A/N: At this rate, this story will be done in years... already on it's 1st year. OuO

Sorry for the wait. Enjoy~

The Other Side

Chapter 39

The Dungeons

Kagome was currently sitting in the lap of Zhou-Mao, since he refused to let go of her for reasons she couldn't figure out. She was placed with Zhou-Mao, Jasper and Sebastian were in a cell next to theirs and Kenichi was across from Kagome. "Well this blows," she said as she leaned against...her element? God that was a weird way of putting that.

"Oh Kagome, I'm so sorry. I thought father would actually have some sense and talk things over," Kenichi told her with a frown. "God, I hate my father."

There was a snort in the cell next to them, followed by a cry of pain. "Well I suppose it is a pity party for five then," came Jasper's thought.

Despite the tense situation, Kagome couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips. Kenichi threw her a dry look as Kagome resisted the urge to smile to him. "Well, now what?"

"Now, we sit and wait," Zhou-Mao said as he leaned his head down on Kagome's shoulder.

Kenichi's frown deepen, that much Kagome could see. "From what I can tell, Kagome, you are mated, right?" She squeaked in response but it was enough for him to continue, "Then I suppose I should tell Sesshomaru that you move on fast? How could you betray him like that?"

Oh wow; he pulled a one eighty on her. She blinked at him. She betrayed Sesshomaru? How—what was he—oh! "It's not what it looks like." That...didn't sound as convincing as she wanted. The young lord didn't look impressed either. Kagome sighed. "It's hard to explain," she finally decided on.

"Try."

Ugh, what was it with men and one word commands? Honestly, it was starting to annoy. Right as she was about to start, Zhou-Mao explained for her—in his way, of course. "It isn't exactly something that you should know, little lord. Well that, and Chewy would bite my head off." Kagome snorted, then cough into her shoulder to cover it up when Kenichi glared at her.

"You don't seem to understand then. Sesshomaru would kill you for what you're doing to his mate. Of course, then he would kill her himself for allowing her to betray him like this," Kenichi informed. "Sesshomaru is first and foremost my friend; I'd take him over you anyday. Now explain to me why I shouldn't hurt you for hurting my friend."

Kagome shifted in Zhou-Mao's lap with a sad sigh. She felt the male place his chin on her head at that moment as if he was enjoying this. She had a moment to think that she would love to bash his head in. "All right but I don't think that I should tell you with the people in the cell next to us," she sighed.

"Kagome, I have trusted you since I met you and I have to admit that I am disappointed in you. I didn't think that you would be this type of woman."

To which, Kagome couldn't handle it. She cried.

"Yo, that is so wrong!" Jasper shouted.

"On so many levels!" Sebastian chirped.

"Quiet," Kenichi growled as the brothers shut up. Perhaps they should just stay quiet. "You two aren't off the hook either." Yeah, they were going to stay quiet.

Zhou-Mao leveled his eyes on Kenichi. "You are throwing assumptions, little lord. I honestly could care less but I have been informed that this situation is bad and I should stick by her at all costs. I will do this even if it means that I have to touch her."

Kenichi blinked; he didn't want to touch her? What did that mean? "What are you saying?"

"She sickens me. I do not like to be touched nor allow myself to touch others. I love the darkness; it is what keeps me calm and if you paid any attention at all, you would see for yourself that I am surrounded by darkness," he notified as Kenichi finally took the scene that was around them.

The two of them were in the middle of the cell; Kagome was covering her face as she cried silently as Zhou-Mao looked bored but below them were shadows. They covered the ground, making it look like the ground was a black void. Kenichi could see flickers of shadows rising above the ground, like wisps.

"And what does this mean for her betrayal?"

"You, honestly, believe that she would betray your friend?" he countered as Kenichi flinched. He smirked knowingly.

"As of right now, yes."

"Then you are a bigger fool that I first thought."

Kagome turned around, having had enough of facing Kenichi, and cried into his coat. He grunted at her movement but said nothing. "So," Jasper started as they all heard his brother smack his face. "If she's the lady of the West, what makes her so special? I thought Lord Sesshomaru hated all things related to mating."

"She has the markings of being Sesshomaru's intended," Kenichi said softly, still thinking things over.

"Really? Huh, I didn't see any markings when I grabbed her."

