Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

Beta Read by: Kalliel/ Banana Rum

Prologue

--

'They need to be stopped. Stop it, please…'

There was lightning in the air, and thunder shook the ground. But clouds had only just begun to cover the sky.

'How…?'

Slowly, chanting filled the air. Darkness swept low over the dirt and sparse grass. Fire sprung up from where it had passed.

'Don't come near me, you monsters.'

Rain fell; didn't extinguish the flames. Thunder boomed, lightning flashed, darkness cheered.

'W-we're going to die…'

Heaven and hell collided, fighting a losing battle. They raged over the land, obliterating life.

'They have failed.'

The demons ran far away, eating the remnants of animals. Only two humans survived.

'Will there be life? Hope?'

Twins, cradled in their mother's body. One chance for life.

'Live… For me.'

They lived. The fate of humankind will not so easily be destroyed. He lived, repopulating the race of men.

'They are called demons. Be wary of them. They are the ones who destroyed this world long ago…'

Men grew. Learned. Became arrogant, fighting with each other. They didn't heed the warning.

'This will be your downfall. Until you put aside your differences, you will die. I cannot help you if you refuse to be helped.'

--

After the Meiji Era came to a close, demons became daring, snatching small animals- even humans- in the dead of night. Many parents watched sadly as their child was carried off, screaming, knowing they could do nothing to save them.

The lucky had more children; went back to a normal life. The unfortunate, who were unable to reproduce, died of depression, unwilling to let go of the memory of their child.

There was talk of stopping the demons, but there was never any action. The brave few who ventured forth into demon territory were never heard from again. Others took this as warning.

Five years later, a group was formed, of people skilled in the art of slaying. They drove the demons far into the hills, and their leader cast a spell of imprisonment of them.

The demons were doomed to spend eternity in that bondage. But, by a mere mishap, the spell started to erode.

The demons were almost free.

--

The year was 2000.

The morning was unusually foggy, even for a town near the ocean. The people looked up, and remarked about the weather, which had become sporadic in the last few months.

Some argued that it was just the season. After all, winter had just ended. Wasn't it normal to have fog in wintertime?

The elders silently shook their heads. They had never seen anything like it, although some had been alive before the 1900's, and had seen many storms. They disagreed, but most ignored them, dismissing it as craziness.

In the valleys a few miles away, the demons prepared themselves. They had waited long enough. They would do it today.

The leader grunted, and spoke in a foreign tongue. 'Show no mercy, for they have shown you none.'

The demons roared, and cheered. Their raucous voices floated down to Tokyo, echoing, and installing fear in the hearts of many. They looked up at the valley, but could only see vague shadows, moving swiftly through the thick brush.

The prime minister called for all able-bodied men to arm themselves, sending the alarm to all households. He waited, anxiously, for the blow that he knew would come. He had read about demons before, in the dusty library where he had practically grown up in. Now that he remembered it, he was terrified, his hands shaking uncontrollably, even with his attempts to stop.

He looked out his office window, his eyes fixed on the hills to the east, the sun just beginning to creep over them. The shadows were more clearly defined, and moving more rapidly.

'Demons existed in the Sengoku Jidai. Humans were nearly desiccated. When the demons were eventually confined to the hills by a powerful spell, the spell started to break. When it does, demons will come once more to kill us all, revenge for their binding.'

The man shivered. He was positive that these were the demons. Today they would get their revenge.

--

Sakura pleaded with her mother to let her play outside. She cried and howled, until her mother finally gave in. She crouched near her house, unaware that her mother was watching her closely.

Sakura scooped a handful of mud from the road and moved it to her left, patting it down to make a house. She searched for sticks, and found plenty thin ones, sticking them in the mud. She giggled, and wiped her hands on her skirt.

She continued playing, until her mother came running out, and grabbed her. "We have to get inside! Now!"

She ran inside, gathering food and blankets for a quick escape. Sakura didn't understand. "What are you doing, Mommy?"

Her mother snapped, giving into the fear. "They're coming for us. We'll all die… Damn it, we're doomed… Can't you hear the screams?" She didn't stop to see if Sakura understood her or not.

Indeed, on the outskirts of town, people were shrieking, as the demons descended on them. Soon, they would be inside the city.

