Chapter Fifteen: Hatred Burns

The sky goes black and Inuyasha looks down to his hands. His claws are gone and his hair is black. Kikyo laughs at him, "You wish to protect Kagome, but how can you when you are a human. You are so weak when you are like this."

"Shut up!" he holds up his un-transformed sword. "I will not let you harm her, nor will you harm anyone else. Kikyo, its time for you to rest." Kagome looks over and see Artemis on the other side of the lake. He places his hand on the water and it freezes. Artemis grins and dashes across the ice toward Kagome. Inuyasha looks back and sees him coming. He grabs Kagome then pulls her to him. Artemis leaps up and takes a snap at his arm, but misses. Kikyo starts to walk across the frozen lake with hate glowing in her eyes. Inuyasha turns to Artemis, "I thought we didn't concern you anymore."

Artemis smirks, "Kikyo made me an offer I couldn't refuse."

Inuyasha glares at Artemis, then whispers to Kagome softly, "Listen, you have to get out of here. I don't know what is going to happen... so please go. I want you and the children to be safe."

"I'm not going without you. I am going to stay by your side no matter what." Kagome looks into his eyes and smiles slightly. "I love you and I'm not going to leave when you need me the most."

Inuyasha smiles warmly then turns his attention back to Artemis. He whispers, "I'll take Artemis. You can hold off Kikyo for now. I'll be right here don't be afraid." Kagome nods then glances over at Kikyo. She holds her bow close to her chest and begins to bite her lip. Inuyasha quickly squeezes her hand in his then charges at Artemis. Kagome watches them fight. She sees Inuyasha punching and kicking, while Artemis bites and claws at him. She glances back once again and sees Kikyo walking toward her.

"Kikyo..." she whimpers.

The dead priestess glares at her coldly, "Kagome, my reincarnation. You stole Inuyasha from me. You changed him in a way I never could. He loves you more then he loved me... He is going to live for you instead of dying for me. You have ruined everything, for that you must pay." she draws back her arrow and aims at Kagome's heart. "You will die!" She lets the arrow go and Kagome watches it fly toward her. She holds up her hand and she closes her eyes. When the arrow doesn't hit her, she opens her eyes. The arrow had dissolved by her touch.

She holds her hand up to look at it, "How did I do that?"

Kikyo smirks, "You foolish girl, how are you going to beat me if you don't even know your own strength." Kikyo appears beside her. "You might have had a chance, if you didn't forget your Angel Sword. But you left it in present time." Kagome gasps when she recalls leaving the sword next to Maruso in the hut. Kikyo grins and pushes her to the ground. She then kneels down and holds her by her shirt collar. Kikyo places her hand over her heart. Kagome screams out in pain when a sharp pain surges through her body. Kikyo laughs wickedly, "What's wrong? Feel as if your soul is getting sucked out of your body?"

Inuyasha punches Artemis and glances back, "Kagome!" he runs toward her, but Artemis bites his ankle and pulls him to the ground. Inuyasha gets his dull, rusty sword and stabs the fox demon in it's throat. The fox yelps and growls, but it mostly gurgles blood from it's mouth. Inuyasha kicks his leg free and hurries over to Kagome.

Kagome sees him coming and tries harder to get away from Kikyo. She tries to push her away, but then since that didn't work, she bit into her hand. Kikyo winces and pushes her away. Kagome jumps up and leaps for the bow and arrow she found. Kagome pulls back the arrow and whispers, "I'm sorry."

Kikyo looks at the arrow in her chest, her hands start to shake. "No.. no! This can't be happening!" her skin begins to wrinkle and all the souls she stole fly out of her body. A light sinks into Kagome's body. Her eyes go blank and she suddenly passes out. Kikyo screams as flames appear around her. She calls out Inuyasha's name and slowly fades away.

After the flames disappear, Inuyasha walks over and sees nothing left of Kikyo, only an arrow. He looks over and sees Kagome. He rushes to her side and holds her in her arms. Inuyasha lefts her head gently, "Kagome..." he listens, and hears nothing. "Kagome, wake up..." she winces and slowly opens her eyes. Inuyasha smiles, "Kagome... you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." she looks around. "W-what.. where's Kikyo?"

"She's dead. You have your soul back, there is no why she can come back."

"Oh Inuyasha... I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I'm glad she can rest." Inuyasha smiles and kisses her. "Soon we can live in peace, together." he sighs and looks back. He sees Artemis struggling to get up. Inuyasha mumbles, "I have to finish my fight with Artemis. Apparently he isn't dead yet." He helps Kagome to her feet then kisses her cheek. "I'll be right back." Inuyasha picks up his sword and walks toward Artemis. Blood dips from the fox's mouth. He paces back and forth glaring at Inuyasha. He watches his every move, along with Kagome's. Inuyasha stops a couple feet in front of him. He holds his sword out and stares directly into it's eyes.

Kagome kneels beside the tree and watches them carefully. She hears a soft groan come from behind her. She flips her head around and sees the future Inuyasha staring at her. He crawls over to her and places a hand under her chin. He studies her face and glances over to Artemis and Inuyasha. "Kagome... what's going on?" his voice was deep and smooth. She nearly melted right there.

She blushes and slowly answers, "We came to our future to correct things and get rid of all the demons Serenity had sent."

"Oh.." he looks back to his younger self and Artemis fighting. "That fox won't last any longer. He is about to fall, but there is still a chance he can win."

"What!" Kagome's eyes widen. "Is there some way I can help?"

He smiles, "Not without your bow." he pauses, "But you should let him fight on his own. He can beat him."

Artemis buries his teeth into Inuyasha's neck. He winces and pulls his powerful jaws open then kicks him away. He quickly gets up and grabs his sword, that had been knocked out of his hands. When the fox leaps into the air, Inuyasha thrusts his sword into it's heart and then throws him to the ground. Artemis's body lays still, and the ice begins to melt. The lake unfreezes and Inuyasha falls into the water. He groans and starts to swim to the island.

Note: I haven't written a note in awhile, so yeah. Reminding everyone only a few of these characters are mine. All the others belong to Rumiko-san. ((Artemis, Sumiko, Makai, Serenity, and Nobuo. Oh Maruso and Chiyo are my characters. Anyone copy them and I'll throw a vase at your head.)) So.. enjoy the rest of th story.