Death
Kagome's eyes widened and horror flooded through her when Sesshomaru's cold voice uttered that statement. She turned to look at how Ilyo was taking the announcement, but he was already moving.
"It is time," he stated solemnly. "Grab your weapons and meet me in the main hallway." With that statement, he strode off, closely followed by Icthalur and Kagome.
Past Sesshomaru glanced at his future self. "Will you be joining us in the battle?" He looked at his future self as if he was a weakling.
Present day Sesshomaru growled in response. "Of course I will. Do you take me for some kind o coward?" Past Sesshomaru smirked at that before turning and following Ilyo, Icthalur, and Kagome. Present day Sesshomaru glared after him for a moment and then he too left, making his way down to his armory, the room where Kagome had found her sword.
Meanwhile, Ilyo, Icthalur, and Kagome had arrived in the main hallway. Past Sesshomaru showed up several seconds later. He had his hand on Tokijin, and was wearing a peculiar smirk on his face. Present day Sesshomaru arrived mere moments after his counterpart did. He had changed clothing and was no clad in his familiar white attire. Strapped to his side were Tokijin and Tenseiga. The only difference between him and past Sesshomaru was that one of them had both arms and the other didn't.
Ilyo eyes his companions appraisingly for a moment; they made for quite a group. He turned to Icthalur, who grinned and spoke a single word in a strange language. He was instantly holding a sword. It was a beautiful blade, pure silver in colour and quite long, but unadorned by any gems or jewels. Kagome could sense a hidden power within the blade.
Ilyo nodded his approval and smiled at the sight of his friend's signature weapon. Then he spoke a word in a different language, and his own weapon was instantly summoned to his hands. It was the exact twin of Kagome's, with the same red and blue colouring along its razor sharp edges. He flexed his fingers on the hilt and felt his blood start to sing in the same manner it did before every battle he had ever fought. Looking at his small group, Ilyo grinned, exposing his fangs. Then he laughed coldly. "Let's go!" Turning, he threw open the door and led everyone outside.
Out on the lawn, Kuttsoh-turas was waiting for them. Kagome looked at him, judging his appearance. He stood nearly as tall as Icthalur and Sesshomaru, but he looked considerable slimmer than either of them. His perfectly straight hair was fire red and it reached down to his shoulders. It was his eyes that made her shiver however; they were completely black. There was nothing else there, just flat darkness. Kagome's gaze flickered to his hand next. In it, he was holding a large battleaxe. It was covered in strange markings.
Her observations were interrupted a second later by a cruel laugh. "Well, well; if it isn't Ilyomaru and Icthalur. It's been a long time boys. Ilyo, how did you enjoy your time in your tomb?" Ilyo growled at the reminder. Kuttsoh merely laughed again.
Icthalur looked at him fiercely. 'We gonna do this or not?"
Kuttsoh laughter immediately halted. He smiled dangerously. "Of course, I was merely trying to be polite. Ah, but I forgot, lizards like you have no manners."
Icthalur's eyes widened at this insult. Hissing angrily, he suddenly leapt at Kuttsoh, his sword drawn. Kagome watched, fully expecting the enraged dragon to slice the god in two, but was unpleasantly surprised when Kuttsoh simply side-stepped the attack.
Now that the fight had been started, everyone decided that it was their turn to join at the same time. Both Sesshomaru's leapt forward, swords drawn. The both released energy blasts at the same time, but Kuttsoh managed to effortlessly avoid both.
Then, it was his turn. Darting forward, he dealt a vicious punch to both Sesshomarus, sending them both flying through the air. They crashed heavily into a pile on the ground. Although they both immediately jumped back to their feet, Kagome could tell that they were both extremely shaken up at being repelled so easily.
Icthalur, meanwhile, had resumed the fight. Kuttsoh had discarded his axe, and now held a sword. Icthalur attacked him with his sword and Kagome watched in amazement as the two powerful beings went at each other. Their weapons were a blur. Each time the blades met, a massive spark would fly off into the air.
Icthalur was the first to draw blood. He managed to slip under the god's guard and slice a thin line across Kuttsoh's cheek. Unfortunately, the advantage was short-lived. Mere seconds after Icthalur scored his hit, Kuttsoh struck back, drawing a thin line of blood on Icthalur's forehead. The god smirked and lifted his eyebrows at the dragon demon, as though he was daring him to say something.
As the blood started to drip down his face, Icthalur began to grow more and more pissed off. As his anger grew, his aura began to expand and his power swelled along with it. Kagome could feel the immense energy the dragon demon was emitting and she quickly realized why Ilyo had wanted to avoid a conflict with Icthalur.
With the sudden rising of Icthalur's power, and the subsequent increase in his speed and strength, the swordplay grew more impressive until Kuttsoh suddenly lunged forward. Icthalur clearly hadn't been expecting the move and he wasn't able do anything as the god's sword slipped past his guard and pierced the right side of his chest.
Letting out a pained gasp, Icthalur took a step back and then fell to his knee. Kagome could tell that he was pretty damaged, but she instinctively knew that it was not a mortal wound. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do as Kuttsoh lifted his sword over his head and prepared to decapitate his downed opponent.
Before the death blow could be delivered however, someone else intervened. A sudden explosion of energy beside her reminded Kagome that Ilyo had not yet joined the battle. That changed quickly. His anger clearly evident, Ilyo charged at Kuttsoh. Surprised, the god attempted to change his beheading blow to slash, in order to stop Ilyo. His efforts were in vain.