"Y-You didn't?" Kagome asked, finally calming down as she turned her head to her right, looking at the brothers. Jasper shook his head. "Do you see any now?"

"Nope."

They all watched her touch her face as her hands traveled to her head, then she looked behind herself before she gasped.

"Why are they gone? Where are my ears and tail? Zhou-Mao, what did you do?" She turned on him as his smirk widened.

"Finally noticed, have you?" She glared at him but before she could say anything, she heard Kenichi.

"Zhou-Mao...isn't that the god of time?" Kenichi suddenly looked horrified.

Zhou-Mao chuckled as he felt Kagome stiffen. "Ah, so you know of who I am; good."

"What, what, what—you said that you were the controller to time and space...oh, my, god," Kagome stuttered with wide eyes. She made a good impression of a fish at this piece of info.

"Yes, I am that as well but I'm more commonly known as the god of time; not that that makes much of a difference," he mused. Jasper and Sebastian thoroughly gaped at the male as Kenichi tried to make himself look small.

"Why do I look the way that I do then?" He glanced down to the girl in his arms.

"Simple; I wanted to have fun. Well that, and I wanted to annoy you. You mated with Sesshomaru, so I thought I would hid away your markings for the time being to see what kind of response you'd get. Pity I didn't foresee no one responding the way I wanted. Probably should have listened to Chewy."

Kagome threw her hands in the air and let out a string of obscenities that had Jasper and Sebastian laughing. Zhou-Mao looked pleased with himself that he was the one to cause this. "Put them back!" she growled to him as he shrugged.

"Eh, I suppose I could but at the same time, you could as well. Like I've said before, follow your heart. Although at the time, I said follow your heart and the rain will stop but same thing," he ranted as Kagome's jaw dropped.

"You were the one to say that?"

"Well yes but only after I told Oras to actually say it to you."

"Who?"

"Don't worry about that right now."

She huffed in annoyance. "So I have to put them back by myself?"

"I do like to see you suffer so, yes."

She growled with a twitch of her eye. "I hate you."

He nodded. "The feeling is mutual."

"Ugh, you're an even bigger jackass then Sesshomaru." Zhou-Mao grinned at the thought of what that accomplished. "Don't look so pleased."

Kenichi watched them interact and still felt that she had betrayed his friend; him as well too. He bit his lip as the doors to the dungeons open. Seconds later, Sesshomaru and his father walked down the aisle. He watched as his friend took one look at the couple and growled.

But the second that Kagome saw Sesshomaru, she lit up and stumbled out of Zhou-Mao's arms. "God, I am so happy to see you." She smiled.

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow to her before his gaze settled on the male behind her. "Are you?" he asked as Kagome's smile disappeared.

"Well duh! I had to handle these idiots," she said, motioning to the room that held the others. He didn't seem impressed. Oh god, he didn't trust her as well. Well damn.

Lord Raiyu seemed to have calmed down from before as he was now looking at the girl as if she wasn't dirt. Kagome glanced to him for a second before looking back to Sesshomaru, who had moved down the aisle to the cell that housed Jasper and Sebastian.

"Who is responsible for kidnapping my mate?" Kagome felt her face flush as Zhou-Mao laughed darkly. She sent a small ball of purification at him; he yelped as she smiled to herself.

"That would be me, Lord Sesshomaru," Jasper admitted with his head bent to his chest.

"And you realize the amount of trouble you have caused?"

"Of course I do."

"Then you shall die."

Jasper paused and dodged the whip that Sesshomaru aimed at him with wide eyes. Sebastian inched to a corner to avoid being hit.

"The both of them tried to lay themselves onto your mate as well," Zhou-Mao pointed out dryly as the brothers gasped when they saw Sesshomaru's eyes flicker to red. They all heard the smack and briefly looked to see the male holding his now red cheek, glaring at Kagome with an intent of hurting her. "What's wrong, my dear? I was merely pointing out the obvious part that Lord Raiyu failed to mention."

"Stop being such a complete asshole."

"Tch, that would be impossible."

"Well, then stop stating facts that are clearly going to get someone killed."

"That's the point."

"You want someone to die?"

"I only want the brothers to die; is that so much to ask?"

Kagome's hands itched to strangle him as Sesshomaru's whip echoed throughout the dungeons. She turned her attention back to where Jasper and Sebastian were huddled. "It is his job to kill those that tried to hurt you," Kenichi said as quietly as possible that everyone barely heard him.

