Chapter 119

Chapter 119

Death is forever

“Lady Anzu, it is time.” One of the fox servants told Mai through the door. 

Mai sighed inaudibly and stood up, taking Rin’s hand. She and Kohaku decided, that all three of them should stick together to make the escape less chaotic – it would be a problem if they split up. The girl remembered to maintain her demon-leader façade and made her way towards the yard, where the Machine stood. Fortunately no one paid any attention to the kids – it seemed to be understandable, that the leader of the Alliance would like her offspring to see the moment of glory.

Mai sat down on the chair and the children crouched at her feet. All other council members also took their places in a half-circle around the Gihei’s device. The tension was nearly visible, as the youkai were sitting with their backs straight and impatiently tapping with their fingers. Everyone was displeased, that Sesshomaru didn’t get caught in the trap, but no one dared to voice their doubts, for the decision to wait till the sunrise was final and was not to be defied.

Once the last ray of setting sun disappeared, Mai stood up and walked towards the Machine, just as Kichisaburo instructed her earlier. She took off the medallion and pressed it to the proper place. The whole council held their breaths. For a while nothing happened. Then, a single creak resounded through the silence and the Machine began working. Slowly, the metal rings began spinning, picking up the speed. The colorful crystals were shining brightly, creating an amazing show of light on the sky. The girl stared at device for a longer while, observing the play of colors and light, while listening to the ringing sounds it made. It was so enticing and impressive, that she nearly forgot the true purpose of the Machine.

“And now we wait.” Mai said simply, returning to her place.

The silence reigned, disturbed only by the sounds of working device. Mai gazed at it and noticed something sparkling in the air. It was hard to see, but she did it anyway. From the device sprouted countless threads, so thin, that they were nearly invisible. Yet, she was sure, that they were here. The girl furrowed her brows. Was it a part of the trap, the Fox Clan set?

“So you saw them.” Mai flinched, hearing Kichisaburo’s whisper. The fox demon was sitting at her right. But, he didn’t look at her, his eyes were still set on the device, when he spoke to the girl. “If the dog demon graces us with his presence tonight, you will have an opportunity to see how the trap works. It’s impossible to evade it.”

“Really?” Mai muttered, half to Kichisaburo, half to herself.

It was still the whole night before them, but she was sure, that the trap wouldn’t serve it purpose. Without Ah-Un Sesshomaru was grounded and at the sunrise would be meeting with the eremite Shomyo. Fortunately she managed to leave him out of this mess. 

However, the last stage of her mission worried her. At dawn she would be free to leave the residence and she was confident to manage to do it, but outside the borders of the Ichizo’s palace one more danger awaited her and the kids – Naraku. He wasn’t the opponent to underestimate – both Inuyasha and Sesshomaru had been battling the plotting bastard for about two years and he managed to stay alive. Maybe in general commotion she would be able to pull it off… The hint of doubt remained in her though. If only she had a way to communicate with Ah-Un, everything could go smoothly. Unfortunately, she had somehow to make a run to the outskirts of Kyoto and avoid being caught in Naraku’s clutches. Mai clenched her fist, temporarily adorned with clawed glove.

More confidence, Mai. You can do it, she told herself, trying to gain more courage. She was doing fine till now, so there was absolutely no reason for her to fail later. After boosting her ego, she smiled to herself. The whole spying-adventure was horribly stressing and she had bloodshot eyes from the lack of sleep, but it was nice to feel useful for once. Till now she was always playing the role of damsel in distress, waiting for someone to save her – mostly for Sesshomaru – and now she had the chance to return the favor and do something for the stubborn inu-youkai. He seemed pissed, when she was leaving, but surely he would thank her once she got back with Rin and Kohaku.

Mai furrowed her brows. Wasn’t she thinking just like Jaken?

“Lady Anzu, we are waiting needlessly. The dog will not come.” Hosen, who was sitting on Mai’s left, muttered to her. The girl discreetly clenched her fists. She couldn’t let the demons turn the Machine off, because her efforts to destroy it and Gihei’s death would go to waste. She cleared her throat.

“We will speak of failure once the sun rises!” she called, raising her voice, so that all the council members could hear her clearly. “The impatience is a sign of weakness!”

She smirked mentally, seeing the youkai shut up and nestle in their chairs, readying themselves for the long wait. Apparently appealing to their egos was more effective than to their brains. The broad-shouldered Hosen sighed, scratching the tip of his nose.

