Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable
characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective
owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the
author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators,
or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is
intended.
Last Time:
"I've seen enough." Amaterasu said. The circle stopped glowing, and Sesshoumaru's cage was brought forward. "As executor of this court, I, Amaterasu of Humanity, give your sentence." She looked down at Sesshoumaru, and allowed every bit of the disgust she felt for him show. "Your punishment is death."
CHAPTER 2: SESSHOUMARU'S PUNISHMENT
Sesshoumaru stared at Amaterasu in open shock. She had not just sentenced him to death. "Furthermore," She continued. "You will not be reincarnated until I am sure that you have learned to respect the right of others to life."
Inugami started shouting. "Amaterasu-sama! You can't be serious! That's harsh, even for you!"
"I second that motion!" InuTaisho called. "I do agree that something must be done. But death? Isn't that a bit extreme?"
"I'll kill him for you!" InuYasha shouted.
"Stay out of it!" Inugami and InuTaisho shouted together, causing InuYasha to cringe back.
"Serves you right." Sango muttered.
Amaterasu ignored the arguing around her, and walked down to Sesshoumaru's cage. "I'm very sorry that it had to come to this, Sesshoumaru." Her eyes showed that she really did regret it. "Perhaps we should have acted sooner. But we'll never know what could have happened had we acted before." She raised a glowing hand, and reached out to Sesshoumaru. . .
"Stop!" Something hit Amaterasu from the side, causing her to stumble. The light left her hand, and she whirled, intending to demolish whoever had dared to strike her.
Kagome stood in front of the cage. "You can't do this!" She shouted.
"Kagome!" InuYasha screeched, running forward to stand beside her. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I agree with the brash hanyou." Amaterasu said heatedly. "What are you doing?"
"I can't let you kill him!" Kagome insisted.
Amaterasu lifted an eyebrow. "Really. Pray tell, why isn't death a suitable punishment for one who has caused so much of it?"
"Firstly, he has a daughter." Kagome pled. "Not a biological one, but a human child that he adopted. Her name is Rin, and she'll be crushed if he doesn't return to her."
Sesshoumaru stared at the miko in shock. Was she actually defending him?
"Secondly, he isn't completely evil! There were plenty of times he could have finished off InuYasha, but he never did. He even had the chance to take Tetsusaiga, but after he found out it sealed his blood he never tried to take it again!"
How was it that this human girl took perfectly normal actions and twisted them to make him sound good? If anyone found out about this, his reputation would be in shambles.
"He brought his daughter Rin back from the dead, and didn't kill Kouga the next time they met, even though he's the one who killed her. And he protected a human castle from an invading force. He even helped out Jaken's people, though only you kamis would know why anyone would want to help Jaken!"
He'd forgotten about that day. He certainly would have been better off if he had just ignored the little power struggle.
"He was also essential to destroying Naraku." Kagome continued. "The greatest threat to human and demons, and he helped to destroy it. Now only that, but he saved me, Miroku, and Sango from Mukotsu, a minion of Naraku's. That has to count for something! And-"
"Enough, Shikon Miko." Amaterasu said, a small grin on her face. "You have made your case. Now move aside. You stand in my way."
"You can't kill him." Kagome said stubbornly. "I can't just let you kill him when he's all tied up and unable to defend himself. It's just wrong."
Ah. So this was why she defended him. Some part of her thought it was wrong to attack someone who couldn't defend themselves. Interesting.
Amaterasu sighed. "I swear to you, I will not kill him. My word as a goddess."
Kagome hesitated, then nodded and returned to her friends, berated the entire way by an infuriated InuYasha. "I can't believe you'd defend him!"
"As if we'd expect anything less from Kagome." Sango said with a small exasperated smile. "Someday that will be the death of you Kagome."
Amaterasu had reached her throne once more. "I can't believe that I'm about to say this, but I was wrong." The entire room stared in shock, Sesshoumaru included. "Perhaps death is not the correct way to deal with the problem of Sesshoumaru." An evil grin spread across her face. "I just thought of something much better." She turned to the witnesses. "Miko of the Shikon, step forward."
