Author's Corner

Thank you to Snodil for the continued support. Your reviews always put a smile on my face and encourage me to keep writing. This one's for you!

EIGHTH BLOOD

Chapter 78: Unrequited

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The moon seemed brighter from the grounds of the citadel. Octavia leaned against the bannister, basking in the soft white light. It had been hours since her conversation with Megumi, but daybreak was still quite a way's off. She unconsciously reached into her robes and fished out the Prophecy-Breaker, rolling the silver locket between her fingers.

The floating island was home to many wisteria trees. They swayed gently in the breeze, raining petals that made the grass look purple. As beautiful as that was, it paled in comparison to the waterfalls, which flowed down from the lake behind the shiro and continued to the mountains beneath them, where they split off into rivers. The strange substance known as liquid night fascinated Octavia to no end. She was curious what it would taste like, but not curious enough to try drinking it. Especially if what Kanetsugu had told her about the moon god Tsukuyomi had any semblance of truth to it.

Sighing, she let go of the bannister and turned to face the shiro. Her eyes widened when she spotted Kanetsugu sitting on the engawa, watching her. Speak of the devil, she thought.

"Aren't you supposed to be resting?" she criticised.

"I was until you showed up," he grumbled. "It's not my fault you didn't see me."

"I was distracted."

"Obviously. What's that you have hidden in your hand?"

She stuffed the Prophecy-Breaker back into her kosode. "Nothing."

"You're an awful liar, you know." His wings shifted behind him like twin shadows, before folding together neatly. "I heard you speaking to Megumi-sama," he said in a low voice. "You're the first person to stand up to her like that. I'm surprised she didn't kill you for your insolence."

"You were eavesdropping?"

"Not intentionally."

Octavia paused and bit her lip. "Why won't she help him?"

"I think she's ashamed."

"Of what?"

"I don't know, but people don't just isolate themselves for the hell of it. There's usually a reason."

"Well, whatever it is, it's no excuse to abandon her only son."

"You've given her plenty of reasons yourself."

Octavia frowned. "I don't regret it if that's what you're asking. I meant every word."

"I don't doubt that in the slightest." His eyes narrowed and he copied her frown. "You really do care about him. Don't you?"

"Of course I do."

He stared at her for a moment, then asked, "Are you in love with him?"

Her eyes grew wide with apprehension. "What?"

"You heard me."

The fear gave way to anger. "What the hell kind of—You have no right to ask me things like that! What's it to you, anyway? We're not friends, so mind your own fucking business."

"You're a very vulgar young woman, aren't you?"

"And you're a prying shit."

He surprised her by raising his hands in surrender. "I think you've made your point. For what it's worth, my intention wasn't to pry. I only asked because I wanted to make sure that his feelings weren't one-sided. Love can be so flimsy, you see."

"Sesshoumaru isn't in love with me."

"No? Someone had better tell him, then."

She frowned harder. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He scoffed. "Don't play dumb with me. I'm not an idiot. I know there's something going on between the two of you. I've always suspected that you were more than allies, but I'm certain of it now. He cares about you too – far more than he lets on."

Octavia's heart thumped loudly.

Kanetsugu interpreted her silence as proof that he was right. "It's worse than I imagined," he said. "Why couldn't you have just been a whore? Why did you have to make him love you?"

"I didn't make him do anything! You're just jealous because he trusts me more than he's ever trusted you."

"Maybe I am. But I know things about him that you could never understand. That's not your fault, though. You are only human—"

"Why does everyone keep saying that I don't know him? Yeah, I'm human, but so what? We're not as different as you think."

"Don't be ridiculous. We are leagues apart."

"I breathe your air," she argued. "I eat when I'm hungry and sleep when I need rest. Cut me and I'll bleed – just like you will – so don't act like I'm inferior to you, because I'm not."

He rose from his seat on the engawa and marched towards her with purpose. She held his gaze as he lifted his arm and made an incision with his claw, drawing blood. Her eyes slid down to watch it trickle out of the cut, before clotting and ceasing to flow completely. The torn flesh then knitted itself back together, and when he wiped the blood away, all evidence of the wound was gone.

"We might bleed the same," he said harshly. "But your species will always be weaker."

Technically, he wasn't wrong. Humans were physically weaker than demons, but that didn't make them any less important.

"I have never been weak," she told him. "You, on the other hand . . ."

"He'll forget you, you know. You're only temporary, but Daiyoukai are infinite. You'll see. In a thousand years, he'll have forgotten all about you. He won't even remember your name."

"I know."

"What do you mean you know? Doesn't it bother you?"

