­­Summary­- It is the year 1659—a year when miko's are considered witches. Enter Kagome, a young witch who has lost the remainder of her family in one day then kidnapped by Sesshoumaru and his group.

Pairings- Sesshoumaru/Kagome Inuyasha/OC Miroku/Sango

Rating- PG-13 (for now)

Disclaimer- I don't own Inuyasha, or Enya's song- Deora Ar Mo Chroi

Pains • Illusion

By Nya

Can it be true we live on earth?

Not forever on earth- only a brief moment here

Even jade shatters.

Even gold breaks.

Even the plumage of quetzal tears apart.

Not forever on earth- only a brief moment here

-King Nezahualcoyotl

...Chapter Four...

...Tears of a Phoenix...

I sighed heavily. Honestly, why did people seem to think that I was just an object to be thrown over countless people's shoulders?

I could probably identify around four people by sniffing their pits. Well, at least the youkai lord had no foul smell.

The hanyou was much worse... then around an hour of being carried around by 'Sesshoumaru'; Nokami stepped in and heaved me over her shoulder.

For Kami's sake I was NOT a sack of potatoes!

Now, back to the point. Nokami, I really hadn't taken any time to study the demoness.

She was a pale skinned cat demon. She had almost identical ears to Inuyasha, they were small and rectangular, except they were black not silver. She had a long mane of raven colored hair too, and markings of lesser youkai. She wore a simple kimono, a small sword hanging loosely at her hip.

At least she had a sword...I only had two daggers strapped to my arms that were being hidden by my tattered kimono.

Hey, I might be a poor witch but I had fighting skill. Grandmother had made absolute sure that I knew how to defend myself, for, as you should know, witches were hated amongst most religions and species.

In any case I could defend my self properly, though that did no good with my hands shackled behind my back.

I was more depressed now, for the white haired noble youkai left to scout ahead. The pain of loosing my family in one day seemed to come back full force when he left. He was like a big numbing herb.

'Did I just consider big-bad youkai born of noble birth an herb? Wow...I really am insane...'

I was now considering starting a conversation with the cat youkai. Would she answer? Would I get any information out of her? Yes, no? Well only one way to find out...

"Ano...Nokami-sama, why did your group kidnap me? I'm really not all that special..." I asked meekly, hoping I addressed her correctly.

The demoness glanced down at me, raising an elegant raven colored brow.

"You mean, you don't know who you are?" she asked, sounding surprised.

"Uh...yeah I'm Higurashi Kagome, a small town witch shunned by all..."

"You mean you really don't know? Wow, I thought your Grandmother would have told you..."

"What!?" I asked, getting irritated.

"Ano, well if your Grandmother didn't want you to know, perhaps I shouldn't tell you..."

"My Grandmother is dead," I said bluntly. My eyes grew dark as I waited for a reply.

...None came.

"That's it, I'm sick of this! I'm sick of not being answered, I'm sick of people dying, I'm sick of smelling your pits, and I'm sick of feeling like a fucking potato sack!" I yelled, finally releasing the stress I had pent up inside me.

I released a large energy orb from my hands, turning them slightly so they would connect with the irritable demonesses head.

I saw the shock in her eyes as she was flung across the path at the force of my blow. I landed on the ground in a heap, my eyes downcast.

The stress and heartache of losing my family hit me full force and my shoulders began to shake with silent sobs. Tears streaked down my dirt-caked face as I finally snapped.

I had finally broken.

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...Sesshoumaru's POV...

I heard her sobs, though they were faint. I also smelled Nokami's blood. The girl must have finally lost it; I knew she wouldn't last long. I sneered inside my head, thinking,

'Weak humans...'

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I grinned sadistically.

Oh, how I would have fun torturing this little girl. I would let her get to know and love the group, then I would kill them. All of them.

The girl had unknowingly walked into my web of deceit.

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I could feel their emotions. They were surprised at my sudden break down. I didn't care. I was just wishing someone would hold and comfort me, but no, I had to be the kidnapped witch that no one dared touch for fear of being cursed. That thought really made no sense considering I had been thrown over nearly all of their shoulders.

