Chapter 124

The unforgettable visit



"What the hell?!" Inuyasha's voice echoed throughout the hallway.

Sesshomaru and Mai stiffened, both of them realizing the position, they were in. They quickly pulled back from each other, as though they were caught red-handed on doing something inappropriate. Mai forgot about crying in a heartbeat and the blush was burning her cheeks – just a while ago she threw herself at Sesshomaru and hugged him. On the top of all, Inuyasha had to see it! Damn the hanyou!

The dog demon thought the same. He glared daggers at his younger brother, clenching his teeth.
Inuyasha was extremely amused, seeing Sesshomaru in such an embarrassing situation. He grinned widely, showing his fangs.

"Did you two forget to tell me about something?" he asked smugly, folding her arms. Mai's face got scarlet and the dog demon was standing still like a statue.

"It's not what you think!" Mai exclaimed suddenly, thinking how stupid sounded, what she just said.

Inuyasha arched and eyebrow.

"Really?" he asked in a mocking tone. Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes.

"Stay out of this Inuyasha." He said coldly. Hanyou's grin even widened.

"Why? You're secretly in love with a human girl, Sesshomaru?" the half-demon asked with a smug smile. Mai blushed even more and the dog demon seemed to be the fury incarnated. His eyes turned red and the youki began swirling around his large frame.

"Do not insult this Sesshomaru like this, pathetic hanyou! You should know my opinion about humans better than anyone." Sesshomaru hissed. Mai stared at him, surprised by the sudden display of anger. It seemed almost like Inuyasha managed to pull some string in him.

"Don't call me names, you bastard! I was covering your sorry ass today!" Inuyasha shouted, putting his hand on Tessaiga's hilt. Sesshomaru did the same – his fingers wandered to Tenseiga.

"If any of us could be called a bastard, that would be you, little brother." The dog demon said with a smirk. Mai saw, that Inuyasha was at the edge of giving in to his anger. If she didn't do anything quickly, the idiot brothers will fight again. Quickly, she moved herself between then, spreading her arms.

"That's enough, both of you!" she shouted. "Behave like adults for once!"
Inuyasha and Sesshomaru stared at her for a while, but, luckily, they took their hands off the swords' hilts. Finally, the inu-youkai broke the silence.

"I will not have a human woman tell me what to do." He said stalking to her and glaring in his most intimidating way. Mai put her hands on the hips and glared back, lifting her head to look at the tall demon.

"I wouldn't have to if a certain demon wasn't behaving like a fool." She talked back to Sesshomaru. The demon was at a loss of words and began growling at her. Mai kept glaring daggers at him. "Your growling isn't going to scare me."

"Woman…" the inu-youkai said in a warning tone, but the girl didn't yield




Then, Inuyasha's uncontrollable laughter echoed throughout the hallways. The hanyou looked like he was going to choke himself – bent in half, clutching his stomach, tears in his eyes. Mai and Sesshomaru were staring at him with baffled expressions on their faces, waiting for him to calm down. When he did, he wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes.

"Seriously, you two are behaving like a married couple!" he choked out and muffled another laughter attack. Mai felt her face burning.

"Inuyasha, you idiot!" she screamed atop her lungs. "Don't you ever say such nonsense! Me with that arrogant jerk, who happens to be your brother? Don't be an idiot!"

She was about to continue her tirade, but she was interrupted, as Sesshomaru suddenly flung her over his shoulder. The startled girl yelped.

"We are leaving." The dog demon stated leaping forward.

As he flew past Inuyasha, he punched the hanyou with his fist, sending him crashing into the wall. Mai saw the half-demon cursing and waving his fist threateningly, before he was left behind. Sesshomaru broke one of the windows and glided into the air, flying over the castle. Mai was a little sad, leaving the poor women without any word, but Inuyasha and the rest would surely help them. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see the distant ground below. She relaxed, ignoring, that her belly was being squished. She didn't know, how long they were flying, about an hour or so. Finally, Sesshomaru glided downwards and landed gracefully, gently placing Mai back on her feet. Mai looked at him, about to thank the demon for saving her once again, but Rin interrupted.

"Mai!" the child exclaimed, running towards the girl and crashing into her legs, wrapping her little arms around her waist. "I knew, that Sesshomaru-sama will bring you back!"

"Mai-sama!" Kohaku also ran to greet her. "Are you all right?"

Mai smiled, patting Rin's back.

"I'm all fine. Sesshomaru saved me right in time." She answered. Jaken also joined their gathering, dragging Ah-Un along. The imp shook his head.