She shook her head.

"Why not?"

He sounded shocked.

"Because things aren't meant to last forever," she answered.

Kanetsugu clenched his jaw. "You're not the first. There were others before you. Dozens, in fact. Nobles, warriors, and even some of the staff. None of them lasted long, though. He'll soon tire of you, assuming that he hasn't already."

"Who he chooses to sleep with is none of my business. Or yours, for that matter. Unless . . ."

"Unless what?"

"Unless you had feelings for one of them."

He balled his hands into fists.

"You did, didn't you?" she gasped. "Who was it?"

She didn't expect him to answer, but he did.

"One of Megumi-sama's handmaids," he replied stiffly. "Her name was Inna. Touga-sama rescued her from a country in the north and brought her back with him. Her true form was a bird."

"What was she like?"

"Kind," he said, still frowning. "She didn't care that Kannika and I were the offspring of a traitor. She had a gentle soul. And she was beautiful. More so than any of the nobles. At least half of the people I knew were in love with her, but she only had eyes for Sesshoumaru-sama."

Octavia's throat felt tight when she spoke. "What happened?"

"Isn't it obvious? He broke her heart. He'll break yours too if you're not careful."

Octavia kept her mouth shut as Kanetsugu unballed his fists and turned to walk away. She didn't bother telling him that her heart had been broken long ago when her memories had been devoured by butterflies.

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Shippo played his part masterfully.

He was polite and subservient to Tsunayoshi and the soldiers, and his timing was always flawless whenever the usurper spoke the word of subjugation to bind him in place. Anyone with holy powers would know instantly that the necklace was a sham, but Tsunayoshi didn't allow priests or priestesses into his ranks, so the charade went unnoticed by everyone except Rin and Shippo.

She'd been relieved to learn that the kitsune harboured no ill feelings towards her for the lie, or for essentially turning him into a glorified pet. He was just grateful to be alive.

"What's his deal, anyway?" Shippo asked after swallowing his stew. "Why does he have it out for Sesshoumaru so bad?"

Rin told him about Ryukotsusei and Rayna, and how Tsunayoshi blamed Sesshoumaru for their untimely deaths.

Shippo scowled. "Then how come he never came after Inuyasha? He is the one who killed that crusty old snake, after all."

"I don't know," Rin admitted softly. "I never asked."

Shippo finished eating and slammed his bowl on the table loudly. "This sucks," he grumbled. "I'm sick of acting like I can't totally kick that jerk's ass. How long do we have to keep doing this?"

"He leaves for the duel in four days."

"What about us?"

"Apparently the battlefield is no place for a lady, so you'll be staying here to keep me company."

"He's not worried that we'll make a break for it as soon as he leaves?"

She shook her head. "I told him the beads would subjugate you if you tried to leave the stronghold without his permission. Plus, he's assigned a squadron to stay behind and keep an eye on us, so we'd have to fight our way out. There's no escaping whilst he's still alive."

"So our only option is to hope that Sesshoumaru wins the fight?"

"Not exactly." She lowered her voice and said, "I've been trying to get into the library, but Tsunayoshi says I needn't burden myself with trivial things such as reading."

"Why do you want to get into the library?" Shippo whispered.

"There are books in there with information on plants. I need to find out which ones are poisonous and if any of them grow in this area."

"Why in the world would you need to . . ." His eyes widened when he realised what she was getting at. "You can't be serious," he hissed. "That'll never work and you know it."

"We have to do something. It doesn't have to kill him, but if we can just weaken him a bit—"

"I didn't come here to watch you get yourself killed," Shippo cut her off sharply. "I came to save you. We all did. Things didn't exactly go according to plan, but you're out of your mind if you think I'm gonna let you put yourself in danger like that."

"Then help me! Please, Shippo-chan." Her eyes filled with tears. "Sesshoumaru-sama has saved my life more times than I can count. I can't let him down, I . . . Imagine it was someone you cared about. Wouldn't you do everything you could to keep them safe?"

Shippo's expression softened. Rin wondered if he was thinking about his father. She knew that he'd been murdered by a pair of demons called the Thunder Brothers in their pursuit of a jewel shard. She remembered Kagome telling her that Shippo had been trying to avenge his father's death when she and Inuyasha had met him for the very first time. Rin suspected that Shippo's desire to become stronger had spawned from him being unable to save his father. She could sympathise with him in that regard. She hadn't been able to save her family, either.

