Final Chapter: Hell

The barrier fell and demons swarmed out into the opened portal and entered paradise. The once long blades of grass that swayed in the wind were now trampled under the weight of the over-sized, long limbed demons that marched out into the open field.

Kanna watched as the spiritual powers at the barrier diminished. They were almost at the point where they would die. Humans were funny creatures. She couldn't understand how they could give up their life for such a worthless cause. Granted, the barrier was important for their existence, but to die so meaninglessly was way beyond foolish. No one should ever be tied to such outrageous obligations.

She almost stopped watching long enough to grab a bite to eat. Watching epic battles made her a little hungry. She wasn't anxious or nervous; she just enjoyed a nice light snack as the free entertainment was provided. She didn't stop—her mirror didn't have a pause button. That was usually the time something good happened. Call it fate, call it karma, call it what you will; nonetheless, it was annoying.

She was surprised that only a few of the more powerful demons made their way out before they were able to seal the barrier. It was only a matter of time before it collapsed again (and for good).

Kanna could see the faded and tattered patched all along the barrier. If this had been Kagome's shirt, Kagome would have thrown it out long ago—and that girl never threw anything away…ever.

She had to give credit to Moryomaru. The demon knew how to break a barrier. It didn't help any that this was his first taste of freedom in all his years of existence. Being trapped and caged like a pet all his life, he figured it was passed due. She could sympathize with the large demon. She had tasted freedom too and she would never give that feeling back.

It was a shame that Moryomaru was her last living relative, of sorts. He was Hakudoshi's key weapon once he had the jewel. Kanna figured that the pet was caged to control the darkness that swirled about him. With the jewel in hand, Hakudoshi could control it…but without it… Kanna watched as it caused total havoc.

Kanna didn't see the point in prolonging the inevitable. If they were going to come, then let them come. Don't kill yourself trying to fight fate. Fate always won.

Sighing slightly over their futility, she went to watch the spirit detectives. The guys were running with the females, and she assumed to somewhere "safe". Nowhere was 'safe'. The end was clear—demons would come and because of their mortality, humans would die. End of story. That was always the fate of humans: they live, they die. They were lucky…well, lucky if they never suffer.

The spirit detectives split into two groups: the fox, her ex-toy, and the orange haired ox ran towards the demons. By the expression on her ex-toy's face, Kanna knew they had been given orders to destroy all. Why else would a cold-blooded murderer be thrilled to see such beings before him?

She smirked as the boys ran head first into battle. It was at times like this she wished she could upgrade her mirror. Humans were enthralled with technology and harnessing it to make their lives easier. They had invented picture in picture—something Kanna would kill for now…and they had a very nice prototype for pausing and rewinding live TV. Again, this was something she would kill for.

On the flip side, many people would say the same thing about her mirror—despite the fact it was cracked and broken. She watched as the powerless females ran off in the opposite direction. Scanning her mirror, she wondered where they were going. She shrugged because it didn't matter where they went, no place was safe enough. Even the temple up ahead wasn't a safe place to hide. She assumed that that's where they were heading. She knew the saying about "assume" but it was the only plausible idea within reason.

If they were smart, they would already sense the shadow demons that had already taken over. Then again, these people were powerless and only if you were strong could you feel them. The boy could've but he was a little busy distracting a snake demon that was chasing them.

That was not something she would've liked to be bitten by. Even a small drop of its venom in your bloodstream and you were as good as dead. Kanna had been witness to that once. It was an extremely painful and agonizing death. It was right under getting purified from the inside out.

Kanna watched as the snake slithered and dodged the blast from Yusuke's finger. It was fast. It slithered up to the girls and started to coil about them. It moved in for the kill. Kanna would've placed a bet that the youngest human was a goner, but the older female pushed her out of harm's way and took the full force of the bite herself.

She gave the female minutes to live in the most brutal existence ever known to man. Already, she was screaming and trying to claw out the poison from her leg. Kanna half- felt sorry for the girl. She would never sacrifice herself for someone else. She didn't understand that part of human nature. Why would you give your life for someone else? It was sad she got bitten in the ankle. Had she been bitten higher up, her time would have been reduced.

Kanna watched as she could only imagine what they were saying. It wasn't that hard to decipher what was said at a dying scene. They usually all went the same when a character as self sacrificing as herself spoke:

"Leave me here and go save yourself."

"We can't leave you behind; not after you saved me!"

"I'll only slow you down. I'm dying anyway."

"No, you're not! I won't let you die. If you won't go then I'll stay here with you."

"Don't be stupid, you have a long life to live."

"We are in this together and nothing is going to stop you from living. We'll have you better in no time."

Kanna almost cackled at her own dialogue. She didn't have the emotional range to do it with accuracy or conviction, but it amused her. She could say she was pretty accurate in her voiceover over what happened next.

