Opening her eyes once more to the darkness, Kikyo felt the cold metal of shackles at her wrists. As she struggled to her feet to once again venture as far as the chains would allow, she felt a presence in the darkness with her. It wasn't the same malevolent being that had been searching her memories. No, this presence was more maternal.

A faint glow caught Kikyo's attention near the edge of the space she was allowed to explore. She was able to vaguely make out a feminine form just outside the glow. Instinctively, Kikyo stopped moving. She tried to quiet harsh breathing, before realizing the sound wasn't coming from her. Before Kikyo could start to panic, she heard a soft snuffling sound rise above the rough sound of the other being's breath.

"Cease your worry, child," a whistling, whisper like voice said.

Curiosity finally winning out over her fear, Kikyo whispered "who are you?"

The snuffling rose over the harsh breathing again. The being moved closer, yet remained just out of clear view.

"I am the mother of creation, child," the being said in her whistling whisper.

"Izanami? But…" Kikyo started to question.

She was silenced quickly by the maternal shade. "Quiet, youngling. You must not mention my name, lest my errant son hear."

Kikyo was quick to rethink her questions, but her confusion remained. "Why are you here?" the priestess quietly asked.

After a moment's hesitation, Izanami answered. "You must not go there again."

Kikyo was startled, but tried to play it off. "Go where? I haven't gone anywhere… Kinda stuck here, where ever 'here' is, if you didn't notice."

The mother goddess wheezed her laughter. "You know very well where you went, and how." she said.

Kikyo opened her mouth to respond, but no words would come to her. Izanami was quick to fill the silence with the response to the unasked question.

"Susanoo must never find out that you were able to enter his siblings dream world." she whispered. "Should he learn of this, all of creation will be in danger… He plots to end his siblings, and thus end the natural rivalry between the three."

Kikyo scoffed. She didn't believe the other gods would ever be so stupid as to fall to the tricks of the underworld.

The soft glow quickly disappeared and Kikyo's fear returned.

"Well," a masculine voice started. "You're awake. Seems my minions didn't do their job, this time."

Kikyo sank to the floor in terror as the darkness around her lifted, revealing gray stone walls and not much more. She turned toward the voice as he spoke, and saw a tall male dressed in black robes with short black hair, pale skin, and black eyes that seemed to absorb the light with irises of shifting flames.

The male crouched in front of her, reaching out to trail an ice cold fingertip down her cheek.

"Do you know who I am, priestess?" he asked.

Kikyo shook her head as she tried to push herself into the wall to avoid his light touch.

He leaned closer and whispered "I am known as many things… In the Hindu culture, I am known as Yama." Kikyo tried to push herself further against the wall. "To the Greeks, Hades. I am Pluto to the Romans." The dark god stood and continued speaking louder, to accommodate his unwilling guest and her mortal ears. "In Egypt, I am called Osiris. In China, Yan Luo." He started to slowly walk around the stone chamber. "Christians know me as Lucifer*, they say I'm a fallen angel… Buddhists know me as Enma." here, he paused, looking at Kikyo's terrified face. "You, little one, will call me Susanoo. You will help me bring about the downfall of my siblings. I grow weary of the underworld, while they get to bask in the glow of creation!"

Kikyo gave him a skeptical look, but remained silent.

He kneeled in front of her shivering form again.

"You will be my window to their world, little priestess," he growled. "Whether you like it or not."

The evil being grabbed Kikyo by the hair and stood, dragging her up with him. Kikyo held on to his hand at the top of her head, in an attempt to lessen her pain. Her chains fell to the floor as she was dragged to another room. At the center of this room was a large reflecting pool. Susanoo tossed her toward the the pool. Kikyo slid across the rocky floor, barely stopping at the edge. As her fingertips touched the water, she saw images from her memories begin to appear on its surface. She watched in hidden terror as those memories became more recent, hearing again in her mind the words of Izanami. But the memories stopped just after her capture. Amidst the darkness that was the last of the memories Susanoo had plundered, a new scene came into view. One featuring her mate and a creature that wore her own face…

OoOoOoOooOOoOoOOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOOo

Deep in the forest south of Edo, near the northern edge of the Southern territory, Inuyasha searched for his missing mate with the help of Miroku. They had been away from home for a few weeks now, with no sign of the missing priestess.