“Perhaps we misjudged his love for the humans.” He whispered. “Ichizo assumed, that he has the same weakness his father had.”

Mai didn’t answer. The demons of the Alliance didn’t misjudge Sesshomaru at all – despite his condition he wanted to come here and fight for Rin, but fortunately she ruined his stupid plan. The inu-youkai must have had softer heart, she thought, to be ready for such foolishness. The girl sighed and glanced down at the children. Both of them were sitting with their knees pulled up to their chests, looking like two feather balls. 

Everything will be okay.

After several long hours, that dragged on like eternity, Mai knew, that nothing was okay. Her butt felt like it was about to fall off – she was sitting on the damn uncomfortable chair motionless, keeping up her front as lady Anzu and it was a pure torture. The night was chilly and she was nearly frozen to bone. Rin and Kohaku were sticking together, like two nestlings, but she didn’t have the comfort to curl into the ball or shiver, for it would be suspicious for a youkai to do so. It took all the willpower to control the chattering teeth. The sunrise was nearing, but still more than half an hour remained till sun would appear on the sky. To make the matters worse, she desperately needed to sleep and was barely refraining herself from closing her eyes and beginning to snore. It was a pain in the ass, since she had to be focused now more than ever and a soft bed was the only thing she was thinking about.

When the girl glanced at the rest of the council members, she became assured, that she wasn’t the only one, who was feeling this way. The leader of the Turtle and Raccoon Clans were openly napping, while most of the members looked extremely bored, so that they weren’t eager even to rant about the failure. The only one, who seemed to be fully awake was Kichisaburo, who was tensing more and more with each passing minute. No wonder – the Fox Clan was responsible for setting the trap and getting the victim here. Now when Sesshomaru didn’t show up, Kichisaburo would have to take the whole blame on himself, not to mention the fact, that the status of the fox demons in council of the Alliance would diminish.

Mai kept staring at the Machine and found out, that the monotone moves of the mechanisms were quite relaxing and hypnotizing. Then, something interrupted the monotony. The thin threads flared, becoming easily noticeable. The girl blinked and shot a glance at Kichisaburo, who straightened in his seat.

“The trap…” he muttered. 

All the council members quitted napping and gawked at the device with anticipation. Then, the Machine sped up unexpectedly, pulling the sparkling threads forcefully. Mai had to cover her eyes with the sleeve, as a flash of bright light nearly blinded her. Squinting her eyes, slowly, she lowered the arm, trying to discern the shape in the mist of the light. The figure was that of a man’s. Once the blinding light dimmed, she saw clearly, who had been caught by the deadly threads. The girl froze, gasping.

“SUCCESS!” Kichisaburo yelled to her, but his voice barely reached Mai.

Trapped in the hellish device, was none other than Sesshomaru.

Mai was not the only one, who spotted the imprisoned inu-youkai. Rin’s eyes widened, when she saw her guardian trapped. She tried to call out his name and dash towards the Machine, but Kohaku had a great reflex – he swiftly snatched the little girl and muffled her cries with his hand. He held Rin tightly, so that she couldn’t move.

“Quiet.” He whispered to her ear. 

It was fortunate, that the young demon-slayer managed to act with cold blood. In the meantime Mai was sitting motionless in her chair, staring at Sesshomaru, who was immobilized by the threads. The dog demon tried to struggle, but the more he moved, the more the threads penetrated his skin, cutting the flesh and gaining red color. To add to his torture, the Machine was shocking him with something similar to the current, making his muscles twitch uncontrollably. It worked just like an electric chair. The pain must have been tremendous, but Sesshomaru was keeping up his proud front, clenching his teeth and enduring the torture.

“That is surprising.” Kichisaburo spoke to voice his opinion, while narrowing his eyes. “He had been subjected to so much pain, that he shouldn’t be conscious.”

Mai blinked, managing to pull herself together. The horridness of the current situation overwhelmed her – now escaping Naraku was the least of her problems. How the hell was she supposed to save Sesshomaru before that Machine kills him?! Anyway, not that it could suck his youki out… The deadline was up in mere minutes and that idiot came here anyway. Thinking of the sunrise… the sun was about to rise very soon and Gihei’s device was bound to explode at the very same time.

Sesshomaru’s body twitched uncontrollably, as the bolts of energy were shooting through his body, but he refused to give in to the torture. Mai averted her gaze, so that his pain wouldn’t distracting her. It may have seemed heartless, but she was the only one, who could save him now and she had to think clearly.