Kagome approached cautiously. "Yes, Amaterasu-sama?" She asked nervously.
"Sesshoumaru places no value on the lives of other." Amaterasu began sweetly. "You place so much that you would risk your own life to save your enemy's. That says something to me. Mainly that Sesshoumaru could learn a lot from someone like you."
Kagome just kind of stared, a bit afraid to find out the Goddess's plan. "I'm afraid to ask, but. . . what does that mean for me?"
Amaterasu raised a hand, and the chains around Sesshoumaru glowed and expanded. One chain stretched out and wrapped itself around Kagome's waist, to the protest of her friends. A small shield surrounded them, keeping them away.
"Catenas, frenum, adstingos
Duo
vitas ligare a fas
Ad glacies feverfacio in flamma
Ac alius
esse addo ante ego
Deinde catenas solvo
Ac duo esse eripio
denique.*"
The chains faded and dissolved, as did Sesshoumaru's cage, leaving only Sesshoumaru and Kagome standing. "What just happened?" Kagome asked timidly.
Amaterasu answered her question in the most bizarre way Kagome could imagine. "Sesshoumaru, submit to your mistress."
And Sesshoumaru knelt and bowed to Kagome.
InuYasha and Company
Miroku stared off into space as the light around them cleared. She didn't use that spell. . . did she?
"What the hell!" InuYasha demanded. "Where's Kagome!"
"Miroku,
what just happened here?" Sango asked, worriedly looking at her
husband.
"Miroku?"
"I think. . . Amaterasu-sama used a binding spell. . ."
Amaterasu
"Kagome, dear, if you don't calm down, I'm going to get very cross with you." Amaterasu warned.
"How can I calm down when you've placed some weird spell over me, and now Sesshoumaru is bowing to me!" Kagome screamed, on the very edge of panic. She was officially a dead woman. She really shouldn't have shot off her mouth.
Sesshoumaru for his part, was desperately trying to stop bowing. But try as he might, he couldn't see to remove himself from the floor so he could kill the human girl. At least InuYasha's companions and the other gods had left.
"Kagome, if you'll allow me to explain, I will tell you why this is necessary." Amaterasu waved a hand, and a chair appeared next to Kagome. "Please, sit." She looked over at Sesshoumaru. "Now, now, Sesshoumaru, sitting like that really is demeaning." She gestured again, and another chair appeared. "Sit in the chair."
Sesshoumaru felt the restraints lift as another set took over, leading him to the chair. His growls were obvious even to Kagome's ears. "Release the spell. Immediately."
"No." Amaterasu said with a huge smile. "I don't want to."
Sesshoumaru snarled and struggled, but found he couldn't leave the chair. He started attacking the chair, aware that he looked like a complete idiot. The fact just made him more furious.
Amaterasu glanced at Sesshoumaru, realizing that perhaps something should be done. "Sesshoumaru, stop acting like a puppy and sit in the chair like a good boy. Oh, and don't talk unless you're actually using words. Your growls are giving me a headache."
Sesshoumaru felt himself freeze, and the growls emanating from him caught in his throat. His eyes went red, but he found he couldn't transform. Someone was going to die.
"Here are the most important rules you'll need to know. Firstly, Sesshoumaru, if Kagome dies, then you will die as well. It is in your best interests to keep her alive."
Damn. So he couldn't kill the woman. Perhaps he could just keep very far away from her.
"Second, you will have to remain within calling distant of Kagome. So don't try to run away."
Another plan shot down. Okay, he could threaten her friends. That would make her do anything she wanted.
"Oh, and you can't harm any of her friends. You got all that?"
Damn the woman. She'd thought of everything.
"What are you talking about!" Kagome screamed.
"Well, you see my dear, Sesshoumaru needs to learn how to value life. You're the only one who can teach him." Amaterasu laughed at the looks she got from both of them. "It'll be fun. I promise."
Kagome sat there with her head in her hands. "Why me?"
