Chapter 37: Their Night

It was unusual for him to desire sleep, and yet he yearned to close his eyes and to drift into slumber. Perhaps it was something in the rain, for even the priestess, who had taken to sleeping minimal hours per night, normally consisting of two to three hours, was sleeping soundly. In fact, Sesshomaru couldn't help but smirk as he heard her light, sparse snoring. A certain sensation bloomed in his chest; a warm, delightful sensation he was coming to know more and more whenever he was around her; he was happy.

Yes, that was it. He was happy to see she was finally resting fully and extensively, and to his shock, he suddenly understood that his worry for her was greater than he had anticipated. He hoped, immeasurably, that this would mean a turn for her; that somehow this meant that she would return to sleeping soundly every night. He couldn't remember hoping for something more.

When he looked back at the rain, the desire to sleep becoming heavier, he decided he would allow himself this one night to sleep just as she was. It wasn't as though anything would change, after all. With his senses, he would be awake and alert at the slightest disturbance. Thus, he shut his eyes and was greeted with blood and fire.

He would not show any sign of pain, no matter how the fire tore at his skin, or how the boiling blood ate at his flesh.

Sesshomaru ran on top of the odd rivulet that ran through what appeared to be a canyon. What should have been filled with water was replete with scalding blood and fire that also fell from a black sky, along with arrows that were shot down by what he could only assume were the goddess's beasts due to their smoke like formations. Easy enough to dodge, but if he ever attempted to climb the canyon, then the beasts would attack him more fiercely, throwing a flood of arrows and attacking him in a horde.

"Hn. As though that will stop me."

He had none of his weapons, but that was fine; he was a formidable demon outright. Weapons had simply helped him to be more efficient, but without them, he would still slew many if not all of the beasts. It would just require a bit more effort than usual.

Sesshomaru leaped up, landing on the red hot bones that decorated the canyon sides, and, as was expected, a dark shadow was cast over him as a cloud of arrows formed. He ran along the canyon side, the arrows landing a hairline behind him as they followed him in their pursuit. Hn. Too easy. Stepping onto a ledge, Sesshomaru jumped off the opposite side of the canyon where the beasts had been perched and struck out with his whip. Some managed to bound away before the whip could reach them, while others were split in half.

In the midst of the chaos, Sesshomaru ran up the vertical ledge. The fight was little more than a short event to him, and he cared very little about the beasts. His only goal was to leave this canyon and find the priestess, because, due to reasons he did not fully comprehend, he somehow knew the priestess was in danger.

A heavy rumbling came from the canyon side, and as he neared the edge, it bursted as a large, scaled tentacle erupted outward. Despite its enormous size, the appendage moved quickly, and it slammed Sesshomaru, throwing him back down into the boiling river. The heat seared his body, and he ground his teeth to suppress the pain. Hands of the undead that swam in the hot blood grabbed at him, just as they had done when he had first found himself in this place, but he pushed them aside with ease. He could hear their bubbling screams as he escaped their grasp but was apathetic to their cries. They didn't matter to him, and he didn't care to sympathize with their suffering or to even glance at their faces, all of which seemed vaguely familiar but not enough to draw true recognition.

Sesshomaru broke through the surface, ready to try again when a dark clawed hand forced him down.

"Well now, look what I've caught today. A sweet, powerful, moronic demon who can't seem to follow directions all too well." The goddess smiled down at him, her hand firmly on his crown while she held him neck deep in the blood. Her fingers were braided through his bangs and when she squeezed, it tugged at the roots. "Such a shame to stain such pretty hair. Alas, you did this to yourself."

Sesshomaru snarled, displaying his fangs, though as much as he hungered to slice her throat open, his body would not move; she was imposing her will upon him once again.

"Oh, now, that's not very well mannered of you, is it? Especially since you're simply getting what you deserve. Ahaha, of course, I doubt you've even recognized all those you killed, including your very own brethren."

"Spare me your gloating and get on with threatening me again."

"Hm? And why would I do that? It's not as though you took my advice the last time. Which, by the way, did hurt my little old feelings. I was trying so hard to save you from making a mistake."

"You attacked Rin-

"And I had warned you not to go back to the priestess for your own good. You did not listen, so I had to go through with my threat. I'm sure, you, the brutal, merciless, Demon Lord Sesshomaru of the western lands, understands. And besides, what does it matter? She's nothing but a lowly human. They both are."

"If you go near them-

"I'm well aware of your disdain for me, just as I'm sure you're aware that I will do whatever I please!" She tightened her grip on his bangs and sank him chin deep into the blood. "However, if you had simply listened to me, you would have been spared. Now, I've brought a little bit of entertainment for us, while you stew in the mess that you have spilled."

She pointed up towards the black sky as a rapid, clanging of metal began to echo down towards them. Two, dark-grey squares, nearly black, appeared, illuminated by the fire below as they began to draw closer and closer; Cages.

"What is this?"

"Shh-shh-shh-shh. Just wait. This is the best part."

The cages drew closer to the river, the bottom squares becoming a dull orange as the metal began to heat up, and then, he heard a muffled, familiar cry. Sesshomaru lurched, recognizing the voice, but the goddess simply pushed him further into the river so his mouth and nose were below the surface, leaving him unable to protest as the cage holding an unconscious Rin descended closer to the river. Only three feet of space remained between her cage and the river's surface, and the second cage, holding a bound and gagged Kagome, was not far behind. Even as he could see the heat from the river was causing her agony, Kagome did not relent as she fought against her bindings, her eyes permanently fixed on Rin.

No. Why? Why were they forced to suffer? Was he not enough to pacify this goddess's torturest thirst? He looked up at her, the bulk of his anger cast in his gaze, and as she smiled down at him, he knew nothing would ever pacify her thirst. A moment later, and she submerged him into the blood completely, with the bodies of Rin and Kagome following suit. Neither one of them was moving.

~ • • ~

Miroku's turmoil was not faring better.