I felt a powerful youki coming our way; it must have been the noble.

The pain subsided momentarily, but not for long. I struggled to my knees, which was fairly complicated considering my hands were shackled behind my back. I let loose a few energy beams to support me as I slowly stood up. I heard my ankles crack and my mouth opened in a small 'o'. I felt the salt from my tears in my mouth as I slowly looked up.

My pain seemed to give me power as I conjured a long shaft of light to break my shackles.

Tears still streamed down my face like rivers broke loose. Now I was numb, I began making my way away from the startled group, but it seemed that the Hanyou snapped out of it.

He darted towards me, I began to pull out my daggers but, alas, I was no match to the speed of half-demon.

He grabbed me roughly by the collar of my kimono. Soon the whole group, who had been shaken out of their daze by the Hanyou, ganged up on me. Nokami hissed at me, eyes bleeding red.

Would they hurt me? I could only pray they wouldn't.

I wiped my tears and turned my head slightly to show my neck, telling them I had given up. It was no use. One puny human against a demon, a half-breed, a woman with a large boomerang, a man with a cursed hand (I overheard them speaking of it.), and a noble born demon.

The group parted slightly to let the taiyoukai stand before me. I sank to my knees, my neck still exposed. A lone tear trekked down my cheek as I felt myself losing consciousness.

I felt myself falling forward and the winds rushing by my face and my hair dancing. Then I felt warm arms encircle me and I cracked my eyes open before I drifted into the black abyss.

I saw Sesshoumaru.

‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡(You know I was going to be evil and end it here but I decided against it.)

Dream Sequence

Kagome sat on a small old tree stump, face clean and happy. She smiled contently, glancing about her surroundings. A lone quetzal twittered and took flight into the blue sky.

It was so...well, happy! Oh how she wished the real world were like this.

She grinned and stood up, twirling around in the tall grass that surrounded her. She began singing sweetly, and some would wonder how she sang such a dark song so happily.

'Ba dheas an la' go oiche

Na glo'ritha binne i mo thaobh

'S aoibhneas i gach 'ait gan gruaim

Athas ar mo chori' go deo

He-a-ro

He-a-o-ro-'

Her song abruptly died, as the sky grew dark.

"What-what is going on?"

Her sense of comfort and safety died as the grass turned a blackish color. She bent down and felt what it was, her eyes widening in horror.

Blood.

She looked out into the field; it was all black, blood dripping everywhere. She screamed, and tried to move but she seemed frozen.

"What the hell-"

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I opened my eyes sharply, sitting up quickly and gasping for air. I noticed four pairs of eyes on me and I turned to look at them.

"What?" I asked, wiping some sweat off my forehead.

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at her, "You were sleeping all peacefully, you even began to sing –in a different language I might add- and then when Sesshoumaru left, you went crazy and started screaming. What's wrong with you?"

I stared at them, my eyes wide.

"Ano..."

"We'll talk tomorrow, get some sleep," the man with the cursed hand said, pulling back the hanyou.

The small group around me dissipated, all of them going to their designated sleeping places around the fire. I noticed as I fell back asleep that a pair of golden orbs were watching me carefully.

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Kyoto

In a small pub near the gates of Kyoto, a woman with long raven tresses sat. She could've been mistaken as Kagome, but the blank, emotionless expression compared to Kagome's bright one made a large impact on their differences.

She whispered quietly, a sound meant for only one pair of ears to hear.

"Naraku, come out..."

‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡‡...End Chapter...TBC

A/N- Hi...I'm back...hehe guess who's in Kyoto before Kags and Sesshou? There was some confusion on what Kags was, she is not demon, and forgive me for not clarifying that, . Gomen nasai minna-san! Kagome is a human witch, and Nokami is a demon (as you've learned in this chapter.)

Hey! Special thanks to all who reviewed, I greatly appreciate it. Extra special cookies to spdsgirl, for a wonderful review, THANKS SO MUCH!

Terms-

Ano- Japanese word for 'Um.'

-san- a suffix for miss or misses or mister

-sama- a suffix for lord or lady

...No idea if I missed any, to lazy to go back and look.

-love to all

Nya/Nat