Title: Demons
Author: Annie Dolnar
Language: English, Rating: Rated: T
Originally Written: 2009

AN: As a bonus, this one had a picture I'd uploaded to DeviantArt! I'll put it on my profile. It helped me date this story properly, lol.

Demons

Satsuki ran through the big house, hand in hand with her little brother Katsu, trying to get away from the demon. Their mother and father had dissappeared somehow; Satsuki feared that the demon ate them.

This was a strange scenario; to Satsuki, her father and mother were invincible. For normal children, that should change by the time they're old enough to understand things better, but Satsuki's parents were not normal. That sort of thing did not apply to her, even though she was a fifteen year old girl.

Katsu sobbed as they ran. "Mommy," he cried, "Daddy!"

"Shh," Satsuki said as they ran down the hall. "We'll find them, Katsu."

In reality, Satsuki didn't think her parents had lived. The thought of them dead, however, was not something she could think about and still be able to run away. It would have frozen her, so instead she imagined her father coming to rescue her and prayed that he would.

"Ah," said Katsu, turning around suddenly.

They were at the end of the hall. A dead end; and they could not turn back.

The siblings backed into the wall together, the older sinking to the floor so she could at least hold her little five year old brother as they died together on the floor. The demon came closer and closer, and gave off an intense heat. Katsu blacked out before Satsuki, which did not help her in facing the monster.

If she had been enough like her father, she would have lashed out at it with claws of steel and no sense of pain, but Satsuki had no demon powers. Instead, she had inherited her father's and grandmother's looks and her mother's heart and miko powers. Katsu had instead inherited the dog demon traits, his ears, nose, fangs, and claws resembling his father's, though he was too young to face demons alone. However, he seemed to resemble their mother more in looks.

Satsuki not being trained well in her Miko powers quite yet, and Katsu being too young to use his own, they were quite vulnerable in the eyes of the demon.

The demon was quite a great clawed thing, but it didn't tear them apart. Instead it said, "I will now send you into a terrible nightmare, one that you will only get out of if your own parents decide to help you, together. Sound easy? It will not be. I promise you!"

The strange being cackled, and began to radiate still more heat from its body, and finally Satsuki passed out, too.

When Satsuki awoke, she had quite a few wounds.

Of course, her first guess was that when she had blacked out she had tried to figh the demon, however when she looked over at her little brother, she saw that his wounds were even worse, and knew the demon had only decided not to send them off uninjured. He didn't look like he'd awaken for quite a while, and she could barely see him through her fuzzy eyes. Satsuki checked on her own wounds, diagnossing that she had a broken left ankle, left arm, and right wrist, and several scratches and bruises which would heal soon enough on their own. Satsuki's wounds healed very quickly when given time enough; it was her brother whom she was worried about; he had less youkai blood than his father and did not heal as quickly as Satsuki. She tried to get up and go to Katsu, only to be pushed back down by an old, withering hand.

"Ye musn't move," a familiar voice said. "Ye must allow the wounds to heal."

"Kaede?" Satsuki exclaimed incredulously, but still weakly. "Is that you?"

Another familiar voice spoke. "One has awakened, Kaede?"

Satsuki gasped again. "Aunt Sango?"

She was relieved. The demon had said it would send her into a terrible nightmare, yet everything here was familiar and nice, as opposed to the mansion her father and mother were exterminating demons in. Satsuki and Katsu had followed them there, wanting to be in on the fun for once. Big mistake.

"How is it that ye know my name?" Kaede asked her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Aunt Sango nod with uncertainty. Aunt Sango wasn't really her aunt; she had just insisted Satsuki and her brother call her that.

"We only visit you every day, silly," Satsuki said, almost unable to contain her excitement as her vision returned. Behind her, another unusually calm and familiar voice spoke as well.

"You should calm down," it said. "Don't get too excited, you could break open your wounds..."

Satsuki turned so fast to see her mother that she barely noticed the pain of it.

At first, Satsuki felt extremely guilty. She knew she must have put her mother through quite bit, going to the mansion when she wasn't supposed to, and especially Katsu tagging along, when the both of them could have died. Her father would yell at her for it later, her mother would tell how dissappointed she was...