He was running. Running towards his wife and children, and though he shouted their names, his voice was silent. Sango! Miroku tried to call to her again, but just as the times before, no sound would escape his open mouth. Wait! They walked as he rushed to them, and yet further they stretched away until they were engulfed by a blackness he could not surpass. And suddenly, as though it were a natural order of things, the darkness ebbed away into the pullulating verdure he had quickly come to know as the Aokigahara forest.

"Sango!" He yelled, this time his voice loud and ardent, "Sango, where are you?!"

Laughter echoed through the trees, sounding almost like bird wings flapping in the wind. It was not a voice he recognized but he knew immediately that it came from someone dangerous, regardless of the childish tone it held. He needed to find his family. Fast.

Chasing the sound of rustling bushes and the snapping of twigs, blindly hoping it was his family who were the cause, he sprinted through the forest. The laughter came and went repeatedly like the steady beat of a slowed down metronome, and with the trees whizzing by him, each the same color of green with very little variants in appearance, it was not long before Miroku had to admit… he was lost. Wherever the camp was, wherever his friends resided, was a mystery to him, and he was resigned to the truth that in his pursuit, he would be alone.

He spun around, unsure of where to go, and then a rustle to his right had him running again. Stuck to the noise like a hound on a trail, he pursued it, always a fraction of a second too late to see who made it. Yet he caught glimpses, on more than one occasion, of a small, mint green dress adorned with greener fans and a hint of a pink sash.

"Airi," he cried, "Airi, wait! It's me!"

The laughter barreled, louder than before drowning out all other noises, and then, as though a great wire had caught his feet, Miroku fell forward, and his face peered over the side of a cliff. With his vision blurred and his teeth rattled, he lurched to pull himself away but stopped the moment he saw what lingered over the edge. There, above a pitch blackness that pulsed with demise, dangling off of a jutting root waiting to crack, was Sango, Aimi, and Isas.

"Sango!"

"Miroku! Help us please!"

"Daddy!"

Miroku pulled himself closer to the edge, his upper body flushed with the face of a cliff, and, grabbing onto the edge with one hand, began to extend the other. A sharp, searing pain racked through his right arm burning from his palm like hot, desert sand swirling and tearing his muscles, his tendons… his bones. With a piercing howl, he drew back his hand, wincing at the sudden and excruciating pain.

"Ahehaahaha," the laughter blared in his right ear, and a dark clawed hand formed from plumes of smoke wrapped around his searing fist. The abrupt formation continued, the smoke flowing and condensing into an arm, and then a shoulder, a chest, a neck, an abdomen, quickly turning into a body with lewd clothing and scarlet red hair. The goddess. Her wild hair whipped around them, the tresses arms from an inferno pulled by a strong wind that had suddenly appeared. The gusts continued, swirling and twining, a vortex that pulled color from the sky and replaced it with grey as it bridged the heavens and the earth. A twister. Had she summoned it?

She smiled as though she had read Miroku's thoughts, and then, shockingly, shook her head. No… She could be lying, Miroku reasoned, but the uncertainty had been planted, and it screamed its existence in the way the Miroku could feel the gale not only outside of himself but within as well.

"Oh, my young monk," She whispered, bringing her lips close to his ear, and when he threatened to pull away, another wave of pain spiraled up his arm, deeper and stronger than before. Where there was once a scalding of his internal flesh, now there was the slow grinding of sharp, hot lead scraping his marrow, and the violent, squeezing tears of his muscles, tendons, and ligaments as they were ripped from his bones and joints. He cried out from the torture.

"Tsk-Tsk-Tsk," she clacked her tongue against her pristine white teeth, "Now, now. No pulling away."

She caressed his fist, stroking her fingers along his knuckles. A deep urgency to vomit billowed in his stomach, and Miroku gritted his teeth. He hated this woman. He hated this woman more than he had hated anything else in his life. He hated her more than he had hated Naraku! The monster who had cursed his family for generations, who had taken away his father and had left him constantly waiting for the day of his death, was more welcomed than this vile bitch.

"Does my touch frustrate you, monk?" She whispered in his ear again, deliberately stroking his arm suggestively, "Does it leave you… restless?"

And there it was. The reason why he found her so revolting. For as much as he saw her as an enemy and regarded her as someone he was to kill for the safety of the ones he loved, her touch left his skin tingling; her voice was enticing; the curve of her body, captivating. And it was the temptation he felt that truly left him disgusted. He dared to open his eyes, not to her but to his family, as though they could lift him out of his torment. But the winds hid any view of them.

"How sad you've become, monk. You've been fixed, in more ways than one. Ahhh," She hummed as though remembering a fond memory, "I recall how you were as though it were only yesterday. Such intensity you bore. Such… strength. Hm. Well, there is one aspect of you that we can un-fix. What do you say?"

She giggled, and then dug her claws into Miroku's wrist, forcing his hand open and receiving a guttural scream.

"You remember my servant, Naraku?" She spoke as excruciating energy pulsated from her claws into his skin. "He was quite the do-er. So easy to coax as well. He actually believed that those demons had come to him on their own volition. Hehehe. As though pure beings would ever want to succumb to a half-breed fate, no matter how contemptible a soul may be. Oh, you must remember him. He was the one who gave you that precious little gift. A gift, it seems, that you've lost. Such a shame that his power was not as infinite as mine to extend past his death, but now we've come to the point of the matter. I did so enjoy witnessing you and your ancestors scrambling about in your little lives, that I just can't bear the idea of never seeing it again. So, because I am nothing if not utterly generous, how would you like your little gift back? Oh? What's that? In too much pain to speak? Well, that's alright. I'll take your silence as a yes, and best of all, monk, the same rules apply. The only difference…," She smiled against the shell of his ear before dragging her tongue along its curve, "Is that I am Immortal."