“Lady Anzu, the honor to start the machine and the era of the Alliance’s rule is all yours.” Kichisaburo said with a sickeningly happy smile plastered across his face, while bowing to her deeply. Then, he addressed the inu-youkai, who was still struggling to set himself free from the thing, yet strong threads. “Sesshomaru, the leader of the Dog Clan. It is a pure pleasure for our eyes to see you so powerless, a moment before your much-awaited death. Know the hand, that brings your death – on the behalf of the Alliance of a Flame, our respectable leader, lady Anzu of will end your life!”

 The other council members clapped, enthusiasm all over their faces. Mai bit her lower lip, as she didn’t have enough time to devise some clever plan to free Sesshomaru and successfully escape. She felt the stares of all eyes on herself. She perfectly knew, what was expected of her – she took the medallion off and glanced at the kids. She came here to save them. Wouldn’t saving the inu-youkai make her efforts go to waste? Shouldn’t she choose to protect Rin instead of Sesshomaru? In her current situation it was impossible to save both the lives of the kids and her boss. And yet she couldn’t bring herself to just sacrifice the inu-youkai. How possibly could she do it, when he was ready to step into the fire and hell to bring her back?

Damn you, you stupid asshole, she thought and stepped confidently forward.

Sesshomaru felt as though all his nerves had been set on fire. The unimaginable pain was coursing through his weakened body. He was ready for such end, but it was a pity, that he did not manage to save the both human females. He distantly heard the demons’ laughter and their voices, but the sounds were distant and distorted, his vision blurry. It took all his willpower to prevent himself from slipping into the unconsciousness. Very soon he would be reunited with his deceased father. Then, his ward Rin would follow him to the kingdom of the dead and Mai most probably too, if she wasn’t already dead.

The dog demon could not understand, what the kitsune-youkai was talking to him. He saw the woman clad in black approach him. Her dark clothing and long black hair made her blend with the shadows, making it appear, as though the queen of the night came to claim his life. When she was merely a foot away from him, Sesshomaru gazed at her face. She bore demon markings, but her face was oddly familiar. It reminded him of Mai. Was it the horrid pain, that made him see such delusions? Perhaps the desire to see his woman in the very last moments of life was so strong, that she saw her even in a face of his executioner.

“Sesshomaru.” He heard the demoness calling his name quietly. Her voice sounded just like Mai’s.

However, the inu-youkai was not willing to let his mind play such cruel tricks on him. He would not be deceived into believing that she came to say her goodbyes to him.

“Look at me, you idiot!” the leader of the Alliance hissed out. 

Sesshomaru furrowed his brows. The delusion was acting too much like real Mai for his taste. It even insulted him the exact way she would.

“Pull yourself together.” The woman muttered, glaring at the demon. 

Sesshomaru’s head snapped up, as he set his gaze on the demoness face. The markings and the heavy make-up were concealing her appearance, but it was definitely the face of his woman. What was she…

“Take me hostage!” Mai hissed out her best idea, glancing nervously at the horizon. 

The sky was lightening up in the east – sun was about to rise any second now, so she had to get the damn demon out of the device quickly before it exploded. To make the matters worse, he seemed to be dozing off already. With the council members staring at her and waiting for the girl to start the Machine, she couldn’t afford to waste more time. She discreetly slashed the vital threads with her silver claws, freeing Sesshomaru and giving him signals with her eyes to take the initiative.

The inu-youkai was gazing at the woman with disbelief. It was her, now he had no doubts about it, despite the fact, she was disguised as a demoness and barely recognizable as Mai. He wanted at ask her questions, but then he saw her slashing the threads, that bounded him. Instantly he made a decision to follow her plan – if she managed to infiltrate the Alliance, surely she had one.

Moving as fast as he could, he darted forward and snatched Mai’s neck, turning her around, so that her back slammed into his chest. The girl gasped for air and desperately gripped the dog demon’s wrist, for he miscalculated his strength a little and almost strangled her, being too rough. Fortunately Sesshomaru noticed it as well and slightly loosened his grip, while immobilizing Mai. He glared at his opponents – he counted eight adult demons and two children. But, after taking a closer look at who seemed to be crow hatchlings, he decided, that they were no foes. The inu-youkai recognized Rin and Kohaku, disguised similarly as Mai. Apparently he underestimated the woman’s abilities. 

However, there was no time for such useless pondering. The youkai guards were gathering around, making escape physically impossible. Seeing the enemy beginning to make their moves, Sesshomaru flashed his claws, bringing them closer to the skin of Mai’s neck in a threatening gesture.

