Chapter 11: Inu's Return

One of the servants, Jaken, was slinking around the castle looked around the rooms to make sure no one was there anymore. A small ticking noise caught his attention and he looked in front of him to see a small golden stone bouncing towards him. The toad demon quickly grabbed it, staring at it as if it was the most wonderful thing in the world.

"Gold… real gold…" Just then, another small piece of gold bounced down to him and he once more caught it, before finally looking up and seeing a large pink balloon-like demon with enormous eyes in the Purification Room."Hey, you're not supposed to be here! Leave at once!"

The pink balloon just stared, a tiny hand outstretched as more clumps of gold appeared. Jaken's eyes widened once more in greed as he stared at the hand.

"You can make gold?" he demanded. The demon nodded before he held out another one of it's antenna like hands. Jaken immediately launched himself at the gold to grab it. Just as he was about to wrap his fingers around the money, the demon hands closed around the frog before his mouth turned to a seemingly impossible size and he swallowed Jaken whole. Small protesting noises were heard as Jaken was swallowed, before all became silent again.

One of the other workers walked by as he heard the noise from the room, glancing inside curiously, "Who's there? Its way past bedtime, come on! We're all worn out after today."

He stopped in his tracks as a small clump of gold landed in front of his feet and he stared at it before looking back into the room. He could see someone in there, the demon that was now staring at him, "Heh, heh," he chuckled. "Hey boss, I'm hungry, starving really! So get me some food already! Especially candy! Lots of candy!"

The servant took several steps back, not knowing what to do.

"Oh, and after I eat. I'll be sure to pay everyone here! But only if I enjoy myself!" More gold fell onto the ground to show his wealth and the castle worker's greed kicked in. "Why don't you wake everyone up, huh?"

*Kagome*

Kagome was running through the large garden leading to the pigpen where her family still was, following the path through the large flowers to run into the small pen. She quickly leaned over the low wooden fence towards the pigs behind it.

"Mom! Dad! Sota! I have some medicine! Maybe if you eat it you'll turn back to humans!"

Kagome bit her lower lip and pulled back from the fence as all pigs in the pen turned to her and came towards her. Her eyes widened as she frantically looked over the pigs only to come up with nothing as he tried to find her family.

"MOM? DAD? SOTA? Which one are you?"

All the pigs squealed as they came closer to the fence, trying to convince her that they were the right pig she was looking for. Kagome panicked and backed away, afraid of all the pigs and panicked that she would never find her family.

If she couldn't separate them from the other pigs, how was she going to bring them back to their human forms? How were they going to escape from this world?

Would she ever get out of this place?

Kagome's eyes snapped open as she blinked against the light coming from outside. Confused she looked around her to realize she was back in her bedroom. She sighed as she relaxed a bit more.

"It was only a bad dream, nothing more," she said to herself. The doubt the dream had left about finding her family was pushed aside for now, her mind finding it unimportant since there was no way to even get them back to normal. Fears like that would be left until the time actually came.

After a few seconds Kagome noticed how quiet it was around her really and got out of bed to see what was going on. She stuck her head out into the hallway and she frowned from not seeing anybody running around and doing their chores like every morning. "Where is everyone?" she muttered to herself.

She walked over to the windows to look out over the landscape. Water was what met her eyes mostly; and after the heavy downpour of the day before, all the land had been drowned in large amounts of rainwater, making it resemble an ocean.

Kagome's eyes wandered over the landscape to rest on the pigpen like every day. Her doubts returned and she sighed, "I sure hope everyone's doing okay."

Her eyes stayed on the pigpen for a few moments longer until she noticed large amounts of smoke coming from the chimneys of the castle, signaling that the fires were working full force. Kagome blinked, knowing it was still quite early for everyone to be working already, "Fire's this early in the morning? What's going on?"

She quickly ran back into the bedroom and dressed, running out of the room and into the actual castle to find out why everyone was already up.

As she exited the room, Sango had just come running up the stairs with a wide grin on her face, "Kikyo! I was just coming to wake you up. We have a new guest and he's loaded! He's giving away money like it's nothing."

From the hall Kagome could hear people yelling for gold and trying to get the guest to eat what they brought him. Kagome stared at the door opening to the room where all the commotion was before looking back at Sango. "Who's the guest?"