At last, she released him, and Miroku slumped over the cliff side, a swirling mass of vomit threatening to pour out of him. His throat was raw, and spit dripped from the sides of his mouth. How long had he been screaming? At some point he had been silent, he had been sure of that, but he was equally sure that it had been due to a moment in the midst of pain that had been so horrid and agonizing that he had been unable to vocalize his cries. The constant ringing in his ears only told him that he had yelled loud enough to pop his eardrums, and though the throbbing in his arm continued, he was too exhausted to move.

Wisps of the celestial hair remained in his view, appearing like hungry strings waiting to wrap around and catch unsuspecting prey, and they whirled around in the rushing winds as though they were pushed by a tide. Over the roaring winds and the ringing in his ears, he heard her laughter, whimsical and childish. He thought of his daughters and instantly shivered.

"Oh! Look at you! You're all better now! How wonderful. Now, run along now. Give me a show. Your family is on the line after all."

Hearing the threat to his family, Miroku turned his head towards the woman, slower than he would have cared for but unable to move faster. By the time he was turned to where she once stood, she was gone. Oddly enough, the wind continued to hold her laughter. Or had it simply been ingrained in his head?

He looked back down to where his family had been hanging, and peering through the grey of the gusting winds, he saw the silhouette of the root. Broken. Sango, Aimi, and Isas were gone!

"Sango!" Miroku yelled, ignoring the scratching pain in his throat. The pull from the twister grabbed his attention, as though the winds had grabbed his chin and were forcing him to look. Its large, twisting form loomed over him, and the winds scraped through the air like scythes. How he could stand so close to it and not be sucked in, he wasn't sure. He stared at the large mass filled with broken trees and debris, and…

"Bodies?" he whispered, disbelieving his eyes. Yet there they were, lifeless human forms thrashing in the winds, colliding with each other and with fast spinning objects, breaking apart like statues at each impact; statues filled with red, vibrant, wet clay that looked too much like blood. And as he watched the gray twister, the streaks of red never lasting long in the winds before more bodies took its place, he began to hear them; the screams of his family.

"Sango!" He saw her! She still held onto their children, but they were captives to the storm. They moved so quickly and were frequently hidden within the grey, but he could see them, just as he could see the cuts on their bodies, increasing in number after each rotation. He needed to save them, but how? He reached out his hand, as though somehow he could stretch out enough to reach them, and then a familiar glow extended from his palm.

"What!?"

All at once, there were two forces of strong winds in existence, fighting with each other. The twister, and his wind tunnel. Miroku fell back, covering his hand with his nenju beads. The motion came effortlessly, built upon years of habit, but the paralytic shock came either way. With his right hand sealed and shaking, he cupped it with his left hand and looked at his palm. The hiss from his tunnel where the hole peeked past his cloth filled his ears, and his body, despite his best efforts, shook with each beat of his drumming heart. The wind tunnel. The wind tunnel? How in the hell did it come back?! Why did it come back?! That woman! She had done this to him! Had cursed him again!

"Miroku!" Sango cried out, and Miroku jumped up, throwing his fear aside. There was nothing he could do to reach out to them. Only… Miroku cursed but undid his beads. He extended his hand, and while the two winds battled again, he prayed that once his family was coming towards him, he would be fast enough to seal his curse before drawing them in completely. At least Airi had a better chance of being somewhere safe. Anywhere but here had to be safer after all.

~ • • ~

The rain was far too thick, almost like mud. When it landed, it felt like rocks flicking against her skin, and had it not been for the sludge-like consistency each droplet carried, Kagome would have mistaken it for hail.

"Ah. Damn it. What on earth is going on? Where is everyone? Hello!?" Kagome shouted, but there was no response. The trees, which had once been an unsettling green were now various hues of browns, and the wet, slimy muck that covered the floor reached just above her calf. "Ugh. Gross. Where did this all come from? Did I somehow end up in a swamp or something? Eck. It smells disgusting too…"

The odor was that of expired milk and rotten fruit mixed with putrid, acidic piss and feces. She was gonna gag. Quickly, Kagome covered her nose and mouth with her hand and shivered as she suppressed her nausea.

"Nghgh… okay, okay," she mumbled through her hand, "I've just gotta get out of here. Before I add to the smell, preferably. Umm…"

Kagome looked around hastily, squinting her eyes through the thick, earth-toned rain. No lightning came to aid her. There was only the roaring, rumbling thunder and the howling, smacking rain.

"Errrm… Ah. This way looks as good as any." She hurried her way to what appeared to be a mound. If she made it to higher ground, then it was reasonable to say that she would at least be out of the mire. If only she could get secure footing. Each step she tried to make upward was met with accumulated slime that forced her feet to slide down. Desperate to escape, she uncovered her mouth and began pawing at the ground, trying to pull herself up on all fours.

Her hands sunk into the muck with a wet, sucking noise, and she wrapped her fingers on the few blades of grass that she felt. The muck was warm, and that warmth was radiating on its surface, making her face hot as she clutched to buried grass. "Eww! This is so gross!"

Up close to the substance, the smell hit her hard, and she felt as though someone had forced her face into an unflushed toilet with days old content. Nausea returned with greater force, fueling her desperation, and she vigorously began climbing with greater speed and greater strength. The few feet to reach the top of the mound took far too long to overcome, and as she neared the point of salvation, only a few inches left to pull herself up and over, the clump that her fingers had been clinging onto so tightly, became dislodged.

Kagome fell back, landing in the marsh that quickly and greedily covered as much of her body as it could. Unable to help herself, she squealed, and the clump that she had been holding onto, landed on her thrashing lap. The sudden fump called her attention, though she continued to squirm.

"Ahk!. Ohhhh. Why? It's so disgusting. Just my luck… Eh?" She looked at the mud-covered clump and picked it up. An odd, roundish thing with little, black tuff on one end, while the rest seemed to be wrapped in an odd, grey plastic, that unfurled at another end where some root seemed to be jutting out beneath.

