Fall of the House of Taisho

Part II

~oOo~

It was an eerie experience to walk within the walls of that house – what few servants were left carried on the echo of decay that the outside of the palace conveyed, leaving the visitor feeling as though they were surrounded by naught but dusty relics of a decadent past.  

I wondered how long this place had truly looked this way.

It seemed to me that the palace sucked the life out of all those that stepped within its confines, leaving them as desiccated as any centuries-old corpse.  With every sense I possessed literally screaming, I was quickly aware that this home had, indeed, been cursed – and the curse would not be satisfied until the last Taisho passed from this life.

In that moment, I could only be grateful that I had not had any children with Inuyasha, we, both having expected to have long lifetimes together, had chosen to wait for at least two decades before trying for a first child.  It was now evident that that which I had mourned for so long, the lack of a child of our union to comfort me in my widowhood, was actually a blessing in disguise.

For a moment, I considered the possibility of fighting this curse – for I was not a powerless onna by any means... but as I investigated it, I quickly came to understand its unique properties.  It had only strengthened as the years had gone by since it had been placed – and I could tell that it was of ancient origin.  No one less powerful than one of the kami themselves could now break it, and in that moment, I understood clearly that neither I, nor Sesshoumaru, would be long for this plane of existence.

It was a morbid, and frightening thought... I was not ready to pass from this world.  I had hoped for so long to live through the eras to once more see my family, and to be given the knowledge that this would not be so, angered me.  

Knowing my fate, and accepting it, were two different things, and I vowed in that moment to fight it with everything within me.

I was not to know, of course, that in mere minutes there would be no fight left in me.

At any rate, in that second, my heart beat within my chest like a trapped bird, and staring at the elderly youkai servant now escorting me towards his Lord's study with a fierce scowl, I fought off the terror and anguish that welled up from my spirit, and settled a calm expression on my now pale face, refusing to allow anyone to see my troubled thoughts.

It was time to face the Master of the house.   

I wondered, with a slight thrill of dread, what changes, if any, the sickly atmosphere that prevailed here had wrought in him.  He had always been so much larger than life, that it was hard to imagine anything changing any part of the aspect of all that was Sesshoumaru.

But as I stepped within the room, it was clear that the power of the curse that lay over this family, this house, had managed what nothing else could have – for the daiyoukai that I had known, and loved, was changed in the most drastic of manners in the months since I had seen him last.

Stoic, controlled, he was still, but his entire demeanor shouted out 'death!' in such a manner that it was apparent he was well aware of his fate.  There was a fine tremor in his frame that most would not have noticed – but I am miko, and as his lover of so many years, I was most intimately acquainted with his person, and therefore almost hyper-aware of any changes.

I tried, oh, I tried, to keep my shock at the sallowness of his skin and his haunted mien hidden, but it was to no avail – just as I knew him, so he also knew me, and I could not keep my awareness of his malady from him.

He eyed me solemnly.  "You are aware of the curse on this house, are you not?"  he asked, and it was easy to see in his eyes that he was weary – he was ready to lay down his arms and accept death.  

That, I think, frightened me more than anything else.

I shook my head, not even trying to fight the fear I felt any longer.  "Why did you call me here, knowing that this would affect me, as well?  And why have you given up?"  I cried.  After all the years together, could I have been mistaken in his feelings for me?  Did he not care at all?

He turned to look out the window, staring out over the bleak, now moonlit landscape with slightly slumped shoulders.  "This curse would have found a way to swallow you, even had I not called you here.  This is why I was so against you mating Inuyasha all those years ago, miko.  But by the terms of the curse, we can not speak of it to any outside of the family.  And Inuyasha was not aware of it until later years, because of father's demise at his birth.  Some die earlier, and some die later, but all die tragically."  He sighed, the sound cold and dry.  "This time, finally, the curse has managed to bring about its intention – the utter destruction of this family."

After a few moments, he murmured,  "We are the last, Kagome.  I felt it were best if we went together, rather than singly, and alone.  Was I wrong in this belief?  Would you have preferred to die alone?"

How to speak of the despair I felt in that moment?  My soul cried out at the harshness of the kami that I had served faithfully for so many years.  Could they not have intervened and spared he and I this ignominious fate?  But no... it seemed the kami had little compassion for their lowly creations – they probably were not even aware of our sad destiny, too caught up in their own lofty pursuits.

What hurt the worst, however, was not even the thought of my own death – but the bitter defeat that lay thickly in the air surrounding the once indomitable spirit of my inuyoukai.  It left the taste of ashes in my mouth, and anguish in my heart.

I could not stand to see him this way.

Setting my own fear aside, I walked up to stand behind him, and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.  Leaning my head against my hand, I sighed.  "No... you weren't wrong.  If we must go, then I would rather go together."

He didn't respond verbally, simply reaching up with a hand to entwine my fingers with his in acceptance of my words.  

A cold silence filled the room, only sharpened by the stark shadows that the icy moonlight forced through the window as we waited to see how the curse would play out our destruction.  We knew not whether we had minutes, or hours, but we both knew that we would not live to see the dawn break upon the tallest peaks of the shiro.