Disclaimer: Once again, I DO NOT OWN any characters besides Kaori.


Alarmed at the frantic screams, Kaori jerks her head upwards, a bit too quickly, for she feels a bit nauseated and dizzy. Stupid hit on the head. Stupid tree. She must have fallen backwards hard. How she managed to stumble back here, she didn't know. Regaining her bearings, she rushes forward in the direction of the yells.


Then she stops, stunned by what she sees.


In front of her, there are many millipede creatures, their bodies dripping with some sort of acid and sizzling to the ground. The millions of legs were like needles, shiny and sharp. But the most impressive thing was their wings, unlike their slimy green bodies, these were dry and powdered, the color of powdered white wigs worn in the past.

Turning away from these disgusting creatures, Kaori sees her classmates and teacher caught inside a net. Beside them, the bus was wrangled with many small holes and acid from the bodies of these demons. Muttering to each other in coarse, squeaky voices, the creatures communicated, and Kaori covers her ears in the pain these whispers caused. However, she understands that they are taking the humans away, along with the bus, which they have severed into bits already. Taking them to some sort of leader. But who? Pushing away this question, Kaori realizes she has to do something about this.

Just as she makes this decision, the leader of the gang of creatures, the one with slightly moldier wings, shrieks out a command to rise, for in the time Kaori was thinking, her classmates and teacher were already limp, maybe even lifeless for all she knew, after being powdered. At this enormously high-pitched screech, Kaori involuntarily screams, for her head seems to swell until the brim of exploding. Her ears seems to be stretched tight, and she could do nothing about it.

But the scream alerts the demons of her presence.

Coming up to her, she faintly sees their mouths open in glee, mouths of sharp teeth and phlegm dripping off each. Almost throwing up the breakfast she ate before getting onto the bus this morning, she resists the urge, and despite her uneasiness, tries to get away. But there is no use, and she falls unconscious. The leader of the creatures looks at her, and deciding since she was already unconscious, she didn't need to be powdered. Putting her in along with the others, she is taken away in flight in one net, the other carrying the metal scraps. They fly quickly toward a bleak destination, soon only appearing to be dots from where they left.


~*~*~*~*~*~


"..." The pudgy bus driver scratches his sweaty head in confusion, looking around as a spare tire lies at his feet.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


Sharply, Kaori awakes when she feels her shoulder bang roughly on the floor, followed by her already abused head. Following her, there is a waterfall of tumbling of misshapen, heavy objects crushing her. As something sharp stabs her rib cage, she gasps, eyelids flying open. To her horror, upon her are the bodies of her classmates and teacher, for she had been on the top of the pile. Almost shrieking in terror, she frantically tries to get them off, but since she is flailing, she doesn't do anything but bruise a few noses. To her intense relief, she sees a few of her classmates move positions and mumble as if dreaming. So they weren't dead. But then, one of the boys on top of her start drooling, and mullified, she jerks her head away just in time to avoid the downpour. Someone then seems to stretch in his sleep, and he accidentally wacks her in the face. Almost murdering him at that point, she realizes that she is in no position to do so, then concentrates instead on how to maneuver them off of her.

A shove there, and a nudge here, and a kick there, and she is free, although gasping for air. Staring a bit disgustedly at the goofy dream smiles, she doesn't know whether to laugh or to continue staring. Sighing, for the firs time, she realizes where she is. A dungeon. Eyes widening, she sways a little in shock.

She recognizes this particular dungeon for two reasons. One surprising and suspicious. The other...well, you'll see.

One, this morning. The teacher announced a surprise field trip, off schedule and what they were learning, for something he called a "refreshing day off" or something. He passed around pictures this morning. At first, the bus driver complained that it was dangerous, and no one visited there anymore. Its owner didn't seem to take care of it at all, looking at the outside, the driver said. There were no visitors for decades. But the teacher silenced him, and Kaori forgot all about it.

Two, she remembers this only now, perhaps from the jolting of her head. She had been here long ago, very long ago. Centuries ago.


This was the place. The place where she and Youko Kurama had parted ways so long ago.


Author's Note: Yes! I know, I know, this is an incredibly short chapter. But don't you agree that the ending is a cliffhanger? To tell you the truth, I didn't plan this at first, but then it just came out this way, and I have a brilliant, or not so much, idea for what's coming ahead. R&R please! Oh, and could someone please tell me why my name doesn't show up when I put it into the search engine? Thank you.

I'll update soon too.