InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bloodlust: Purity ❯ The Currents and Their Cause ( Chapter 26 )

Chapter 26

The Currents and Their Cause

 

The mirrors of the Celestial City reflected the bright fury of Akasuki-Leiko, Akasuki-kami, the Radiant Empress of the Lands Between. She had brought the fires of hell into heaven with that fury; it painted her features dark with murderous shadows. She held smoke in her hands, only smoke; but it was pale and fragrant, with a shape she knew well.

It was Amaya - or rather, what was left of her. The Fox's fire had burned away not only her earthly flesh, but the bonds that held her spirit-self together.

"Amaya! How dare you die, before I am through with you? Amaya!"

The trembling rage in Akasuki's voice woke no new response; her shaking hands and the force of her breath was enough to dissolve the outlines of the weightless, misty shape she held. It took only a moment for that shape to disappear completely, and then Amaya was gone. Some sticky spirit-matter, with the texture of ash but the sheen of the finest pearls, stuck to Akasuki's fingers and the flowing folds of light that were her robes. It had been ages since she had seen such a death, ages upon ages. Not since those early days, not since the wars between Gods and demons had she seen such destruction.

It did not occur to her to think that she had brought this upon herself and her servants; her mirrors had shown her the violence, and all she could see was the demon-fire, the smile on the face of that arrogant kitsune! Still...he had power, she could see that now. She had forgotten - the danger of a kitsune, the danger of that Fox fire.

She had intended for Miyuki to take care of him, but she could see now that Amaya had been right. Her sister had been tainted by the flesh she had been given.

Perhaps that was unwise, but I cannot be faulted for trying. And if nothing else, it has gotten her close to them. Now, they trust her! But I can still see what she sees, still know what she knows.

The rage, the burgundy fury, slowly began to leak away from her. It rose from her skin in wisps, like steam, and melded itself with the chaos in the sky. Magenta strands twirled brightly through green and blue cloud-shapes, and then faded into pink.

"Miyuki, foolish girl. You think to stand in my way - you think I would allow it?"

She murmured the words to herself and then laughed out loud, so amusing was that thought.

"You may do what you please, but then...so may I."

With long, elegant steps, she strode up the stairs to her dais, and sat in contemplation of her mirrors. They coalesced, as if from vapor, and shimmered in the air before her - five glittering rounds, perfect circles that held captive images in front of her eyes. With greed, with hunger, with the rebirth of that killing desire, she watched her chosen victims move, unaware of the eyes on them, the watching power. And she frowned; because she could see the kitsune and the traitor Miyuki, could see the son, with the Wolf sleeping behind the Inu in his eyes, and the daughter, her past, her future, restless. And she could see the Inu-lord, Sesshomaru - but not who strode beside him. His hands were reaching out, touching someone; his lips were moving, making words that she could not hear, but that was not important.

Who is it with him? Is it the same one - that...female?

There was something about that demon-lady that did not fit, that was not within her reach, and the prospects afforded by that lack angered her almost beyond reason. the After all, she was kami; what power, what presence could a mere youkai have that might disrupt her influence?

I must find out as much as I can...about that female. What is it? Why can't I see?

There was a flash in her eyes; death sat enthroned in the hollows of her cheekbones.

"Now, who should I summon to serve me? Who has the power?"

From the darkness behind her throne, there was suddenly a murmur. From nothingness came suddenly the glitter of infinite eyes - round eyes, pale eyes, glowing eyes, sharp eyes, eyes in the colors of heaven and earth, eyes burning with the charcoal-soul of hell. Yet, in the murmur, there was but a single strong voice, and Akasuki listened to it, and smiled.

"I have the power. I am only power. Call out to me. Call out to me!"

~-~

 

By morning, Sesshomaru had finished growling at Totosai, and had received his own share of yelling. "What phase of the moon did I say, and what phase is it now? Lady, please don't let him kill me!" - yes, and he had laughed, actually laughed at him. The ancient smith was one individual who was safe from him, because he was the best at what he did - and what he did was something Sesshomaru needed very much... sometimes.

He left the way he always did - without warning or goodbye. Kagome liked to scold him for it, but it was part of keeping Totosai off-balance; which was to say, part of making him work.

Sesshomaru looked down at his mate, the curve of her throat, her breasts; Kagome was sleeping, and he held her and ran without too much trouble - but he was surprised. They had not come far, and he had not pushed her. There was a thickness in her scent that was familiar...encouraging...and he had seen her become sleepy like this before, had learned to take it as a warning.

But maybe she does not want to be awake.

He was dreading what they were going to find when they returned home. While he had been running, he had considered delaying it, waiting for Kouga to come find them...but there was no point. If she was alive, it wouldn't matter. And if she was dead - he asked himself, honestly, what he believed himself, and the answer was obvious.