Sakura walked outside, and begin to play again. She didn't notice the looming shape behind her, but her mother did.

"No!" She cried, watching as her only daughter was killed, a sharp talon through her side. Sakura's eyes rolled back in her head and she fell, and her mother rushed out to her, a piece of wood in her hand as a crude weapon.

"I'll fight you, you bastard," she hissed. Tears began to fall, wetting her cheeks and mixing with the blood. 'Where are those so-called able-bodied men sent to help us?! No matter. I'll avenge my child.'

With a furious roar, she sprinted at the demon, swinging wildly at him. He dodged easily, grinning as he reached forward and grabbed her throat. He saw the fear and anger in her eyes, and grinned even more.

He leaned forward, and his jaw elongated as he bit off her head, the blood gushing out of the stump that was her neck. He chewed with an air of thoughtfulness, the crunched bones scratching the insides of his mouth and the liquids burning them.

He finished the head, and proceeded to eat the rest of her body, licking his lips at the end. His stomach rumbled, reminding him that he was still hungry. After all, he hadn't eaten anything this good for quite a while. He loped off. There were other humans to devour.

--

The humans were fighting a losing battle against the seemingly unending torrent of demons. When one was killed, another would take its place, and far too many men were wounded or dead. The number killed was uncountable, though, as many had been devoured or absorbed into the bodies of the creatures of darkness.

The leader of the men stood on the roof of a house, scanning the area. He knew the battle was hopeless. "Retreat! Retreat!" His voice was lost in the sounds of death below him. He sighed, pushing his hair back and sitting down. 'We're going to die, what's the point of fighting?'

A demon jumped silently onto the roof, creeping to its unsuspecting prey. It grabbed him, and the man fought for a moment before hanging limply. The demon laughed, the sound almost a gurgle, before breathing light tendrils of fire around the man, which coiled around him and burned his flesh and bones.

The leader didn't even realize he was dying, didn't notice the pain, and started to chuckle. 'Is this all you can do to me? Weak. Why do we fear you?' He died was a confident smile on his face.

Below, the soldiers stopped, and stared, terrified, at the sight of burning human. They screamed, as a ripple passed through them, giving off a faint electrical shock. They screamed again as the demons descended on them.

When the demons retreated, all that was left was the bloody streets.

--

The sun dipped behind the hills, and night fell upon the city of Tokyo. The trees on the hills swayed in the wind, brushing against each other, the sound inaudible to the few survivors.

Some people crept slowly out from their hiding places, their minds in shock at the sight of death around them. Others still hid, and, if their faces had shown, would have portrayed fear and anguish.

There were no more streets, just masses of corpses. The demons had run off, cackling, calling out in their language. Everyone knew they would return.

The prime minister slumped in his chair, a trickle of blood coming from his shirt. He feebly opened one eye, and closed it in relief. He pushed himself up, wincing. 'At least I survived.'

He rounded up the last of the men in the building, and sent a message to his daughter, who he prayed was alive: Come.

He waited, waving off attempts to help him. He half-heartedly organized his room, where papers had been scattered when the demons had been there.

He was in shock, looking out of the broken glass of his window. One man had come an hour ago, reporting that only one creature had been killed, and that it had taken the combined efforts of twenty men to do it, who had died soon after.

Finally, his daughter arrived. "Thank the Gods you're alive!" the prime minister cried, flinging his arms around her. He looked up, and asked, "How did you survive?"

She smiled curiously up at him. "I'm a miko, remember? Of course I survived."

"Daughter, I have a task for you."

"Yes?" She turned grave at that announcement.

"I want you to find your sister- I don't care how much you hate her- and her friends, for I hear they are very powerful."

She glared at him. "Why do you need them? We don't need them, to defeat these demons. I can do it myself."

He sighed. "Please, get them. You know what I want you to do. You can use that abandoned building to the north."

She turned away from him. "That building is in ruins. It'll never work. Besides," she snorted, "it's haunted. It leads to hell."

"That's the point," the prime minister replied, a quirky grin playing at the corners of his mouth. "Go now. You must do this. You're not afraid, are you?"

Her reply was to walk away. "I'll do it," her angry voice called up the stairs. "For you- and Tokyo."

The man sighed. "Be safe… Kikyo."