Chapter Twenty-one: Queen of Darkness Falls

Nobuo pulls Kagome up to her feet, "My poor love, you must be heart broken."

Kagome glares at him with all the hate in her heart, "Of course I am! Now leave me alone!" She begins to walk away when but he grabs her and pulls her to him. She pushes at his chest, but he holds her tightly to him.

"Kagome, don't be a fool. You heard what he said, he no longer loves you. You are just another Kikyo to him, nothing more." he looks into her eyes. "Lets go, I'll remove the curse from you now." They walk through a door toward the exit of the castle. Kagome walks beside Nobuo, her head facing the ground. She hears something in the distance. A tapping noise on the floor. Her eyes widen as they approach it slowly. In the dark corner of the twisted hallway, she sees a figure standing there, waiting for them. She starts to panic, "Something is over there..."

He looks to her, "Its most likely one of Serenity's servants. Don't worry about it."

Her heart begins to beat faster, "I have a bad feeling..." The figure in the darkness walks out and shows it's self. It has scars covering it's face, blood pours from its eyes and mouth. It hisses at them then begins to charge. It bites into Nobuo's shoulder; and Kagome lets out a scream. Nobuo pulls the demon from his flesh then thrusts his sword into it's gut.

"Stand down." he whispers to it in a cruel harsh voice.

The creature spits blood from its mouth as it speaks in a gravel voice, "You will not make it out of this palace alive. We will hunt you down, just as Serenity order." Nobuo twists the sword killing the creature instantly.

Kagome gasps, "She is going to kill all of..." she pauses then whips around and cries out, "Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha stops and turns to Miroku, "She... She.." he pauses and thinks for a moment. Suddenly he drops to the ground, "She does love me and I love her... but I don't know what to do..." his ears lay flat upon his head.

Miroku kneels down beside him, "You have to get to her. Nobuo is making Kagome do this. You know very well she wants to be with you. Why do you run?"

"I'm afraid... When she spoke those words... I never felt such a great pain in my life. I really thought she meant it..."

Sango looks down to Inuyasha, "Kagome would never stop loving you. She is going to marry him to protect you and us. Thats why she sounded so cruel... you have to go to her."

Inuyasha stands up and nods his head, "I will." Just as he turns to go save Kagome, all of the exits close up. Serenity walks out of the darkness with a wicked smile upon her face. Everyone places their ands on their weapons, ready to attack.

Serenity bows her head, "It seems to be that you have heard of Kagome's engagement. No need to worry, they will not be married. I sent someone to kill Nobuo and Kagome before they can even leave this castle."

Inuyasha growls, "So you were planning on this from the start!"

She laughs, "Of course Inuyasha, but my plan is not yet complete. I still have to take care of one thing." The ground under Inuyasha begins to glow then a portal suddenly opens, causing him to fall through. Serenity smiles as the portal closes, "I will leave all of you a present." she disappears. Yumi stands in her place bouncing her ball.

Inuyasha lands on the ground in a very dark room. He looks around, his ears perked up picking up every noise. He walks forward and pulls out his sword, squeezing the handle with pure anger. He smells Serenity's scent, "I know you are there. Come out now."

She walks out with a touch in her hand. "Welcome to my indoor garden." she lights another torch on the wall. The room fills with light and she smiles, "Kagome will be nearing the outside garden soon. Find your way out of here, and if you are still alive, run to your love's arms." she pauses, "But be careful... they might be covered in blood." She disappears from the room.

Inuyasha sees thousands of demons come out of hiding. Slowly they walk toward him, baring their fangs and claws. He smirks, "This is all she has for me to do? This should be easy."

Nobuo drags Kagome out of the room and into the next. "Hurry, if we don't we will not make it out of here!" Kagome nods her head and follows him closely. He glances to the side and spots a door. "This way, it leads outside." he reaches back and grabs her hand. They run outside, everything is dark. Fog blankets the ground, making it hard to see.

Kagome's crystal starts to glow, "Something is coming..."

Nobuo looks to her, "What is it?"

"A demon... a very large demon is coming..." she mumbles softly. An image of Inuyasha flashes through her mind. He was covered in blood and his kimono was ripped all over. He was fighting. She gasps, "Inuyasha!"

"He is in trouble isn't he?"

Kagome looks to him and nods, "How come I can see these images?"

"Because of your father, his spirit is within your crystal. He is like your guardian angel."

"How do you know this?"

He sighs, "because I was the one that trapped his soul within it..." he whispers into her ear.

Kagome glares at him, "You what!" suddenly the ground begins to rumble, "Its here."

The demon walks out from behind the trees. It towers over Nobuo and Kagome, casting it's dark shadow upon them. "Higurashi and Takanshi... my orders have been given to me by the Queen. She wishes me to kill you both, to complete the curse." its voice is loud and deep. It speaks again, "Now, you will die!" It pulls out a giant scythe and holds it above its head.

