Showdown! Phases of the Blood Moon final part

"Sesshomaru!" Meioshi hissed, reaching out to her ally.

A bolt of lightning shot at the doctor's feet to separate the two before Maboroshi no kohime went on the offense to strike at Meioshi. The goddess's might was too great for Meioshi to handle on her own, especially if she was being powered by the Web of Divine Might's joint strength. Enhancement of a deity's reiki could kill her. As if the situation couldn't escalate any higher, Maboroshi no kohime clashed her Akai Tsuno against Meioshi's Baohu qi Voluptatis once more before moving to let a now possessed Sesshomaru deliver a crushing blow with his Bakusaiga. Meioshi was thrown to the ground and skid across the surface for a good distance before recovering acrobatically. The talisman anklet glowed before papers started detaching themselves. The good doctor didn't have time to figure out why her Shinto papers were responding in such a way before Sesshomaru came shooting at her again. She managed to defend herself from another attack from the pair, but she was shaking in trying to hold them back. How did the goddess get a hold of Sesshomaru so quickly and so easily? He was practically one of the untouchables like the goddess! It didn't make any sense. Was he truly a Shinto guardian this whole time?

Thinking of the day she had first seen Sesshomaru flying in the sky, she remembered just how beautifully he moved above her. She envied Sesshomaru's ability to simply drift away from the world. He probably didn't have to worry about the world's corruption like she had to. No women coming to him in the middle of the night for protection, no children clinging to him because they're scared or sick, no men crawling at his doorstep to either kill him or seek his help. He could just do that. Be among the clouds with only his destination in mind. She had wished that the young man could read her mind then. She had so many questions to ask him. When did he learn how to fly? What does he think about when he's up there? Without her realizing it, Meioshi had this urge to protect Sesshomaru on that day. She wanted him to keep flying. She didn't realize he was an inu yet, and it wasn't until much later that she saw the irony of the situation. Unmei had spotted an inu in the sky when he first stumbled upon Heiwa. Here she was admiring an inu from the earth below. Unmei looked up to the inu as a symbol of new beginnings, so Meioshi looked up to Sesshomaru in a way for the same reason. He was her symbol of a new beginning. The time of strife was no more for her. She had to prepare herself for the final fight, and it seemed having Sesshomaru by her side in recent days made that clearer. To see him being used like this... well, broke her heart.

He was meant to be free and able to fly wherever he wanted. This lineup of events was not where he belonged. Sure, she can accept the fact that her life was surrounded by war, sickness, and pain, but... she couldn't watch Sesshomaru be affected like this...

"Hello, up there!"

Jaken heard someone calling out to them and looked down from his position on the Moko Moko. She was happily waving at them.

"Grant me luck on my next battle! I've quite the adversary to fight! Thank you in advance!" Meioshi shouted, blowing a sweet kiss to the group.

That caught Sesshomaru's attention immediately and made him look down at the girl.

Hit with Sesshomaru's claw strike, Meioshi belted out a painful screech before being kicked into some trees. When her back slammed into a thicker tree trunk, she looked at Sesshomaru again while holding her bleeding shoulder. She could stand to be hurt. She could stand to be yelled at. She could stand to be constantly receiving death threats from others. She could even stand to be insulted by Sesshomaru, but she drew the line at him being possessed. The only way to get him out of the trance was going for Maboroshi no kohime. Flopping down to her knees, the good doctor calmed her breathing and plucked a protection bead from her anklet before looking at the inu prince again. He was growling viciously like some rabid dog. She should've paid more attention to Yuko's description of him. She didn't even think that Sesshomaru might've been connected to the holy warriors in some manner. He was such a proud, confident man. Always to himself for the most part. Yet... he had helped her on more than one occasion.

Just before she had met him at the ravine for their duel, she was thinking of ways to actually get out of the fight. Not because she feared the man but because she had no reason to fight him. They may not have been friends, but they were neutral with each other. She understood that Jaken was a friend to the icy lord, and he understood that Yuko was her precious apprentice. She had nothing to gain from the duel, and his Meido Stone hadn't gone missing yet. She knew she caught him by surprise on that day. It was obvious. He could've easily popped up and continued their fight, but it looked like she had completed his challenge in some way. He no longer wished to fight. He saw something in her that she didn't see in herself. What was it? Who was it?

"You make a good other. One day, I want to fight you without my other power. If I can beat you as a human, then that will be my real victory. Today was just a test. Tomorrow will be the real fight. Maybe you're not just the answer to a riddle. Maybe... you're the answer to my ongoing question. Maybe you're here to tell me that I'm strong enough to fight my real enemy. If you are, then I look forward to tomorrow. Because then I'll know my nightmare is almost over. Jya! Until next time..."

No, this was not their "next time"! She wouldn't battle him like this! This was not worthy of honor! Dodging another brutal strike, Meioshi plucked a divine bead at Sesshomaru's back and defended herself against the goddess just in time to save some part of her skin. She was punched in her side by Sesshomaru and tumbling again to some other part of the cliff.

"I am responsible for releasing hell's minions on your homelands. I am sorry for this. I should have been more careful. I wasn't. If you do seek retribution for my actions, I will serve you to make things right."

Struggling to get up, Meioshi rose to her feet and realized what the Shinto papers were for. Tadamasa's talismans were healing papers. Hellfire was seeping into her wounds. She looked at the barrier surrounding Sesshomaru and smiled at him. That's more like it. That was worthy of honor. She would protect... her silly old dog, stubborn ally, always frowning inu prince, and her lord. She would make things right because that's what she promised him. She supposed her duties as a Bushido warrior were not finished after all. The goddess frowned at Meioshi's fond smile at Sesshomaru. It was a look akin to love - a look she was being denied in being separated from Kinzo now. She hated it! She would wipe it off the doctor's face! What she wasn't prepared for was Meioshi activating her true strength.

"Listen up, goddess of the onmyoji! You can insult me and my strength, you can even slap me around as much as you need if it'll make you feel like you're worth something, but what I refuse to let you do is hurt my friends or anyone close to me!" Meioshi exclaimed, being covered by a barrier of elements. "Unhand my taisho this instant or prepare yourself for your stay in hell!"

"You dare threaten me, mortal!" Maboroshi no kohime roared, unlocking her own strength.

The collision of power was enough the rattle the world. All corners of Nihon could feel their power. Tadamasa huffed with amusement before saying to himself, "Fool! You are not ready to battle an untouchable, but I'll admit I'd like to see how close you can get."

"Tadamasa, you have to get Jaken!" Meioshi ordered.

"The imp? You don't need him. Just kill them both," Tadamasa replied, raising an aggressively curled claw.

"Dammit, man! What's with everyone's obsession with death and ultimate power? Jaken has the Nintojo! It'll snap Lord Fluffs-a-lot out of the trance!"

"Why are you sparing his life, doctor? You don't even like him."

"... Because he has potential to be my taisho and make me ronin no more..." Meioshi replied softly with a small smile.