Meioshi was the first to leave the festival behind. Sesshomaru flew over to the funnel with haste, not understanding what was happening but seeing and sensing that his rival was distressed. Another figure also had a similar power to hers. Kirameku Ha and the other men like him all ran after Meioshi. They weren't as fast as her, but they kept up with her quite well. The parade goers were confused by her sudden dismissal with exception to Kunimatsu. He watched his childhood crush be sad for the first time in his life and wanted to comfort her, but he knew that where she was going was beyond his reach. She had to go it alone. As much as Sesshomaru hated the beach, he bit back his feelings about the favored nudity and landed on the hill overlooking the beach. The storm was strong and forcing boats to cling to docks and shores. Reijiro, Sanraku, and Jaken rushed after the men once they spotted Kirameku Ha moving people aside to follow his pupil. They ran up the hill to catch up to Sesshomaru and watched something incredible happen.
The storm clouds were harboring an immense amount of power as three waterspouts hit the sea's surface and widened at the bottom. The sea churned and swirled rapidly until a billowing growl came from the depths. Warships were being pulled out from the spouts by their noses untll they full rose out of the water. The soldiers were gasping "Bowman's Star!" or "Our vessels!" as ships and smaller lifeboats emerged from the water. The sea dragon from before descended from the waterspout and blanketed the men in a thick mist. When the mist died down, all of the old men... reverted in age! Kirameku Ha, who was in the front of the line, looked like he was no older than Sesshomaru and the others! His skin was still that golden color, but the wrinkles around his eyes and mouth were gone. His buzz cut grew out to black locks right at the end of his shoulder blades, his eyes returned to a healthy brown, and his armor regained its proud luster. When one of the men looked down at himself, he saw his aged hands having far less callouses and cuts. Using his medallion as a mirror, the reflection he saw became his evidence.
"Eh!? We are young! Second, you - !"
Reijiro was wide-eyed at the men changing from beloved grandfathers to young fathers, husbands, and recruits. He, especially, paid close attention to Kirameku Ha. He was more noble than he gave him credit for in his armor and manto. From the last spout, sounds of war from cannons to chants all sounded like a fading dream. Images of the past all danced across the mist for the men to see. Out of the spout, where the sea dragon was changing form, walked a man of sturdy, thick build. His proud strides across the water made Meioshi cower. As much as she wanted to run to the man, she felt a wave of shame cross over her and she ran up the hill. Not paying attention to anything in her path. Sesshomaru stopped her from proceeding further and fought with her for a little while until she just cried. He had never seen his rival in this vulnerable state. When she clung to him like a lifeline and just wept in his armor, he didn't move or speak. He just watched her. In his mind, this was what he never wanted for himself. To be so weak that you can't control your emotions or responses to the outside world, but he knew his rival better than that. She needed to grieve in order to fight her hardest. Tears weren't a sign of weakness for her. It was her time to put on her best armor and equip her finest sword. He just didn't know how to properly handle her emotions, and she didn't seem to know that she ran into him. She was closing her eyes like someone else was fighting with her. Like she was expecting to be punished. She reverted into a child emotionally and was shaking.
Returning his attention to the man, he reached Kirameku Ha first and raised the man's head to look at him. He smiled gently and Sesshomaru finally heard the man's name be said, "Arimasa?"
"T-taisho!" another man revealed.
Arimasa, the leader of the Kairyu, stood before them in his warlord's regalia and let a single tear fall from his eyes to show genuine happiness. He was free. That made all the men release their emotions and cry. Their beloved leader truly was gone from the living world. Kirameku Ha collapsed on his knees in mourning, shaking his head and holding Arimasa's hand. Another man was brave enough to run into Arimasa's arms and embrace him tightly. He was one of the younger members of the Kairyu who looked up to Arimasa like one would a father. Other men followed suit and simply held their taisho in mourning. That was until Lord Aka rounded the corner and hustled over to the group. He sensed who the presence was and broke the rules by charging through the parade crowd. Arimasa released his men and walked over to the large red demon. He reverted their ages in that mist and let the demon embrace him. He returned that embrace and cried with him. Gold beads fell all over the beach as Aka mourned for the little boy he protected until he went off to war. When Arimasa released him, the man made a set of stairs out of water and walked up them to find Meioshi. He was no longer smiling.
The doctor felt Arimasa's trying to find her and her eyes shrunk out of fear. She pushed away from Sesshomaru and tried to run, but Sesshomaru grabbed her arm again to stop her until he felt like he was underwater. He couldn't breathe or move. His head started pounding and heating up like someone was squeezing his head and pushing their thumbs in the temples. He loosened his grip on Meioshi at this odd sensation. It wasn't painful, just uncomfortable for his lordship. When he was met with a man with a strong jaw and dragon eyes, he was frozen in place. He was a handsome fellow and seemed quite stern with the way he looked at him like an angry father. Sesshomaru bowed to no human, but he could admit that this human was different. He commanded the space around him. He controlled the sea and your fate in it. Somehow or another, Sesshomaru didn't know what made the man stop applying pressure to his head and throat, but the mist released him for a moment to let him cough out the water from his lungs. Sesshomaru looked back to Meioshi to see her struggling to crawl away. She was about to take off again, but the man turned to her and capture her in his mist. He turned to Sesshomaru again, measured him up with his eyes, and tilted his head out of some confusion. It was as though he didn't understand Sesshomaru's presence there. Arimasa then turned to Reijiro and the others. The look of confusion remained in place, but he waited for them to move like he was expecting them to speak.
