Chapter Twelve: Enter the Children

Kagome lets the arrow fly. Artemis tries to escape it but is hit in the shoulder. He growls and turns into his fox form, his eyes glow and the sky begins to swirl. Clouds appear, covering the moon, little white flakes fall from the sky. Snow begins covering the ground in a rapid pace. The wind blow hard and makes it hard to see. Artemis charges at Kagome, Inuyasha takes notice and grabs her before Artemis can get her. Miroku throws his staff at Artemis to get his attention. He then tries to use his wind tunnel, but he only gets snow. Sango holds her weapon close ready to strike anything that comes near her. Artemis jumps out in front of Sango and bites her side. Miroku's heart skips a beat, "Sango!" he rushes over to her. Artemis lets go of Sango and tries to bite Miroku. Miroku punches Artemis's jaw knocking him to the ground. Sango winces and pulls out her sword, she attempts to stab him but he jumps out of the way. She stumbles and Miroku catches her. He smiles slightly, "Are you okay Sango?" she leans against him and sighs. Miroku looks around, trying to spot Artemis before he can attack again. Inuyasha jumps down with Kagome and checks Sango's wound. The snow dies down and they see Artemis sitting next to Serenity. She pets his head and smiles softly. Kagome's eyes fill with tears as memories of Sumiko flood her mind.

"Artemis... what about Sumiko?" she cries more.

Serenity laughs, "Sumiko... what a fool... she will never be born now... and she will never be with Artemis.."

Kagome bites her lip then aims an arrow at Serenity. "I will kill you!" she looks at Artemis, "and you... I'll never forgive you..." Kagome lets go but Serenity moves and the arrow misses her. Inuyasha jumps down in front of her and tries to slice at her, but she disappears. Then a ball flies from out of the forest and smacks his in the face. He falls back and sees Yumi standing there. Yumi raises the ball and is about to throw the ball again when Kagome runs over and hits it out of her hands. Artemis pounces on Inuyasha and bites into his shoulder, ripping some of the flesh off.

Yumi smiles at Kagome, "Kagome, just wondering, who do you think I look like?" Kagome gives her a funny look and holds her bow to her chest. Yumi giggles, "Don't you know? Think hard..." Kagome just glares at her and says nothing. Yumi seems a bit disappointed, "Nothing...? Thats sad..." Yumi plays with her hair then pulls out a small red comb.

Kagome gasps, "Yura!"

"Wow! You figured it out! I am her reincarnation." Yumi waves the comb back and forth. Strings fly out and tie Kagome to the tree. "Sadly, I do not have really sharp silk hair like her, I only have simple string. I mean, it can't even cut!" she grins, "Unless I want it too." she tightens the strings around Kagome. Inuyasha pushes Artemis away and runs to Kagome. Inuyasha is pushed to the ground and bitten once again. Yumi looks to Kagome then to Inuyasha. Artemis notices Yumi and jumps off of Inuyasha. Yumi then holds her ball over her head. "Cherry Bomb!" Yumi throws the ball down onto Inuyasha as hard as she can. The small girl laughs when Inuyasha starts to whimper and winces in pain. The ball appears in her hand, "Its fun is it not? Lets play some more." A small child in a black hooded cape runs out and pounces on Yumi. The child growls and tries to bite and slap her. Inuyasha looks up in confusion then he quickly gets up and goes to Kagome. He rips off the strings and looks to the child. Artemis sits next to Serenity, he looks to her. She shakes her head no and glares at Yumi. Miroku and Sango run up beside Kagome. Yumi kicks the child off and glares at her. "Who are you!"

The child pulls off her hood slowly. She has silver hair pulled back into a bun. A pair of dog ears sit upon her head twitching. She growls once again, "You better leave them alone! Or else!" the child yells.

Yumi blinks and looks to Serenity, "Sister... is who is she?" Serenity closes her eyes and disappears with Artemis. Yumi turns back to the girl then disappears as well.

The child starts to pout and kicks the snow. She walks over to Inuyasha and Kagome and smiles brightly. "Hello! I am Chiyoko! But you can call me Chiyo for short!"

Inuyasha bends down to her. "Where are you from?"

"I am from the-" A white dog knocks her over. Chiyoko growls, "Maruso! Knock it off!"

Maruso turns into a boy, "Chiyoko... " he glares at her then looks to Inuyasha. "We are not from around here."

Chiyo jumps up, "Nope we aren't from around here! We are from the future!" Maruso makes a fist and holds it to her face she screams and runs behind Inuyasha. "Daddy! Maruso is being mean to me!"