“One wrong move and she shall die.” He said coldly, bluffing. Apparently the threat was believable, for the council members grew nervous and all eyes turned to Kichisaburo, who had hard time deciding, what he should do – sacrifice the leader of the Alliance or try to negotiate.

Sesshomaru glanced at the two children in crow disguises.

“You two, come here.” He commanded and they trotted obediently to his side, Rin barely hiding the happy gleam in her eyes. Kohaku didn’t seem so happy, though – the boy was perceptive enough to notice, that there was something wrong with the dog demon.

In the meantime Mai frantically tried to come up with some plan, which could have chances to succeed, but her mind was blank. Even if they got away, the demons would catch up. The only hope laid in the element of surprise. The first rays of raising sun were lightening the darkness of the night already, which meant, that the hellish device would explode any second now.

“The Machine.” She whispered to Sesshomaru, barely moving her lips, but the inu-youkai didn’t hear her. She lightly kicked him in the shin to get his attention. “The Machine is going to explode in a moment.”

The dog demon acknowledged the information and decided to use it to eliminate some of the opponents. He looked at Kohaku.

“Get back.” He said quietly to the boy, who nodded and carried out his order, taking Rin into safety. 

Sesshomaru stayed in place, with Mai acting as his hostage.

“If you want her, come and get her!” He called to the enemy.

The demons leapt onto the pair without a second thought, their claws and fangs ready to rip Sesshomaru into shreds. No one suspected the danger, that was about to come. As the opponents made their move, the inu-youkai swiftly darted towards the direction, where Kohaku and Rin were, dragging Mai along. In the last moment he managed to throw the girl onto the ground, covering her with his body.

The girl yelped, feeling Sesshomaru’s heavy body pin her to the ground. Then, she saw a flash of bright light and felt an unbearable heat, as her eardrums were nearly torn by the sound of powerful explosion. The elements of the Machine were sent flying in all the direction, piercing and killing the demons, who didn’t suspect such thing to occur. Fortunately, Kohaku managed to haul Rin behind some statue, so that both children were shielded from the devastating effects of the impact. Mai’s eyes widened, as she saw a large piece of crystal pierce the ground an inch from her and Sesshomaru’s heads. Damn, that was a close one.

“Sesshomaru?” she asked, afraid, that the dog demon may had been hit by something after all.

“I am fine.” He replied, tiredness in his voice.

Once the sounds of multiple after explosions went quiet, the dog demon lifted himself off the ground and yanked Mai up, making his way to the exit from the mansion. Kohaku and Rin joined the pair.

“Sesshomaru-sama!” Rin squealed from joy, gluing herself to Sesshomaru’s leg, tears in her eyes – the child was really worried for her guardian. 

Mai cast a quick glance at the surroundings – the bodies were everywhere, with either some objects sticking out of their bodies or melted to the pulp by the heat. There were survivors, though. However, the light by the explosion was so bright, so that it had damaging and irreparable effect even on the demonic eyesight – many of those, who somehow avoided being killed, were wandering around aimlessly, blind and wounded. Unfortunately, some of the survivors were in a good shape, with their will to fight intact.

Kichisaburo, severely wounded, but still alive, and the broad-shouldered Hosen blocked the escape route. The demons glared at Sesshomaru, but then their attention shifted to Mai. In the commotion her wig had been lost, exposing her naturally short and brown hair and blowing her cover.

“You…” the kitsune-youkai coughed out, the startled look on his face. “You were Sesshomaru’s ally all along?”

“Hn.” Sesshomaru snorted, drawing the sword her obtained along the way. “It seems, that my servant managed to fool you. How pathetic of you.”

Mai tugged the back of her boss’s kimono, seeing, that he wanted to take on two demons in his current condition, when it was the miracle already, that he was still standing. The inu-youkai assumed a battle stance and readied himself to fight, slowly getting used to being at disadvantage.

However, his meddlesome servants didn’t let him handle this alone.

“Now!” Mai gave the signal. Simultaneously, she and Rin began throwing rocks at Kichisaburo and Hosen, doing no damage, but distracting them. This was the moment, Kohaku needed. His sickle flew quickly and used the weakened state of the injured fox demon along with the element of surprise. Before Hosen noticed, what was happening, Kichisaburo’s head rolled to the ground.

The enraged bear youkai roared, showing his anger and charged straight on Sesshomaru. It seemed, that the mere force of the impact would crush the dog demon’s bones to the dust, but nothing like that happened. Hosen blinked, surprised, as his opponent got snatched right from before his nose by a two-headed dragon, who appeared out of nowhere.