"What weird looking roots," Kagome muttered. These were not like any roots she had seen before. There were a few that appeared almost like dark-purple worms, while others, though still stringy, were more attached to each other and were colored a deep maroon. Then there was one root, on its own amongst the cluster, that was almost white where it was fully exposed, and had an odd structure about it… almost like a spinal bone.

Kagome flinched, dropping the clump on accident, where it landed back in her lap and rolled over. Eyes, pale and lifeless, looked up at her. Though the mud covered half of its face, Kagome could make out every detail, from its open mouth covered in mud, swarming with maggots, and filled with blackened teeth, to the two slits where there was once a nose. She screamed, throwing the severed head away, where it landed in the marsh and was quickly swallowed up.

"What the hell? What the hell?!" Kagome shouted, her body shaking, her stomach turning, and while every inch of her was blaring with the need to run, it was her uncertainty of where to go that kept her still. Regardless of how horrid it was, Kagome dunked her hands into the muck, rubbing the echoing sensation from when she had grabbed the hair, thinking it had been grass. But the sensation continued, and the more she tried to scrub it away, the more her fingers tingled with the memory. And then she saw a steady stream of red flowing towards her.

Kagome looked up, following the stream, and there, from where she had been so desperately trying to climb, was a neck devoid of a head. Blood squirted out, trickling like a tiny river down the mound and towards her while the mud and rain made their slow trek to cover it. A body, Kagome gulped, and while the thought of there being many more hidden bodies in the ground- bodies that she could be standing on- crossed her mind, she quickly threw it out.

She turned away, her heart pounding, erratic, and her breathing quick, tight, and sporadic. It was impossible to tell if she was going to cry or have a panic attack. Perhaps both; she wasn't sure, she couldn't think. The image of the head and the open neck replayed themselves over and over in her mind like some sick gore movie intended to make her insane, and as they continued their mental assault, her hysteria rising per breath, she saw movement at the corner of her eye.

She didn't dare to look directly at it; the mound that had begun to move, curving and sinking deeper into the ground. It took the body with it, along with any other bodies Kagome had failed to see. In it's decent, there came a crunching sound, like branches snapping, along with the churning and squishing of something soft and bloated. This time, there was no stopping it. Kagome threw up.

A few specks of the fruit she had eaten that night dotted the wet mush, leaving a tangy, bitter taste along her teeth. Her stomach convulsed again, and she coughed out air, but nothing more. Another violent push of oxygen, and then her abdomen quelled into a stiff shaking. Kagome looked around her, the muddy rain now the least of her troubles, and saw two more mounds, each moving however they pleased. There was no need to question what they were. It didn't matter. All she knew was that she needed to get away from them.

Kagome shuffled through the thick mud, turning back every so often to see where the mounds had gone. To her distress, she quickly saw three of them slowly moving towards her. Ohh… fuck, fuck, fuck. What do I do? Where do I go?

More bodies appeared around her, pushed up by something below, but she refused to look at them. Unable to quicken her stride due to the thickness of the muck, Kagome yelled for help but was only answered by the thunder. Her one saving grace was that the mounds were moving no faster than she was. Though she doubted they would tire as soon as she would. At last, however, off in the distance, there came a faint glow.

The orange glow of what she could only assume was fire pierced through the murky veil of the rain, and where there was fire, there would be help. She continued her trek, gradually getting closer while constantly ensuring that the mounds were not doing the same with her, and after some time, she found herself on the stone steps of stairs.

"Ah. Aheh," she breathed, doubling over on the steps as she gave in to her exhausted muscles, "take that you pieces of shit. You can't get me now, can ya?"

She glanced back briefly, and sure enough, the mounds had stopped moving.

"Aha-heh," she laughed with a huff, rolling over onto her back, "I made it."

"How foul your soul must be to a rejoice at a time like this."

I know that voice! Kagome's eyes shot open, and she yelped when she saw the notched arrow pointing at her. "K-Kikyo! What are you doing?"

Kikyo's eyes narrowed. Blood stained her clothes and her hands, yet her face was pristine, as though it had just been washed. Kagome gulped, unwilling to move while Kikyo's arrow was still aiming at her, but she couldn't help but wonder where the blood had come from.

"Why did you choose to leave them behind?"

"What are you talking about? Leave who behind."

She scoffed. "Do you truly not know? They've been traveling with you this whole time."

Kagome blinked, confused, but was grateful when Kikyo lowered her arrow. Kikyo looked out below toward the marsh that Kagome had just gotten out of, and Kagome followed her gaze.

"No!" She shouted, "No! No-no-no!"

Her friends. It was her friends. They're bodies littered the marsh, all of them pale-faced and unmoving. How did she not see them before? Kagome moved to rush down, unsure of what she would do, only that she would try to save them. To bring them back. All of them. Only Kikyo stopped her.

"Let go of me!" Kagome thrashed against Kikyo, who held her by the collar of her shirt.

"Don't be a fool. They've already passed. Let the worms have them. It's not as though you cared for them before."

"That's not true! Of course, I cared for them!"

"Did you? Is that why you hardly noticed them. You were so focused on what you wanted, on your perception of salvation, that you were incapable of seeing those who were mere inches away from you."

"Don't talk to me like you know anything about me!" Kagome swung back, missing Kikyo, but was released either way. She did not run to the marsh, though. The worms, as Kikyo had called them, had already begun to eat the lifeless bodies.

"I know you well enough to know you are utterly incapable of satisfying. Regardless of what fortune you have, you persistently seek more. You fill yourself with your constant, swaying desires, overindulging in what others may give you, and in doing so, you ignore the suffering of those around you-

"That's not true!"

"It is!" Kikyo bit back, and her hand twitched around her bow. Instinctively, Kagome stepped back. "You cannot tell me it isn't. Whether you choose to see it or not is of your own volition, but you cannot lie to me."

"Where are you going?" Kagome called out to her as she began to walk away. For a moment, Kagome swore the gaze in Kikyo's eyes was similar to that moment when she had been crying over Inuyasha's body. That dull glazing over, just before returning to her wailing as though she had seen Inuyasha anew.