"Stupid! Chiyoko you weren't suppose to tell them that! You idiot!"

"BAKA!" Chiyo screams back to him and glares at him.

Inuyasha picks up Chiyo and holds her in his arms. "You two are from the future?"

Chiyo smiles, "Yup!"

Kagome giggles and rubs her ears, "So are you Inuyasha's future children?"

"Yup! Of course Mommy, who else would I belong to?"

Miroku, Sango, Inuyasha, and Kagome scream together, "Mommy?"

"Yeah, she is my Mommy and he is my daddy. Is that a bad thing?"

Miroku grins, "No, no Chiyo. Its a good thing, trust me." he looks to Sango, "So, Chiyo, do you know, if I have any children with any certain person?"

"Well-"

Maruso throws a snowball at her head. "Don't you think you have said enough!"

Kagome smiles, "Maruso, you are also my child?" he nods. "How old are you and your sister?"

"I am eight, about to be nine. She is six."

"Wow.." she pauses, "How did you get here?" Chiyo looks to Maruso then jumps out of Inuyasha's arms. She smiles at her brother and pushes him to speak. "Well... I think we should go some place warm. The story is long..." Inuyasha nods then glances at Kagome.

Kagome lays her head on Inuyasha's lap. Miroku and Sango lean against the wall of the hut. Kirara curls up in Chiyo's lap and Maruso sits next to them. Shippo jumps on Inuyasha's head, "So, what happened?"

Maruso closes his eyes and brushes the bangs out of his face. "Well, you see, Serenity came to our time to kill you off there just in case she does succeed here. Everything is in complete chaos, everyone is trying to fight these strange demons... but we aren't winning. Father told Mother to take us somewhere safe. There is no place that is safe. So Mother decided to send us to the past, or I guess the present.. to hide here. We weren't suppose to tell anyone." he glares at Chiyo, "but that didn't happen. We were also to find you guys and bring you to our time and fix things there before its too late."

Kagome looks to the ground, "So, how are we suppose to get there?"

"Well, Miroku told us you would know."

Miroku jerks upward, "I said no- such.. thing..." he pauses, "You are talking about the future me right?"

Maruso nods, "Yeah." Chiyo's ears perk up and she jumps up. Maruso looks at her then sniffs the air. "Oh no..." A big cloud of snow flies into the hut and pins Chiyo to the wall. The cloud of snow fades and a girl covered in wolf fur stands there. She has short black hair with turquoise eyes.

Chiyo kicks her, "Brat! Get away from me!" The wolf child punches Chiyo and they begin to fight. Inuyasha walks over and pulls them apart. Chiyo tries to get herself free but fails. She snorts, "Stupid flea bag!"

The wolf tries to crawl her way out of Inuyasha's grasp. "Mutt face!"

Inuyasha's eyes widen, "What did you say?"

"Mutt face. Why whats it to you?" she looks up, "Oh."

Chiyo pouts and sits on the ground, "Thats Aki. She is Koga's daughter, and she is a spoiled brat."

Aki shows her fangs, "What was that! Come over here and say that to my face!"

"Alright!"

Kagome takes Chiyo's hand and pulls her over. She shakes her head and Chiyo sighs. Aki groans and walks over to the other side of the room to sit. Inuyasha sits by her just in case. Kagome smiles at Aki, "So you are Koga's future child?"

Aki looks up, "Yeah."

Miroku speaks up, "Are there any other children here?" he grins.

"Not that I know of, Koishii, Kasumi, and Suki might be here I don't know."

"Koishii, Kasumi, and Suki?"

"Your kids." Miroku's grin spreads and he looks to Sango. She blushes then hides her face.

Maruso rolls his eyes, "So, Aki... did you just get here?"

"I arrived shortly after you two did."

"Oh, what's happening now?"

"Well, my dad is in very bad condition. Your dad is really pushin himself. He just keeps fighting. Its probably because what happened to your mom."

Inuyasha's heart stops, "What do you mean? What happened?" he looks to Kagome with a worried look then back to Aki.

"... she had her soul sucked right out of her body. I don't know if she is dead completely yet... but she might die."

"Who did this?"

"I don't know... but I don't like her scent, nor do I like the way she looks. She scares me."

"What does she look like?"

"She has long black hair and very pale skin. She looks dead. She also has these things that fly around her. They look like snakes."

"..Kikyo.." Kagome winces at the sound of her name. Inuyasha sighs and his heart starts pounding. "Her name is Kikyo... " he closes his eyes.