Kuroi-Nurikabe final part

'I thought this blade would be so much harder to find...' Meioshi thought, slowly walking up to it. 'Shishou said the Nameless General wielded a dagger with an incantation carved in the blade. Shanwang mentioned something similar in that the blade is guarded by a warrior, so he must've been referring to the Nameless General as well. If the general is dead, is his spirit guarding the dagger now? How could the general tell that a wall was separating the lost child from its mother? What's the connection in all of this? Nothing can touch either of these divine weapons without some consequence, but a demon believes that it can somehow possess the arctic sword? There has to be something I'm missing in all of this. Why was the bird told a different riddle to find the resting place of Baohu qi Voluptatis? What purpose did the wall have when the general cut it to free those lost souls?'

Feeling the holy magic surrounding the sheathed tanto, Meioshi took her time to admire the natural encasing where the blade rested. It, too, was surrounded by smaller vines at the tip of the sheath. Sprouting grass and a gentle wind reminded Meioshi that the living world was blanketed by crippling ice and snow in other places. She had to hurry. Kneeling down into a seated position, Meioshi took a deep breath and gave the blade a good look. It was in a beautiful scabbard. Gold-plated tips at either end carved into what appeared to be flowers, a deep green resembling healthy forest leaves like proud coniferous trees, and brown leather resembling tree bark instead of a typically wrapped hilt. Just as Kako Seigi said, this blade pushed back the Netherworld's ice away from it. Wind pressure was going back and forth in a swaying motion that started to hurt her chest. It wasn't like a motion sickness beginning to stir, but it was a clear disturbance and struggle for control. The spirit of the Nameless General was silent but still as strong as though the man were alive. Closing her eyes, Meioshi took another deep breath and sighed.

All was quiet. She had to obtain peace within herself before she could proceed. Feeling the snow underneath her folded legs, she allowed herself to shiver and sigh. The cold embraced her. The firmness of the earth pushed itself upwards, seeking a union with her spirit, and she could feel the softness of the ice numbing her skin along her butt and thighs. The scent of hellfire was strong but so was the small fragment of paradise before her. Inhaling, exhaling... inhaling, exhaling... inhaling, exhaling... repeating the breath until she could simply feel her wind channels allowing her to reach equilibrium. Pines and cypress enticed her. She allowed them to do so. Blizzard and breeze were in constant conflict. She let herself feel the power struggle. Inhaling, exhaling... inhaling, exhaling... inhaling, exhaling... repeating the breath and recognizing her own thoughts emerging forth. She thought about Heiwa and the villagers. The smell of fresh bread in the air, the sounds of the sea, the chanting of the Shinto priests, the hustle and bustle of her people as the day began, and her medical clinic with guests and patients alike visiting for a moment or two. Inhaling, exhaling... feeling her lips twitch to lift the corners of her mouth in a small smile. She thought about Tsuyoi. She allowed herself to feel the sensation of worry resonating in her chest. Inhaling, exhaling... feeling her lips settle into a thin line and her brow twitch before furrowing. The brow then straightened. She thought of Jaken, Aa and Un, and Sesshomaru. Inhaling, exhaling... inhaling, exhaling... feeling herself wonder about them with a raised eyebrow and curious pout. She allowed herself to wonder about their intentions and their safety. Inhaling, exhaling... inhaling, exhaling... feeling herself smirk and release a small chuckle. She thought about Yuko and her fiery spirit. She and Yuko were of a kindred spirit.

She continued to do this until the power struggle seemed to die away as though it had finally noticed that she was present. Inhaling, exhaling... inhaling, exhaling... all of the events leading up to now from her desperate pleas of forgiveness to her chosen path as a warrior to the mission in Koridetudi to the confrontation of so many enemies to the blood pact came to her piece by piece. She dissected each piece. Every demon, every voice, every trainer, every night she couldn't sleep, every emotion that returned to her heart and allowed her to feel again, and every day that she had spent with determination and doubt comingling within her spirit all came to her. Gradually, the wolf and bird became spectators as Meioshi seemed to simply be sitting there, but the pressure of the winds surrounding the Dai Fubuki blade grew in force and repelled the Netherworld ice. The bird watched in awe as the lotus blossom of ice seemed to open and break. The frosted petals were splitting like someone was plucking each one and letting them ascend to the heavens above. Glass pieces all fluttering and glowing in a beautiful display of rainbow and reflection.

Inhaling, exhaling... inhaling, exhaling... Meioshi could feel warmth over her body. Her head was hurting like someone was squeezing or pressing it. The snow beneath her was melting and more grass sprouted. Vines reached out to her and touched her knees. She allowed them to do so. Opening a reserve of holy power within herself, she let the pureness reach out and pet the vine. The stickiness and lemon fragrance of the vine reached her senses. It was a delicate plant, so she let it touch her. Inhaling, exhaling... inhaling, exhaling... inhaling, exhaling... A hand touched hers! She gasped at the feeling and felt warmth coursing through her body. It didn't belong to her but another. Someone was with her. She tried to open her eyes, but she found that she couldn't. She even tried to speak but no words would form. The curses of the bird and wolf may have activated!

