Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own "Inuyasha".

A/n: Hey it's me again! For those of you wondering Mariko is the one married to Merrick. Not Kagome.

-Chocolatedragon15

Kagome awoke tied to bed in a damp room. There was a fire in the fireplace in the corner. A silhouette of a figure stood up and walked around to her side of the bed.

Kagome tried to speak, but she felt a gag over her mouth. Her mouth was dry and her throat itched.

The figure sat right next to her and then leaned in close enough so that Kagome could make out the color of the person's eyes; they were a light brown, and seem to calm her some although she knew she should be afraid.

"Do you believe in monogamy? There is no law that says we have to be, and I've decided that two wives from the future is better than one," the voice was so even and cold that it was eerie.

"Merrick!" was all she could think while trying to struggle and then she slipped into unconsciousness.

Inuyasha was leading the gang as he sprinted towards the palace. The rest just tried to keep up. The magic barrier was down now; Inuyasha could sort of sense it. If it weren't fully down yet it was weak enough for him to punch a hole through.

"I'm on my way. Baka girl should have waited for me. Something's wrong." Inuyasha growled under his breath.

"I have to have this set up just right. He needs to come to me on my terms. Now what is the best way to make sure he shows up?" Merrick contemplated.

"Use his little girlfriend Kagome. He is really overprotective of her. But just for kicks, how about having all the girls serve and revere you; like a harem." Merrick's best fighter Jason spoke up.

"Good, good. And if I defeat Inuyasha, Naraku and I will become full fledge partners. I would have taken care of the one person who could stand a chance of defeating him. And if I could defeat Inuyasha, there's a good chance I could defeat Naraku himself." Merrick mused.

"The only thing that troubles me is the fact that Inuyasha isn't here yet. Don't you think he should have showed up a least a week ago?" Jason asked.

"I knew there was a reason I hired you," Merrick laughed, "Now take the guards and secure the perimeter. I have a feeling that Inuyasha will be making his grand entrance tonight."

"I told you Merrick is nothing compared to me it only took three seconds to break down his 'strong' magical wall." Inuyasha sang his own praise.

"Too easy." Khali responded.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Miroku asked. Khali seemed to him worried as if something was wrong.

"I'm not doubting that you are strong if not a skillful fighter, but Merrick is an intelligent man there should be guards here. He always has about 40 to 50 guards always on duty and we have not run into any of them. About ten to fifteen have permanent postings while the others walk around in the castle and around the grounds. There should be at least three guards at this front gate. It doesn't make sense, unless…" Khali started.

"Unless he is expecting us," Inuyasha finished, "There are 20 of them headed this way, I can smell them."

"All the girls are under my spell." Merrick retorted triumphantly.

"Isn't time for you to prepare for battle?" Kagome asked.

"No, I want Inuyasha to walk in." Merrick replied.

"You really think that'll work?" Kagome asked.

"Of course it'll work, and just for tonight you can be number 1 wife; head wife." Merrick responded.

"You won't let him take me will you?" Kagome asked sorrowfully.

"No, he'll die tonight." Merrick answered.

"What if he is defeated by the guards blocking the front gate?" Sango asked bringing over a bowlful of peeled grapes to hand feed to Merrick.

"Don't worry my precious, there is no way they can defeat him, even with Jason's help. Jason's good I'll admit it, but he lacks discipline and experience to ever defeat Inuyasha," Merrick answered, "Those guards will just slow them down some."

Everyone was doing a good job of holding off the guards, but there were still too many. More kept joining and they were coming from everywhere like a pack of locus destroying everything in their path. Shippo placed a leaf on his head and recited an incantation. He was instantly turned into a reflection of Inuyasha.

Jason came out of nowhere and tackled Inuyasha to the ground. Inuyasha jumped up and kicked Jason in the neck. Jason flew into a tree and was knocked unconscious.

A guy flew out of a tree onto Shippo's back and Shippo ran backwards into a tree and the guy fell.

Another guard tripped Khali and she grabbed him by the throat, "I'm a lot stronger than I look. Too bad, this mistake will be you last." Her eyes grew to an intense red color and she tossed the guard passed the front gate, leaving a trail of blood to his body.

Miroku stood, hit a guy behind the guy's head and knocked him out.

Inuyasha, Miroku and Shippo kept looking at the body outside the gate and Khali.

"Ready? Lets go." Khali called.

"How did you?" Shippo started.

Khali did a complete about face to come face to face with Shippo in his transformed form. She looked at each of the guys and then glanced back to Shippo, "I told you we are all not what we appear to be and if we don't hurry up…" Khali paused, "Lets just get going."

The guys remained quiet and followed Khali inside. All of the lights were dimmed except for a corridor that had been blindingly illuminated.

"He wants us to follow this corridor," Mariko answered. The group checked all of the doors down the elongated corridor too find all but one locked.

Inuyasha rushed towards it to open it. Inside was one of the more extravagant rooms in the whole palace. There were thick blue silk curtains draped over the windows. There were four small beds around the room with blue satin sheets. The bed in the middle was the most luscious of them all. It was big enough for Kagome, Sango, Inuyasha, Khali, Shippo, Mariko, and Miroku to sleep in it at the same time and still have room for three more people to sleep comfortably.

Johanna and Shaneal walked in from a doorway that was hidden by one of the smaller beds.

"Where are Kagome and Sango?" Khali asked.

Johanna and Shaneal seemed to be staring past the group. The girls were wearing silver straight dresses that reached down to their ankles and embroidered hems. Their necks, wrist, and ankles were adorned with thick gold.

The two girls headed towards the large bed. One went headed for one end of the bed and the other girl went to the other end. The girls pulled the curtain swathed over the bedpost (A/n: This is an old fashion bed).

Lying on the bed were Kagome and Merrick. Kagome was wearing a straight knee length dress while Merrick was wearing a daiu.

…And they were making out!

"Kagome?" Inuyasha asked heavy-heartedly.