Ilyo easily dodged his attack and then launched himself straight at the god. Kagome had never seen such a huge guy move so quickly. He had grasped Kuttsoh by the throat before the god could even react. Next thing that Kagome knew, Ilyo had drawn his sword, Draynal, and held the point to Kuttsoh's neck.
"I could kill you now. It would be easy." Ilyo calmly stated.
Smirking, Kuttsoh shook his head. "You couldn't kill me even if I let you," he said with a dark chuckle. "Watch." With those words, Kuttsoh suddenly disappeared from Ilyo's grasp. He reappeared a second later standing directly behind Kagome. Ilyo made as if to attack again, but he halted when Kuttsoh pointed his sword at Kagome. She had frozen in terror. She looked around and saw both Sesshomarus watching quietly. Icthalur had risen from the ground and was glaring at the god with ill-concealed hatred in his eyes.
"As far as I can tell, it was you who possessed the jewel shards. Where are they now?" the god asked.
Kagome shivered at being directly addressed by Kuttsoh-turas. She chose not to answer the question however. She could feel him suddenly shift behind her when she remained silent.
"Fine," he said after a moment, "have it your way."
Kagome gasped in sudden pain as the god's sword pierced her back, going completely through her shoulder and exiting out her chest. Her eyes widened and she coughed, which forced a small trickle of blood to come out of her mouth. The sword withdrew a second later and Kagome collapsed backwards against Kuttsoh.
The god lifted her from the ground and casually tossed her dead body through the air. She landed near Sesshomaru. The lawn grew eerily quiet. Then, a roar of rage split the air. There was an explosion of demonic energy that was so huge it knocked Kuttsoh from his feet. He got up just in time to witness the huge form of Ilyo flying through the air, directly at him.
Kuttsoh had no time to react before Ilyo hit him. He heard his own ribs crack. Pain exploded in his stomach. This was the first time the god had ever felt real pain. He screamed in agony as Ilyo's huge fist smashed into his head. Another scream was torn from his lips when the other fist hit the other side of his face.
Kuttsoh felt like his head was literally about to explode. He suddenly felt himself getting hauled to his feet. Ilyo had lifted him clear off of the ground. Through Kuttsoh's pain-saturated brain, he saw a potential opening and decided to take it. Focusing all of his unbelievable power into his fist, he brought it crashing down onto Ilyo's arm, expecting it to break.
He was sorely mistaken however. Ilyo took the blow on his arm and shook it off as if it were nothing. Kuttsoh's eyes widened with shock at the lack of a reaction from the dog demon. Then everything went dark.
Ilyo had pulled back his arm and let his fist fly, smashing the trapped god right in the face. Again and again and again Ilyo punched until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Dropping Kuttsoh, he whirled around, his eyes glowing blood red. He saw Icthalur gazing at him coolly. His friend's cold gaze slowly returned the reasoning to Ilyo's grief stricken brain.
Icthalur pointed down to the body of Kuttsoh, which lay at Ilyo's feet. Ilyo turned to look at his handiwork. He smiled grimly when he saw the results of his rage. The god's face had been completely crushed. All that remained of the once handsome face was a crushed, bleeding mass of flesh. Kuttsoh was clearly dead. Then, Ilyo remembered Kagome.
Looking up, he spotted her body lying on the ground, bloody and broken. Sadness constricted his heart, and he was about to go to her, but then he sensed another approaching power. He immediately recognized Inuyasha. He turned around just as Inuyasha dropped out of the sky, landing directly in front of Kuttsoh's body.
Ilyo growled at him. "What do you want?" Inuyasha said nothing. Instead, he reached down and thrust his clawed hand deep inside Kuttsoh-turas' chest. He groped inside for a moment and then withdrew his hand. Ilyo felt the power and quickly realized that Inuyasha had just taken the remaining piece of the Shikon Jewel.
Inuyasha grinned. "Well, congratulations on your victory over Kuttsoh-turas." Then, he glanced at Kagome's body. "Well, maybe I should be giving you my condolences, rather than my congratulations."
Ilyo growled viciously at this.
Inuyasha only smirked again. "Well, I'll be seeing you soon, big brother." With these words, Inuyasha waved and suddenly leaped into the air. There was a bright flash and he was gone. Ilyo made no effort to follow him. Instead, he made his over to where Kagome's body rested on the grass.
Present day Sesshomaru was staring at her with his mouth open. It had been a long time since he had witnessed such an emotionless slaying. Icthalur was kneeling by her side, listening for a heartbeat. Unfortunately, he couldn't detect one. He looked at Ilyo and shook his head sadly.
Ilyo fell to his knees as he looked silently at the dead body of Kagome; his Kagome. He gathered her in his arms and started to cry, silent tears running down his cheeks. Icthalur glanced at present day Sesshomaru and the two of them walked off, taking Kuttsoh's corpse with them.
Past Sesshomaru watched as his brother quietly cried over Kagome's body. He remained silent.
Meanwhile, Ilyo continued to cry, silently wishing that it was all a horrible dream and that he would wake up to find that it had all been a part of his imagination. As he cried, the watching Sesshomaru grew more and more disgusted at the fact that so strong and powerful a demon could be so grief stricken at the death of some girl. He finally decided to end his brother's grief.
Ilyo was so distracted by the dead girl in his arms, he never even noticed as the shadow fell across him and the sword struck, unerringly finding its intended target.