"You need to wake up, Zuri," Sesshomaru says with a firm expression and tone.
What do you mean by 'wake up'? This is not a dream. I filled the abyss with my creations to make it a better place to live, and I created you to accompany me. I hoped I would eventually forget about reality and live here peacefully since death isn't an option.
I fist my hand and frown while slowly replying, "You don't get to tell me what to do."
He narrows his eyes and glances around for a minute before saying, "You have been trapped in your mind for months, I understand, but-" He suddenly takes an angry step towards me and scolds, "This whole place is an illusion you shouldn't accept."
The moment those words leave his mouth, all my creations fade away, and I find myself stranded alone in the dark abyss again. "No, no," I frantically say while looking around, hoping to find at least one thing still standing.
All my hard work is gone. Not even the golden fireflies remain. In anger, I turn to where Sesshomaru was a minute ago, only to freeze in my place upon still being able to see him.
Why didn't he disappear like everything else?
I watch him as he reaches out to the sword hanging in his waistband, recognizing it as Tenseiga. When did Toga give it to him? But more importantly, why is he unsheathing it?
Sesshomaru makes eye contact with me for a split second before disappearing to appear right beside me and whispers, "This might hurt."
He slashes me with Tenseiga, and a wave of pain overtakes me. Suddenly, the space around me changes into less darkness, and the aura of the place smells like death. I take a quick glance at my surroundings to see two familiar faces.
"Is that you, child?" I hear Toga speak, and I immediately tear up.
I don't care if this is another illusion my brain is making up. All I care about is seeing familiar faces. It makes me feel alive again.
Toga gently approaches me and lends me his hand to get up. I hold on to it, but as soon as I get up, I feel something terrifying behind me. I unintentionally tighten my grip in fear. Toga obviously notices and says to reassure me, "You are safe here." He pauses and smiles while saying, "Why don't you meet him? He has something to tell you."
Who is he talking about?
I let go of Toga's hand and turn on my heels to look at the person Toga is talking about, but my body and mind immediately freeze upon seeing him- or it. What am I witnessing? A huge being, not less than a thousand floors high. The enormous figure suddenly moves, and I feel something approaching from my side that's when I find myself getting carried up by that being's gigantic hand. I lose my balance and fall on his palm. I quickly close my eyes terrified of what my eyes may see.
The movement suddenly stops, and for a few seconds, nothing happens, so I slowly open my eyes and see a mask. A very familiar mask, one of which I have seen in the book Athanasia treasures. This must be Anubis, but why is he this big? How did he go from being only a few inches taller than Athanasia to being like this?
"Athanasia told me you might get scared. I hid my face and changed my voice. I apologize for not being able to do anything with this body," Anubis says in a very unfamiliar voice than what I know from Athanasia's memories.
Even though he is that huge, he has a gentle aura. Maybe the feeling I had earlier was because of the dead surrounding the entire place. I sadly look at his palm and see the burnt flesh. He must have hidden his face because it looks like his hand too. It's sad that such a handsome God looks so dead and lonely.
"Anubis," I call his name. I pause for a few seconds and look at him, continuing, "Enough time has passed. Why don't you quit whatever you are doing and leave this place?"
I hear him sigh under the mask and reply, "I already had that conversation with Athanasia a moment ago. There is no salvation for me, and unlike where you were, this isn't an illusion. This place needs order."
It's not my place to intrude. I'm sure Athanasia had enough time to speak with him. I look down and defeatedly say, "I understand."
Anubis asks me to open my hands, so I do as he says, and suddenly, a dark blue stone appears out of nowhere, making me widen my eyes at the familiarity.
"This is the Meido stone. Follow the path it creates to find your way back, and I will trust who you will entrust it to," Anubis says, and he slowly puts me down.
I look at the stone in awe, remembering how Inukimi was the one using it to train Sesshomaru to master the Meido Zangetsuha, but how do I use it to create a path? I get lost in my thoughts and start walking, following the path in front of me. Suddenly, another path opens, making me walk towards it, but Anubis calls Sesshomaru's name, halting the three of us from leaving.
"You have too much demonic energy. Be careful what you do with it," Anubis warns Sesshomaru and disappears.
The air suddenly feels a little bit easier to breathe in, making me wonder how much energy Anubis has, to make us look like little children compared to him.
"Such a show-off," I hear Sesshomaru comment, making me giggle.
"Hey, that's a God you are talking about. Be careful with your words," Toga scolds Sesshomaru, but of course, Sesshomaru doesn't care much. Well, he does whatever suits his taste.
I'm sure Anubis is not narrow minded to get offended by his own kin-
I giggle at my own thoughts at the realization of the word narrow-minded. He is definitely narrow-minded since his kin is the same. They get easily offended. It's cute, though, just like little puppies. We better leave fast before Sesshomaru says something really offensive.
It takes us a few minutes before the path stops. I look at the stone and then at the path while wondering why the path has suddenly stopped. I turn to Toga and then to Sesshomaru, finding Tenseiga with him, so I tell him to try using the Meido Zangetsuha.
Thankfully, it works, and we get out of that place and into the throne room. Izayoi rushes to us while Inukimi slowly and elegantly walks towards us with a suspicious expression.
When did Izayoi-
"Zuri, is that you, my dear?" Izayoi asks, and I only give her a confused expression. I find myself looking at Inukimi, asking questions with my eyes, which seems like she has one answer for all of them.
"The Goddess was in hold of your body for 3 months," Inukimi elaborates, and I realize that Izayoi had enough time to recover, but was I really out for that long? I didn't have any recollection of time at all.
I look at the sky, realizing it's nighttime. I'm starting to hate the dark color of the sky, but at least I'm surrounded by the people I cherish, unlike that place.
I silently take another look at each one of them, and weirdly, they don't utter a word, just looking back at me. Is that pity I see in their eyes or questions? I'm not sure anymore.
"You should rest. We will have our talk later," Toga says and gestures to Izayoi to follow him.
I watch them as they leave, and then I turn to Inukimi, saying, "I have something for you." I walk towards her and ask her to open her hands. "Anubis entrusted me to give you this Meido stone," I say while giving it to her.
"H-he knows about me?" For the first time in my time with her, I hear her stutter in shock. She is genuinely surprised.
I smile and reply, "He'll watch over you closely from now on. This stone is his eye."
I know Sesshomaru must be confused by now since Anubis didn't give any details about the stone's origin, but I saw it. When I was up close to his face, I saw his eyes. They looked the same as the Meido stone. I'm assuming they regenerate since neither of his eyes was missing.
I excuse myself and go to my room. Irgal and the one-eyed demon don't utter a word as I enter my room for one reason. I sigh and turn to look at Sesshomaru, who, for some reason, has followed me to my room. What is wrong with him?
"Is there something you want to say?" I ask, breaking the silence.
"What was all that in that void?" He asks without looking at me.
I look away at the abrupt question. I can't tell you I was creating my perfect world with a perfect image of you that has nothing to do with the one standing in front of me.
"I was passing time," I decide to use those words as my answer.
He narrows his eyes and makes a fist of his hand, then says with gritted teeth, "Why didn't you fight Athanasia to have control?"
I have seen that expression before. It's an expression that shows weakness and defeat, but why does he have that kind of expression? I don't understand.
"Sesshomaru, what happened while I was gone?"
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Finally, Sesshomaru got to meet Anubis. 🥳 The details of the meeting will be mentioned later.
I published a chapter for those who didn't watch Yashahime and don't plan to. It is a recap of what happened with only what's in common with the story. No extra spoilers will be mentioned there, only the main events connected to the book.
See you later 🍬
-👑 Noorie.