InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ In Death, Trust Me, as You Didn't in Life ❯ The Plotting of Gods ( Chapter 44 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Chapter 44: The Plotting of Gods

Amaterasu narrowed her eyes as she watched from behind the filmy lenses of her human guise - Meimei, an elder priestess with ties to herself.

None knew, of course, just how much the old woman was tied to her.

As Meimei, she was within the camp of the army of Ungai, and thus, was well aware of Sou'unga. It hadn't taken her long to figure out that the one behind all this turmoil was her ass of a brother, Sosa-no-wo.

Once again, he was after control - only this time, it seemed as though it wasn't just the heavens he wanted.

Of course not... now he wants everything. But I've already countered his moves - I only hope that Kagome is able to figure this out before he wins his goals. Of course, the benefit in countering him with her, is that he will not understand her any more than any of the rest of us do - and so it will be difficult for him to outthink her.

That's our biggest advantage in this - Kagome's nature makes her completely unknown - even to the one who created her soul. I do not think I will ever fully understand her, not even after combining with her.

She is anshou - cipher.

The goddess in disguise shifted her human body on the pillows that littered the floor of her large tent - she was the only one in this camp with one, and she smiled wickedly at the thought of what was coming. She herself, of course, would not be bothered by the bad weather that was about to blow in, but the army would suffer greatly for it.

She found it deliciously ironic that her brother, the storm god, was about to have his underlings decimated by a portion of his own aspect - a storm.

That was why she sat in a darkened tent, knowing that the light show was about to begin, she was going to enjoy every moment of the chaos and fear that was about to enter this camp.

She'd deliberately let her knowledge of her brother's instigation of this farce filter to the little void demon that sat in a cave not a few miles away, knowing that she would inform the ones who needed to know.

Her brother wanted to keep his involvement a secret; she wanted it known.

She was Amaterasu, what she wanted, was done.

Some might wonder why she did not just force her brother to take this fight into the realm of the gods, and battle it out there. Why she would allow what was happening, the chaos and the deaths and the suffering because a war of the gods had overflowed into the mortal realms.

But the fact was that her brother had already been banished from the realms of the gods, also known as the heavens, and without defeating her, he could never again enter that plane. And if she and he were to meet in battle as themselves on this plane, the world would be destroyed, unable to tolerate the titanic forces that would be brought to bear on it.

So the only option left, was to fight through others. It was the only chance the world had of remaining viable.

That was why Kagome would be most useful.

She was the single most powerful being on the face of the earth - stronger than any other living thing, though her other half was very close to her in power.

But, while she was the most powerful living thing in the mortal realms, and she was a demi-goddess, her power was nowhere near that of Amaterasu herself - or of her brother.

And then Amaterasu laughed, as she thought of the surprise in her brother's very near future. Because Kagome didn't need to be as powerful as Sosa-no-wo to win this war - her divine aspect would win the war, if she managed to figure it out in time.

Kagome was the goddess of balance - and judging the balance of things is what she did. Sosa had been sent to the Land Below and sealed out of the realms of the gods - and him attempting to return fell under Kagome's jurisdiction now - him returning to the heavens would change the balance...

Meaning that when Kagome decided against him, no matter how powerful he was, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it - her decision would be final, too bad, so sad for him.

On top of that, she would once more restore the balance between demons and humans, making the two races, the yin and yang of the mortal realms, return to the path that they'd been forcibly pulled away from.

That was also Sosa's doing - he'd been planning this attempt on the heavens and the earth for a very long time, apparently.

Not that it would do him any good.

She was roused from her musings by the rumbling of the skies, and her eyes brightened as she moved closer to the front of the tent - and watched, almost gleefully, as the sorceress used her brother's own aspect against him.

It was a beautiful sight; the lightening flashing brightly against the blackness of the night, and the screams of the terrified monks and samurai in the camp - bolts of light stalked through the camp like the wrath of god, (or goddess, she thought smugly), reducing the once orderly camp to chaos within moments.

She chuckled at that - again, one of his own aspects being used to fell his puppets. Chaos.

How fitting, she thought.

This one act would once again delay the army from reaching Kagome and her own growing army before they were ready, and she had to laugh as she thought about Nyoko and her tricks.

Such an entertaining human, she mused as she continued to watch the show.

Come morning, she would enjoy going to bother Ungai - just to rub in his face that fact that he was not favored of the gods...

At least, not the ones he thought he was favored by.

Not the ones he'd wanted to be favored by.

He'd be horrified when he realized just who he was working for, and Amaterasu had every intention of being there to see it...

In the form of Meimei, priestess of Amaterasu.

---wWw---

Kagome smiled down at a tired Rin, and an equally tired Shippo.

It had been a long day, and it was time for both children to slip away to the land of sleep. Of course, as all children do, they'd fought their sleepy bodies as long as they could, but now they were ready to give up the good fight and enter dreamland.

Her eyes went a bit distant as she watched them drift off, memories of her little brother momentarily dimming her smile, and Sesshoumaru noticed her sadness immediately.

