing it slowly, and responded after giving his consideration much thought, fully aware that all her accomplices were either dead or imprisoned. Her need far outweighed her spite and vindictiveness.
"You get half of everything," she responded begrudgingly, and a cunning smiled etched his beautiful visage. "Agreed," he replied and seized her jawbones immediately holding on tightly, and sinking his claws into her already damaged face, a look of disapproval and pain adorned her features as her brows furrowed and a gasp of discomfort escaped from her lips.
Squeezing her cheeks closer together and causing her mouth to open wider. The breath he inhaled was long, and the smell of rebirth after a long and dreary winter, fruiting trees, blossoming flowers in spring, and icy waters melting in the sunshine saturated his essence, and the spirit of regeneration embodied his being and he breathes energy white in pureness and renewal into her mouth.
Warmth spread throughout her body tingling as it healed her disfigured form, the heat from his powers curled her toes, and his hot breath caressed her dark soul stirring to life desires buried within bitterness for over two centuries. With her body almost healed a hot and demanding tongue was thrust down her throat and she moaned out in shock and delight.
Barely able to contain his desires and the intensity of such he dragged himself away quickly, gazing at her now healed and whole visage once more, while the demoness eyes were dark with lust, and panting harshly looking at him with desire and yearning. He almost caved in, and just as suddenly as he took a step towards her, she looked away and reached for the meidou jewel around her neck and mumbled. "There is a disturbance within the stone."
The atmosphere lifeless and cold, the stink of rotting corpse permeated the air, shadowy figures flew around him attracted to the sword of heaven wanting to be free, desirous of their souls to fly away from the gloom; but he had only one goal in mind and that was to free his mate's soul from this undesirable place.
And with that objective he forged ahead with the Tensaiga as his shield and guide. The darkness was heavy with its might trying to gain another unfortunate core, as he could hear the guardians of hell thundering his way to conquer and relieve him of his spirit; it rang in his ears, followed by the piercing screaming of their cries, like evil spirits seeking rest and finding none.
A cold mist circled him moving slowly as it grew thicker and thicker, blinding him from seeing anything outside of it. A pulse then another ran up the length of the Tensaiga and it glowed. The first faceless abomination that dived forward was repelled by the sword's power, as he held it in front of him forming a barrier that disintegrated the apparition into nothingness.
Their attacks were relentless, but each faced the same fate vanishing into nothingness when they came in contact with the swords energies. The mist cleared, blown away by an imaginary breeze. Still he continued searching for his mate's beautiful soul in the shadowy and lifeless depths of hell.
With her heart pounding lady Harumi rest the jewel on the table and watched as Sesshomaru walked through hell for a second time trying to save a human female, only this time she was not here to help him. The ryu came to stand by her side and she tensed, the attraction between them was new but it was like a raging volcano waiting to erupt, and such feelings were unwanted and so she did her best to will them away.
"What are you going to do?" he asked softly and his breath fanned her earlobes, moving away from their closeness and breaking the attraction she replied. "There is nothing I can do, he searches for his mate's wondering spirit and he will find it, such is the resilience of my son…Unfortunately, he will only find half because the pentacle could not contain such a large and unique soul. Half is within the pentacle, and the other half is within walking distance of Sesshomaru."
And as she continued to watch her son as he approached the hounds of hell she grinned from ear to ear. "Maybe things will still work out in my favor after all." She said to no one in particular. "Sesshomaru is smart, he will soon find out that what he seeks he will never attain on his own," and her smile seemed to widen even more.
The dragon lord watched the devious emotions that ran across her face and eyes as they glinted with longing, he drew a little closer. The bitch would not get the chance to deceive him again. He could see the desires in her eyes as they burned with longing for him and the power that he wielded. He would give her what she wanted, and when she got it she would want nothing else. The magic's he possessed was one of the most powerful and it would be to her detriment.