The females helped her to her feet, both supporting her and half dragged her to the temple. Again, this was something she didn't understand. The human was dying, why bring her along? Why not sacrifice her so you could live an extra few seconds? Didn't they realize that the more the female moved the faster the poison spread throughout her body?

The ferry girl didn't look too happy. She knew what was coming, why prolong the inevitable? Wouldn't it be humane to kill the girl now? Every moment she was still alive was another moment she was in pain. The five of them made their way to the top of the shrine steps. How Kanna longed for some popcorn and some cheesy human horror music to play in the background.

The once overly cheery ferry girl was trying her best to heal the girl's injury. She was just wasting her energy. Yusuke was trying to fight off the demons that held the old woman prisoner. No one noticed the rather large bird demon swoop down and snag the other human and carried her off.

Kanna was pleased her sound kicked in. The screams of pure fear and the echoing sounds of "Keiko" were loud and pleasant to her ears. She watched as the ferry girl received a call. She had souls to collect. No names were said out loud, but Kanna could read the names on the screen. Some were some human names she didn't recognize or care about. She did notice the flicker of emotion on Death's face as two names came: Kuwabara Shizuru and the Psychic, Martial Artist Genkai.

She knew it was going to happen. There was no stopping death. That was the one thing that was always constant.

"Botan, what about Keiko?" Yusuke screamed as he stood helpless as his girlfriend was taken away. "We have to find her."

"I'm sorry Yusuke, I'm being summoned. I have souls that need collecting." Botan's face was downcast and shaded by her heavy bangs.

"Screw the souls! We have to save our friends."

Wordlessly, Botan help up the screen so Yusuke could read the names. His eyes went wide and a spectrum of emotions flew across his face. It was his turn to look down hiding the rage and fury in his eyes. "I understand. Do what you have to do." His teeth were clenched holding back his emotions.

He picked Yukina up from the human's dead body and ran down the steps. The female demon didn't have to ask why they were leaving; the stench of death was already thick in the air.

Kanna wanted to squeal in delight. Humans were finally starting to learn about how mortal they really were. They were fun to watch. She couldn't identify half of the emotions they were expressing, but she did know rage and fury.

She took once last glance as Death did her job. Kanna shook her head as Death cried as she collected the souls of her friends. Again, she didn't understand why death would be friends with mortals…humans died. If you are immortal and don't want to see people close to you die, then why be friends in the first place?

There was no point in having friends. Friends were objects to kill time with, nothing more. The tears were starting to make her gag so she decided to check in on her favorite priestess. She allowed herself a slight smirk as she noticed that she had the entire train car to herself.

See, these people were much, much smarter. Why couldn't everyone be like that? They knew when to leave. Kagome was still lost in herself. She noticed how Moryomaru had entered the human realm and immediately made his way towards her. He wasn't as idiotic as her brother assumed him to be. He was a nonverbal, highly intelligent creature. He knew right away where to seek the jewel.

Kanna half wondered if he was going there to thank her for freeing him, or going there to kill her. Both were actually quite possible realities. Kagome could feel him coming, and she was looking in his direction the entire trip back. The sword didn't allow her body to tighten up, but remained relaxed and ready to strike at a moment's notice.

Kanna wondered if she knew about the barrier breaking and the swarms of demons that were already in this world. She wondered if she knew that everyone and everything around her was about to die. She wondered if she even cared. Oh, the Kagome, the human girl, would…but she was lost. Now it was the sword in control. Did the sword care? Kanna shook her head and wondered at the lunacy she was thinking. It was a sword, so of course it didn't care.

It killed. It sought justice that's all it lived for.

Moryomaru leaped into the air cut the boxcar Kagome was standing in half. The train flew in all directions, killing all the innocent passengers that were onboard.

This was probably the best death for them. It would save them of knowing the future fate of this world. Lucky bastards, getting a quick and painless death like that. They should be thanking her.

The sword created a barrier around her and projected her to safety. Kanna watched as Kagome swung the sword and cyclones of purifying energy hurled towards her last living 'relative.'

She knew that any pet created by her dead brother would need more than a few swings of purifying energy to kill him. Moryomaru's limbs were torn off by the force of the power. She was mildly surprised when she saw he met the attacks head on. He didn't move. She gave a half smirk as the torn off limbs absorbed a couple of lower level demons that were in the area. Once they were absorbed into Moryomaru, they reformed and reattached themselves to Moryomaru's body in their proper locations.

Kanna half wondered if they had ever reattached themselves to the wrong locations. That would be a funny sight. A hand where a foot should be attached, a head where an arm should be attached—then again, that was also a sickening thought.