“Ah-Un!” Rin exclaimed happily, as two other allies arrived. The beast managed to whisk 

Sesshomaru away and dropped him onto the ground a few meters further. Then, it turned around and began fiercely attacking Hosen, bombarding him with the lightning bolts. In addition Jaken was frying the opponent a little every time, Ah-Un was flying by the enemy. The duo was doing a good job tiring the enemy, for Hosen was unable to fly and could only dodge the attacks. With every attempt, the dragon and the imp were getting closer to wounding the bear youkai. The fight was dragging on for a while, when the moment of glory was suddenly ended, as a sword pierced Hosen’s throat, being thrown like some dagger.

“Hn.” Sesshomaru muttered, impatient look on his face. “That was too long.”

Hosen gripped the blade and tore it from his neck, but in the very same moment Ah-Un added the finishing touch, sending a ball of energy right onto him. Mai winced, as the bear demon literally exploded, the tiny bits of his body everywhere in the vicinity. At last it was over. The rest of the fox demons used their brains and, after seeing all the clan leader being killed, they fled, saving their lives.

Mai sighed with relief. Somehow they made it – all of them were live, children saved… Something was not right. Horribly not right. She gazed at the sun, shining brightly in the east. No way. She looked sharply at Sesshomaru, who was standing here, with them, exhausted and very powerless. He wasn’t supposed to come! He should have headed to Saga, to get his youki back! If he hadn’t done it, it must have meant one.

“Sesshomaru!” she gripped the front of his kimono, sending him a harsh look. “What the hell are you doing here?!”

The dog demon pushed her away, freeing himself from the woman’s grip.

“Is that not obvious?” He replied with a question. “I came for what is mine.”

Mai clenched her teeth, both pissed, that he was so horribly stupid and crazy with worry.

“You idiot!” she continued scolding him, ignoring the irritated scowl. “Do you have the faintest idea, what have you done? Now it’s too late! The sun has risen and the damn deadline is up! I told you, that I’d handle this, but no, you had to barge in and ruin everything.”

Sesshomaru furrowed his brows, displeased, that the insufferable woman took the liberty to scold him like some pup.

“Be silent.” He said harshly to her, but it seemed to have the opposite effect.

“I won’t!” Mai snapped. “I had everything under control till the moment you showed up! What were you thinking? Do you even realize what it means for you?!”

“Hn.” Sesshomaru turned away from her, deciding it was the best to ignore the woman and her annoying yapping. 

Unfortunately, no matter how difficult to admit it was, she was partially right. It seemed, that she managed to fool the demons of the Alliance and would probably free Rin on her own. That was the turn of the events he did not take into consideration – he expected her to be either captured or dead, not to actually carry out her risky plan. Furthermore, he did not expect himself to get out of this alive, so he did not spare a thought, how exactly was he supposed to live without his youki for the rest of his time. Twelve days were a never-ending nightmare, most probably the worst experience in his entire life. How was he supposed to endure any more of this torture?

Seeing, that the demonic asshole happily ignored her, Mai shifted her anger on another person.

“Jaken!” she burst out, sending her companion her best poisonous glare. “You were supposed to stop him from doing anything stupid!”

“I tried!” the green imp shouted back, waving with Nintoujou, as though he wanted to whack Mai. “But he didn’t listen to me at all!”

Mai could have argued for hours like that, but suddenly she fell silent, as she remembered something important. Due to the commotion with freeing Sesshomaru and the fact, that the idiotic dog just managed to deprive himself of his youki forever, she completely forgot it.

“We have to get out of here. Now!” she urged Sesshomaru, ushering Rin onto Ah-Un’s back, beside Jaken.

The dog demon sent her a questioning look.

“What is the matter, you damnable woman?” he asked, gracing Mai with an epithet. The girl ignored the insult.

“We have to run!” She insisted. Sesshomaru, seeing the seriousness on her face, stalked towards her 

and lifted her onto the saddle without delay.

“He’s already here!” Kohaku exclaimed, pointing the sky.

The dog demon looked that way and saw the dark cloud. It hit the ground a few meters away from them. Once it dissolved, Sesshomaru’s mortal enemy was standing before them.

“Naraku.” The dog demon hissed out.

Hmm… I planned to make at least one cliffhanger in this chapter, but finally decided to make it longer and action-packed. I hope you liked it. Please send me your comments – I really look forward to those.