Nobuo pushes Kagome out of the way, "Move!" He takes out his sword and demon wings appear on his back. He and the demon begin to fight, the blades spark with each hit. Kagome turns her Angel Sword into a bow and pulls back an arrow. "Nobuo, look out!" She fires the arrow when he moves out of the way.

The arrow flies into the demon's neck and it roars in pain. "Damn you foolish human!" It reaches it's long arm out and grabs Kagome. The demon squeezes her in his large hand, almost crushing every bone in her body.

Nobuo jumps up and slices the arm off of it's body, letting it drop to the ground. He kneels on the hand of the demon's arm and pulls the fingers open. He pulls Kagome out and smiles slightly, "Are you okay?"

She nods, "Yes... I'm fine..."

He glares at the demon, "Now you will pay... " Nobuo's eyes glow with fire and he pulls out an orb from his pocket. "I summon the Fire Fox and the Dragon of Hell!" The ground begins to shake and cracks open. Flames shoot out and two figure walk out of the pit; Julian, the fire fox, and the Dragon of Hell.

Kagome gasps when she sees Julian, "How is he...? Artemis killed him..."

Julian transforms into his fox form and both he and the dragon fly out at the demon with flames covering their bodies. Quickly the flames upon their bodies merge into one burning the demon on the spot. The demon cries out in pain as the fire eats at his flesh, slowly melting off his bones. The fire disappears along with Julian and the dragon, leaving only bones of the demon behind.

Nobuo glances over to Kagome, "Lets go." he grabs her hand and pulls her farther into the thick fog. As they walk, Kagome hears someone walking toward them. It's breathing is raspy and weak. It sounds as if it had been fighting, or dying. It comes closer to them and Nobuo holds his sword ready to fight.

The person calls out to her in a low voice, "K-Kagome..."

She quickly recognizes his voice, "Inuyasha!" she rushes over to him. "Oh Inuyasha I'm so sorry... I didn't mean anything I had said earlier... I just wanted to protect you... please forgive me.." tears slide down her face. Inuyasha smiles slightly and drops down to the ground. Kagome kneels down and helps him. She lays his head upon her chest and holds him tightly.

He whispers, "Kagome... I didn't mean what I said either... I love you... and I'm so sorry... "

Nobuo looks down to them and glares. He is about to speak but stops when he hears something moving behind them. He glances back to see demons walking out of the forest and from the thick fog. "Kagome, stay there and don't move. I'll deal with you later." He walks toward the demons and holds out his sword. He runs into them and cuts into the crowd with his steel blade. The demons surround him and jump on his back. They dig their claws into his chest. He cries out and throws them to the ground. Nobuo pulls out another orb, this one is blue. "I summon the Dragon of Water and the Artic Fox." The sky is covered by black clouds and a ray of light shoots down. The dragon flies out and into the demons. It rips through them, killing almost all of them. Then at the bottom of ray of light Artemis appears. He has angel wings upon his back and has a heavenly glow surrounding his body. He kneels down, as if he were bowing, then pulls a sword from the ground. Artemis holds it above his head then a great light shoot out at the demons, finishing off the rest. The dragon disappears a long with the clouds. Artemis turns and looks to Kagome and Inuyasha. He smiles then fades with the heavenly light. Nobuo steps back and grins, "That was too easy... Serenity has something else coming."

Serenity emerges from the fog then smiles, "Nobuo Takanshi, or to me, Red Death. You are no longer any use to me. You have served me well."

He narrows his eyes at her, "So you are going to fight me?"

"Why not, you already did most of the work yourself." she pauses, "Isn't that how you killed your master? Didn't you get him to become weak by using his powers, then you stabbed him. Wasn't that what you did?"

"Yes, it was how I killed him, and you think you can kill me the same way?"

Serenity walks up to him holding a dagger to his throat, "Of course I can." Nobuo attacks her with his sword but she blocks with her dagger. He is about to stab her when he hears Kagome scream. He turns and sees Kagome trying to crawl away from Inuyasha. "Kagome!"

Serenity drives her dagger into his heart while he was distracted. "You see, I told you." She pulls the bloody dagger from his chest. "I knew I would have to distract you. So why not disguise one of my demons as Inuyasha so Kagome would be close to him. Then have it stab her to make her scream so you would look back in concern."

Nobuo falls to the ground holding his chest, "Where is the real Inuyasha?"

"Dead. He was fighting thousands of demons; he never came out of the indoor garden. He is dead, he has to be."

He laughs and coughs up blood at the same time, "Inuyasha isn't dead..."

Serenity glares at him then stabs him again in the back then in his neck, and slowly closes his eyes. She wipes the blood from her dagger on her Kimono then glances up at Kagome. "My dear, why don't you just give in and except your fate."

Kagome shakes her head and stands up, "No! I'm not going to allow you to kill me!"

"Oh but if I don't the curse will sooner or later."