Moryomaru attacked and sent Kagome flying through the air. Humans always wanted the chance to fly; this was her chance. It was a shame she didn't have wings. With throwing power like that, Kanna wondered if the demons would start their own football team. Moryomaru would make an excellent quarterback.

She was relieved when a barrier formed around Kagome and saved her from her death. Kanna wasn't relieved because Kagome was saved; she was relieved that the fight wasn't over before it began. She already knew the outcome of this battle—of the entire battle. She just wanted to get the most of her time's worth before it was over.

Kanna watched, glued to her mirror, as the two fought. There was no dialogue, just sounds of grunts and furious cries from the priestess. Moryomaru didn't have a voice. It was never given one. Kanna enjoyed it this way too. She didn't have to tap her mirror and curse the reception.

Moryomaru produced large spikes from his body and sent them straight towards the girl. The sword stopped most of them, but it made the sword go on the defensive and made her move back.

Kanna wondered how long it would take before the two teams to meet up. Kagome was only about seventy miles from the spirit detective team. She half wondered how they were holding up. She wanted to take a quick peek in on them, but she knew she would miss something important with Kagome is she did.

How she wished for a picture in picture. It would make her life much easier. She could also go to where one battle was being played, but that would require moving. She was comfortable where she was.

Instead, she decided to remain where she was and would grumble the entire time. Their dance became almost predictable. Kagome would attack, Moryomaru would absorb and Kagome would fly through the air. The distance was getting shorter each time. By this predictability, she could tell the sword was testing the demon's powers.

She watched as the repetitious battle continued. Kanna was growing bored already. Right now, she would give for some horribly choreographed kung-fu movie where you could see the wires and ropes. Anything was better than this.

She decided to give them a few more minutes before calling them boring and hopeless and moving on to the next viewing. She was glad she didn't change the channel. See, she knew all the good stuff happened the moment you did. The start of the attack was the same. Except this time, Kagome didn't go on the defensive. This time she attacked and used the tentacles as stepping stones to get higher up in the air and closer to him.

Moryomaru sent unleashed a few tentacles that made a home in her side causing blood to pool and stream down her midsection. If she were mortal that would have killed her. She was now the sword and it didn't cause her to stop or slow down. She moved faster and sunk her sword into a small opening in between the spikes that covered his body.

Kanna watched eagerly as Kagome gave a sickly smile and plunged her sword into his chest and unleashed the cyclones from inside his body. His body flew in millions of pieces. Before Moryomaru could gather demons and reform, she purified the small pieces of his body.

The sword was cunning and smart. It couldn't purify the entire being in one blow, so it blew Moryomaru into millions of pieces and purified it then. It was ingenious. Kagome collapsed on the charred ground. She used the sword to keep herself from falling. The red stain didn't grow larger, but it did wind her.

If the stain was indeed still bleeding, Kanna couldn't tell since it was covered by the red priestess pants Kagome was wearing. She took a moment to consider everything. Her last living relative was dead. She was the last of her family standing. She wasn't sure what she should feel. Should she be relieved, saddened, confused, or enraged? All she felt was a vast pot of nothingness. She wasn't surprised she didn't feel anything—it was who she was.

All she knew was it was now safe to change her mirror to another part of the battle. She hoped that the spirit detectives were more entertaining than the pitiful battle she just saw. She scanned her mirror for them, but for some reason it stopped on Botan. She didn't want to see the ferry girl and her horrible tear stained face.

She sighed and watched as the girl opened her communicator and read another name she had to go and ferry to the other side: Yukimura Keiko. Botan fell to her knees and cried in outrage and pain. Kanna knew it was coming. That was predictable.

The demon that whisked her off ate human flesh. Their feeding habits were bloody and messy. They would eat their prey in mid-flight. She could picture it: The demons would sink their talons into her flesh and swing her bleeding and twitching corpse upwards and catch it in their mouths and sink their sharp teeth into the flesh. Blood would gush and pour everywhere as they sucked and pulled the muscles out leaving the skin and bones.

It was quite fascinating and gruesome. It was always amazing how they could leave the body relatively intact—just minus the blood and muscles. She almost wanted to follow the ferry girl to see her expression, but if you've seen it once, you've seen them all. All their expressions are the same. They are always horrified and disgusted at the sight. Then again, having the body also hurled to the ground from mid-flight is never a pretty sight. Add that together and well…

Smiling to herself, Kanna flashed her mirror over to the spirit team. They looked exhausted, but she was happy that was all. She hadn't missed anything too important—like them dying. She would have been disappointed if they failed to provide her with some sort of entertainment before they were killed off like flies.

Yusuke had failed to meet up with them. Kanna wanted to rejoice. It would mean she was able to see their expressions when the news was delivered. It was a good day for free entertainment.

Speak of the Devil and He shall arrive. Yusuke and a panting Yukina arrived just as the demons were becoming less and less. Instead of telling them what happened, Yusuke pushed himself into battle and started to kill off demons with new vigor.