"My, my… You always cause Sesshomaru-sama so much trouble." He muttered.

"We are going." The silver-haired demon decided suddenly. Mai looked at him, surprised – it was still the dead of the night and they had gone through some tough moments just now. Jaken also seemed to be startled by his master's sudden decision. He trotted to the inu-youkai.

"Sesshomaru-sama, where are we going?" he asked. Sesshomaru looked at Tenseiga and frowned.

"I must pay a visit to a certain person." He said with an extremely displeased look on his face. The both servants gawked at him, surprised by such noticeable display of emotions. Who could be the person, who made Sesshomaru show them?



For the next couple of days the dog demon was intensely searching for something, making their group march day and night. Since Kohaku joined their little fellowship, the travelling at night became a real pain in the ass – it was extremely difficult to take shifts sleeping on the dragon's back, when there were four people. The kids were the priority, so Mai had to spend a couple of nights napping, while banging her forehead against Sesshomaru's armor. The dog demon was sometimes carrying sleeping Rin on his shoulder, but the older girl was simply too big for that and she got flung over his shoulder.

This morning Mai was set on bathing in the river at last and managed to convince Sesshomaru to let her do it. The dog demon left Ah-Un with her, as he with Jaken and the children went ahead.

"Woman, do it quick." He told her, before walking away. The moment he turned around, the dragon collapsed on the ground, exhausted by the constant marching. Mai patted the beast's heads.

"Poor thing. He doesn't let you take a break." She said with pity in her voice. Ah-Un roared, agreeing with her. The girl retrieved a bar of soap from the packs and picked up her last green kimono for today – the one, which wasn't damaged yet. She placed it carefully near the riverbank and undressed swiftly. She shivered, feeling the cold air on her skin. Clenching her teeth, she grabbed the soap and went into the river. She jumped in, submerging, but almost immediately stood up, her teeth chattering.

"Oh crap." She muttered.

However, the need to get herself clean was stronger than the cold. Mai began soaping her skin quickly, but thoroughly. She froze, when she reached her belly. The glowing red lines disappeared the next morning after the horrible adventure, but the scratches remained. After a few days there turned into barely visible white lines, but the elaborate pattern was a remainder of terrifying scenes, that took place in Shutendoji's castle. She wondered, what would happen with all the women, that were imprisoned there – she doubted, if even some of them could return to the normal life ever again.

Mai swiftly washed the soap off and wiped her body with the old kimono. Once dry, she put the pretty green on, the very same Sesshomaru bought her in the town some time ago, and tied a matching obi. She slid her feet into the sandals and fastened her hairpin.

"All right, I'm all clean and ready." She said to Ah-Un, who stood up slowly, displeased, that he could rest only for such a short time. Mai mounted the dragon and he took off, flying very low.
The girl squinted her eyes, seeing two distant white shapes beneath the clouds. They were entwining with each other and flying towards the ground. She could have sworn, that it was Sesshomaru in his true form, but the other one…

"Be careful, Ah-Un." She said to the dragon, fearing, that there was an enemy ahead. However, the beast didn't seem to be afraid in the slightest.

Then, the dragon gave out a panicked roar and sped up, flying higher and higher. Mai clutched the saddle in desperation, wondering, what made Ah-Un behave so. She felt an unpleasant feeling in her stomach, as the crazy flight continued.

Soon Mai saw, what was the cause of the dragon's panic. The creature was slowly catching up to the two huge figures of the dog demons. The one was definitely Sesshomaru – she recognized him. The inu-youkai carried Jaken and the children on his back. Beside him glided the other dog demon. Ah-Un was struggling frantically to maintain his master's pace.

"Was the bastard going to leave us behind?" she muttered, angry, that Sesshomaru just took off not bothering to wait for her and the dragon. She was also wondering, who the other inu-youkai was. Was it the person, her boss was looking for? Mai was a little surprised, seeing another creature of Sesshomaru's kind.

The demons were gliding in front of them, not paying any attention to the dragon, who was flying behind. Rin and Kohaku noticed them and waved to Mai. The girl waved back, before clutching the saddle tightly. The flight was a nightmare, but it used to be much worse in the past. She concentrated on looking in front of her.