"Who cares? Some freaky balloon-looking demon who talks a lot and loves candy, but I don't really care as long as he gives us money. The more money that we can earn, the sooner we can get out of here! C'mon, let's go before Naraku wakes up." Sango was already running down the steps before Kagome could answer. Kagome hesitated for a second before replying.

"I'm going to look for Inu, I'll see you later." Sango rolled her eyes as she looked back up from the bottom of the stairs.

"Stop worrying about Inu so much, he's fine!" Sango yelled up. Someone passed Sango, dragging her away, leaving Kagome alone at the top of the stairs. Kagome stared for a moment later as they left, before turning and starting to look for Inu.

She walked along the halls until she reached the balcony again, sighing as she leaned on the banister. "Inu? Where are you?" she muttered a little angry. "You better get here before I forget what my family looks like in their pig forms." She rested her head in her hands as she looked out over the ocean-like landscape and began to daydream of Inu. "I sure hope they aren't too unhappy."

As she stared into the distance she didn't notice a white blur flying towards the castle. She was snapped back to reality as she recognized the white blur as the dog she'd seen flying away the day before. "Inu?" she whispered.

She followed the dog's every move with her eyes, staring as what seemed to be birds surrounding him and slashed at his sides. Inu twisted and turned in the air, trying to escape the assault but to no avail. Even as he dove into the water to emerge later on, the birds continued to pursue it.

"Come on, Inu! Fight them!" Kagome leaned further over the edge to get a better look only to see blood trickling off the muscular body. Kagome's eyes widened, "INU! You're hurt. Come this way!"

The dog twisted once more in the air to turn towards the castle and ram into the door right behind Kagome. Kagome yelped as she was pushed backwards into the room by the force of Inu's entrance, but quickly tried to close the door again as the birds were rushing to follow.

She slammed the window shut and her eyes widened as she saw what the birds really were. "They're paper? Shikigami!"

The paper birds all fell to the ground as the others flew away to wherever they most likely came from. Kagome stared for a second before turning around and focusing her attention to the injured dog laying behind her.

Blood was trickling from Inu's mouth, and he looked so tired and in pain—as if he had been flying non-stop for days and had been chased by those Shikigami the whole time. Kagome took a step forwards only to receive a growl from the dog. Kagome took a step backwards, "Inu?" she whispered. But he didn't seem to recognize her. "Stop moving… you'll bleed to death. You're going to be okay, those paper Shikigami are gone now. You're safe."

She tried to come forward again only to receive another growl. Inu lifted his front body off the floor, looking at Kagome with dazed eyes, before rising completely and lunging forward. Kagome yelped as she jumped to the side and Inu passed through the door again.

Kagome ran out of the room and looked up as Inu flew off. She watched him go as the dof entered one of the windows. "He's on the top floor?" she cried in panic. "I need to get there before he bleeds to death!"

Kagome quickly ran off, trying to get to the room Inu was now in as soon as possible. And because she was so worried she didn't notice one of the paper birds fluttering up and clinging to the back of her shoulder.

*Upstairs*

"Everybody, don't just stand there! Hurry up and bow down," one of the castle workers danced ahead as the balloon demon followed through the halls of the castle, all other workers standing at the sides.

"Welcome," all the workers said respectfully as they tried to get tips from the demon—or 'Rich One' they named him. They bowed to seem respectful, but were really trying to get more money by getting on the his good side.

In the mean time Kagome darted down the hall, trying to reach the nearest elevator to go up and find Inu. She was so focused on getting there fast that she didn't notice the huge crowd and bumped into someone. The servant turned around to give Kagome an annoyed look. "Where do you think you're going?"

Kagome took a step back so she could look at the toad demon better. "Up," she answered simply.

"I don't think so; you can't go through here now!" the toad said as he tried to shove Kagome away until he noticed the red liquid on Kagome's hands. "What's this?" His eyes widened, "Blood!"

He backed away and Kagome was finally able to pass. She hadn't even noticed the blood Inu had left on her hands but people seemed to be afraid of it here. A fact that was getting her to the elevator right now.

As she turned a corner, she saw one of the other workers walking ahead of the balloon demon that she heard about. She gasped because she recognized his eyes. His disguise couldn't fool her… she didn't know how… but she just knew that it was Shippo.