"Inuyasha, be reasonable. Please," Miroku begged his friend.

"Shut it, Miroku," the hanyou growled. "If it were Sango, you'd be doing everything in your power to find her…"

Miroku continued to walk beside Inuyasha, the rings of his shakujo jangling with each step.

"You're right," the monk conceded. "But that doesn't change the fact that we haven't been home in weeks. How do you know Shippo and Kohaku haven't found her to the north?"

Inuyasha stopped walking and stared at the monk. "Shippo would have found us, and you know it," he said flatly.

"But…" Miroku started, as Inuyasha's ears started to twitch.

"Shhh… Shh." Inuyasha whispered. "Stop. There's something going on, here."

Miroku moved to take a step and Inuyasha clamped a hand on his shoulder.

"I said be still, dumbass," Inuyasha growled quietly. Before Miroku could say anything, Inuyasha had his other hand across the monk's mouth.

Miroku's eyes went wide as he heard what must have set the hanyou on alert. The sound was faint, like a woman crying in the distance… As Miroku realized what he was hearing, Inuyasha took off running. The monk followed as quickly as he could, silently cursing his friend for running off without thinking.

A few moments later, Miroku came to the edge of a small clearing. Kikyo leaned against a tree trunk, her knees pulled up against her chest. Inuyasha was kneeling beside her familiar form, but she shied away from his touch. As Miroku moved closer to the pair, he reached out to Kikyo with his reiki in a calming manner. When Miroku felt no response from her own holy power, he grew suspicious.

Quietly, he spoke. "Inuyasha, are you certain?" the monk questioned, intentionally vague.

"Of course I'm certain, you idiot!" Inuyasha snarled. "Open your damned eyes!"

Miroku raised his hands in a placating gesture and looked at the woman before them. She did appear to be the missing miko…

The monk addressed her with a soft voice, his tone similar to one that would be used with an injured animal or frightened child.

"Lady Kikyo, how did you come to be here?" he asked.

She buried her face in her hands and started sobbing. "It was so dark!" she gasped through her tears. "I was so scared! I didn't know where I was, and then I was here, and… OH!" She lunged at Inuyasha, wrapping her arms around his waist, nuzzling against his chest.

Inuyasha chuckled and wrapped his arms around her, one hand rubbing circles on her back, the other gently caressing the top of her head.

"It's alright, mate," he said softly. "I'll take care of you." Inuyasha looked at Miroku and smiled.

Miroku gave an uneasy smile in response. "Let's go home, my friend."

OoOoOoOooOOoOoOOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

In the dim light from the reflecting pool, Kikyo shed silent tears as the image faded from view. She couldn't believe her mate would fall for such a trick… She felt a soft breeze brush away her tears and almost missed the barely there whisper at her ear.

"All is not lost, youngling. Do not give up hope."

ROTSrotsROTSrotsROTSrotsROTSrotsROTSrotsROTSrotsROTSrotsROTSrotsROTSrots

A/N: I'm still here. This story will not remain unfinished, I assure you. Some rewrites have been made, but not enough of anything to really change previous chapters. Nothing more than a word here, a phrase there. There is no excuse for the length of my absence… However, there is a reasonable explanation: Depression. It has kicked my butt from one end of my imagination to the other… And that's a huge bit of territory to cover. We're coming up on the first anniversary of my dad's death, and the following week, my troll of a husband. This year has most definitely not been easy… Between losing the family I had left and the whole Covid mess, it's been a nightmare. The dark elements of this story have been something of a release for me, as they've taken on aspects of my own battles. Just like the battles in this story, my own are far from being won, still.

*My mental view of the death god, lord of the underworld, overall bad guy, whatever you wanna call him… Is loosely based on Tom Ellis' portrayal of Lucifer in the tv show. Accent and all. Every name that he gives for himself are the equivalents in their respective cultures.

Something to keep in mind- the story of Izanami and Izanagi has her form rotting when he loses his patience and tries to see his wife before she's been released from the underworld… I would think that's how she stays, so she keeps herself hidden when she does appear.

For sake of reference, and simply because Im not sure it's been mentioned before: in my head, Inari appears as Kitana from Mortal Kombat in a white sleeveless gi, and Bishamon looks like Raiden as he appears in MK: Annihilation after he gives up his power, but with black hair.

Until next time, my lovlies!