Gogyo Stone of the Waters
Sesshomaru could potentially argue that this was the most uncomfortable he had ever been around another demon, but he couldn't help being curious about the pallbearer next to him either. Tadamasa was focused on the doctor as she was investigating the waters. It looked like she had hit something reminiscent of a door, but it was hard to tell with such poor lighting. Hell was dark, but it wasn't so poorly lit that you could barely see! Perhaps living in Koridetudi did have its perks since his level of hell had its own wintry sun. Downside was the lack of a moon, though. He kind of liked seeing the celestial beauties of the mortal realm. Hearing a noise, Tadamasa's ears perked up before pulling back. Sesshomaru found that the pallbearer's ears bore resemblance to a snow fox, or some other animal of the tundra, and the Netherworld demon in question seemed a bit larger and more muscular than his smaller, recognizable counterparts. It made the Western lord question if Tadamasa was the leader of the pallbearers. If so, why would he work with the hell travelers willingly? Better yet, he could ask this question.
"What is your relationship with the witch, pallbearer?"
Tadamasa turned to the inu prince and answered, "I know many witches, young man. Which one are you referring to?"
"The doctor," Sesshomaru specified, narrowing his eyes at the creature.
"Ah, she's the opposite of a witch. A bit too sweet to be such a thing, honestly," Tadamasa replied, returning his attention to the doctor. "She was once our prisoner. Once she cleared her name, she returned as the hell kings' servant. I was simply her warden and confidant for a while."
"You find this to be a reason to touch an unmarried woman's hair?" Sesshomaru questioned, still upset about the exchange.
"Respectability politics have no weight in the Netherworld. A woman is a woman. You've no status in the land of shadow and death once your soul is claimed," Tadamasa answered, letting a short chortle. It was almost melodic. He then said, "Though, I suppose you could say I'm the only one she trusts with caring for her hair in the Netherworld. There are few creatures there who have the patience and gentleness needed for such a fine task."
He may not have liked that answer, but... Sesshomaru begrudgingly accepted it. He couldn't argue against a noblewoman's caretaker. But... now this begged the question of what Meioshi did in her past to be imprisoned in hell for those two years that the black wall demon had mentioned to him at the beginning of his journey with the hell traveler. How did she clear her name and gain her freedom? SPLASH! Meioshi popped out of the water and swam back to the solid ground. Looking around for a second, she grabbed a torch from the wall and started inspecting the walls for something. She was eyeing the different markings on the walls. When she found one on what looked like a rusting pillar, she spotted another wall with the same symbol and then a pipe just above her head with the same symbol. There had to be a correct order to follow to open the underwater door.
"Tadamasa. Can you produce Shinto paper?" Meioshi asked, thinking of her next steps.
"I cannot," he answered, tilting his head.
"I was hoping not to use the talismans," Meioshi said, bending down to pull off a talisman from her anklet. Performing some hand signs, she activated some of her powers then said, "Detect a path. Release!"
The talisman floated from her hands then zipped to the marking on the pipe. A tunnel just above it became visible... but so did a heinous creature. It was a kani oni, or quite simply a crab demon. It's black teeth and tusks looked as intimidating as any other sword that was sharpened to perfection, but its eyes had to be its strangest feature. They moved in all directions! Coupled with its blue-green, murky shell, it may as well disappear at the bottom of an ocean. Sucking in a strong gust of air, the kani oni unleashed a small typhoon of water from its mouth that rushed into all of the pipes and struck Meioshi in her side. She slammed against the wall, wind properly knocked out of her for a second, and grunted from the pain of the blast. This was until she realized that the water levels were rising.
"Stop it from filling this room with water!" Meioshi ordered. "Tadamasa, freeze the overhead pipes closed!"
Leaping from the wall, the kani oni went for Jaken and Meioshi. It successfully grabbed the doctor's ankle with a harsh pinch to the one dressed in the talisman anklet and snatched Jaken to throw him at an ice wall to break it. Jaken was able to react quickly enough to summon the Nintojo's flames to melt the ice, but the crab shot water at the flames before running along the walls to snatch him again. Sesshomaru acted just in time to punch the kani oni in its eye and startle it. Tadamasa shot a blast of snow at the melted cap again to freeze it shut and went into a corner to watch the fight from there.
"Sesshomaru! Time your attacks with Nintojo's flames! You might be able to disarm him!" Meioshi ordered.
"I don't take orders from witches! Now, hush!" Sesshomaru argued, lifting his claw and striking at the crab's shell.
"Goddammit, Sesshomaru! Think for a second! He just came out of an entry point to another room we might need! You killing him will just trap us here!" Meioshi retorted.
"Know your place, witch!" Sesshomaru snapped, eyes going red and strikes against the kani oni becoming more poisonous. "I don't have to associate myself with the low-class noble or your filthy pallbearer! You're the one that capped off any escape points out of this cave! Now, be quiet!"
Meioshi displayed plenty of emotions in her eyes when they widened in response: hurt, frustration, and worry were the most recognizable. What Sesshomaru and Jaken didn't account for, however, was rage. Tadamasa was intrigued by this. Very few people could upset his little doll, but this inu prince managed to do so within a few seconds. She walked away from the battle entirely, letting the crab deal with them, and walked straight up to Tadamasa. She didn't have to speak for him to know what she wanted. The pallbearer chuckled darkly at her before allowing Meioshi to use some of his power from the floating snowball to activate the markings. She threw talismans at the visible markings at once, released mianyi to make other doors rattle in response, and successfully opened the underwater door and another door just above a pipe leading to a well-lit space. The kani oni roared before slapping Jaken and Sesshomaru away from him and charging at Meioshi.