"Keyword; tried. They tried and failed. I protected myself against them and then Zhou-Mao protected me. So we don't have to kill anyone," she tried to reason before the door to her cell opened and Sesshomaru stepped through. She stared up at him but he had eyes for the male on the ground. "Sesshomaru, it's not what you think."

"Sesshomaru, it's not what you think," Zhou-Mao mocked with a snort. Kagome was flailing around to obviously try to get him to stop talking.

"Who are you?" Sesshomaru questioned.

"You need not worry about that."

"That is Zhou-Mao, the God of Time," Kenichi piped as Sesshomaru sharply looked to him, questions in his eyes. He nodded to his friend that he was telling the truth before the male turned back to Zhou-Mao, leaned back against the wall to get comfortable.

Sesshomaru appeared to ponder on him for a moment then inquired, "How do you know her?"

"Jealous?" He growled at him. "As to how I know her, well, I was one of the people that she was with when Fate decided to attack your bond."

Kagome gaped at him. "Sure, just say that to the world," she uttered, annoyed. "Why can't you ever just shut your mouth for once?"

"I have already told you before but maybe this time around, it will sink into your head. I love to see you suffer."

"Fuck you."

"No, thank you. I don't like to touch damaged goods."

"Then what were you doing before?"

He rolled his eyes at her. "Wow, you really don't listen." He sighed before a serious expression aimed at her, one that caused her to inch closer to Sesshomaru's legs. "Your elements can all talk to me as well as you when they feel like this."

"Huh—what?"

"Oras said that there was a storm brewing around you, Ilosia said there was a fire burning around you, and Chewy said that the air around you has changed. So clearly something is wrong," he mentioned as Kagome felt her jaw drop. "Now as to why I was doing what I did—despite hating every minute that I had to touch you—was because of what I just said; if you were listening. Unfortunately this incident, being kidnapped and thrown into the dungeons, is merely a bump in the road, which means that there is something else that will soon cause havoc."

"Oh...so, this is bad?"

"What, do I need to talk to you as if you are a five year old?"

She growled to him but her anger disappeared as quickly as it came. "So, what does this mean?"

Zhou-Mao felt his eye twitch and said, "It means that Sesshomaru will not be able to protect you down the line whenever this thing attacks you."

"Yup this is bad."

"No shit."

"And you can't do anything?" she asked softly, trying really hard to not anger him anymore then he already was.

"There is one thing I could do but it wouldn't help much. Honestly, the only one that would be able to protect you fully is Eeinu as he can relate to your powers more then I could," he reckoned, mostly to himself but he knew the others heard him.

"All right, say I accept this," Kagome started as Sesshomaru gave her a warning to not continue. She was stubborn and ignored him as she continued, "How do I call upon Eeinu? What element does he use?"

"I can't tell you; he would have to tell you himself. As to how to call upon him, do the same as you did with me."

That didn't help her at all. Kagome looked to the ground before biting her lip. She barely heard Sesshomaru and his orders as she thought deeply on what Zhou-Mao said. She had only followed her gut when she practically summoned his irritating self.

But if she didn't know nor has ever met this Eeinu, how would she get to him? "Do you know what is going to attack me?" she asked suddenly that caused Zhou-Mao to blink at the question. He stared at her then looked away. "So, you know but can't say? Can you at least give me a date?"

"Yes I know and no, I can't say," he confirmed.

"Why the hell not?"

"You need to figure it out on your own. I will not be giving you any freebies nor will I just hand it to you."

She huffed as she stood up from the ground. "Then you're free to go away." He grinned at her, waved, then disappeared from their sight. "I hate that man."

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes on her before turning to Kenichi, who decided to stay quiet but clearly wanted to say something. "Raiyu, I am done here." The man looked to the silver-haired man and nodded. "Miko, follow." He started to leave as Kagome followed, a bit slower though.

Kagome placed a hand on the cell that held Kenichi and the door opened. They shared a look before he got up and went after them, all the while ignoring his father, who tried to stop his son from going with them.

The brothers were alone as it seemed that their lord forgot about the two of them. They also couldn't believe that they got away from the angered demon, alive... Perhaps they should count their blessings.

Reviews are welcomed.