But she was alive! Satsuki's mother was alive, and her father must be as well! The look on her mother's face did not share the joy that Satsuki felt; she expected as much, since she was in such trouble. However, none of it mattered. Satsuki was rejoicing.

"M-Mom?" she said, her voice trembling. She smiled wide, tears coming down her face. "You... You're alive, mom? Mom," she whispered. And though the pain was excruciating, Satsuki sat up and hugged her mother as tightly as she could. "Mom..." she cried. "Mom, I was so scared! I'm so sorry I put Katsu in danger and myself as well... I shouldn't have followed you and dad to the mansion, I'm a terrible sister, you should sell me to the devil..."

Satsuki rambled on, hanging on to her mother, but she knew automatically that something was wrong. She tried to ignore it, quite relieved that she and her mother were safe, but it nagged at her. Finally she realized her mother did not seem relieved, or happy, or comforting, or even as if she would scold Satsuki for following them.

Her mother seemed confused.

She seemd like she was trying to comfort her, but it was half-hearted and awkward. Satsuki stopped crying and babbling. She pulled away to look at her mother's face, which expressed exactly what Satsuki feared it would.

"I'm sorry," Kagome Higurashi told the girl, and she looked sincerely so. "But I've never seen you before..."

Satsuki sat there for ten minutes, silent and still.

Then, when she gathered herself up, she said, "what?"

"I don't know you," Kagome repeated. She didn't look happy to say so.

"But... Mom..."

Kaede spoke then. "What is your name, girl?" she asked.

Satsuki looked at her. "I'm Satsuki, and this is my little brother Katsu. Don't you remember, Kaede? Aunt Sango? Are you all dissowning me for following Mom and Dad to that demon-possessed mansion? That's.. Overboard, right Aunt Sango? You remember what Akira said; he said he would always be with me! He said no matter what the rest of you said, he would never let you separate us! He's just as good a demon slayer as Kohaku, and you know it! He wouldn't let you keep us apart!"

Aunt Sango just looked at her, wide-eyed and surprised. "Kohaku?" she asked.

Satsuki gave her a weird look that said plainly, "DUH!" but instead she said, "Um... yeah..."

"You know Kohaku?" she asked. She seemed quite eager to hear more.

"Why wouldn't i know Kohaku? He came down finally when Akira turned eight to teach him to fight like a demon slayer, because he'd heard you had a son. Don't you remember? You made a huge fuss over it until Dad convinced you he needed to learn to fight. I was right there when Kohaku showed up, even! I even wanted him to teach me too, remember? Kohaku said I should stay here though..." Satsuki stopped talking.

"Who is this Akira you speak of?" Kaede asked, and Aunt Sango nodded as if to repeat the question.

"Aunt Sango's son," Satsuki answered. "My fiancee. Surely you at least remember that? Dad was so angry about that... At first he said he woudln't let me marry the son of a lecher. He said I was too good for that... Mom, you're the one that convinced him. You said, 'he has the heart of his mother and the strength of his father. He would be a great husband to Satsuki.' and eventually, Dad gave in." Satsuki laughed. "He still grumbles about it though. He told Miroku that if Akira did a thing to hurt me, he would hold him accountable. It was fun seeing Miroku's face," Satsuki told them. "He turned white."

Sango frowned. "Why Miroku?"

"Miroku is Akira's Dad, why else?"

At this Sango put on a sort of face that made her look like very embarrassed. "So... Miroku and I had a son...?"

"And two daughters, Kiku and Kimi. The older siblings, the twins. They were too old to be very good friends to me, though. They've already gone away and married."

"What of Inuyasha, Rin, Lord Sesshomaru, and Lady Kikyo?" asked Kaede.

"Auntie Rin should be here somewhere. Is she out gathering herbs?"

Kaede shook her head. "Rin travels with Lord Sesshomaru."

"Really? He took off with her? Well finally... It's about time they eloped; they've been staring at each other with googoo eyes for ages...