The demon that disguise it's self as Inuyasha hisses and crawls toward Kagome with blood dripping from it's fangs. Kagome moves away and aims an arrow at it, "Stay back!" She aims the arrow at Serenity then back at the demon, making sure neither will move.

Inuyasha leaps out of the trees and slices through the demon. He drops to one knee, "Kagome.." he looks to her. His clothes are ripped and covered in blood. He forces himself to stand, "Kagome, are you okay?" he askes in a breathless voice.

She stares at him, "Inuyasha!"

Serenity's eyes widen in fear and shock. She then calms herself and looks to Kagome, "How do you know thats really him? He could be another demon."

Kagome grins, "If you fear him then I know for sure this is Inuyasha." She rushes over to him and places her hands on his cheeks, "I'm fine Inuyasha...don't worry." She glances over at Serenity, "Let's end this Inuyasha, together."

Inuyasha smiles and nods his head. He glares at Serenity, "This time Serenity you will not escape!" Wind swirls around his the blade of his sword. Kagome holds her arrow out ready to strike, light forms around it.

Serenity summons her demons of darkness. They surround her, protecting her from their attacks. "I have endless amounts of darkness, you will never be able to get past them."

Inuyasha smirks and raises the sword up then slices back down. The Wind Scar forms and flies toward Serenity and her demons. Kagome shoots her arrow, purifying everything it touches. Serenity begins to panic as all of her demons seem to dissolve at their powerful attacks. The Wind Scar and the purifying arrow kill all of her demons and destroy her darkness. Serenity is then hit by their attack and is almost killed. "No!" Light shines everywhere blocking the image of Serenity. When everything clears, they see Serenity laying on the ground trying to sit up.

Inuyasha watches Serenity, "One more hit, and this nightmare will be over." As Inuyasha raises his sword once more a sharp pain runs through his body. He drops the sword and falls to his knees.

"Inuyasha!" she sits down beside him, "What's wrong?"

He squeezes his chest, "My heart..." he gasps for air, "Something is pulling at my heart..."

Spinning wheels appear all around Kagome and Inuyasha. The spirits voice echoes through the air, laughing.

Kagome shakes her head and screams, "No, go away! Leave us alone!"

Serenity stands and smirks, "The curse is taking hold..." She slowly starts to walk away.

Inuyasha growls, "Kagome, hurry, kill Serenity I'll be fine."

Kagome is about to protest, but she knows if she doesn't kill her, she will feed the spirit more power. She draws back another arrow and aims it at Serenity's back. "Serenity!" The arrow flies directly into Serenity's back. Kagome runs closer and draws another arrow, but the bow suddenly snaps. The string flies up and cuts her cheek.

Serenity pulls the arrow out of her back and her eyes glow black, "Higurashi!"

Kagome drops her bow and holds her crystal in her hands, "I will not let you live Serenity!" Angel wings appear on her back and light surrounds her body.

Inuyasha glances up to her in awe, "K-Kagome..."

Serenity walks toward Kagome and picks up her sword from the ground. She raises it and slices down, but Kagome blocks it with a barrier. A knife appears in Kagome's hands and she uses it to block the rest of Serenity's attacks. The Queen steps back and darkness forms around her. Kagome's light increases and shoots out of her hands toward Serenity. Serenity's darkness dissolves before the light. Serenity glances at her body and sees it too is dissolving. "No! This can't be happening!" Serenity dissolves completely and is killed.

Kagome's crystal cracks down the middle, then shatters. The light fades away and Kagome falls to the ground.

Inuyasha crawls over to her and picks her up, holding her body in his arms, "Kagome?" he shakes her gently, "Kagome?" She doesn't answer him. His eyes widen in fear, "Kagome, please wake up..." tears form in his eyes and his hands shake. "Please..." the pain in his chest disappears. He starts to panic, "Kagome don't you dare die on me..."

The spirit appears before Inuyasha, "My curse has taken effect... she will not live for more then three days, neither will you. You will die along with her... " The spirit laughs and slowly disappears with her spinning wheels.

Inuyasha glances down to Kagome face, "Is this what you were protecting me from?" he whispers. "The curse...?" He pulls her close to his face, "Kagome please answer me..."

Nobuo opens his eyes, and whispers, "I-Inuyasha... " he coughs up blood.

He glances up and looks to Nobuo, "You're alive?"

"Yeah... but not for long..." he mumbles. "You need to get... the lunar flower..."

"The lunar flower?"

"Y-yes... its in the... mountains... its will purify the curse... meaning... it will kill the spirit that haunts her..." he coughs again then hands him a small piece of paper. "I had a... hut... there with many lunar flowers... written down... is the way to break the spell..." he pauses, "Please... save Kagome... don't let her die..." Nobuo closes his eyes but this time they don't open. His breathing stops and his body lays lifeless. Inuyasha nods his head and looks to Kagome, "I will save you... I promise..." he kisses her.