More than three days. Kinawai said that he and Jinina just barely made it out - that he touched the door...and it burned him. At that moment - she was probably killed. I cannot think of a way...

His feet had slowed down as if his thoughts were dragging him, but it no longer mattered. They were at the edge of the trees now; in a moment, the gates would be in front of him, and the horrible truth -

“Father!"

His looked up, blinked. Kouga was standing in front of the gate, one hand raised in greeting, but his son was scowling with some frustration.

"I am glad you came. I was wondering if I should go back - the gate would not open; the power - “

Sesshomaru closed his eyes for a moment, and opened them quickly. Concentration was not necessary; the bright power was lapping at him eagerly.

“I have felt it moving, restless, for many days now. More than what it should be - more than what I have ever felt in it before. Step aside, Kouga.”

Sesshomaru walked forward as his son moved aside, and pressed his hands firmly against the gate. Blue power reared its head, licking at his fingers, wrapping around them; he pushed, and the gate began to open, slowly, very slowly. Beside him, Kagome watched unsettled, momentary confusion wash beneath the careful mask of his features. It had been too many years; it could no longer fool her, but it disturbed her to see him try.

"Mate?"

Her voice was low, probing; hearing it, Sesshomaru knew that she had seen the shift in his features, and scowled openly.

"You should not be so perceptive."
As softly as her words, she laughed, and as it always did, the sound relaxed him.

"Something...is wrong inside. The power...resists me..."

And he shook his head, unwilling, unable to say more.

Kouga - Kouga, I can understand. He is young, his strength untried, and there is that...other difficulty. But me!

He growled, and increased the pressure of his hands, the focus of his energy against that blue, panting pulse. Abruptly, the power gave way before him. As strong and violent as it had been, it was suddenly thin, intangible; he could almost see it, fleeing him with a movement like snake-shadows where there were none. He heard Kouga's voice from behind him then, a single word in alarm - "Father!" - and it was then that he looked down at his hands and noticed the gold glow of his youki, bright and straining.

"Hmm..."

His eyebrows lifted with faint interest. That much effort, and he had not noticed? What did that mean? His eyes narrowed. It meant...

So, not only my blood, but my power, you want now? This price - it is getting too high for my liking. Much too high...

He reached down and pulled on Kagome's arm.

"Come with me. If she is still alive...we will find her. Or - if she is not - "

He felt her shudder under his hands, and took a deep breath. So far, they had been lucky - luckier than any of his comrades, his...friends. They had lost none of their pups, none of their...children.

Is this new one the first? I do not know her. I do not know if I would...grieve for her. But my Kagome -

As he was pulling her through the courtyard, pulling her up the stairs, he remembered the day she had come across the scent - her turning aside, on their way to visit Kinawai. 'But it's a child, Sesshomaru! I will not take long!'. And the look on Kinawai's face when they had arrived with that bloody bundle....ah, he would remember that forever.

But this -

The scent he was following, the scent of the girl, Soki, was warm, and that was encouraging. He had never once dared leave Rin alone here without him - not after he had seen, for so many years, servants and guests desert the place in droves. He had watched, from the shadows - no one ever disobeyed his father's instruction...or later, his instruction.

"Kagome, I think we are going to..."

He stopped. They had come to his own chambers, and the scents that came to him through the door were disturbing. Kagome shivered by his side; he felt her hand tighten on his hand and wondered when that had happened - hadn't he been holding her arm?

"I smell blood...and Soki. But I do not smell death. And - and - "

"What is it, mate?"
Kagome turned her eyes up towards his face, trying to ignore his ominous tone. She heard Kouga shuffling behind them uneasily, and lowered her voice.

"There is another scent, Sesshomaru, but I don't know... it is somehow... familiar."

She could not say what she was thinking, could not breathe at the thought. It was a scent like what had haunted the shimmering grass at Shippou's feet, that charred wind. Could it be - another tennyo? In their own bedchamber!

Before she could lose her nerve she reached and took hold of the door, opened it. Despite her attempt Sesshomaru took two steps into the room before her, and then stepped aside so she could follow him. Immediately, she ran forward, summoning the miko light, tears welling in her eyes. There was blood, blood everywhere, but Soki's pulse, steady but faint, was like a bright bell in her ears. She was too concerned with healing the long, dark wounds, like brands of violence, to see the flicker of light in the girl's spilled blood - but Sesshomaru saw.

His eyes traced the flow of red through the room, saw that flicker everywhere, a gold light but pale, not the gold of his power but the yellow of a sickly flower, the gold shimmer of a bruise. A foreign power - here, in the heart of his own place. He wanted to ask - who?, wanted to howl it at the silent walls, demand their secret. There was a place where he might receive an answer, but he was reluctant to go there, his own recent thoughts recurring, darker. How much was he willing to pay?

