Chapter 14: Inner Demons

"You heard something back there, didn't you?"

Kagome jumped at the sudden sound of his voice. She hadn't heard a word from him after they all had divided to look for the three remaining flames. She couldn't remember exactly how she ended up getting paired with him. Inuyasha had thrown a fit at the beginning, but she couldn't remember that either.

Ever since they had stepped into that chamber all she could hear was the hissing of that heinous whisper. It would remain quiet and then it would start back up again. It knew things about her, about her life. It seemed to want to hurt her mentally and emotionally.

Link had stopped walking forward and made his way over to her. The paleness from the previous event remained in place, refusing to leave any time soon. She looked down at the floor, her black bangs covering her eyes.

"Yes."

He could barely hear her response.

"I'm hearing it too. Don't focus on it."

She looked up, shocked to hear he was also hearing voices. His eyes were narrowed, but not at her. Probably at whatever he was hearing. She took a deep breath and followed him, "How do you know where to go? You're not a wolf."

He wrinkled his nose as he pried a door open, "The smell of the poe isn't as strong when I'm human, but I can still smell it. Maybe because I've been a wolf for a long time."

The room they stepped into was circular but smaller. An old lever was in the middle of the room. Like the rest of the prison, Kagome could see imprints on the walls, like hieroglyphics. There were no other doors, probably hidden until they push the lever. The lever was heavy as they both used their upper bodies to push it. Sure enough, it made the walls rotate counterclockwise.

But things could never be easy as a tall skeletal figure with a giant sword started to rise from a now visible opening. It's movements were slow and jerky, but with the size of sword it held, it could cause serious damage.

Link removed his pack on his belt as he was ready with his sword and shield, having a feeling he would have to be quick as the skeleton was over seven feet tall. It was intimidating and terrifying at the same time. It's decaying flesh still seemed to hold the bones together and with its empty eye sockets it was making this creature being one of the ugliest things he had come across. Suddenly when he neared the fiend, it let out a high pitch screech. It was more horrifying than the shadow creatures. It seemed to enter his veins like a powerful venom, paralyzing all of his movements.

I can't move!

The creature swung its sword, and Link had been lucky the way he had raised his shield when he first approached, as the giant sword made impact with it, hurling Link onto a wall with a loud crash. He gasped as she could feel his injured shoulder throb alongside his ribs as his arm had crashed onto his chest when the skeleton attacked.

He was out of it and he could barely make out Kagome screaming at him to get up. His blue eyes finally came to focus when he saw the creature making its way to Kagome as it heard her. With a deep breath he ran, placing himself between the skeleton and Kagome as it screeched again. The venom went of the screech was paralyzing him again, but this time, he pushed his shield upwards as the sword came crashing onto him again. He called all of his strength as he pushed the sword out of the way, giving him a clear on the skeletons open mouth.

The scent of a certain powder reached his nose as the hissing was loud by his ear. He turned his head to see Kagome with a bomb attached to her arrow.

When did she do it?

He barely had time to process when he flung himself at her as she let go of the arrow. It hit its mark, the bomb quickly going off. Both of them landed on the ground, him on top shielding her from any harm. Both of their ears were ringing as the booming echoed in the small room. The seconds they laid on the floor felt like hours. Link placed each hand on the floor on either side of Kagome's head. The woman was sweating and panting as the rush of what happened was slowly leaving her body. She could feel his hot breath on her face as he was panting, but she couldn't look away by the way he was looking at her.

His voice was slightly deeper as he asked, "Are you okay?"

She numbly nodded. He closed his eyes as his head was now throbbing. He let himself fall next to her, still panting as his whole right side was still hurting.

"Brilliant idea. Just don't set off a bomb again in an enclosed space again."

Her small laugh echoed in the empty room, "Noted."

"How do you think the others are doing?"

She sighed, "I don't think any better than we are."

"You stupid dog! This is why I told you to go right!"

"Can you stop bitching and help me with this thing?"

"Shippo fits through there."

"Woah! I'm not going through there by myself!"

"...Miroku is kind of right."

"Sango!"

By the time that the entire party had met back at the main chamber, they were tired, dirty with more sand, and had a couple of wounds. They had no clue for how long they had been traveling through the prison.

Inuyasha glared at one of the flames, "There's the one that escaped us."