Amaterasu just shook her head. "Sesshoumaru is now bound to you until such a time he places the life of another before his own. When that happens, the spell will be broken."
Kagome nearly cried. "So basically, I'm stuck with him forever!"
Amaterasu shook her head. "No. Just until he learns his lesson." Seeing Kagome's look of doubt, he continued. "On the upside, he won't be able to bully you."
Kagome laughed. "Right. Because he's going to roll over and listen to whatever I say."
Amaterasu grinned. "How'd you know?"
Kagome stared in shock. "You can't be serious."
Amaterasu gestured. "Try giving him a command. When I had him submit to his mistress, his youkai recognized you as his alpha. He'll listen to any and all commands you have because his youkai will force him too." She grinned again. "Although my spell will keep it from challenging you for dominance."
Kagome shook her head. "This is all a huge joke. Or a really bad dream."
Amaterasu rolled her eyes and nudged her. "Try it."
Kagome gulped. "Do I have to?"
"Well, you can always reject my idea." Amaterasu said with a sigh. "Of course, that will mean that Sesshoumaru failed, and then we'd go to plan B."
"What's plan B?"
"Death."
Kagome glared. "That's not giving me a choice! That's tell me 'help this dude or he'll die!' What kind of a choice is that?"
"My kind." Amaterasu answered with a laugh. "Now, will you take Sesshoumaru as a part of your pack? Or do you want me to kill him?"
Kagome's glare could have burned holes in Amaterasu's soul. "Do I have a choice?"
"Not really." Amaterasu said brightly. "Now, try giving Sesshoumaru a command."
Kagome gulped and turned to Sesshoumaru, whose look dared her to try it. He was silently plotting the many ways he would kill her once he could move. "Um. . . lie down?"
Sesshoumaru felt his body try to move, but put all his will into stopping himself. He managed to stop himself. . . barely.
Kagome stared in confusion. "I don't get it."
Amaterasu sighed. "Kagome, what would you do if someone ordered you to lie down while sounding like they didn't expect you to listen?"
Kagome shrugged. "Um. . . I wouldn't do it?"
"Very good." Amaterasu mocked, a small smile on her face as Kagome glared again. "The commands will only take if you are firm. You have to believe that the command will be followed." She turned to Sesshoumaru. "Sesshoumaru, lie down."
Sesshoumaru could feel the difference in the command, and struggled to snarl as he felt himself fall. Evil sadistic bitch!
Amaterasu frowned. "You know what? I don't like the tone of your thoughts, Sesshoumaru. Apologize."
Sesshoumaru felt his mouth open, only to be stopped when Amaterasu continued. "You know what. Scratch that. I want a long, flowery apology that emphasizes how much you adore me."
Sesshoumaru glared as he felt the words leave his mouth. Each word was drenched in sarcasm and unfiltered hate, and said in the most mocking way he could think of. "Oh, Amaterasu-sama, greatest goddess of all who dwell upon your best creation, the planet earth, I-"
Kagome intervened. "Don't apologize, Sesshoumaru." Sesshoumaru clamped his mouth shut in relief, and almost felt grateful to her.
"Oh, come on!" Amaterasu complained. "I was having fun!"
"You stuck him like this, Amaterasu." Kagome glared. "You don't get to have fun with it. Not when you stuck the two of us together. Do you realize how much of a hell I'm going to go through with InuYasha? Now that he's a ghost, he can drive me even further insane than when he was alive!"
Amaterasu pouted. "Fine. Be that way." She grinned evilly. "You still need a punishment word."
Sesshoumaru whirled on her. "This Sesshoumaru will not-"
"Oh shut it, Glacier King." Amaterasu said dismissively. "Kagome needs a way to teach you how NOT to act. Kind of like InuYasha and 'sit.'" She laughed at the snarls that ripped through Sesshoumaru at the mention of InuYasha.
Kagome glanced at the goddess nervously. "Um. . . you didn't happen to go INSANE did you?"
"I am perfectly sane, I assure you." Amaterasu said with a giggle. "Now, punishment word."