"You're..." Reijiro started, gulping a bit. Arimasa's eyes lowered in acknowledgement to show his attention had been gained. "You're... Kirameku Ha's taisho?"
"... I am," Arimasa said in a baritone that made Reijiro's heart pound. "Why aren't you telling my brother how you really feel about him? He does not hate you."
Reijiro blushed and said, "Hey, it ain't like that!"
"I didn't say it was," Arimasa said, raising a brow in amusement of the innuendo. "He won't mind you adopting him as a father figure."
"Does that mean we call you uncle?" Sanraku asked, earning a chuckle from the man.
He nodded in response before saying, "If you wish." Arimasa then turned to Sesshomaru and said, "I do not appreciate young men disrespecting my daughter. Avert your gazes next time she bathes, young man."
Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at this, but said nothing as Arimasa walked over to the mist covering Meioshi. As he approached, his age changed to that of an old man without the armor and strictly a regular kimono. His hair was long and gray, but he maintained that handsome physique and appearance. It was simply aged like a prized wine. Meioshi... Sesshomaru's human, feminine, and brave rival reverted back to a child completely. She looked like a small princess! He was able to see her as the Green Pheasant remembered her. Dressed in a brightly colored yukata and fashionable obi, Meioshi became the young adventurer many knew her to be. Arimasa held her in his arms and wiped her eyes free of her tears.
She mumbled out, "I'm sorry, Jiji. I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Jiji."
"The greatest gift anyone could've given me is having you for a granddaughter, Meioshi. My little peach, I bear no hatred for you. Do not put such emotions into my heart when that's not how I feel about you. I fought to protect you from harm. I will always love you, my child," Arimasa said.
Author's Footnotes: To clarify about the Temple of Prophecy Beasts section, yes, the youkai there are different varieties of prophecy beasts. Grand Monk Shishido is an akabeko youkai, which is a red cow spirit. The Akabeko Temple is named after him, but he houses other beasts like him who have the ability of foresight. Key Instructor Naonobu is a kudan youkai, which is a spirit with a human face and cow body, and one of the priestesses, who I did not name, is an ushi-onna and has a cow's head but a woman's body. I lumped them all together as cow demons, or really cow youkai because a majority of them are good, for ease of writing and similar prophetic capabilities.
A majority of the demons I use are from Japanese mythology, but, for the specials and Sesshomaru's family history, I use youkai equivalents from other cultures. Tiangou is a Chinese dog demon, so they're the equivalent to the Japanese dog demon, or inu variations. I made it my mission to focus solely on the Sengoku period for this story. Whatever "foreign" cultures were introduced to Japan during that time is what I use for a key moment. After that, I wear blinders for the remainder of this project. The reason I kept it so strict was to educate myself on that period and to train myself in writing period dramas. The closer I get to historical accuracy on the human side of things, the better it is for me and my intentions. I'll make up what I can on the fantasy front, but I can't guarantee you'll be captivated by what's presented.
I think the trickiest part of this project has been the year the story takes place. Although Takahashi, or someone else, may have specified/chosen the Sengoku period being used as the setting, there's small details that throw the timeline off more critically than realized. Reason being the Sengoku period is from 1467 to 1603, I think. Kagome went 500 years in the past, but if she's in the year 1500 then it was the year 2000 on the dot. The manga was created in the late 90s, so she would've been as early as 1495 potentially if the debut year counts as the actual year she went back in time. The problem that I'm facing with that is the exposure to other cultures for Japan because their doors didn't open to the world until 1543 - with 1510 being the earliest documented year that a foreigner visited Japan. If Kagome's in the year 1500, then I can't sensibly include European or North African cultures. The other thing that's tripping me up is the use of rifles. 1467 is the earliest year that a "modern" rifle, or the matchlock rifle, is documented in being used for warfare. If Inuyasha was born 150 years before the year 1500, that's 1350. Matchlock rifle fire against Inu no Taisho wouldn't have been a thing in that year. The only other well-known rifle was a hand cannon, or rocket gun, introduced by the Chinese somewhere around 1270. He could've encountered the hand cannons, but not a fully realized matchlock rifle. Kagome would've had to go back to the year 1617 in order for the use of rifle fire and Inuyasha's birth to make sense, but that's 14 years after the Sengoku period. That screws up the timeline like... a lot. While I could just blow that off, my story's largely a period drama with fantasy elements married to it. The year, for me, is a little more important because I want to include certain cultures in my work on the human side of the story. The demons, or youkai, just have to obey the mythos. They're completely free of time restrictions. It's the humans who aren't because a good chunk of my characters are based off actual historical figures who don't have anime about them just yet.
That's all I have for this note. It wasn't meant to be a Q&A section, but I thought I'd explain the use of mythology here.