Midna gawked at him, "Excuse me? I told you what to do. It's your fault it got away from us!"

Link gave her a dry look, "And we were the ones that dealt with it."

Before they continued on, they noticed the giant gate that prevented them from going further raising up, leading them the next portion of the dungeon.

"Tell me again why I couldn't use the Wind Scar on it?"

Miroku hit him on the head with his staff, "Do you see how old this place is? You use it, we are going to be buried here."

Kagome lost track of how many more skeletons they killed, how much sand and quicksand they had to deal with, and how many ghost rats Link defeated. Out of anything she had ever done, this was it for her. She was tired. She needed a nap. She felt she would need to bathe five times to remove all of the sand from her.

They were at a corridor on the north side of one of the biggest rooms they had been in. In that corridor, there was a lonely door and they knew they had to go through there.

She had an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach as they stepped in. The room was dark and circular. She could see strange engravings on the stone floor, circling around like a whirlwind. In the center, there was a lonely sword with various ropes tied around it with what it seemed like sutras hanging from them. Link was cautious as he had the Master Sword out. Sango had the hiraikotsu ready to flung it if necessary. Inuyasha's golden eyes were on the sword in the middle.

Just grab the hilt…

Revenge… get revenge…

He shook his head as he neared the sword. It was the same size as his when transformed. It seemed powerful.

Take it…

Take it take it take it take it take it...

"Inuyasha? What are you doing?"

You can kill Naraku with me…

He felt like he was in a trance… but if it was true what the sword was saying… if it was more powerful than his old man's, he could put an end to everything. No more demon hunting. No more looking into the back of their shoulders. Miroku would no longer have his curse, Sango would no longer seek revenge, Shippo would grow to be a normal kit, he would finally have revenge for him and Kikyo…

And Kagome could be normal again…

He didn't hear Kagome yelling at him when he took a hold of the hilt. All he felt was a rush, a powerful malevolent rush going like a rapid coursing river through him. He gasped, but he couldn't remove his hand.

His claws grew and to Kagome's worst nightmare, purple markings were on his face and his eyes were no longer golden.

Link was still processing what was happening to Inuyasha when, to his shock, Sango was the first to attack. They could all hear hiraikotsu flying, swirling around making its way towards Inuyasha.

He jumped out of the way with ease, his smirk freezing them on their tracks.

She's the one that hurt you…

That wants to control you…

Kill her…

Miroku, being the closest to Kagome, raised his staff to stop Inuyasha's attack.

"Inuyasha- snap out of it!"

His pleading was falling on empty ears.

With a punch, he knocked Miroku out of the way. Kirara then jumped into the action, but with almost no effort, he had thrown the fire cat demon across the chamber. He snarled as he neared Kagome and all she could do was back away. Shippo jumped up and attacked, but it did nothing. Inuyasha grabbed him by the tail and threw him away with unusual strength, making the kit slam against the wall with a loud pop. He raised his sword and just as it was coming down on her, a hylian shield appeared, stopping the oncoming attack with a loud clang.

"SIT BOY!"

Nothing. The beams just glowed but nothing.

Link's eyes seemed to be glowing as they clashed with Inuyasha's now aqua and red eyes. His animalistic side seemed to be taking over him. Inuyasha was a powerful threat right now and he could not let him touch her. His senses seemed to heighten that he felt like he was about to start growling back. He pushed him away with his shield and landed a kick on the demon's torso, sending him to the ground.

He didn't turn back or changed his defensive stance as he asked Kagome, "What's wrong with him?"

She couldn't answer. She was always able to snap him out of it by sitting him. But he was still standing and looking at her like-

"Kagome!"

She jumped at the sound of his voice, "He's a full demon. I- I don't get how! The Tetsusaiga is with him!"

Before he could ask what she meant, he saw Inuyasha coming at full speed at them. He glared as he sprinted forward, meeting him halfway. Their swords collided and the battle continued unfolding between them.

Sango yelled at Link to move out of the way as she threw her boomerang again. Inuyasha jumped away and half of his body seemed to become black smoke as he circled them around the room.

Purple beams of light seemed to come out of the black sword, going at them in waves. Link was trying his best to shield himself and Kagome while Sango shielded Miroku. Inuyasha appeared again, swinging the sword around. Kagome kept yelling at him, but it seemed to have no effect on him. With no effort, he was able to throw Sango and Miroku. Link seemed to be the only one that could withstand the strength of Inuyasha's swings.