"You are quite young," a male voice said, "to have such discipline of your own breathing like that. That is a characteristic of the Bushido warrior. State your name."

"I can't speak it aloud," Meioshi replied, allowing the warmth of the other to invade the darkness of her mind.

Inhaling, exhaling... inhaling, exhaling... repeating the breath until the growing headache and burning sensation lurking therein became a calm, steady pulse. She took a deep breath and tapped into her Mind's Eye when she was ready. It was an ability within her family's array of power that allowed them to interact with spirits. Her mother, Suiren, was said to have the clearest Mind's Eye. Meioshi wasn't sure if she was on her mother's level of power yet, but she allowed the thoughts of her heritage to come and go. She dissected each new feeling of headache, warmth, and cold air until all was still. A lovely breeze passed over her skin and she could feel the solidity of the hand holding hers. It was calloused and partially gloved, but there was a serenity behind the gentle touch. The smell of sweet orange and wild cherry, a trademark of a divine spirit, was ever present and lingering with the proud smell of pine and cypress. Meioshi opened her eyes and was met with the face of a man. He was dressed in his military regalia, mustache and goatee quite clean, hair combed back into a low bun, and eyes the color of deep brown wood found in flooring. A very handsome man who honored the way of the blade in his lifetime.

"Right then, let's try this again, shall we?" Meioshi said with a small laugh. She lifted a fist and placed an open palm on the curled fingers before bowing low to the man in front of her. He bowed in return and waited for Meioshi to face him again. When she did, he gave a small smile in greeting and nodded for her to continue speaking, "I am Jigoku Meioshi, granddaughter of Jigoku Arimasa. I follow the Bushido under his name. Pleasure to meet you."

"Pleasure is mine. What is a medical doctor doing here?" the man asked.

"I need your help," Meioshi replied honestly, earning the man's attention. "My master said that a general once wielded a dagger with a sacred incantation embedded in the blade. It was used to cut down a demon in the form of a black wall. That demon is here now, stopping two protectors of the Baohu qi Voluptatis (or rather, the snow sword as you may have known it at the time) from reuniting with the true guardian, and is possibly the one covering the living world in its ice. I don't understand the purpose of this demon or its want of the sword. It shouldn't be able to touch it if it is of divine power. What is its connection with the protectors of the sword?"

"There is none," the man said simply. "The black wall was a strange one, even when we confronted it. The lost child that gave Honoseiken, a young foot soldier under my command, the snow sword was tainted by the sword himself. The child, too, was a demon. During my time, if you ever were met with the child, you couldn't help him or else you'd have been devoured or killed. He often lured innocents with his tears and pleas to find his mother. His mother was another strange one. No one knew if she was a demon or not. She only attacked when the child cried. If you tried to help her, you were lost to the wintry grasps of death. Only if you told the child that you found his mother would he follow you and leave you unharmed. Failure to produce her resulted in death. Honoseiken did this, but, when he couldn't reach out to the mother, something happened to the boy who traveled with us. The sacred incantation that I used before battle in any winter was one that shielded me from sirens or howling winds that drove one mad. I heard nothing. Neither did Honoseiken. That's what drew me to the dagger. The incantation that I knew was being whispered from the blade. I merely etched it into existence. The youth traveling with us to safety held up a lantern that illuminated the wall's face. Honoseiken saw the mother behind the wall and took the dagger to attack. That gave me time to recite the incantation and break the wall. In reuniting the child and mother, they granted Honoseiken the sword and we returned home. We didn't know why the wall was there or why it was purposely blocking the child and mother from seeing each other. Honoseiken could only guess that the black wall may return in the future."

"What happened to Honoseiken after you returned home? Do you remember?" Meioshi asked.

"He chose to remain home after the war. I was returning to my home elsewhere before I was called to battle once more," the man answered. "I do recall him performing the kage o taosu before I left, however. If you are truly Bushido, you know of this test."

"Yes," Meioshi responded, nodding. "We do not believe in harming the innocent, so, in place of the tsujigiri, we train with ourselves using the ceremonial paint. I have performed the kage o taosu with my spear before my teacher. He trains me in artillery."

The man nodded, pleased at hearing this. He then said, "That is how my dagger and Honoseiken's sword are connected. We performed the kage o taosu together and agreed to find each other in the event that the black wall should return. We crafted a riddle as a map and chose a safe haven that would oversaturate the demon's senses and render it useless. We believed this creature could only be defeated if we joined forces."

"So, you both gained mastery of the weapons after facing the black wall. What of the youth that was with you? What happened to him?" Meioshi asked.

"Honoseiken adopted him," the general replied. "He offered to teach the boy our Bushido code, but the boy refused and instead wanted to learn how to create lanterns that revealed demons. He felt that would be of greater use as it aided us in battle. We both were pleased with his decision as that skill was useful, and he had a chance at life again. His lantern is within the riddle. Know ye of it?"

"His lantern?" Meioshi questioned, furrowing her brow and turning her head to the side. When the general nodded, he locked eyes with the doctor and watched as her eyes shifted with thought. Meioshi then slowly recited the riddle under her breath, dissecting the words piece by piece. Finally, she reached her answer and said, "The True North! It's not a star at all. It was the boy's lantern!"