His eyes strayed to Kagome's face, the relaxation of her fear even as she held the wounded girl - because wounds could be healed and for this child, death was now irreversible.

She has already been brought back once by that power. Unless something has changed since it belonged to the sword - it will not work for her again.

In that relief, though, were tears. They were his least favorite thing; until Kagome, he had never met a youkai who cried. At that thought, he remembered the feeling, the wetness on his face, the hot, inconsolable terror -

"Because I had lost you..."

Without meaning to, he said the words out loud. Kagome heard him and looked up from her work, saw the expression on his face and wondered what he could have been thinking about. He leaned down and brushed away the tears on her cheek. In the light from the window, they were bright and shining on his hand. She understood; she had never told him of that faint, painful recollection, the damp memory on her cheek, the salty scent of it.

"Don't think sad thoughts, Sess-chan."

Swiftly, he knelt behind her.

"You are done. Are you done?"

His arms were tight around her ribs, almost too tight, but she didn't complain. He was not one for displays of affection; she was glad for his momentary lapses of softness.

"For now. She needs rest, and then...we have to talk to her. Find out what happened...how she is still...alive..."

There was a faint hiccup in her voice then, and he pulled her up as he stood and set her on her feet.

"Yes. She is alive."

His voice was firm; he did not want her crying, not now.

"Kouga, take Soki out of here. Bring her to her own room, and put her to bed. Our dragons will be back as soon as they realize I am here; they will clean up this...mess. Your mother and I will stay.... by the fire in the springs tonight."

Abruptly, Sesshomaru was pulling Kagome again, this time down the stairs in the back of the room, down to the steam-swollen door and the warm, misty air. Kagome was still blinking in surprise, gradually flushing.

Really, we haven't even been home an hour -

"Sesshomaru, we - "

He was not in a mood for talk.

"We don't have anything to do right now. Nothing that can't wait until morning. Aren't you happy, Kagome, that you found your girl - that she is sleeping now, safe and sound?"

"Yes, but - "

"And happy, that Kouga is here with us, that he is himself again?"

"Yes, but - "

"And happy, that there is a steady thickness in your scent, a heaviness that tells me to take you, now? Now, Kagome."

"Yes, but- wait, what - "

She was bright, bright pink, and it was not a flush from the steam. He smiled, the smile he knew she liked, dangerous, that smile, the fangs in it, the twist of his lips - his eyes, dark, shaded with desire. It was worth it, to watch her respond, to see her twist in his grasp; to see the faint, telltale flicker of her tongue against her bottom lip. He had learned that was the sign his words aroused her, even when she turned away, even when she denied them.

"I have put up with that village, with humans and your...courtesy to them, Kagome - how many days has it been now since you were screaming under me?"

"Sessho-maru - oh -"

His hands interrupted her and silenced her, everything but her moaning. It was easy to follow the folds of her kimono, to slid them apart, and before she could attempt another word he lifted her and pressed her back against the door as he entered her. Her eyes went wide, pleasure and sudden suspicion both jarring her at the same moment. He only did these things when - when -

Her thoughts deserted her, and he saw it, and was pleased. As he thrust into her, her robes fell more and more open, and after a moment he reached between them with one hand to pull on her nipples. She gasped, and squirmed deliciously in ways that made him hold still for a moment, and then move faster. Her hands made fists and then went flat, pressing on the wall beside the door; he felt her legs tighten around his waist, and then tighten again as the muscles inside her convulsed. He heard her breath, a long, harsh, dragged-in ragged sound, and then the single word - please - beautiful in that lust-husky voice. He knew exactly what she wanted, pushed her back, hard, and buried his teeth in the mate-mark at her throat, freshening the scar, the bond, the feeling. She cried out in that voice, that voice he loved, scratched his back with her claws and drew out his own pleasure with her scream.

In the time between the moment when the echo of the scream had faded, and when he decided he could move, his ears heard the opening of the other door, and the familiar noises of a fire being started. Slowly, almost painfully, Sesshomaru put Kagome down and let her walk through the steam behind him until they came to the fire, and furs that had been laid out for them.

It was only when he had pulled her down beside him, and made an untidy pile out of both their clothes, that he let her ask the question he had made her forget.

“What - was that?”

He was not going to make it easy for her.

“After this many years, you need me to explain, Kagome?”

She punched his arm, and he laughed at her.

“I know - what you - what we did. Baka, Sess-chan! You just don't...do that sort of thing very often. Against the door!”

She was blushing, but her continuous state of flushedness was only thickening her scent, driving her blood closer to the surface of her skin.