The doctor snapped around to it with her spidery orange eyes glowing brilliantly, pointing her finger to the ground and barked, "SIT!"
This struck fear into the oversized crab demon and made him shuffle back and whimper. The sheer amount of power that leaked out from her angry command made a shockwave force some of the water that was on the floor back. Meioshi didn't stop there, though. She broad jumped to the pipe above, alerting a slug type monster from its bed, and barked the same order with equal intimidation that made the demon inside of its hole whimper and clam up.
"Tadamasa, with me," Meioshi ordered, not hearing a peep come out of the pallbearer other than a short chuckle. He was able to leap at her side with ease since none of the monsters were there to stop them. She then said, "Let his highness figure shit the fuck out on his own! We're done with him."
Sesshomaru said nothing more to her as he stood there watching her leave.
Jaken piped up, "Uh... Do we follow her, me lord? Or should we continue fighting the crab there?"
The kani oni drew something in the floor, no longer wanting to fight, and let out a little poop along with a small fart... It stank...
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Meioshi walked into the tunnel in silent fury, ironically with tunnel vision to her destination. She then asked, "Did that inu tell you what he was looking for while I was gone, Tadamasa?"
"'Fraid not, my dear. Might I inquire about this so-called Meido Stone the two of you are after?" Tadamasa asked.
"I don't know anything about it, personally, and I don't care. My guess is he's looking for a stone of equivalent power to serve as a beacon to find the Meido Stone. He had gotten a tip from somewhere to investigate this wasteland."
"Interesting," Tadamasa said again with a wider grin. "I wonder if the filter beast has it and is the reason why he's so sick."
"Whatever it takes for that inu to get the hell out of my life gets done today," Meioshi hissed, stopping at the end of the tunnel to see a large shark-like creature made of many items submerged in slimy water. It looked like it was stuck or dying with the way it was on its side. It was rare to see sharks on beach shores in that position unless something was wrong with them, but its surroundings consisted of nothing but trash and scavengers. Taking a piece of Tadamasa's snowball between her fingers, Meioshi tossed it below like a pebble and waited for the shark demon to respond. It woke violently and crunched down on whatever was in its path. There were too many rows of teeth in its mouth to enter that way, but she did see the creature's blowhole. Thinking of a plan, she scaled the walls expertly and dove down in the beast's domain...
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Sesshomaru was... trying to figure out a different way to comfort the kani oni. After the creature pretty much pooped on himself, Jaken tried talking to it to get it to cooperate with them. It just sat there, sulking... but obeying Meioshi's order. That was until it started to cry from being yelled at. So, Jaken was left with the task of trying to get the kani oni to not drown them in his tears.
'She yelled at me!' the poor creature was wordlessly saying. 'Did you see that? She just turned around and yelled at me!'
Unfortunately, talking to it didn't stop the water levels from rising. If anything, it grew about two inches. Water was already in his lordship's boots. Sesshomaru, not knowing what else to do, stroked the creature's spines to make it turn to him. When the kani oni sniffed his tears, Sesshomaru was pretty much just stuck there stroking the beast to calm him down. It was the gentlest thing Jaken had ever seen Sesshomaru do... and the scariest. How was he capable of taming such a creature so easily? Was the kani oni just that terrified of Meioshi's rage?
Gurgling sounded behind them. The kani oni perked up at this and turned around to see fresh water entering his domain. He tilted his head, seeing sand pour in as well, and watched as the holes in the walls poured out sludge then... gold and silver. Treasures, sand, and fresh water just poured in from all sides. The kani oni was happy with this and performed a small dance with joy. That was until he spotted Meioshi coming out from the underwater door. She was carrying what looked like a blue pearl in her arm while Tadamasa held a necklace of shark teeth in his hand. The kani oni hurried back to his seated position like a child trying to be good before his mother came home and started whimpering again. The doctor looked at the creature, reached out to it, and pet its cheek.
"I'm sorry, little crab," she apologized softly, eyes returning to a softer hazel than the infuriated orange. "You be good and keep protecting your home now, okay?"
She blew a kiss to it and walked past it, hearing the creature start dancing again. While the kani oni was in the clear, Sesshomaru was not. Saying nothing more to the inu prince, Meioshi handed him the watery pearl and dumped it into his hands without saying a word. She walked away from them without a second thought. Judging from the ornate carving and beautiful design of the pearl, Sesshomaru could only guess that this was the Gogyo Stone he was looking for. Unfortunately, the price for finding it was making Meioshi very angry. What made her that mad, though? Was it calling her a low-class noble? She should know that he has a great amount of respect for her. She shouldn't have taken that seriously. It couldn't have been what he said about Tadamasa. Sesshomaru didn't like pallbearers. Meioshi could understand that... couldn't she?
"Is that what you were looking for, my lord?" Jaken asked.
"She obtained this so easily," Sesshomaru whispered. Jaken took note of the disturbed tone.
A shadow loomed over them, disrupting everyone's thoughts. The kani oni was standing there, exchanging a glance between Sesshomaru and Jaken, before it lifted its large claw and stroked Sesshomaru's head.
'I feel you, bro,' the kani oni thought. 'Have some love. You gave it to me.'