Kagome glanced at Sesshoumaru, and could almost feel the hate that radiated from him. She has made me a dead woman. No matter what her spell does, I'm going to die.
"Um. . . bad dog?" Nothing happened.
Amaterasu coughed. "Firm, Kagome."
Sesshoumaru's gaze turned murderous, and Kagome nearly fainted in fear. "Bad Dog!"
With a loud, resounding WHAM, Sesshoumaru fell face first into the ground. Kagome jumped behind Amaterasu and he stood and lunged at her. Amaterasu merely laughed. "Kagome, use the words. You control him, remember?"
Sesshoumaru charged at her again, and nearly had her throat. . . "Bad dog!" He slammed into the ground. "Bad dog!" WHAM! "Bad dog!" SLAM!
After the last one Sesshoumaru stayed down. It was less of an indignity than being punished multiple times. Kagome ran to the other side of the room and watched warily as he stood.
Amaterasu sighed. "Sesshoumaru? Remember rule number 1? If Kagome dies, you die?"
"The rule said nothing about not harming her." Sesshoumaru growled, stalking forward toward Kagome, who was currently searching for a way out.
"Kagome! I believe in you!" Amaterasu shouted, earning a look of disbelief from Sesshoumaru and Kagome. "Okay, let me rephrase. Use your ability to command him. You're his alpha! Act like it!" Kagome still couldn't speak. "Pretend it's InuYasha!"
Sesshoumaru snarled and surged forward. "Bad dog!" His face met the ground again. "You will not harm me, Sesshoumaru." He stood slowly, shaking with anger, a fact that Kagome noticed and understood. "Do not attack me."
Sesshoumaru tried to ignore the command, but felt himself back away, to his everlasting fury. Someday. . . someday.
Amaterasu smiled. "Now you have the hang of it. Well, that means it's time to send you back. Remember the rules Sesshoumaru. It really would be a waste to have kill you!"
A glowing circle encompassed the two of them, and they disappeared from the Goddess's sight. Amaterasu felt the presence of another, and turned with a smile to see InuTaisho and Inugami walking towards her. "That was your plan all along, wasn't it?" InuTaisho asked with a grin.
Amaterasu laughed. "Well, I am an expert on human nature. That girl is possibly the only one who will be able to tame Sesshoumaru. He'll be put through hell once she gets over her fear of him."
"What makes you so certain she will?" Inugami asked, still miffed that his own plans were not even close to being effective.
Amaterasu rolled her eyes. "Please. An evil glare, a threatening growl or snarl? They only work for so long before a person gets used to them. She'll whip him into shape before long."
Inugami's eyes glinted. "Want to bet on it?"
Amaterasu grinned. "Of course."
Inugami's grin mirrored Amaterasu's own. "If Kagome doesn't manage to tame him within her first lifetime, then you get the idea of instant ramen out one hundred years sooner."
Amaterasu's grin widened. "Alright. And when she tames him before she dies, you get reincarnated as a woman, AND you have to eat three hundred pieces of chocolate!"
"Deal!" Inugami said with a laugh. They shook on it, each certain of victory.
---------------------Author's Rant---------------------
Kagome: Hey! OG! I have chocolate! Let down the shield so I can give it to you!
Obsessive_Goddess: Do I look like an idiot? [turns to computer screen] Gosh darn it! How do I bold this stupid text!
Sesshoumaru: Come out, and I promise to kill you mercifully!
Obsessive_Goddess: Hello! I write about you all the time! There's no such thing as "the mercy of Sesshoumaru" until after he meets Kagome.
Kagome: Sesshoumaru, team up with me. With our combined inteligence, she won't stand a chance.
Obsessive_Goddess: Stupid machine! [smacks computer screen. Computer crashes] NO! COME BACK!
Sesshoumaru: As I said, combining intelligence will not be necessary
---------------------Author's Rant---------------------
*
Amaterasu's
spell:
"Chains, restraints, binds,
Two lives connected by
fate
Until ice melts in fire
And another be placed before the
self
Then chain shall break
And two shall be free again."
