Chapter 3: The First Hour-The Spirit World

'I hate this! I hate this so much!' Kagome thought bitterly to herself as she made her way across the field, towards a treacherous mountain area covered with boulders and steep footing. Kagome was faced with a problem. How did she get herself into such a big problem? How was she to get to Inuyasha's castle in less than 13 hours?

'What am I going to do?' Though that thought was quickly erased when she noticed ugly plants that grew on the ground. Green, slimy, and… eyeballs on the end of their stalks. She had taken a step back away, as the little eyes turned their attention to her. They blinked up innocently at her. As she slowly and carefully made her way around the strange plants, she noticed a stone path. When she headed towards it, she saw a flash of orange dart in front of her.

She had stopped dead in her tracks, trying to make sense of what she saw. That was when she heard something.

"54… 55…"

A small, fox-demon child sighed angrily to himself, rubbing a tiny hand over his face. In his other hand he held a can of "Bug-be-gone!" for the parasite demons that were lurking around by the mountain. That was his job; to kill all of the parasite chrysalis, since they latch onto demons and take control of them.

"Stupid creatures," he muttered to himself. It was at that moment that Kagome had come down the hill. The little fox demon didn't even eye her twice, but sprayed yet another parasite.

"Got ya!" he yelled out happily.

"…56…"

Kagome looked around for the small voice, then found it's source somewhere near her feet. It was a little boy, with ginger-red hair, bright green eyes, and a poofy fox tail, legs, and ears. She fell in love instantly.

"Aww… aren't you the cutest little demon ever?" she cooed, bending down to pick him up. He struggled in her arms to get away as she hugged him.

"Lemme go! I'll let you know that I'm a powerful fox demon!"

Kagome blinked, dropping the little fox child and eyeing him suspiciously. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself. You are just the cutest thing that I've ever seen! Who are you?" she said innocently.

The boy puffed up his chest, and stretched to his full height (which barely came up to Kagome's knees). "I'm the great fox demon Shippo."

Kagome felt her eyebrows float up at his claim. "I guess that there are a lot of demons in the Spirit World?"

"Sure there are! You know Inuyasha, don't you? Well… he's a half-demon, but it's almost the same thing…"

Kagome had lost Shippo at the words "half-demon?" Well it does explain his ears, she thought. Wondering out loud, Kagome murmured, "It's just like the story…"

Shippo cocked his head in confusion. "What story?" he then leapt up and yelled out, "I love stories! Can you tell me? Can ya? Can ya? Can ya? I have to say you are the nicest…" he took a quick sniff before his eyes widened.

"You're a human!" it wasn't a question.

Feeling humiliated, Kagome rubbed the back of her neck. "Is that a problem?" she asked, hoping that he wouldn't turn against her just for being human.

"Well, it just that you don't see too many humans in the Spirit World," he answered. "I've meet a few, but they're always so busy." He suddenly smiled again and said, "But you're the nicest person I've ever met!" Kagome smiled along with him; she couldn't help it. He was so cute! A flutter caught her eye, and Kagome found her attention caught by a giant bug-like creature. It was almost as large as Shippo was, and looked like a cross between a giant beetle and a tick.

"Aha! 57!" Shippo yelled, spraying giant bug. Kagome gasped in horror.

"Eww, what is that thing?" she asked in disgust.

"A parasite chrysalis," he answered annoyed. "Watch out for them. They're not much of demons on their own, but they attach themselves to stronger demons and use them as their host. They control their minds, see? Although," he added as an afterthought. "You might not have to worry, because you're not a demon. But I would stay away from them if I were you."

Kagome made a mental note before sighing. "Shippo?" she asked sweetly.

"58… Yeah, what is it?"

"Do you know how to get to the Demon Kings castle?"

"Maybe."

"Well then, how do I get there?"

A particularly angry parasite bit Shippo on the thumb. "Why you little… 59!"

"I asked how?"

"How what?" Shippo asked without turning around.

"How do I get there?!"

"Get where?"

"The Demon King's… oh never mind. It's hopeless." Kagome sat back on the ground, propping her chin with her hand.

"Not if you ask the right questions," said Shippo, still bug hunting.

"Well, what are the right questions?"

Shippo stroked the top of his nose. "It depends on what you want to know."

"That's easy. How do I get to the Demon King's castle?"

Shippo sniffed, and his eyes twinkled. "Ah! Now that's more like it. You head in that direction." He nodded, indicating a small path that she didn't notice before. Although she could have sworn it had not been there a minute ago."You got to ask the right questions if you want to get anywhere in the Spirit World." The little fox demon was watching her now, curious as to what she was going to do. "You're really going there, aren't you?"

"I have to get my brother," was Kagome's only answer as she took off, afraid to waste anymore time.

Nearly half an hour later, Kagome had been walking, and nothing changed. It was still a long stretching path of mountain, except that now the damp ground was littered with branches and pieces of rotten wood. She kept walking until, just her luck, she came to a crossroads. She had two paths to take; and if she chose wrong, she could get lost in this world forever and never rescue Sota.