She stopped as all eyes turned to her and the worker right in front of her told her to get away. Kagome ignored the other servants and bowed, "Thank you for helping me earlier, Shippo!"

"Don't talk to him you hum…" but suddenly the toad demon was thrown aside by Shippo before he could even finish his sentence. Shippo came forward to float right in front of Kagome, holding out his hands as gold appeared in them. He made a few noises to urge Kagome to take the gold, but Kagome shook her head as she looked up in confusion.

Shippo tried once more, only to get a similar response. "I don't need any but thanks."

Shippo pulled back a little, his noises turning to those of disappointment. Kagome bit her bottom lip in as she glanced aside. She needed to get to Inu. "I'm sorry, but I really have to go now." She bowed again before passing Shippo. She was out of sight before anyone noticed or could do anything.

All the other workers immediately jumped at the money that fell from Shippo's hands as he watched Kagome go, not interested in the gold he was holding any longer. The worker that had been thrown aside earlier tried to calm everyone down and keep them away from the money. "I'm terribly sorry sir. You'll have to excuse her. She's only a human and doesn't know any better." He smiled, hoping that Shippo hadn't been upset by this all.

Shippo on the other hand, turned back to the servant, his eyes finally leaving the direction Kagome had run into. His eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke in the voice of the worker he'd eaten before. "I hate that smile. Stop it!"

The servant blinked in confusion. "S-sorry sir but…"

"I said stop smiling!" Shippo yelled as he grabbed the toad and a female worker that had tried to get some gold before his mouth opened to an incredible size and he swallowed the two. Panic broke loose as everyone tried to run.

*Kagome*

Kagome stepped from one of the windows out on the roof. All elevators had been blocked and people were constantly holding her back so she had decided to try and reach Inu from the outside. She knew that there was an old iron ladder going to the top floor out here, but the problem was that she'd have to reach it. The ladder could only be reached if you crossed a gutter first.

That gutter was old and could apart at any minute.

Nevertheless, Kagome made her way up the roof to reach the gutter and could see that the ladder she needed was right across from her. She gulped as she took in the narrow pipe and for a second wanted to go back into the castle and find another way. But she already wasted enough time. She knew this was the only chance she had at reaching Inu, and she needed to get up there as fast as possible.

Taking a deep breath, Kagome closed her eyes for a second to calm her nerves, before opening them with a determination that she wasn't feeling. She ran over the last bit of roof as fast as she could, continuing that same speed as she stepped onto the pipe and kept running.

She was praying that this wouldn't end like the time that she walked down those stairs on her first night here.

And for the first couple of steps the drain seemed to be holding her weight, until a creaking noise alerted Kagome that the pipe was coming off the wall. She screamed slightly as the gutter started detached itself from the wall and she nearly lost her balance, but managed to grab onto the ladder just at the last moment. A second later and she would've fallen off to a early grave, she was sure of that, so she mentally thanked whatever God was up there for getting her this far.

She took a large gulp of air to calm her pounding heart, before she started to climb to the top of the ladder, and hopefully where Inu was. The determined look returned to her as she climbed. Inu risked his life to help her, and she wasn't going to let him die if she could help it.

So focused on her task, she didn't notice that the paper bird on her shoulder fluttered off her for a second only to reattach itself to the backside of her head. She didn't notice anything until she looked behind her as if sensing something, and saw cloud of Miasma coming towards the building. Her eyes widened as she realized Naraku was coming back and would find Inu in the state he was in right now.

Naraku didn't seem like the type of guy to like injured people, and Kagome doubted he'd give Inu any medical attention.

She quickly pushed herself up against the ladder, hoping Naraku wouldn't spot her. She watched as he flew to the top floor without seeing her. Kagome breathed a sigh of relief, but then looked up determinedly. She needed to get up there fast.

As she reached the top of the ladder, Kagome looked at the window now in front of her. It was her only way into the building, but she had a feeling it wasn't going to be easy to go through. Sighing, she pushed against the window once, finding it locked – or at least stuck. She gave it an annoyed look before starting to ram into the glass. If the thing wouldn't open, then she'd just break it.

The paper bird on the back of her head fluttered off her again, this time simply fluttering down to slide thought the crack between the window and the frame, only to unlock the window from the inside.