“Your scent is heavy, mate. I said it already. Maybe you will come to your heat, soon, and you want just what I want - all those memories, that are so hard to hold onto when the blood-urge has faded.”

The thought of it, of those days and nights, the harsh pleasure of her need, the whimper in her moans, brought back the full rush of his desire.

“That wasn't - I wasn't trying to -”

But the scent of her desire was freshening itself again and in it was the thickness that told him his suspicion was right.

Slowly, eyeing him from beneath the fall of her hair, Kagome sat up, and when he did not move she climbed onto him, and lowered herself onto his hardness. He held his breath for a long moment, watching the way her eyes opened as he filled her, the way her tongue snuck out to touch her lips - her fingers, pulling on her nipples, and her hips, coming down to meet his.

It was something she liked but which he allowed very rarely - only when, like, now, he wanted her but was too lazy to do anything about it...anything at all. It was not that it was not pleasurable - he had learned, and taught her very swiftly, that were there very, very few things that involved that soft flesh that was not pleasure - just that he loved holding her down too much, taking from her what she was more than willing to give.

Now, he could not resist, did not want to resist, not really - and she was beautiful, the sway of her breasts, her swollen nipples, dark where his mouth had bruised them; there was blood on her skin, the long scratches of his claws, and the mark at her throat was dark, too...and tempting.

She had just begun to settle into her rhythm, faster than he expected of her, and despite what he had already done to her she was tight with need, making soft, breathy sounds each time she fell back onto him. Gradually, her movement slowed, not much, but enough to make it torturous for him, enough to make his breath catch in his throat and his hands clutch at her thighs.

He gave himself points for his self control. For three minutes, three entire minutes, he lay under her writhing and let her do as she pleased. Those three minutes felt like a hundred years, dragged out in wet heat. Finally, she moved a different way, leaned forward, and it pulled her name out of him, broken.

"Ka - go - me - "

Her eyes were dancing at him, lust and something more - and he realized that she was tempting him, teasing him on purpose. If that was what she wanted - in a moment, her laughter between them, he had tumbled her, and their positions were reversed. He held still over her for a moment, poised, and felt her moving in his grasp, trying to push herself back onto him, her laughter faded, a memory, her features empty now of everything but lust.

“Slowly, Kagome. Isn't that what...you wanted?”

He entered her, but only a little; an inch at a time, so slowly he thought he would bite his own tongue, he entered her, until her fingers were tight around his arms and her whole body was shaking, shaking so hard there was more movement between them from that than from his thrusts.

Smiling, grinning in a terrible way, he leaned back, and reached down with two fingers to tug at the little hardness in her softest flesh, and felt her turn in entirely new directions, trying to escape his hold on her, to move faster than he was moving. He gave her just enough to keep her at the edge, every muscle tight, waiting, wanting.

When he couldn't take any more, and he knew he had pushed her far beyond her usual limit, when her eyes were blank and wild and the touch of his fingers on her brought a wail from her throat, he pulled away and lay beside her, only his fingers touching, pulling gently on her nipples, urging her up.

“You...like it...to do this, don't you? Kagome...”

Panting, cutting him in her carelessness, she straddled him, and the movements of her hips were quick and sharp, her moans like punctuation. It was not enough and he saw it, reached up for her nipples and then lost control when she reached down, her fingers shaking in the wetness.

She collapsed on him, panting, her arms and legs splayed as if she would never move again, and Sesshomaru lay beneath her, quiescent, breathing just as hard. After a while, she rolled over and flopped onto her side, tucked up against him and lay her head on his chest.

“If I am coming to my heat again, there will be a pup.”

“Yes.”

“I think...I think I'd like another pup, Sess-chan.”

“Yes.”

He felt her relax, her breathing even, and deepen, and slow. When she was asleep, he stood and stretched, and stepped across to the nearest pool. Wary even here, for no reason he could explain, Sesshomaru sat so he could see her, sleeping in front of the fire. There were things for him to think about now - like why that power would be restless, and what the glimmer in that girl's blood could be.

Soki. We do not know - have no way of knowing - who she is. Just...a child. A child who died alone, and yet was lucky enough to be found in time by the one person who could save her. But it has happened before.

In his thoughts was Rin, as he had first seen her; and after, that missing tooth, her black eye.

And after - the blood, and the marks of fangs. The blood.

He shook his head, stared through the steam at Kagome, tried to focus on her; on the future. There was an enemy, and that enemy would die. There would be a pup, another pup - Rin, and Kinawai....the wolf-tennyo, and Shippou. How time passed...how strange, that he should not have noticed. How fleeting, really, everything seemed to be...

His head slipped back, and he closed his eyes, almost dozing. It was warm, here in the spring, and comfortable; Kagome's scent, the easy weight of it, was lulling.