"Yes," the general said with a nod. "Honoseiken crafted the resting place of the snow sword within a large stone, but he added another clue to the riddle to protect it from the wrong hands. The moon faces. It's the only part in the riddle that I know not the meaning of."

"So, the black wall doesn't reflect the faces of the moon? I thought the riddle was crafted by the black wall," Meioshi assumed, looking to her side.

"The black wall from what we understood infects the minds of those who can hear it's voice," the general replied, holding up a hand. He waved it across Meioshi's line of sight and produced an image of the black wall's true face. It had a large, fanged mouth that appeared when the brick and mortar crumbled. Eyes that were white like the moon and glassy like a mirror, they widened and gleamed until a swift motion like a claw swipe came out to Meioshi and made her back up quickly to avoid the attack. She hadn't realized it was an illusion until the general spoke again, "It's a quiet demon. It watches you and waits. Creeping through the forests like a scavenger within the shadows in the ice. For you to know of its voice, you would have to speak to the boy that was infected by it on that day. It's possible the two protectors can also hear it if they are children."

"Is there a way for me to use your dagger to stop this demon?" Meioshi asked, eyes pleading. "It might have been controlling these protectors for centuries. One of them was a child. Trapped in hell."

This caught the general's attention and made him perk up. He lowered his hand to dismiss the illusion and nodded silently. He had a soft spot for children in his past life. He rested his hand on his knee and said, "Hell is no place for the youth, but I must ask: why were you down there?"

Meioshi's eyes glossed over. The general parted his lips from her response, not anticipating a wave of emotion to come from her. This was a deeply rooted amount of pain that was setting everything in motion. She then asked in a small voice akin to a whisper, "Will you promise not to pity me?"

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"It does not matter," Sesshomaru replied, closing his eyes.

Ichi's smile reduced to an interested smirk. The western lord was being coy. Very well. The doctor would soon be one with them all in a few hours. By then, Sesshomaru's power will be useless and Yuko will be next. Let him bask in his short-term cunning. His yoki energy could be halted since Sesshomaru didn't seem to have any divine power.

"As you wish, young lord," Ichi said, bowing with respect. "You may do what you will. If you wish to face the wolf, we will not stop you. Our target is written in stone."

"I don't understand why the sky or the wolf wants the doctor so much," Jaken finally said, clenching his jaw. "Or even how they know about her. I get the half-breed because they live in the same village but why everyone else? It doesn't make sense."

"She was in the Netherworld before," Ichi replied simply, raising an eyebrow. The translucent whiteness trapped in his eyes grew a bit wider in diameter. Sesshomaru and Jaken could see a small flame flickering in those blackened eyes. Mouth parted, breath becoming labored, and an eerie hiss coming from Ichi's diaphragm. He almost seemed... aroused, but it wasn't a sensation he was producing. It was coming from somewhere else. Whether it was the wolf or the sky, Sesshomaru and Jaken simply couldn't tell but whatever was possessing Ichi in that moment held a certain fascination for the doctor. Ichi then spoke, "You should have seen her then. She was so beautiful. Eyes brimming with tears and fear etched into those wild features. She was like prey. A small animal with an instinct to survive like you couldn't possibly imagine. Not a single weapon in her possession. Not even a shield. Those long legs running through the plains of hell, feet burning and breath heavy. Her screaming a song plucked from a harp within her very being. No matter how many times she had been bitten or scratched, she kept going and kept running and kept slipping through so many fingers."

A blast of power some distance off caught everyone's attention. Sesshomaru dared not take his eyes off Ichi, but the half-breed turned his gaze slowly to his left then smiled equally as delayed as his turn. Jaken also turned his head briefly with some surprise, wondering where that massive burst of energy could be coming from, before he returned his attention to Ichi.

"She is so much stronger now," Ichi complimented, eyes filling with more fire in the blackened parts of his eyes like burning coal. "It took some years to make her, but she belongs to hell forever more. She knows it better than even the most wicked of men. She doesn't run from it anymore. Her eyes don't shrink. Her song is so much more enticing. She is no longer prey. She is predator. She can survive."

"She is a demon then?" Sesshomaru questioned, seeking clarity.

Perhaps that was really why she had no scent. Either she was truly a demon or a half-breed. No human can survive the land of shadow and death. However... the Jigoku family are supposedly known for going into hell. They can survive it. Why? Why was she really down there? Who was she trying to save?

Ichi chuckled deeply and said, "Ah, you're curious again. No, she is no demon. And, no, she was not dead then. She didn't die either. She was still alive. So beautifully alive! Trapped in the very depths of hell for two years."

Sesshomaru's eyes widened at this. Two years? She should've died! How? How long can the Jigoku family stay in the Netherworld?

"That's impossible!" Jaken interjected. "She would've starved to death! Or even - !"

Ichi gave another girthy laugh before saying, "So many questions now, brothers! I love it! You are right. She had to learn to survive in hell. Food was not there. Drink... well, a matter of perspective. Her instincts are so bewitching, brothers. I look forward to our battle! Show me your will to survive and rule hell with me!"