Kagome threw all her weight into her ramming as the window now suddenly opened and she fell inside. She landed hard on her butt, a bit dazed, wondering why the window had suddenly given away, but then pushed it aside. It didn't matter right now, all that mattered was that she was inside.

She quickly got up, once more not noticing the paper bird attaching itself to her as she ran through the long hallway. She noticed a side passage and quickly turned into it, only to end up in a room full of jewels and crystal.

Kagome gasped in wonder as she walked through the room curiously for a while, looking around and wondering what a room like this was doing in the castle, before hearing Naraku's voice and quickly running to the curtains obviously leading to another room.

"We're in big trouble, I found out who that demon is. He's a shape-shifter! It's all your fault, you attract terrible guests. Okay, I'm coming; don't let him eat anyone else until I there." Kagome glanced through the curtains to see Naraku just hanging up the phone. He'd obviously been in a phone call, no doubt with a servant, and Kagome guessed the 'Shape-shifter' Naraku had spoken off was Shippo.

"Ugh, Inu's bleeding all over the carpet. Get him out, he's not long for this world anyway." Kagome's eyes widened at the statement and even more as she saw Naraku approaching the room she was in. She quickly backed away, looking around her for a hiding place, until she realized the pile of crystal could easily conceal her. She quickly dove behind it just as Naraku walked through the door.

Naraku entered the room and walked over to the crystal platform Kagome was hiding in, moving a few of them as if trying to find something. For a moment, Kagome thought that he knew she was there and was going to turn her into a lump of coal. But the next second, she saw that it was the form of a small baby that was lying among the crystal like a crib.

"There you are Akago, trying to hide again?"

Though she couldn't see it, Kagome knew that the baby was giving him a nasty look.

"Go back to sleep," Naraku commanded as he turned away, obviously heading downstairs. Kagome watched him go and breathed a sigh of relief he exited the room, glad that the other hadn't found her.

She was about to crawl out from behind the crystal when she heard a voice ask, "Who are you?"

Kagome jumped and looked around. Trying to see where that sly voice had come from. But the only person in there with her was the baby. She walked over to him and got a closer look at him. The baby was holding onto a discolored jewel and had ghastly pale skin, a light purple colored hair, red eyes… and an evil smile.

"Ah…" Kagome said almost hesitantly. "Did you just talk?"

The baby stared at her, and finally spoke in the same cold, and cunning voice, "You just came in here to try to destroy me didn't you?" Kagome just stared in confusion. The baby continued unfazed. "You're just another one of Naraku's enemies trying to destroy him are you not?"

"I didn't come here for you! I came to help someone!" Kagome gave the other a pleading look, but the baby was, again, unfazed. For a second it occurred to Kagome that she was arguing with a baby, but she pushed it aside; getting to Inu was more important.

"I don't believe you," the baby said.

"Look," Kagome said, "Someone very important to me is going to bleed to death if I don't get to him!"

"And you expect me to believe that?" the baby asked. "If you really are here to help someone then you're out of luck. Once Naraku realizes that he doesn't need someone anymore, he just kills them himself."

Kagome flinched as if the baby had smacked her.

"Besides," the baby said with a slight grin. "You can't get into that room once the door's been shut."

"What do you mean?" Kagome demanded.

"Just like I said," the baby said, rolling his eyes as if he thought she was slow. "You need the jewel to get the door open."

"What jewel?" Kagome asked desperately. "That one?" she pointed to the tiny crystal in the baby's hand.

"The Fuyohecki," the baby said.

"Then can I please borrow it?" Kagome begged, through knowing the answer.

"No," he replied.

Kagome was losing her mind. She went to the door and tried to open it… but it was locked.

"What I tell you?" the baby said in a know-it-all tone.

Throwing all caution to the wind, she ran back to the baby, grabbed the jewel right out of his hands and went running back to the door. For some reason, this time, the door opened.

Kagome away from the freaky devil baby as fast as possible. Kagome ran into the room where Inu was in. She quickly looked around, searching for either the white dog or Inu's actual form, only to see some of Naraku's pets attempting to push the beautiful white dog into a huge gap in the floor. Kagome's eyes widened as she immediately ran over to try and save him.