"Why?" Kikyo responded shortly after, "Why did you choose to leave them behind?"

So… it is just like that time. That means... Kagome sighed. This had to be a dream then. Or something like it, at the very least.

Her gaze dropped to the steps, the red dots upon them contrasting with their dull brown and grey, and when she followed their trail, she gasped. On top of the steps, just at the edge, was Inuyasha's body. She had seen his body before in the muck, but she supposed that this what not her Inuyasha. This was Kikyo's Inuyasha. And while Kagome had seen this Inuyasha before, it was different now. Tessaiga was no longer there. It no longer protruded out of Inuyasha's body. Rather, a collection of arrows took its place; Kikyo's arrows.

"It's your fault," Kagome heard Kikyo say, "You're the reason why he had to die. It's only fair, then, that you should follow."

When Kagome looked back at Kikyo, there was another arrow pointed at her.

"Why? Why did you leave them behind?"

~ • • ~

The bones of the stranger broke beneath his fist, and the man descended below the river. But Inuyasha wasn't an idiot. He had seen that face before and he knew he would come back. They all did. Inuyasha continued fighting, beating one person's face in with another's before turning to take on yet another person.

"Damn it," He cursed, "What the hell is wrong with yall?! Do you like gettin' your faces beat in or what?!"

They continued to come at him; men he did not know, faces he had never seen, each thrashing and vying to take a swing at him. Inuyasha scoffed.

"Alright then. If that's how y'all want it!"

He continued to fight, throwing his all into his hits regardless that these people looked human. They continued to come at him, so, obviously to him, they were not. That was fine. If there was anything he enjoyed, it was a fight. Even if that fight was being done in a river filled with a hundred men and devoid of a floor Inuyasha could stand on. That just made it more of a challenge.

So he fought, endlessly and relentlessly with a grin on his face as he made others howl and fall back below the river. It didn't even matter that he didn't know why they were fighting or how he had gotten there. He simply enjoyed the fight, and how good it felt to finally release some of his aggression.

On those unfamiliar faces, he cast visions of others he knew. Sesshomaru, his asshole brother who constantly pushed him down as something lesser, and was a thief; first tessaiga and now… he refused to say it. Next was Miroku, the backstabbing jerk who chose Sesshomaru over him just before they entered the forest. Weren't they supposed to be best friends? How could Miroku do that? Sango and Shippo, his supposed comrades, were constantly against him regardless of what he said, and Kagome… Damn it, Kagome. Why?

Why had she decided to leave him? Why after she had said she'd stay with him? Was it because he had hurt her? But he didn't know! How could he know? He had lost control! And why, out of all the things she could have done, why had she held his brother's hand?

"Damn it!" He cursed once more, this time when a strong fist came down on his right ear. The ringing remained even after he shook his head, and when he turned to face his abuser, he flinched with a start.

"Half-Breed Inuyasha. What a surprise to find you here."

"N-Naraku?" Inuyasha blinked, still unable to come to terms what he was viewing; the greatest enemy of his life was right in front of him. Naraku's lips turned into a smug smile, and his red-irised, white pupil eyes shone with vicious delight. Inuyasha matched his grin with a snarl. This was the man who had caused all the problems in his life. If it had not been for Naraku, Kikyo would have never died, and Inuyasha would have never fallen for Kagome. He would have never even met her. And now, Inuyasha had neither of them.

"Naraku!" Inuyasha lunged for an attack, aiming his claws for his throat, but Naraku dodged his attack effortlessly and then grabbed the recoiling Inuyasha by the scruff of his hair.

"Still reckless in battle? Good. That will make this all the easier!"

Naraku jerked Inuyasha from side to side before slamming his face into the river. Inuyasha squirmed, flailing his arms as he tried to grab Naraku from behind him, but he could never catch a grip. It wasn't long before his lungs began to burn as the last bit of his air bubbled out and away from him. Now his tossing about had nothing to do with fighting the laughing Naraku but finding a way out of his grasp just so Inuyasha could breathe.

He pulled at Naraku's hand while thrusting his head to the right and then left, trying to pry Naraku's fingers out of his hair, but his grip was firm, and bodies were beginning to pile on top of Inuyasha. As he began to spasm, his muscles jolting about without control, Inuyasha turned his head towards the surface, hoping beyond hope that somehow he'd be close enough to the surface to gain even a second of air, but instead, he saw that the image of Naraku had changed… into himself.

The white-maned, half-breed doppelganger beamed with murderous delight, and with a cackle, he placed a foot against Inuyasha's back and kicked down into the lower currents of the river. The water was thicker here, like sludge, and as he descended further into the water, he saw countless of other bodies there too. None of them moved, but none of them were dead. Every pair of eyes followed him as he sank deeper and deeper into the water, each one deadpan, like a hundred fishes just watching him, and soon, he reached a point in the river where even the light was unable to reach. It was here he reached the murky bottom.

The thick water weighed on him, keeping him flat on the river bed as though he had become paralyzed. Damn it… His lungs continued to burn and that burning was now fully engulfing every fiber in his body, and yet he was not drowning. He knew he wasn't simply for the clarity in his mind, but his body reacted as though it were anyway. What's going on? He ground his teeth, peering out into the blank darkness, and for some reason, he thought of Kagome and Kikyo.

Oh… Kikyo… Kagome… Images of them appeared before him. Their smiling faces, so bright and delighted to see him. That was how it had been with both of them. Hadn't it? And yet Kikyo… she attacked him. And Kagome… left him. Possibly for his brother. Why? What had he done? Was he truly so awful?

As though the river had heard his internal questions, six bodies began to float down towards him, and this time, he knew their faces. Sesshomaru, Miroku, Sango, Shippo, Kagome, and Kikyo. Their faces had been mutilated, as though someone of extreme strength had beaten their faces in, except for Kikyo, who held a hole in her chest just as Kagome did. Without needing to question it, he knew it was him; he was the one who had done this to them.