"As for Inuyasha, he's my father. Surely you would know that? And Lady Kikyo died a very long time ago; Aunt Sango told me about her. She said not to speak of it to Dad and Mom because it would only bring up the past, but I mentioned something on accident and they seemed fine. They said she was a good Lady, and the looked like they were remembering happy things, not sad ones."

Kagome looked confused. "Kikyo died?"

"Yes," Satsuki said. "She died like thirty years ago."

Kagome looked very sad, as did Kaede. Satsuki did not understand this. "Where is my father? I am sure he will remember me. He's the one who taught me everything I know about demons and such. Momma, where is Daddy?"

"I'm not your mother, Satsuki, I don't even know you. And furthermore, Inuyasha has gone out. I was just about to leave when you woke up, to be honest," she said in a harsh voice. She sounded as if she had been arguing with Inuyasha.

"You and Dad weren't arguing, were you? You didn't sit him, did you?" Satsuki asked worriedly. Kagome looked at her, almost smiling. "Actually, I did. Don't worry about him and sitting; he gets over it easy enough, I guess. As far as I know, it doesn't hurt him, it only subdues him. Originally it was so he could not hurt me. But I really should go; I need to catch up on my studies."

Kagome stood. "Take care, Satsuki. And when Inuyasha gets back, tell him I went home."

With that, she left.

"Kaede, what is wrong with mother?" Satsuki asked.

Aunt Sango answered instead. "Satsuki, where are you from?"

"Here, of course," she said, half-annoyed. She was getting tired of answering stupid questions and telling her close family her life story.

"Ok, well, we really haven't seen you before, Satsuki. We don't know who you are. We live in a time of war and demons and terror. We pursue the demon Naraku, our greatest enemy, in hopes of destroying him and stealing the Shikon fragments. But you, you are the unknown to us. Imagine, Satsuki, Inuyasha and Kagome have never even kissed before, and suddenly you and Katsu appear out of nowhere, Katsu bearing enough Inuyasha-traits for Kagome to think something's up. She has never seen either of you. In fact, she believes you two are the son and daughter of Lady Kikyo. You thinking she is your mother doesn't help; her and Kikyo look a lot alike. Kagome is Kikyo's reincarnation, after all. And Inuyasha is afraid. He doesn't know the two of you, and yet Katsu has his ears, his exact ears, and you have his exact eyes. Kagome knew you were his children. What she doesn't know is who the mother is, but she knows it is not her.

"So, you mentioning that bit about your mother training you as a miko narrowed it down to two people in her eyes. Her and Kikyo. And since she never gave birth before, or even had sex..."

"Aha," Satsuki giggled. "You know, Miroku told me all about sex just a week ago," she giggled.

Sango looked fierce. "He would," she said, like she was going to kill him later.

"Also," Satsuki put in desperately, "Naraku is dead. You and Miroku and my Mother and Father and Shippou and Kirara and Kohaku and Rin and Lord Sesshomaru and a little help from Jaken, you all defeated him, and then my mother made the right wish and caused the Shikon no Tama to disappear."

Sango shook her head, "I do not remember such things," she said, perplexed.

Suddenly, Satsuki noticed Kirara. "Oh, Kirara!" she exclaimed. Kirara came straight to her and climbed up on her shoulder. "Kohaku and Akira must be here," she said, forgetting for a moment that nobody knew her. Except perhaps Kirara. Sango looked astonished.

"Kirara, you know this girl?" she asked the demon.

"Demons of Kirara's kind can see into the past and the future," Kaede said. "It is possible that Satsuki is, in fact, from the future, only this time it is a closer future than we think, not like Kagome's well, which brings her five hundred years back and forth. This, I think, is the work of a demon."

"So," Sango said, "Every word she says is true?"

"The future is subject to change, but yes. It is all true."

The room was silent for a moment, then Shippou burst in.

"Kaede, Inuyasha's being sulky again!"

Then he looked at Satsuki, who was sitting up. The look he gave her was not welcoming. In fact, he looked a little mad at her. Satsuki ignored this and exclaimed, "Shippou! You're home!"