"Tell me, miko - what is it that upsets you?" he asked quietly.

Startled at the sound of his voice, as she'd momentarily forgotten where she was, she inhaled sharply, and then, when her mind caught back up with her, she released it in a long drawn out exhale.

After a few moments, she shrugged. "I'm just missing my family," she said softly. "Watching the two of them fall asleep, reminded me of my brother, Sota, when he was younger."

A coldness slithered down his spine at the tone of her voice, and he wondered, suddenly, what she would choose were she given the choice... here - or there.

"Do you regret being here?" he asked, somehow needing to know more than he needed anything else at that particular moment in time.

Kagome's head lifted and she stared at him in surprise - the vulnerable note in his voice shocking her almost speechless.

"No! Why would you think that, Sesshoumaru? This is where my fate lies - here, with you, and the others. I know that, and I don't regret it. But it doesn't mean that I don't miss my family."

"Do not forget," he said quietly, "that I said I would take you home after I have mated you. It will not be long."

She looked down at her hands, twisted in her lap. "I know - and I'm grateful." She turned her face towards him then, a small, but honest smile lighting up her eyes. "You are so good to me - sometimes I... I think that I don't deserve you," she finished shyly.

He blinked, so surprised at her words that for several moments, he couldn't think of anything to say.

He sat up straight from his leaning position against the wood of the old well, and continued to stare at her, an almost blank look on his face, and Kagome tilted her head and frowned at him warily.

"Is... something wrong, Sesshoumaru?" she asked slowly.

He moved suddenly then, faster than she could see, and pulled her into his arms, then sat back against the well again, arranging her comfortably against him, her back to his chest.

He still hadn't answered her.

She waited patiently for a few more minutes, but once he fell still once more, his chin on her shoulder, and his hands gently brushing through her dark locks, she sighed, and prompted him again.

"Sesshoumaru?"

"Why would you think such a foolish thing, miko?" he finally asked, so softly that she almost didn't hear him.

"Foolish?" she questioned, now getting a bit confused.

"It is foolish to think that you do not deserve this one. It is foolish for you to think that there is anything in this realm, or the next, that you do not 'deserve'," he said bluntly, voice still soft as a whisper.

Kagome flushed deeply as she realized what he was saying. Does he really think that? But why? I'm not anything special - not like him.

"I don't know why you'd think something like that..." she trailed off for a moment as he reached his arms around her and enfolded her in his embrace.

"Because it is no more than the truth, my miko. There is nothing that you are not worthy of. Do not de-value yourself this way - this one does not like it."

She rolled her eyes at that. How Sesshoumaru is that? I insult myself, apparently, and now it's about him? He doesn't like it? A giggle flittered through her mind. But he wouldn't be Sesshoumaru without his attitude.

When she was silent longer than he seemed to think appropriate, he turned her in his arms so that her head was laying back against his arm, and looked down at her solemnly.

"Well, miko?"

She shook her head, eyes laughing up at him, then waved one slender hand at him carelessly. "Hai, hai - you don't like it, I get it."

One slender black brow rose at her facetious attitude, and standing suddenly, he looked over at his little retainer.

"Jaken, watch the children. If anything happens to them..." he trailed off, and Jaken nodded, having heard this threat many times.

"Hai, my Lord. I will make sure they are safe."

Sesshoumaru had turned and begun walking out of the clearing with his arms full of miko before the toad could even finish.

"Sesshoumaru! What are you doing?!" she hissed quietly - though only for the children's sake.

He looked down at her as he strode into the tree line, but refused to answer, merely giving her a smug look.

She huffed, and folded her arms over her chest, knowing that she wasn't going anywhere until he allowed it, and curious to see where he was taking her.

Sesshoumaru glanced down at the woman in his arms, secretly amused at her little huff, though he'd never let her see that. He wondered idly what she'd think of what he was about to do to her... and then he wondered at his own sanity - he'd been down this road once before, when he'd joined her in her bath.

He'd had to run to escape the need to take her, then... he would probably have to run this time, as well.

But he couldn't stay away.

He needed to feel her, to touch her, to lose himself in her. When she'd disappeared into the other realms, and been gone those long days, he'd been slowly losing his mind, worry and fear, yes, fear, digging horrid tentacles into his mind and soul so deeply that he wasn't sure they'd ever be fully gone.

And since then, the couple days she'd been back - there'd been so much happening, that they hadn't had any quiet time alone at all.

Now was the time to make up for that lack - if he didn't, he was liable to kill someone, it was as simple as that.

Kagome could feel his unsettled state, and with a sigh, and a tiny smile, settled down into his arms and enjoyed the feel of them wrapped around her as he carried her off. If she was being honest, she needed this as much as he seemed to; the time away from him, and all the stress of what was going on, was wearing on her, and she needed some time away from it all to reconnect with him.

She watched with silent interest as he took to the skies as soon as he had escaped Jaken's sight, and she became even more curious about their destination - why was he taking her somewhere far enough away that he had to fly there?