Kagome's feet were killing her. So she sat down on the dirt road to rest, while at the same time, tried to figure out which way to go.

"'Allo!" said a gentle voice from nowhere.

A little girl that looked no older than 8 had appeared from behind a large boulder. She had to be one of the cutest little girls that she had ever seen. She had long black hair that was tied into a small ponytail on one side of her head. An adorable smile and wide dark-brown eyes that was full of innocence.

"Did you say hello?" asked Kagome grinning at the girl.

"No, I said 'allo, but that's close enough," said the child, and Kagome knew that this was no demon, but a human child.

"What's your name?" she asked the girl.

"Oh, my name's Rin," she said happily stepping out from behind the boulder. "I came here to deliver a message from Lord Sesshomaru to his younger brother."

"Rin?" repeated Kagome. "That is an adorable name." Rin smiled even wider at her. Kagome then stood up, and brushed the dirt off her dress and asked, "Who's Lord Sesshomaru?"

"Oh, he's the ruler of another dimension. He asked me to deliver a message to his brother," answered Rin innocently.

'She's so cute,' thought Kagome. "I don't suppose that you know the way through the Spirit World?" she asked, hopeful.

"The entire Spirit World? No, I'm just a kid," said Rin shaking her head. "Like I said, I only came here to deliver a message."

"Oh." said Kagome hoping she didn't sound too disappointed. "Well, I have to keep going. But I don't know which way to turn here."

Rin said, "You're one of the first humans I've seen in a long time. The other few humans here are all too busy to really talk with."

"There are other humans here?" asked Kagome in surprise.

"Not many, but a few," she answered.

"Where are they, then?" asked Kagome.

Rin just shrugged. "I don't know. They're all scattered everywhere. And I have to go home now. Do you want to come with me?" she asked sweetly.

"I wish I could Rin," answered Kagome unhappily. "But I have to find my brother in less than 13 hours. But I don't know the way."

"Oh! I'm sure that you'll find him," Rin said.

"But how am I..." began Kagome.

"Things aren't always what they seem here," Rin cut in, echoing Inuyasha's words from earlier. "You can't take anything for granted in this place."

Kagome thought that over for a minute before she said, "Thanks for the advice. But I really should keep going." She walked pass Rin and said, "It was nice meeting you Rin. I hope we meet up again soon." She turned to go left, but Rin's warning stopped her.

"Wait! Don't go that way!" Rin cried and Kagome stopped in her tracks. "What?" she asked.

"I said, don't go that way! It's not safe that way!" said Rin in a worried voice.

Kagome grinned, and then started off on the right path. "Thanks!" she called out.

"If she'd gone that way," said Rin once Kagome was out of earshot. "She'd have gone straight to the castle. Not a safe place to be right now, especially with Inuyasha in such a bad mood from the message he got from Lord Sesshomaru."

"Just remember… nothing is what it seems. Don't take anything for granted. And most importantly, remember that the fairy tales in books are what we read to children before they go to sleep. But living in one is a completely different story, and once the book is shut, nothing is a wonderful as it seems to be."

"Kikyo," said Kagome slowly. "You're making it sound as if I'm going somewhere and might never come back." Kikyo shrugged. "I just have a feeling that I need to tell you this. Promise me that you'll remember it?"

"Of course I do," and she hugged her cousin again. They had finished the dishes and were heading into the living room when Kikyo spoke again, "Kagome?"

Kagome looked up from the plain title of the book, "Yes?"

"It's alright. You can tell people what you want too you know?"

The conversation that she had with Kikyo that day was repeating itself over and over again in Kagome's mind. 'Nothing is what it seems… don't take anything for granted…' it was almost as if Kikyo knew that something like this would happen.

She would be sure to ask Kikyo as soon as she got out of this place… if she got out that is. She shuttered at that thought before running on.

Whoever said that mazes are fun should be dragged out into the street and beaten to death. That, or Kagome could at least punch them in the face. Kagome had been running around in circles for the last 10 minutes and she was getting close to crying again. She was in the chain of mountains that she had seen from the top of the hill, and was lost in a maze of boulders, rocks, and stone. She kept going through turns and openings, and pass strange sculptures and statues only to realize that she had passed the same statue 3 times.

She picked up a sharp rock and started to make little arrows to show pointing to the direction she came from. As she took another path, she saw that it lead to a dead end. She turned back to take another path, but saw that the little arrow she made had disappeared.

"Oh no… my mark disappeared! It's not fair!" she cried out in frustration. "So unfair!"

There was laughter following her statement. "That's right! Nothing's fair in the Spirit World."

The deep voice caused her to jump. She spun around to see where the voice had come from… and the voice that spoke proved to be one of two heads on a large, snakelike body that were standing in the dead end behind her. There were two demons, one was red, the other blue, with long tails instead of legs. But the two tails seem to be merged together, connecting the two demons. They appeared to be guarding two doors that suddenly appeared where Kagome had thought was a dead end.

