Ch10

She could hear footsteps. It was still far but it registered enough for her to realize that she was awake. Light wasn't focusing well when Kagome opened her eyes to find the source of the sound and everything looked hazy. She found it awkward that though she had been sleeping till then, her awakening felt so natural. Her eyes did not need to squint, nor did her surrounding feel too bright. She sat up and realized that her body felt extremely light. She could bearly do one setup before but now, she had just rose herself up as though it was a feather. She was dressed in a white gown that stretched down to her toes and she could swear there was some sort of fragrance coming from it.

She stood up and turned around. She was in a field. A great blue open sky domed above and a warm calming breeze was gliding low against the grass. 'Is this heaven?' she wondered, 'It's so empty here…' Right then, she heard a zap. In the distance, she saw a cliff where land seemed to just end. When she got there however, she was more shocked than anything. Before her was a giant void. Lightning shot up and down, left and right, and any direction it could possibly go. 'What is this place?' she gasped. She heard a crack under her feet. The ground was breaking. She took a few steps back and watched the place she was just standing on break off and crumble into the darkness.

Click…click…click…

The footsteps came again. They were quick as thought the person was in a hurry. They came from inside the void.

Oooooooooooooooooo

Kaede sat on one of her wooden chest outside the hut and was taking in a lung full of fresh air when she noticed the woman on the corner of her eye. "Kikyo-oneesama?' she thinned her eyes for better focus.

The figure smiled to her gently and gave her a longing look. Then, it vanished without a trace. The old woman sighed and looked up into the sky. 'Rest in peace, dear sister,' she whispered as a teardrop flowed down her cheek.

Ooooooooooooooooo

"Mrs. Higurashi?" the doctor confirmed to the concerned woman who sat next to his patient.

"Yes, will my father be alright?" she asked.

"The good news is that there is no danger to his life. The frostburn he received on his fingers were nothing too severe and should fully recover over time," the doctor announced.

"and the bad news?" Souta asked before his mother could.

The doctor looked to the boy shortly and turned back to the mother as though he was trying to think of a way to euphonize the news infront of such a young child. He couldn't come up with any. "His in a comma," he said.

"A comma?"

"It means he will be asleep and we won't know when he will wake up."

"Yes I know, but why?"

"Our CT showed us nothing. In fact, we were surprised by how healthy he was for his age. The fact that your son found him fallen in the snow tells us that there is some sort of illness but every test we conducted on him came out negative for any disease."

"So you're saying that…"

"There is nothing we can do about his situation."

"I see…"

The mother and the two children turned to eachother and exchanged concerns through their eyes. Megumi had been told that it was alright for her to go home but she insisted on staying. Her own grandfather died before she had conscious memories so Hii-ojiichan was the closest thing she had of a grandfather figure. Also, though she may deny this fact, she stayed because she was concerned about Souta. She frowned watching the boy sitting shriveled in his chair at the side of the room. 'I guess I should say something,' she thought walking up to him.

Souta looked up. Megumi could tell he was stressed and depressed and that he wanted to cry but was holding it in because she was there. "Mind if I sit there?" she asked, nudging to the seat beside him. Souta shook his head. She took her seat and a remained quiet for a few more seconds before she heaved a sigh. Her hand reached over, then cringed back with uncertainty. She bit her lips and reached over, placing her's over the boy's, which were gripping tightly on his knees.

Souta looked up with a few blinks. He saw his reflection in her scarlet eyes and blushed slightly. "Everything is going to be okay," Megumi said softly through a warm smile. For a small bit longer, their eyes continued to meet. Realizing the awkwardness in the situation, they both jumped as she contracted her hand from his. They both turned their backs to one another with a blush. "Thanks," Souta said hesitantly as he glanced back in periods.

"Yeah," she answered in likewise manner.

The mother giggled from the event. 'Oh Kagome, if only you could have seen that,' she thought. Her expression frowned again as she looked out the window to the sky. 'Hurry back Kagome, hurry back…'

Ooooooooooooooooo

"Get out of my WAY!" Inuyasha shouted, brining down his sword with his final word. Creatures decentagrated in the windscar that cut through along the spiralling stairs, clearing another few yards of road ahead.

There was a single beam that extended infinately up and stairs spiraled around it. Gravity did not seem to work as it was suppose to for he could see the pole twisting and turning and fliping upside down but his feet would always land back down to the stairs. His body did feel unusually heavy though but he figured it was just because he was getting tired.

'I've been running for days now and I still don't see anything. God damn it, how long is this stupid path,' he cursed. Another wave of demons was coming from infront of him, 'For God's Sake, give me a break,' "Wind Scar!" the demons parished again. His breezing was starting to quicken and he did not like that at all. He knew his body was reaching its max but there was no time for him to stop and rest. He needed to find Kagome as quickly as possible. Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he bit his lip and continued his dash.

Oooooooooooooo

"You are back," Cerberus turned his attention from the crystal, hearing his master's return.

"I am," Hades spoke casually.

"I trust all went well then?"

"That will be up to your son there, and the girl."

"The girl? I thought only the challenger were to be tested. Who is it that you just went to meet?"

"Someone who will give him his final test…but let us procceed with the second test. How long has he been running now?"

"Mentally, he has been running for about 4days 23hours and 25minutes and counting. Currently running time at 1:1 to wait for your return."

"Well then, his in pretty good shape to run that long without a single break under 10times his normal gravity." Hades raised his hand and snapped his finger, "Now he has only 1 minute left before 5days." The God of the Underworld released a smirk.

Cerberus didn't like the reaction but he didn't bother to ask. 'Time will tell,' he told himself as he turned back to the crystal.

