A/N: okay, so I finally got my plot together and the story should be completed soon. Thank you for being so patient with me and for reading every chapter of fairytale-ish craziness.

Mirror Castle

"Wow," said Shippou from his perch on Kagome's shoulder. The whole group was standing on top of a small hill and looking at what was beyond him.

"That's something different," said Sango and turned her head away when the sun came out from behind the clouds, illuminating the whole thing.

And the thing practically exploded with light, because it was a small mountain of glass. Kagome barely could see the little hut on top of it. It was made of glass too, but this was a smoked glass, so it looked darker.

And it seemed that was where Inuyasha was being kept, because the roe deer looked at the hut and made a sound of distressed longing before nudging the miko forward with its nose.

"Yeah, we''re moving," she said and the gang followed her, covering their eyes every time the sun was peeking through the thick clouds in the sky. It was good it wasn't a sunny day, because it was hard to even look in the mountain's direction in the sunlight and when they neared it they could also feel the warmth radiating from it.

Idly, Kagome wondered if the mountain could set something on fire. Like the whole forest she could see behind it.

"Hey-ho, hey-ho!" they heard a brash voice uttering the words like they wee something you'd say to set the pace for a group of people.

"Huh?" Miroku tilted his head at the voice, it sounded vaguely familiar. The mystery of the voice was solved the next minute when a group of seven wharves ran briskly from behind the thick bushes surrounding the mountain. "Company, stop!"

The dwarf on the front lifted a hand and his companions stopped behind him. "Uh..." said Kagome when she saw the animals fleeing, they served their purpose and left.

"We're the Band of Seven!" exclaimed the dwarf with a braid.

"And our names are Biggy, Misty, Baldy, Shaggy, Mechy, Bishy and Medic," piped in the dwarf resembling a certain Jakotsu from behind the leader.

"Shut up, Jakotsu, I'm not Biggy!" complained Kyokotsu, who even as a dwarf was dwarfing the other members of his group.

"Sorry, but I called dibs on Bishy," replied Jakotsu happily. Bankotsu glared at them both to make them silent and then looked back at the stunned group of protagonists.

"We're the guardians of Kanna's Mirror Castle," Bankotsu explained to them. "We make sure that the captive of Naraku, oh, cruel and vile he is, don't flee and that no one can save him from his terrible, terrible fate. Fight us if you dare, but be warned, no human nor youkai can scale the mountain, especially not with us guarding it."

Kagome looked at the glass hut where Inuyasha was being kept. and sighed. There was only one solution.

"We're outnumbered," worried Miroku behind her back.

"And I'm sure they didn't lose their skills with their height," added Sango. Kagome turned to them and smiled radiantly before uttering the words.

"Sango, can I borrow Kirara?"

A minute later she could heard shouts of outrage when the great feline was effortlessly gaining height.

When Kirara landed in front of the hut they found Kanna sitting on a small bench by the door. Kagome felt a chill run down her spine when she realized that she should have taken her friends with her. The incarnation looked at her passively and gestured to the door with a curtain of glass beads hanging in the door frame.

"You who enter shall wear glass slippers," she stated motionlessly.

"Uh... You won't try to stop me?" asked Kagome. Kanna shrugged.

"I am not your opponent today, miko," she replied. "If you dare - go inside. In the hut you'll find what you seek for. Times millions."

When Kagome dismounted Kirara and took a few steps forward a sparkling dust rose from the ground and encased her shoes, covering them in small glass pieces. Kagome almost fell to her face when the dust formed a pair of sturdy glass heels, making her at least an inch taller.

As soon as she steadied herself she walked behind the glass curtain with all the determination she could muster.