"Who are you?" she asked them.

The two demons smiled, "I'm Ginka," said the blue demon. "This is my brother Kinka. And we guard the doors."

"This wasn't here a minute ago! It was a dead end!"

Kinka laughed. "No, that's the dead end behind you."

Kagome spun around at that. The direction she'd come in was now a solid rock wall. "How…?" she exclaimed. "It keeps changing! Now what am I supposed to do?"

Kinka spoke. "That depends greatly on where you're trying to get to."

Kagome let out another frustrated sigh, "I'm trying to get to the Demon King's castle. But how can I get there if I'm trapped here?"

Kinka spoke again, "Well, the only way out of here is to try one of these doors."

Ginka continued, "One will lead you to the castle but the other…"

"…Leads to certain death!" finished Kinka.

While the two of them began to laugh, Kagome gulped.

"Which is which, then?" she asked.

"We can't tell you," answered Ginka. Kagome saw that one coming.

"Why not?" she asked desperately.

"We're under orders not to let anyone pass unless they ask for the correct door," answered Kinka this time.

"Then which door is the correct one?" asked Kagome. Kinka then raised a finger and shook it back in forth in front of Kagome's face.

"Nah nah nah. You can't ask both of us, you can only ask one of us," Kinka said. "Those are our orders. But I should warn you that…"

"One of us always lies," explained Ginka. "And one always tells the truth."

"It's simple, he's a liar!" Kinka, pointing at Ginka.

"No I'm not!"

"What a lie…"

"Ha ha ha!"

"Ok I get it!" Kagome interrupted. She turned to the Kinka. "Answer me yes or no. Would he…" pointing to Ginka, "…tell me that this door leads to the castle?"

Kinka paused, thinking it over. "Uh… yes."

Kagome smiled triumphantly. "Then this door leads to the castle!" she proclaimed, pointing to the other one. Kinka spoke up. "Now how do you know that? He could be telling the truth.

"Yes," Kagome agreed. "But then you wouldn't be. So if you tell me that he would say yes, then the answer is no."

"But what if I'm telling the truth?"

"Then he'd be lying. So if you told me that he would say yes, the answer would still be no."

"Wait a minute…" said Kinda looking at his brother, "Is that right?"

Ginka shrugged, "I don't know. I've never understood it."

They both started to laugh again, as Kagome smiled. "No, it's right. I figured it out." While the guards then stood back to let Kagome through, she couldn't help but suffer from the sin of pride… that is before she went plummeting through a trap door.

"Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" she screamed as she fell. Just when she thought that it was over for her, hair-like threads came out of nowhere and she landed in a net of hair. She was in a net that was made of hair that stretched out into a shaft of darkness. "Yuck," she said, grimacing. "What is this? Hair?" she cried out to herself.

"Oh my, oh me," said a female voice. "You can see it then… my net of hairs I mean." A young woman appeared out of the darkness and was standing on the wire-like hair as if it were a tightrope. "Pity… cause seeing alone isn't enough."

She has long, black hair, which she has tied up in a fan-like style and violet colored eyes. Kagome knew right away that she was a demon, but unlike the other demons that she met, this one was by far the most human-like. She took the appearance of a young girl wearing traditional female ninja garb. Her ninja tunic was black, cutoff midway at her thighs, and sleeveless with straps on her shoulders like a tank-top. She also wore a bright yellow sash which tied at the front of her outfit. On her arms, she wears thin, tight and dark arm guards on both of her hands which is holstered by her middle finger and extends beyond her wrists. Lastly, she wore thin, tight, dark leg/foot guards on both of her legs which start midway from her shins down to her middle toes, held by thin straps at her arches; leaving her practically barefoot. Kagome saw that the thread of hairs from the net of hair that she was lying in, were connected to her hand.

She gave her a small wave and said, "How-do-you-do? I'm Yūra of the hair. Which way? Up or down?"

Kagome could do nothing but stare at the woman who just gave her a wicked smile. "I'm… I'm not sure I know what you mean…"

"Which way? Up or down?" Yūra repeated.

"Which way?" repeated Kagome confused.

"Well hurry up, I don't have all day."

"A little help would be nice!" Kagome said, glaring at her.

"I am helping. I'm holding you up and asking which way you want to go! Now which way is it gonna be? Do you want to go up or down?"

"Well…" Kagome mused. "I suppose since I'm pointed that way, I'll go down."

Yūra laughed at her. "I can't believe that you chose down!"

Kagome was suddenly scared. "Was that wrong?"

"Too late now!"

The net of hairs holding her suddenly broke, and Kagome found herself plummeting downwards into the darkness…

She fell for a short time before landing hard on her bottom in a dark room. The only light was coming from the shaft above her, dimly illuminating her face.