Something isn't right, you need to turn into a wolf!

Link grunted as he pushed Inuyasha back with his shield as he replied to his shadow, "Does it look like I can do that right now?!"

Kagome was on her knees, grabbing Sango for her to wake up when she saw that Inuyasha's strength seemed to increase. Horrified, her eyes then landed on the bow and arrows that were discarded on the ground.

You're going to kill him?

History repeating itself…

Do it…

He's hurt you…

He's broken you many times…

She was crying as she pulled the arrow back on the string. She was calling everything she had as she knew he was really powerful. She wasn't sure what that sword was doing to him, but it wasn't him.

She had loved the man with everything she had at one point. He was arrogant, rude, selfish. But he had a big heart. He protected her, shielded her, cared for her. Because of that love she felt at one point, she needed to stop him or they would all be dead. Sango already had a gash on her forehead and Miroku was bleeding from his shoulder.

You're not going to do it…

You're too weak…

Sango screaming Kagome's name is what made Link falter on his step, giving Inuyasha that opportunity to kick him out of the way with uncanny strength. The Hylian landed on the ground, shield and sword going separate ways.

Now there was no one between Inuyasha and Kagome.

Inuyasha laughed as he saw her standing with bow and arrow ready, "Are you really going to do it? You're not Kikyo. You will never be Kikyo."

He started walking towards her, dragging the sword behind him, the screeching of metal echoing in the chamber.

"With this, I'm going to kill Naraku and I can be with her again. You think I would love you?"

Her tears were falling as he continued, "You're just a copy of what she was and is. Your love is only a child's love. You're just poor tiny Kagome. Useless and defenseless."

"Shut up!"

He laughed and laughed at her, "Oh- are you going to cry?" he mocked her, "That's what you always do. Cry and whine! You think I want to have a woman like you by my side? Kikyo is the one that deserves to be!"

She tried reasoning with him, "She's dead!"

His eyes flashed, "She won't be once she has her full soul again."

The light around her increased as her spiritual powers were taking in the hurt of his words. She was sobbing hysterically as she held her stance as he continued with his rant, on how he was going to kill her and the rest.

"Do it Kagome!" He screamed as his hand reached and held her by the throat, lifting her in the air. His claws were digging in, making small trails of blood coming down her throat, "That's right, you can't do it because you're not-AAHH!"

He screamed in agony as Link, now in wolf form, was chomping on his shoulder. Blood flying everywhere, staining the wolf's fur and his cheek, and landing on Kagome as well as she fell on the floor. He dug his claws in to pry him off, but Link wasn't budging. His white fangs were digging through the flesh, snarls escaping his muzzle as he held on. His mouth was filling with the metallic taste of the half-demon. Inuyasha was thrashing around, trying to get him off him, but the wolf was proving to be more stubborn than he thought.

He had seen it, he just needed to hold on to pry it off. He whined as he felt Inuyasha digging in with his long claws on his shoulders.

Sango could only watch in terror by the amount of blood that was dripping from Inuyasha and Link. She couldn't tell whose blood was who's.

Midna was mortified, but she couldn't attack. Link was practically attached to Inuyasha's shoulder. That's when she saw it, the same thing she saw when she first saw Link being pulled into the twilight by a shadow beast, as his screaming echoed in the entire forest. She could see the Triforce on Link's left front paw shining brightly. With a final snarl as all he could think of was her, he finally pried off the soul of the sword away from Inuyasha's shoulder, but not before the demon pierced his torso through.

Inuyasha let out a blood curdling scream as his body became his again. Midna caught Link as he fell to the ground, turning him quickly into human again. He was wincing in pain as the imp was fretting over him, seeing the amount of blood coming out of his stomach. He coughed, blood coming dripping from his mouth as he yelled at Kagome.

"Fire it now!"

She had screamed Link's name when she saw Inuyasha's clawed hand going through him. The fear of what the outcome could be was put on pause as she faced the monstrosity that had been in control of her best friend. She grabbed her bow and arrow again and the power she had abruptly put a stop to, came out of her again in waves. The creature snarled as it neared her, but as Kagome fired, the entire room was lit by her spiritual powers, purifying the demonic presence completely. Miroku, Shippo, and Kirara were awake to see the end of it.