Sesshoumaru was rather pleasantly surprised when he felt Kagome cuddle into his embrace, and the fact that she didn't argue or question him proved her trust in him, deepening his passion for her - his youkai side appreciated the fact that its female did not fear it.

It only took a matter of minutes for him to reach the place he'd been aiming for; a beautiful waterfall overlooking a steep gorge that lay on the border of his lands. Fortunately for all those lower youkai out there, none were in the vicinity - if they had been, they would have been promptly disposed of... none would interfere between a demon Lord and his chosen mate.

It was not a healthy undertaking.

His woman looked around with interest as he landed, and gasped happily at what her eyes took in - with the moonlight shining the way it was, touching the water with silvan light, and showing the breathtaking view of the lands surrounding it, the steep gorge actually highlighted by the moon's softer light - the whole scene was the most romantic thing she'd ever been privileged to witness.

And it was all for her... he'd brought her here because he'd known she'd like it.

As he set her gently on her feet, she turned in his arms and stared up at him, her eyes soft with love. "Thank you, Sesshoumaru," she whispered. "It's the most beautiful thing anyone's ever shown me."

He didn't respond verbally, only turned her in his arms again and pulled her back against his chest, and let the panorama before her do all his speaking for him. He wrapped his arms around her slight form possessively, nuzzling his nose into her sweet-smelling hair and inhaling deeply of her scent.

It was magic, plain and simple - nothing could compare to the scent his miko turned goddess carried. Sheer, intoxicating power, wrapped around her own personal scent, drew him in and he would never even want to fight it...

She was his undoing, and he reveled in that fact.

Kagome shivered as one of his hands began to move upwards from her waist - within seconds, he was cupping a breast, and she could feel his cheek against her hair, scenting her, both moves combining to arouse her; every touch of his hand upon her erotic beyond bearing to her still innocent mind.

She moaned softly, her soul aching for him, needing him, needing to drown him in her love more than she had ever needed anything. In that moment, her emotions almost overwhelmed her, so strong did her heart hurt for love of him that tears suddenly cascaded from her eyes, streaking silvery trails down moon-kissed cheeks.

Sesshoumaru smelled the tears the moment they surged past her lids. "Why do you cry, my goddess?" he questioned softly, as he lowered his proud head and nuzzled her cheek, licking up the salty evidence of her powerful emotions, his hand moving over her breast firmly as he grasped it, tugging at the nipple that was so tight it could be felt through her clothing.

A silent sob tore through her, then, and she once again forcibly turned herself in his embrace, looking into his face with drowning, melting eyes. "I love you so much, Sesshoumaru," she managed to get out around a throat almost choked shut by so much feeling. "There are no words, to tell you how deeply..." she trailed off, voice thick, then forced herself to finish, "I will always be yours. Always."

There was no way that anything he could say in that moment would even begin to cover how he felt, and without even a thought, he crashed his mouth down on hers, and loved her with it, taking every part of her mouth with his own, needing to feel her response to him in the most carnal of fashions.

She did not disappoint; her whispered, "Sesshoumaru," coming out as an achy, moaned sigh that completely undid him. His hands swept up her back to cup her head, as he deepened the kiss, taking her every breath and making it his own, then one moved back down to the small of her back, drawing her deeper into his possessive embrace.

This woman was his, and any who thought to take her from him would suffer an eternity in hell for even attempting such.

After a few moments, he pulled away from her lips, making his way down across her jaw, and as she felt his path, she tilted her head back obediently, submitting to him as naturally as drawing a breath - such a statement from her in that manner making his knees weaken with desire. With renewed vigor, he almost attacked her soft flesh, the vulnerability she was willingly showing him with her bared neck not lost on him.

She almost choked on an indrawn breath as she felt his fangs latch onto her throat, and as his mouth settled over her pulse and began sucking, her knees weakened, and she collapsed against his chest, tears still weakly falling as the sea of emotions within her surged strongly, higher at the nearness of the one that pulled such responses from her.

When he settled her deeper into his arms, he pulled his head away and looked at her, his eyes drawn helplessly to the sight of her laying so trustingly in his embrace, disheveled and vulnerable, open and passion-dazed.

It was the most magnificent sight he had ever been privileged to see... she not only was a goddess - but she looked like one, too... and it had nothing to do with her true status as a new child of Amaterasu.

She had always looked so to him, and she always would.

It was love that made her look that way.

She met his gaze, then, and he would have been surprised to see that her thoughts echoed his so closely - for to her, he resembled a god, as well...

And for the same reasons.

Had either of them been standing somewhere other, and been watching, they would have seen something wondrous as their auras, one soft pink, the other a hotly passionate red, entwined, and joined, caressing each other gently as they merged.

Physically mated or not, their natures had already joined, and nothing, not even a god, could change that.

They were one, from this moment forward, not even the end of time would separate that which had been so merged together.

No, not even the machinations of the one known as Sosa-no-wo-no-Mikoto would split asunder the newest goddess, and her youkai.

He would try....

But he would fail.

---wWw---

A/N: Sorry this took so long to get out, but hope everyone enjoys it!

Amber