~ • • ~

"Somebody, please!" Shippo cried, hot tears streaming from his face, "Please, somebody! Get me out of here!"

He was trapped in a hole deep underground, digging his tiny claws fiercely into the dirt as fire licked at his tail. No amount of dirt he threw onto the flames put them out, and no matter how much he worked, the hole never got bigger. Fear struck him like lightning in a storm, coming at him in bright flashes followed by loud rumblings that caused his heart to tremble. It was this fear that kept him digging while the crackling of the fire behind him popped like laughter.

The times in his life that he had been this terrified replayed in his mind in flashes, drawing out more fear as he presumed this meant he would soon be dying. The day the thunder brothers had killed his father; the time that he stood against them with Inuyasha and Kagome's help; the many, innumerable times they had squared off against Naraku and his minions. All those times he had managed to find strength within himself, but this was different. This didn't happen to him because he was fighting for those he cared about or those he had lost. He had ended up here because they had decided to try and save someone who, in his opinion, had nearly allowed Naraku to destroy everything! This was for a woman who had treated them all so poorly, especially Kagome! He hated Kikyo for the suffering he had seen Kagome go through because of her. Why did he have to put his life on the line for her! If it hadn't been for Kikyo, he would have never found himself here, he was sure of it.

"I knew we should have never gone to look for Kikyo!"

The flames erupted, scalding the pads of his feet and singeing his tail, and as he howled from the burning, the fire suddenly blew out. Pitch darkness fell around him, and Shippo grasped at his feet and tail, blowing air onto them. Though he could not see, he knew they had already begun to blister, and he could feel the sacks begin to form on his skin.

"Ow-ow-ow-ow…" He released them, slowly as any movement caused him pain, and looked around. Nothing but darkness. He couldn't even see his hand in front of his face. Shippo reached up and touched a warm, dirt ceiling. He crawled on his knees towards the other side of the hole and bumped his head against a dirt wall. Everything was still the same. He was still locked inside a hole in the ground, only this time he couldn't see anything.

Plopping himself against the wall he looked out with a huff, and after a while, he thought he began to see faces in the shadows; The thunder brothers. Shippo shut his eyes. "It's not real, it's not real. I'm just seeing things. My eyes are just trying to fill the void like Kagome once told me. There's nothing to be afraid of. There are no monsters in the dark."

"Are you sure?"

"AHHH!" Shippo screamed, pawing at the ground again while the newly formed blisters on his feet bursted from the pressure he placed on them, the tender, piercing agony creating a new type of burning sensation on them. "Somebody! Somebody, please! Help me!"

No responses, and as the laughter of the brothers fizzled out, Shippo dared to look back. Emptiness. "It's… it's not real?"

Shippo wiped his nose with the back of his hand and sniffed up the running wetness that threatening to drip down his nostrils. He continued to inspect the darkness, certain he had heard a voice, had heard laughter, but there was nothing. It was in his mind, but if his imagination could conjure up something so believable, how long before he saw another face? Would it be Naraku? Or maybe the goddess? He hugged himself while shutting his eyes.

"It'll be fine. I'll be okay. The others will come for me, I know they will. They'd never leave me behind…" Despite the heat that had been so entwined with this bastille, a chill quickly filled the area, and with it, another voice came, this one feminine, and familiar.

"I wouldn't be so sure."

Shippo's eyes shot open from fright, and with that, the fire returned. It erupted with a hungry blaze, and Shippo returned to cursing Kikyo's name as he cried for help and dug for escape, seemingly forgetting what had just occurred.

~ • • ~

Her breath was visible, like a cloud. The moisture in each exhale condensed from the cold, and Sango thought that if it were any colder, she'd be able to see flecks of snowflakes falling from her breath. The area was dark, like a night without the moon or stars, and the only source of light seemed to come from below the frozen blue lake she walked upon. She strained her eyes to see further ahead, but the light traveled with her in a small circle; a spotlight that failed to illuminate anything else around her.

Sango dug her nails into her arms, wishing she could pull them closer than they already were. "It's so cold."

The air seeped into her clothes effortlessly, chilling her skin and causing her teeth to chatter. Her slayer outfit did not fit with this environment, and in truth, she suspected no amount of clothing could ward off this cold. It was as though the cold were a part of a person.

Sango wandered, unsure of where she was going but knowing full well that if she stopped she would not be able to move again. Her body would simply be unable to do so. As she walked on top of the frozen lake, images of frozen fish beneath her feet, she began to see odd, frozen rocks come into view. They each carried a similar shape and size, with only slight differences in angles. The ice covered them fully, and she suspected that there were a good three inches of foggy ice on each rock, blocking out a clear view of the odd stones. There were only the vague, gray centers that thinned and extended out into the lake, becoming large and long, before disappearing from view completely. Strange was the only word that seemed to come to mind.

"At least it's something different. I must be getting somewhere then."

She continued forward, and the air seemed to get colder. The uncontrollable chattering of her teeth and the shivering of her breathing extended to the rest of her body, causing her shoulders and arms to shake while her legs became numb. She cupped her hands and blew hot air into her palms but somehow that only made them colder. She wished for gloves so her fingers would not feel as though they were threatening to fall off. She wished for a fur hood so that her ears and cheeks did not burn from the frost that was slowly forming on her face. For all the good in the world, she would have given her left arm just so the right one would be warmer. And as she attempted to remember things of heat, to conjure warmth in her body by pure imagination only, her numb legs ran straight into one of the frozen rocks, and she fell forward.

Sango slid on the ice, hissing in pain. The fall had impacted her hard, the ache multiplying in ferocity thanks to the cold, and the last remnants of warmth in her chest was expelled when she had gasped. Now the cold was inside her, deep in her chest and surrounding her heart. On the ground, a sudden, profound fatigue bursted through her, and while she knew she had to get up, her body would not respond. The words Just… five… minutes slowly droned in her mind, a slip in her mental strength, and her eyes quickly took advantage, falling into a close that she struggled to fight against. No… no, I mustn't. I won't… survive. Sango exhaled deeply, sleep a few seconds away.