"Fine," he said eventually. "But let me do it. I'll just transform into one of the soldiers and find the information for you. I've already fooled them once, and I doubt they'll notice if one or two books go missing from the library. Or better yet, I'll sneak into the prison sector and ask Kohaku about it. He's kind of an expert. I might even bust him and Kirara out while I'm down there—"

Rin's chest constricted at the mention of Kohaku's name. "Don't," she rebuked. "If you get caught, I won't be able to protect you."

He smiled sadly. "I never asked you to."

"Neither did I. You guys shouldn't have come here. Why didn't you stay away?"

"We came because you're our friend. And friends look out for each other, no matter what."

She blinked away her tears. Shippo was as stubborn as they came, so arguing with him was pretty much pointless, but there was no way she was letting him do her dirty work.

"Can I ask you something?"

He nodded. "Go for it."

"When you transform, is it just your appearance that changes? Or can you copy scents, as well?"

He looked offended that she'd even asked. "Of course I can. The best illusions rely on more than just sight. There are four other senses to consider when shifting into something else. For it to be convincing, I can't just look and sound like someone. I have to be them."

"I guess that makes sense."

"The hardest part is mimicking behaviour. People have distinct ways of speaking that are hard to replicate unless I've spent a lot of time with them. If I make even the tiniest mistake, the jig is up." His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Why do you ask?"

Swallowing, she lowered her voice and said, "Do you think you could pretend to be me? Just for a couple of hours?"

His eyes widened. "What?"

"It's okay if you don't want to. I hate to ask, but Tsunayoshi refuses to take me anywhere even remotely near the jail sector. The only way I'd be able to get close is if he was under the impression that I was with him, or more specifically, someone who looked like me."

"You want to use me as a diversion?"

Her guilt quadrupled. "Never mind. It was a stupid idea, anyway—"

"I'll do it."

Her brows lifted in surprise. "Really?"

A cloud of smoke enveloped Shippo's body as he changed shape. When the smoke cleared, he'd been replaced by a human girl with dark hair and warm brown eyes, who smiled at her mischievously. There was an element of smugness there, too.

Rin gasped and her eyes blew wide. It was as if she was sitting in front of a mirror.

"Impressive, right?"

She nodded appreciatively. "It's a shame about the tail, though."

Shippo wandered over to the wardrobe and pulled out a deep purple haori with an orchid flower pattern. He slid his arms into it and did a twirl, his tail hidden beneath the fabric. "Better?"

"Uh-huh." She smiled. "Do you do this a lot?"

"From time to time."

Rin rose from her cushion and joined him in front of the wardrobe. She gazed into the eyes that were identical to hers, then reached behind her neck to unclasp the necklace Tsunayoshi had given her. She tucked the red and white beads inside Shippo's nagajuban – not wanting to remove them entirely in case Tsunayoshi saw through the illusion – and secured the locket around his neck.

"He'll be suspicious if I'm not wearing it," she explained.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It used to be his mother's. He gave it to me after I told him about the beads of subjugation."

"It feels kind of weird. It's hard to explain, but there's something . . . off about it." He thumbed the curved edge of the locket curiously. "What's inside?"

Rin shrugged. "I don't know. It won't open. I think it's broken."

He tried to prise it open, but the mechanism remained stiff and unyielding. "Some gift," he muttered. "You aren't really gonna marry him, are you?"

Her heart said no, but her head reminded her that she'd already agreed to be his bride, so it was too late to break things off with him. Plus, if Lord Sesshoumaru somehow lost the duel, becoming Tsunayoshi's wife was the only way to spare her friends from certain death.

"I'm willing to surrender my freedom in exchange for all of yours," she replied.

Shippo's bottom lip trembled, and he shifted back into his true form. The oversized haori fell from his shoulders and landed in a heap by his feet. His emerald eyes inflated, filling with tears, before he leapt into her arms and hugged her. Rin rubbed his back and sniffed, silently cursing herself for being so weak. Lord Sesshoumaru never allowed his emotions to get the better of him. He was effortlessly self-assured and fearless to a fault. Why couldn't she be more like him?

She'd once berated Octavia for treating her like a child, but that was exactly what she was. Despite her best efforts to deny it, she was still the same fragile girl who'd died the same way she'd lived – alone and without witness. She hadn't changed at all. Tsunayoshi had called her a savage, but he couldn't have been any further from the truth.

There was nothing dangerous about her.

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Author's Corner

I hope you all enjoyed this one. The dynamic between Octavia and Kanetsugu is one of my favourites. Their personalities are so similar but they can't effing stand each other, so their interactions are always really fun to write lol.

Anyway, that's all for now. I'm off to play more Legends Arceus (my current save file consists mostly of drowning and getting my face ripped off by feral sand hippos). See you next time!