Shippou was momentarily distracted from his angry look, turning curious. "What?" he said, a million questions in one.

"Just wait until Katsu wakes up, Shippou, he has something to show you before you leave again. I'm sure you'll love it too! Dad also had a going-away present for you, but I don't know what it was..."

Shipppu blinked. "A present?"

"Yes, but I wouldn't get your hopes up Shippou. You know father..." She shook her head. "I have something for you too, back at the house."

"The house?" Shippou seemed confused.

"Yes!" Satsuki said, and was about to get up when she remembered two things.

One, how excruciatingly painful it was to move and;

Two, that she was from the future. Which meant she had been thrown into the past.

"Oh," she said, her excitement withering. "Is it even built yet?" she asked herself, the shook her head.

"You'll have to wait a few years for whatever it is, Shippou," Sango said to him. "She's from the future. She says Kagome is her mother and Inuyasha is her father... And she's marrying mine and.. Miroku's son.

"Inuyasha's sulking," Shippou told Kaede again, eager to return from the unknown. She only nodded, stood up, and left the little house. Shippou followed after her.

Satsuki was depressed now. She lay back down on her little cot, right by her little brother's, and began to worry about whether or not her father really knew her. What would her little brother think when he woke up and his own mommy and daddy claimed to not know him? She could not let him go through the strange things she just had. She just couldn't. In this weird world of darkness, she would have to protect her little brother.

She fingered the locket her parents had given her on her tenth birthday and shut her eyes, and began to think of a plan, and how exactly she would sheild her little brother from this nightmare. However, Satsuki was very tired, and while she was planning she fell asleep.

In the morning, Satsuki woke up quite sore. Her broken bones were healed, but large bruises still remained where the bones were once broken, and she still had trouble moving. Fortunately, Kaede brought her some breakfast and provided some company for her as she ate.

It was only after Satsuki had finished eating that she noticed her father sitting on the floor, only this time she did not throw herself at him as she had done to her mother. She was unsure of whether or not he would remember her, and knew that if he didn't, he may have a bit of an attitude about it. She should know; she got her stubborness from him.

So, instead of saying "Father", though it seemed more natural, she said, "Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha did not move, nor make any gesture to show he had heard her. He simply sat there, staring at the wall. So Satsuki tried the more natural thing.

"Father?"

At this, Inuyasha's ears twitched, and he looked down at the floor.

"Who are you?" he asked gruffly.

"Satsuki, daughter of Inuyasha and Kagome Higurashi, sister to Katsu, this boy beside me. I was sent here by a demon, who clearly wanted to throw my brother and I into nightmares, with the promise that we could only leave if our own parents would cooperate with each other. Don't ask me how that would help; that is all I know for sure."

Inuyasha did not turn to look at her at any point in her statement. When she finished talking, he said, "I know you are... Of demon inheritance. You heal quickly, you smell strange, and you look... Different. And the boy... His ears are proof enough that his youkai blood, which I can smell clearly running through his veins, is that of a dog demon. He has fangs and claws, and he too looks... Different. There is no mistake of that.

"However... The fact that you have smells of myself, Kagome, and this boy next to you practically radiating off of you startles me. They were there from the moment we found you two by the well. They don't come off of the boy, though his smell reminds me quite of my own, but you... it's all over you."

Satsuki looked down, ashamed of herself. "You and Mama went to go slay a demon in its mansion," she began. "I- I thought it was something else- you both caught me and Akira kissing earlier, and I thought you were going to where he was, to- to punish him somehow. Katsu and I followed you, into this big mansion. When we found you, you were both fighting this demon, but then you disappeared. The demon chased us to a dead end, and then it sent us here."

"So you followed your parents to a demonic mansion, and instead of turning back when you felt the aura, you went inside?" Inuyasha looked rather annoyed.

"Katsu ran inside because he smelled you guys… we were both in trouble, and you didn't tell us where you were going, and you took so long to get back… it was two days later before we followed… I thought you were d-dead," she sobbed.

"When you two are born," InuYasha said with a groan, "I hope we teach you better than that."