The black sword that Inuyasha still held, was shattered completely. The shards became black smoke as it vanished from the world.

He couldn't understand what happened. He couldn't understand that he had been that mentally weak for it to take over him.

He had tried, but he couldn't. He wanted them to run away, but he was unable to do anything.

She didn't pay attention to him. She wanted to forget what he had done. Instead, she ran to where Midna was.

The small imp was crying.

She was cradling his head with such delicacy on her lap, her small hand soaked in blood as she was trying to put pressure on the wound.

He couldn't die. He was Mr. Important Hero.

"Link! Don't die on me!" she screamed at him, just to see his blue eyes becoming hazy.

He could barely focus on her angry cries. His eyes then came across the one he had been thinking about as he was biting at the soul.

He wanted to tell her to not cry. He wanted to tell her that she was not weak. There were a lot of things he wanted to say to her.

Just as he felt succumbing into an empty void, he could feel his body being filled with a strange warmth. He had felt this before, but not at this grade.

Inuyasha was horrified seeing Link's form looking so lifeless on the floor. He then turned his head, to see his friends looking at him in shock…

And fear.

He couldn't take it. He couldn't take their looks. He couldn't take what he had done. He almost killed her and everything he said...

He left without knowing if Link was alive or not.

He woke up feeling sore, like if multiple Ordona goats slammed onto his abs continuously. His head was pounding too as his senses were focusing on his surroundings. His eyes opened, his vision blurry as he stared at a brown stoned roof. He was confused and slightly disoriented, but slowly everything came back to him.

He sat up a little too quickly, his vision now seeing double.

"Stupid, lay back down again!"

He felt small hands on his shoulders, making him wince as he knew he had wounds there. He laid back on the floor, his head resting on a made up pillow. His blue eyes turned to her, only to see her red eyes brimming with tears.

"Don't ever scare me like that again you stupid wolf!"

He groaned at her screeching. His voice was raspy as he spoke, "What happened?"

She glared down at him, "You don't remember?"

"Kind of…"

"Well, after your heroic move, you should have been dead. The amount of blood you lost, you should have been dead. No one should survive having a gaping hole in their stomach!"

His hand reached to his stomach, where a makeshift bandage was on. His eyes widened. If he still had a hole, there was no way he could continue fur-

"She healed you," she snapped him out of his panic rant, "The same person that you basically gave your life to, healed you. You don't have a hole anymore. It took her three days and constant arguing-"

He propped himself up with his elbows, "Three days?"

"You've been asleep for five, but it took me three days to heal you."

Her soft voice echoed in the small room where he laid. He could see the dark bags under her eyes and the redness at the edge of them. She looked like she had not slept in days.

Midna looked between them and sighed heavily, "Alright I'll leave you two. I'll be outside though if anything happens. Although it shouldn't since all the monsters have been cleared here…" she pointedly looked at Kagome, who was blushing furiously staring at the ground.

With that, the imp flew away, leaving the two of them alone.

Before he could say anything to her as he sat up more, groaning at the soreness he felt as he made himself lean against the stone wall for support, the woman collapsed in front of him. She was on her knees, her hands covering her face.

"I'm so so so sorry Link… This is all my fault…"

His eyes widened as he reached for her. He gripped her wrists so he could see her face, "How is this your fault?"

She sniffled, her blush increasing as her eyes were filled with pain and her voice was cracking, "You almost died because of me! You put yourself at risk!"

His eyes softened, "But I'm here. Thanks to you I'm here."

But the woman kept crying as his words didn't change anything. That's when it clicked. She wasn't just crying because she almost lost him. She was crying about everything that happened. He hadn't let go of her wrists and with a gentle pull, he had her on his lap.

The young woman was shaking as the sobs broke through her body uncontrollably. He cradled her like a small child needing comfort. Ignoring the soreness of his body, he held her tightly as she continued to cry. He buried his nose on her hair, taking in her sweet scent of lillies and rain. His heart was aching at the sound of her cries. All he could do was be her support.

He was unsure how long they remained like that. Her sobs finally became small sniffles.

"He left…"

He moved his head back, "What?"

That seemed to trigger the sorrow again, "Inuyasha. He left…"