Most of the time she saw thick white clouds, but then something began emerging from them – a huge dark shape. When they flew closer, the girl was able to discern, what it was. In front of Mai's eyes appeared an enormous castle, like none other she had seen before. The impressive building seemed to float in the air, above the clouds. As Ah-Un lowered his flight, the girl saw the demon guardians, as they passed the castle walls. They looked up, but didn't seem to be alarmed by the dog demons presence. Finally, they reached the palace at the top of the castle. Sesshomaru and the other demon gracefully landed and Ah-Un clumsily collided with the marble floor, exhausted by the crazy flight. Rin, Kohaku and Jaken slipped off Sesshomaru's back. Mai dismounted the dragon and ran to the children.

"Mai!" Rin called happily. The older girl smiled at the child and turned her attention to the demons, as the purple suddenly flashed, when both of them transformed. She gasped, seeing the other inu-youkai in such form.

In front of their group stood a silver-haired demon woman. She gracefully sat on a throne, straightening the blue uchiki, that was decorated with the white fur, the same like the one Sesshomaru was carrying on his shoulder. Mai's mouth opened agape, as she saw the striking resemblance between those two. The demoness had golden eyes, their cold expression matching Sesshomaru's, long silver hair and similar demon markings – a blue crescent moon on her forehead, but those on the cheeks were slightly different, being a single pink wavy line, instead of twin magenta stripes. Her face was elegant, the beauty breathtaking, but also looked like a female version of Mai's boss's face. The youkai woman had a matching pink lipsticks on her lips, red eye shadow upon her lids and claws painted red. The human girl stared at her, then looked at Sesshomaru and back at the demoness. She had an idea, who she might be. Mai grabbed Jaken and whispered to his ear.

"This woman, who is she?" the girl asked quietly. The imp looked at her and pulled her down to reach her ear.

"Sesshomaru-sama's mother." Jaken whispered back.

Mai's eyes widened at the news. She expected it though, given that Sesshomaru looked like a carbon copy of the woman before them, but actually hearing it was shocking nonetheless. She heard the dog demon mention his father, even the hanyou brother, he despised so much, but never the mother. The girl thought, that she must be dead since centuries or so. The girl saw, how tense the inu-youkai was. She clutched Rin protectively and observed the conversation between her boss and his mother.

"Sesshomaru, I thought, that you despise humans." The demoness said in high-and-mighty tone. "And yet you drag with you three humans. Are you going to eat them?"

At the remark Mai pulled Rin closer, feeling nervous. Suddenly it became clear, where did Sesshomaru get his idiotic ideas about humans from. His mother seemed to be a bitch – both literally and figuratively.

The dog demon ignored the remark and went straight to the point.

"You must have heard from father, that Tenseiga opens the gate to the netherworld." Sesshomaru said.

"Really?" the demoness answered with a question, touching the stone pendant. "He left me only this Meidou Stone."

"Meidou Stone?" the inu-youkai repeated.

"He asked me to use it, if you ever show up." The demon woman said. Mai furrowed her brows. Sesshomaru didn't visit his own mother for two hundred years? What kind of son was he? The girl looked at the woman, who was holding the Meidou Stone in her hands. "Right, he mentioned something else. He said, that when I use it, you'll be in danger. However, I will not be sad because of that."

"She doesn't look worried." Rin whispered. Mai and Jaken narrowed their eyes at the demoness. The girl, thought, that the woman must have had a terribly destructive influence on Sesshomaru's personality. No wonder he turned out somewhat twisted.

"Tell me, Sesshomaru, for I have dilemma." The mother said, closing her eyes. Her son looked irritated.

"Hn." He snorted. "You are talking nonsense."
The demoness opened her eyes and lifted the Meidou Stone, that emitted a gleam.

"Entertain me, then." She said in a dry tone and suddenly a large black shape of a dog sprouted from the Meidou Stone.

Sesshomaru immediately ripped Tenseiga out of the sheath.

"Meidou Zangetsuha!" he cried, swinging the sword at the dog, that was flying right at him and his group. The inu-youkai sent the black crescent at the opponent, but without any effect.

"So that are those gates to the netherworld." The demoness said, casually resting her head on the hand. "There is still a long way ahead, till they open completely."

"What?!" Jaken squeaked. "Sesshomaru-sama's sword can't cut him?!"

"This is a dog from netherworld." The mother explained, turning to her son. "Sesshomaru, it looks like you still cannot use the sword well."

Then everything happened so fast. The last thing Mai saw, was the black dog leaping towards her and children, before the huge jaws opened, showing the sharp teeth.



Author Note:

Hey,
It's great that you're reviewing so enthusiastically - yesterday I had update twice! Please keep on good work. In the meantime I present the "castle-arc" to you. Enjoy reading and leave me a comment please. Goodnight to you!