"Mommy."

"Hmmm…" Airi. She recognized the voice, but she could not open her eyes. What is it, Airi?

"Mommy… help me."

Sango inhaled a strong breath, the call for aid from her child greater than any exhaustion she felt, and her eyes fluttered open. Still lying on the floor, Sango panned her eyes around the area. Crystals of ice rested before her face, an array of broken pieces resting on top of the lake, and she looked back from where they had come from.

A little hand peeked up from a crack in the ice where what Sango had thought was an odd rock had stood, and that hand was sinking into the ice.

"Airi," She tried to yell, but her voice came out soft and weak, "Airi!"

Sango crawled over, using her forearms to move around as her legs had become paralyzed. The ice was slippery, and it was difficult to move quickly as she saw the hand dip below the water. The grey shadow that was her daughter began to slowly sink deeper into the lake, and Sango threw out her hand, yanking herself to the hole in the ice, and plunging her hand into the water.

It stung like a thousand snakes biting at her flesh, and she could barely feel her fingers when she wrapped them around Airi's hand.

"Hold on, Airi. Hold on!" But Airi had become heavy, like a weight. A weight that Sango couldn't lift, and was gradually pulling her down into the lake as well.

"Help me, Mommy. Help me." Sango looked down, her daughter's voice clear and unperturbed. She could see Airi in the clear water looking up at her, her lips and skin a grave, dark blue, and her usually brown eyes clouded and icy.

"How? Airi, tell me. How do I get you out? How do I help you?"

Airi's white smile pierced through the blue veil of the water, wide and extending abnormally from ear to literal ear with sharp, demon-like fangs. Was this Sango's daughter? As Sango began to question it, Airi's little hands wrapped around Sango's arm, and she pulled her in, both of them sinking deep into the endless lake.

~ • • ~

Amellis pulled against the chains that wrapped around her body, pinning her to the wall. She was in a wing she had never seen before, separate from her decrepit chamber and the pit. Gold fixtures adorned the walls, coupled with elegant chandeliers, and unlike her chambers where everything was dark and covered with cobwebs, these items were keepers of an ethereal light; a white and red-haloed fire that was too bright for Amellis to look directly at without being momentarily blind.

Along the floor was a rich purple rug with silver and gold etchings. It ran along on short steps, ending at the foot of a large bed. Not a mat. A bed. One with a mahogany bed frame with sidings, a footboard, and headboard, along with a firm mattress and a red canopy. Its design was based on what she had seen when her mother had forced Amellis to look into the future and had infiltrated her mind. It was one of the crueler memories she had held, the sensation of her mind being pushed out as though her very consciousness was bleeding out through her eyes and ears, and all for the sake of interior design. Even the scarlet covers with a gold and silver griffin designed on top were inspired by what Amellis had seen.

Hanging on the wall on either side of the bed were purple banners with a similar silver and gold etchings as the rug. Upon the banners was an intricately detailed image of a griffin, with a twelve-pointed star above its head, colored white at the center with red on the border, and additional thin, red lines stretching out. Amellis had seen the symbol before, once when she was younger, but she did not know what it meant.

To her left, she could hear lapping water and could see three small, steady waterfalls flowing into what was most likely a spa, the main body of water hidden behind elevated bricks that stacked up like tiny stairs curving around the whole bath that was flush with the wall.

To her surprise, asphodels were dotted in various areas around the room, including by the spa, the bedside table, on a mantel over a fireplace to her right, and on a vanity at the other side of the room, which rested in the middle of two doors, with the right door smaller than the left. It was odd to see the white petals with the reddish-brown streak in the middle of each one so generously dispersed throughout the room, and each stem of the plant that she could see was covered with the blooming flowers. Only the tips of the plants were spiked with buds waiting to bloom. When she breathed, she could barely catch their scent, but once noticed, it haunted the air with its light honey and unripe peach fragrance. She never expected flowers to be in her mother's room.

The large door creaked, and Amellis threw herself against the wall, attempting to hide the small bit of progress she had made. The last time she had been found out disobeying her mother's wishes… she hadn't thought she would survive. Her mother stepped through the door, a wide grin on her face, and Amellis grimaced. Something in the air had made her wince; a small, sharp, spark, like a line of her power connected to something some distance away being snapped and broken. She had felt it many times before, but never so close.

"Mother… what are you doing?"

"Shhh. You'll see, slave. I've returned with a most marvelous gift." Within her arms, there was a bundle resting in the crook of her elbow, and she looked down at the bundle with gleaming eyes. Immediately, Amellis's heart began to race. The bundle, though in no way big enough to be called large, was of an unsettling proportion. It ranged slightly longer than her mother's forearm, and as her mother approached the center of the room, the bundle shook, and a small pigtail was exposed for Amellis to see.

"What have you done?!"

"Be quiet! You'll startle the poor thing," her mother said with a laugh, and as she took a seat a few feet in front of Amellis, she wagged her finger back to the open door. Tseuno, Gozaru, and Zuniike walked in then, and Amellis swallowed. Tseuno she knew. Her torturer, the sadist. She had more encounters with him than she dared to admit, and he alone was a source of extreme fright for her. But Gozaru and Zuniike, the two tiger brothers, with the white, orange and gold kimono and the blue, white and silver kimono, were figures she rarely saw. Both held a hand to their weapon, Gozaru gripping his abnormally large, spiked mallet, and Zunnike with his enormous axe. They both smiled at Amellis, aware of something she did not know, and she began to tremble. Why were they here? Was Tseuno not enough?! Were her pleas for death, after each session with him, not satisfactory evidence that her punishments were brutal enough as they were? What more could they do to her that he had not already done? She didn't want to know.

