Rainbow Gingko Palace part 2

"Your noisy imp is under water. Do you intend to fetch him?" Milady asked teasingly, sipping on a cup of tea.

"Hush!" Sesshomaru barked with a small growl.

"Oh, it's going to be like that, is it?" Milady huffed, slamming her cup of tea down and lifting herself up. "Then you leave me no choice, my snippy pup."

"I have been a man for years now. I do not have to accept nor tolerate such insults!" Sesshomaru barked lowly.

"If I had insulted you, you'd never know it, but, since you're looking for one, so be it. For a man who only learned two human years ago that love is not optional, you're certainly ill-timed when it comes to saving the people who supposedly matter to you," Milady snapped, ending the conversation as she looked into the sea. She looked at Emperor Kunimatsu and ordered, "Boy. Do you wish to save the girl from harm?"

"The doctor, you mean?" Kunimatsu questioned, turning to Milady with a quizzical look. "She's no girl."

"Her body may say otherwise, but she is a girl in comparison to me. Now, do you want to be useful or not?" Milady asked, narrowing her eyes but smirking all the same.

"What do you think you're doing?" Sesshomaru questioned.

"Exacting my revenge for taking the sake away while I was still drinking it," Milady said curtly, earning a huff from Hikozaemon II.

Hikozaemon II quietly took away the alcohol from her after she sipped on a cup not long ago. He forced her to drink tea instead. While it was an excellent flavor, it wasn't what she wanted. In exchange, Milady took all of his luggage and made a throne out of it to seat herself comfortably. Why she packed fine silk pillows on her holiday? No one knew. But, she seemed pleased with the revenge move... and quite comfortable, honestly. You would think such pettiness would have pleased Milady, but it didn't.

She knew very well that Sesshomaru was going to either go after his imp servant or go after the big-hipped girl she had the "displeasure" of meeting just outside of Heiwa. Milady was still not particularly fond of humans, but she found the creature of chaos that her unfriendly son collected... interesting. She expected another boring male soldier like the two guards her father-in-law chose to accompany Sesshomaru while on Okuri-inu duties, but the fact that the creature Grand Monk Shishido mentioned was a female and the current caretaker of Hasumi and Homugi sparked her curiosity. At least enough for her to frequently visit Hasumi and interrogate her living conditions and personally request Homugi's protection on Yamashi's ship. Homugi had planned to travel with Meioshi on her family ship, but that fell through because of the humbling request. Milady didn't care enough to meet this man named Liuxian that Hasumi was supposedly living with, but she did see him and took note of his odd hair color and otherworldly discipline in martial arts and meditation. Toga used to meditate in the mornings to maintain his inner peace like that.

Milady spent an alarming amount of time reflecting on her times with her late ex. She wasn't sure if he missed him or not, but there was something that seemed to be picking at her since she went on this holiday with her family. Part of it was that she genuinely wanted the break, and a major part of that was that she wanted to spend time with her family like they used to, but this other part of it had something to do with that big-hipped girl from before. There wasn't anything familiar about her, so Milady knew she didn't know the girl formally, but there was something about her quirky nature and confidence that... Milady couldn't put her finger on.

According to Sesshomaru, the big-hipped girl was the one in charge of finding the Meido Stone. She was also a descendant of one of the founders of Heiwa. While that didn't make her a princess, she was not poor or disadvantaged other than her medical practice not receiving the attention it probably deserved. Milady stopped paying attention after Hikozaemon II asked his few questions about the girl. Her highness honestly would rather be rid of the Meido Stone. Since it saved Rin, her unfriendly son's ward, there was really no use for it. It served its purpose and was now merely an accessory. It had great power, but Milady never relied on its power. She relied on her own, hence her rarely ever using it for anything more than a memorial to her late ex-husband. Perhaps that's what it was. Since meeting that big-hipped girl, Milady was "remembering" that her power was just as great as her husband's. They were not matched just because of her beauty; in fact, she resisted him because she wanted more from her mate. And she definitely wasn't one of those girls who fantasized about some alpha male sniffing out his "luna" and dominating her thoughts or soul. Bleh!

But...