Ooooooooooooo

When Kagome's eyes reopened, he saw white uniforms rushing about a hallway. They did not seem to notice her. 'Where am I now?' she looked around, 'Where was I before?' The last thing she remembers was looking down into a giant blackhole of some sort before a white flash came and everything went blank.

A door opened infront of her and she saw a small boy and a girl sitting together on a seat. An older woman was pacing in front of them, periodically looking at her cellphone to see if there had been any calls. 'Higurashi,' she read from the tag on the door. She walked in to the room. None of them seemed to notice her. There was a bed behind a curtain. She could tell from the bulge in the shadow that there was someone there. She made her way around to find a sleeping old man. 'Why am I seeing this,' she wondered.

"Why aren't you back yet Kagome," she heard voices from the mother but the woman's lips were not moving.

'Are these her thoughts? Kagome? Is that this old man's name?' She looked on the name tag on the bed. It was not his name.

"Come back sis, grandpa needs you," she heard from the boy this time, "I know grandpa will wake up once you come back!"

"Souta…" Kagome whispered. She jumped with surprise. 'Where'd that come from.'

Just when her curiosity reached its heights about the 4 people in the room, the white light came again. 'Wait! Just a little bit longer!' she called but it was too late.

Ooooooooooooooo

"Wind scar!" Inuyasha waved his sword down. The collar around his neck was soaked with sweat, "Damn, why is my body so heavy," he cursed. Then, he saw a light of hope. The sight seemed to rejuvinate every muscle in his body.

"It's a door!" he cheered, "I made it! Kagome, I'm here!"

He pushed open the door. His first site was the five point start that was formed by some sort of dark crystal floating in the middle of the room with two bridges connecting it to two doors. One lead to where he stood, the other on the opposite end. He took a cautious step in. The door behind him immediately closed and the room was engulphed by darkness. A ring of light spread from the tip of the point of the star he stood at and circled through every point. A star in a circle, the traditional symbol of demons. Once the light had reached its full brightness, he realized that the crystal was pink rather than black as he had thought on first sight. There was a small circular indent in the middle of the star which appeared more like a socket than anything else. The color felt oddly familiar and some what distasteful.

"What in hell…"he murmured.

Dark shards began to circulate in the middle. Inuyasha immediately readied his sword. They were condencing. A man formed in the middle and the hanyou realized immediately who it was.

"You're the man who I saw at the river!"

-A nod.

"What do you want, if it is a fight you want than bring it on cause I won't hesitate to put my sword through you!"

Charon's hood raised slightly, almost tauntingly, but the emptiness in his hood cautioned the demon from making an head first attack. The guardian reached into his sleeve and pulled out the Shikon Jewel he received from the halfbreed as a token. Inuyasha bit his teeth together with a 'che' and brought his sword up defensively.

Ignoring his attacker's threats, Charon lowered himself and placed the jewel into the socket. That was when Inuyasha realized the true compound of the star. It was THE Jewel of Four Souls. Charon stood back up and turned to the hound. Inuyasha could swear that the guardian was laughing at his surprise but before he could say anything back, Charon disappeared again. He heard the door open on the other end.

"It has been a long time since we've met like this Inuyasha," he heard a familiar voice.

"What are you doing here?" Inuyasha's eyes narrowed.

Oooooooooooooooo

"Master Hades!" Cerberus jolted back, "I was not informed of this!"

"Just the kind of reaction I was expecting from you Cerberus," Hades chuckled.

"But this…"

"It will be an interesting test, do you not agree?"

"What do you hope to achieve with this? If something goes wrong, you could turn him into a full demon forever! And…"

"And?"

Cerberus glanced away.

"You're emotions are clouding your vision once more Cerberus. Cool your head and try to see what the true intentions of this test is."

"I appologize," Cerberus turned his worried eyes back to his sons.

Oooooooooo

"If you want to get past here then you will have to go through me to do it Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru spoke in calm words.

TBC…

100 reviews! WOW! When I started this story, I did not expect so much reviews. Thank you guys! Just to clarify, the stamina test Inuyasha went through only lasted an hour or so REAL TIME. A little bit of time magic since Hades is a god afterall.

Reviews…

AnimeMiko15: As promised, it is back to its original storyline. No I won't write anymore flashbacks for Shessomaru and Inuyasha if people are wondering lol. Just fights, talks, arguments, and lots of tears haha!

Fyrre Sprite: One of my friend actually said a similar thing about me calling Inuyasha a hound. I just run out of words to describe him and since hound sounded better than dog, I decided to use it lol.

InuGoddess715: I will give bits and pieces of Kagome here and here and she probably won't even be in every chapter but that is why the climax is all about her.

SoraxRiku18: Thank you, happy to hear from you.

Wolfhowler245: People dieing always seems to catch the eyes of readers for some reason haha. Maybe they like crying to a story more than laughing with the story lol.

Sesshoukunbelongstome: Sesshoumaru for all you Sesshoumaru fans haha! You can look forward to incomming chapters and wonder about if I will kill him or not muahahaha.

InuKagKisses: I wish I knew more big words. Then maybe my english mark would go up a bit haha!

I'm Nova: There are actually two versions of the story. One was as you said while in the other, he slayed Cerberus and brough its head to Helen where he surprised the goddess and blah blah blah…

Sango Taiyga: Published? I would have to get permission from the anime company first then haha. It would be really cool if they will turn this fanfic into some filler episodes though! I'd never miss that haha!

Kagome: Since Kagome is asking me to do that, I guess I have to bring her back haha!

Denise: Thank you, glad you're enjoying my story.