Amellis clenched her jaw, not daring to say a thing while in the presence of these beasts, and she felt a cold sweat slide down her brow. Appeased by her silence, Amellis's mother, began to remove the silver cloth from the child in her hands. The vibrant green of her dress, along with her pink sash, clashed with the tone of the room, and again, Amellis felt a snapping spark strike her.

Airi. Amellis was mourning. Before anything had even happened to the child, her heart was already aching. As she looked upon the round face, so similar to her slayer mother, Sango, Amellis couldn't stop her eyes from watering. This child, this sweet, young, innocent girl, would be lost, and Amellis was helpless to stop it. Fear could no longer hold her tongue.

"Let her go." Her mother's eyes darted towards her, cold and angered.

"Silence."

"Let her go-

The back of her mother's hand struck her cheek with a loud slap, and Amellis recoiled from the strike.

"Be quiet now," Her mother said after taking a breath and recomposing herself, "Besides, this child is not here against her will. Just look at her. So obedient."

Yes, Amellis had seen that. She had seen the glossed over gaze in the child's brown eyes, and the slack in her lips. She may have been awake, but her mind was sleeping. Did her mother truly believe that this would fool her? No, of course not. She was mocking her because she knew Amellis could do nothing about it.

"Isn't that right, my sweet, little treat? You're happy to be here with me, aren't you?"

"Uh… huh," Airi confirmed slowly, nodding her head back and forth, "you're… a nice lady…"

"I said let her go," Amellis spoke sternly, and Tseuno's whips met the back of her head. "Ggaahhh!"

Blood was sliding down her neck, and her left ear throbbed from the gashes it had received. At the very least, her tears could now be placed on her wound rather than her mourning, so she wept liberally. It took her a moment to realize her mother was laughing.

"Oh my, Amellis. You certainly have your heart set out for this child you know nothing about. Ahaha, pardon me. I meant a child you should know nothing about."

Her mother became stern, her gaze piercing Amellis with such severity, Amellis had momentarily forgotten her voice. When her mind began to function again, her thoughts came crashing, mixed with surprise that her mother had said her name, how it sounded as though her mother knew what she was, and the child.

"I… don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh? Is that so? So, this precious little face," she stroked Airi's cheek, and the child smiled, though it did not reach her deadpan eyes, "isn't one of yours?"

Amellis's throat went dry. "Mine? I don't know what you mean," She exhaled.

"Denial? Ahaha-heh. I'll take that to mean that I'm right. She is one."

Her mother dragged her claw along the upper mound of her breast before pulling down the silver cloth that covered the most sensitive part. And then she dug her claw into her skin and created a small gash, the blood that poured out the same color as her hair.

"What are you doing?" Amellis asked, panic rising inside her.

"Hmph. Frightened are we? I bet it makes you so nervous to see one of your precious ones in my arms."

"I told you, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Do you think I'm a fool, slave?" She tilted her head towards Amellis, peeking her celestial blue eyes up through her lashes, "It doesn't take a genius to notice that these priests and priestesses only came into existence after your birth. It's quite a correlation after all."

Amellis gasped unwillingly. Her mother knew. She may have known all along. How could Amellis not see it?

"Tell me. Does it hurt? To have one of your children torn away from you, as it hurts me?" She lifted Airi closer to her chest and rubbed her thumb over her lips.

"Please! Don't!"

"Are you hungry, little one?"

Airi mewed.

"You can't do this! Please!

"Come here then. Trust me. It's better than mother's milk."

"No!"

Her mother looked back at Amellis, a cold smile on her face.

"This, my dear daughter, will be the last thing you ever see."

"NOO-Aghhrhgaha!"

The moment Airi's lips covered the gash on her mother's breast, Amellis felt a hot flame engulf her spine. Screaming Airi's name, Amellis's back became rigged as the burning, electrical pain coursed through her body. This was worse. Worse than any pain she had ever felt in her life. It was as though the very nerves within her spinal cord were being cut, bit by bit with dull, rusty scissors. She was dying. She was becoming paralyzed and she was dying. There was nothing more painful in all existence! And, with a delayed gasp, the pain disappeared, and Amellis fell forward onto the ground. She hadn't even noticed that the chains on her body had gone slack.

With drool dripping from her lips, Amellis stared up at her mother's gleeful face, and at the suckling Airi whose eyes were now wide and alert. Specks of blue now dotted the brown irises, and she clung to Amellis's mother as she continued to suckle greedily. She was gone, and Amellis had felt every tear of the connection she had with Airi. Still reeling from the pain, she groaned as two sets of strong hands grabbed her shoulders and lifted up onto her knees.

"Oh, wish I could have somehow saved that instant, my daughter. I've never heard you scream so… deliciously."

"...Nghh…"

"Can't speak? How wonderful. Though, knowing you, I'm sure that won't last long. But it seems, that now, I no longer need you. With this piece, my plan cannot falter. And this sweet angel won't betray me as you have. So, then, I won't be needing your powers anymore. You should be happy. I am."

Amellis felt two rough, familiar hands grab the sides of her head. Tseuno. She was still too numb to squirm.

"Naturally, then, it only makes sense to remove them completely."

"...W… wh… what?"

"Tseuno, take them."

For a moment, there was a hesitation in Tseuno's movements before he brought his hands closer to Amellis's face. She stared at her mother in confusion, her mind a fog and her body limp, and she did not question it when Tseuno's thumbs brushed along her lashes. And then her world became a mess of red and black, with the only sounds being her screams and her mother's laughter, as Tseuno claws dug into Amellis's eyes.

Hiya! So I just wanted to take a quick moment to say how much I really appreciate the kind words y'all have sent me! It's truly amazing (and utterly surprising) to see how people like this little fic that I've been writing. Well... maybe little isn't the most operative word, haha.

Anyway, though I may not respond to every review I recieve, I do read them all, and y'all have given me a greater confidence in my writing. I love you all! Blessings and kisses [ ;) ]

I'll see ya soon!