That's what made her different back then. Enticing. Not easy to satisfy or crack. Men were fascinated by the mysteries only she could possess, and Toga often agreed that that was one of her finer qualities. But, he admitted that it wasn't the mystery that caught him, but her moments of innocence. Tch! Such nonsense! She supposed she saw a lot of her former self in that big-hipped girl, though. The girl knew she had a woman's body, shapely like a gourd, and wasn't fazed by others acknowledging it. She knew she had big hips, and patted them with pride, but it didn't seem like she fully knew about her own beauty. She didn't saunter over to Milady to show any glamour or youthfulness to challenge her... or just to be extra about it all. She was playful, honored her grandmother's body shape, and looked exhausted from her prior battle in all honesty. Yet, she sort of... understood the vibe Milady had. Her untapped, or rather rarely tapped, potential was evident much like Homugi's. Milady noticed that Homugi was practicing some dancing from time to time. It caught the attention of others, and she seemed to enjoy it. Homugi had a leaner shape than the big-hipped girl, but her legs were phenomenal. The young inu beauty would destroy a clan easily.

"Boy, make a path to the sinking ship since you possess such power," Milady ordered. She then lifted her claw and purred, "I'll take it from here."

"What!?" Sanraku and Homugi questioned in unison.

"... Your precious human is on a different ship. Don't waste your time," Sesshomaru said, taking a step forward to jump off the ship and take flight.

"My son, how long do you intend to hide yourself from me? I can sense your worry. It's obvious," Milady said with a serious expression on her face. "Now, hush that sass and let me think. I still haven't answered your imp's question. He'll be expecting one when I retrieve him."

That stopped Sesshomaru immediately. No one had ever seen him with shock on his face with exception to Homugi. He then stuttered, "Y-y-you're - ! Saving him?"

"I'm doing what any mother would when her child loses his toys. Stand aside!" Milady ordered, manipulating her shadow to shift under her might.

The boat stopped suddenly like the anchor had been released. Kunimatsu's talisman spun violently like a disturbed coin that had been tossed into the air or a windmill turning during a storm. He gasped at such power being released and watched Milady's shadow wash over him before it stopped just underneath him and raised him slightly like a pedestal was forming from the sea itself.

"Ti-tiangou!" one of Yamashi's workers exclaimed, flinching and backing away.

"Daughter, you will crush this ship if you release too much power," Hikozaemon II warned, unfazed by the might belonging to his clan.

"I merely need a pathway to cut through the current," Milady said, telekinetically letting her furs lift up. The whites of her eyes changed to red, and her glassy, yellow pupils turned to slanted black, but she maintained her toothy grin. "The boy altered the sea's direction, not its speed."

The white furs churned and spiraled into a large blob until legs started forming, and her shadow mirrored the movements of her furs while in the sea. Soon, both turned into familiars and became smaller inuyoukai she could control. The shadow familiar had a black head, black front paws, and a skinny, black tail with a crescent curl but a white ghostly body and no back legs, while the furry familiar had a white head, front paws, and a curlier tail that resembled a furled sail but a black, sleek body similar to a sea lion and no back legs as well. Kunimatsu took that as his cue and performed a small kata dance that was as graceful as the doctor's dances. He twirled the royal scepter-spear about, making it cut through the water to make water walls, and finally summoned up enough reiki to shoot a final blast straight into the maelstrom. Meioshi's boat was now visible as it descended into the center of the whirlpool. Milady took that opportunity to send her familiars after the boat.

"Boy! Out of the water now!" Milady ordered.

"Young emperor!" the captain of the royal ship called, having his men let down a rope ladder for Kunimatsu to climb on.

Sesshomaru was about to stop Milady and fly ahead of her instead. Jaken was inexplicably on Meioshi's boat. He said he wanted to train some more, so he remained with her. So, now, both his servant and his servant's servant are being eaten by the sea! This was just stressful! But, his mother barked at him and bolted off the boat in a burst of sonic speed.

"Milady, wait! I'm coming with you!" Homugi said, chasing after her.

She may not be able to fully fly, but she could run over the water. So, Homugi jumped off the boat and transformed just in time. When she landed on what should have been water, Milady threw her pearls in Homugi's direction and telekinetically made them grow larger until they formed a road of pearls. Homugi quickly nodded her head and athletically jumped on each one until it looked like she was running on the ground. Together, both girls entered the maelstrom in just enough time to disappear with the sinking ship. Sesshomaru's mouth was uncharacteristically propped open. It was the most emotion he showed to anyone in a long time when it came to his parents.

Milady, his mother, was saving JAKEN!? And Meioshi!? Why? Before he could even react a second time, the pearls plummeted into the sea to form an underwater shield of some kind. Reijiro went to look on the other side of the boat and saw dragons looking back at him. One of them popped its head out and roared to get everyone's attention.

"Yamashi!" Yuko called.

The disgraced prince smiled at his wife to reassure her and walked forward. He then asked, "How might I help you, dragon?"

"... Solve the puzzle, walk our roads..." the dragon said without moving his mouth.

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