Kuwabara backtracked to Yukina and said some words that made Kanna glad she hadn't eaten anything yet. There was no love in battles, let alone verbal professions. If you had time to say that, then he had plenty of time to kill the demons behind him—or better yet, die. She scoffed at the fox who saved 'Romeo's' life.

"Minus fifty respect points," she stated as his life was spared. He deserved to die for desecrating the battlefield.

The pair demanded to know what happened to the others. She watched as the ice demon burst into tears creating a pool of jewels around her. Kanna made a mental note to pick them up after they were dead. They would be worth some money. They would be dead and she would be alive. It also better to have money than to not have money. She would survive, and she could use it, possibly.

The boys knew what happened. It would take a moron not to know, and the moron understood—considering he was now fighting with new rage and power. Those two didn't look like brother and sister. It seemed like the sister was given the brains and beauty and he was left with the extras. Kanna thought for a moment, wasn't even brains she was given…sacrificing yourself was stupid, especially for a lost cause. The girl was taken away and used as food instead.

Or maybe she was really smart and chose the lesser of the deaths. It was an interesting concept. It could work!

Kanna watched as the two males took the bad news and used their fury to power their fighting power. Their attacks were stronger, but it caused their senses to be dulled. That's why there had to be a balance while fighting.

They lost the balance and were about to face the consequences. See, the poor fox wasn't concentrating and the demon was able to get in a cheap shot. His left arm was bleeding and she could see the pearly white of bone showing for the entire world to see. He made his mistake and learnt from it. He killed the demon and made his way to the next that was charging upon him.

The ice demon was left alone and unprotected. She was an easy mark for the savages that came from the other side. They attacked her, not caring if she was a fellow demon. She would have been killed had her toy not been there to take the deadly blow. He was able to block one attack, but not the other two that delivered the finishing blows.

The claws that crushed his tiny ribs and ripped out his heart were slowly sliding their way out when two bursts of spirit energy exploded before their vision. However, they didn't see their helpless companion as she was sheltered by his dying frame.

This is why Kanna wasn't friends with anyone. They tended to die, and she had a tendency to watch as they took their last breath. The realization on their faces when they realized that Yukina had been caught in the crossfire was priceless. They needed to make a commercial out of it someday.

She would have loved to have paused the screen to stare at their horrified expressions all day long, but she couldn't. Kanna tried to register their emotions. Humans were funny. She recognized most of their facial expressions, but when they started to blur together and become one general expression she was lost.

Fear and horror were the two main things that remained on their face. And here she thought demons were going to be the last ones to die… who knew?

The remaining three ran over to inspect their damage, hoping that it was an illusion of sorts and what they just did was a hallucination, a figment of their imagination. Oh it was real. Their friends were dead. They delivered the finishing blows that off-ed their friends.

See, that's what real friends were for. They were supposed to be there to finish you off before the pain sets in too badly. They should feel proud over what they did. Kanna was proud for them. She almost cracked a smile at that.

She noticed the puffy-eyed ferry girl arrive on the scene. Her communicator was still left open. Kanna smirked at the new names on the screen: The Forbidden Child Hiei and The Ice Apparition Yukina.

The ferry girl took one look at them and snapped. It must be a hard job escorting all your friends to the other side. This was exactly what she was saying to herself before. Why be friends with someone if they are going to die?

Botan snapped and was screaming about this not being fair. Kanna didn't need audio to hear her, she was sure the entire world could hear her bleeding heart ranting. She watched as Yusuke asked if she knew about Keiko. Kanna licked her lips and waited. She could feel the knives come out of his heart and getting jabbed back in—nice and slow. Her lack of response was all anyone needed to know.

Yes, she was dead; they were all dead. Fight with the humans, and you pay the price for it too. It was that simple. That was why she never picked sides, someone always lost and she didn't take too well to losing.

Kanna almost felt herself starting to lose interest in the battle when the ground started to rumble and shake. She could literally see the barrier as it shook and pieces started to fall. She wanted to laugh. The end was finally near. Everything would soon be over. Or would it be just beginning?

She was almost shaken from her tree it rumbled that furiously. She gave the barrier a glare but her eyes slightly widened as the barrier fell and a blast of pink purifying power stopped the demons from coming out.

She watched as Kagome emerged from the trees. Her clothing partially torn, her breathing labored and cuts and gashes indicating she should be dead but wasn't. She walked into the clearing with her head held high.

Her sword glowed a pink hue and her eyes were void of any emotion. Kagome bided them time to regroup. It would only be for a few moments. She made her way over to them and she didn't say anything to them and vice versa.

Then with a loud bang, the barrier fell. There would be no saving them this time around. Time was up and it was judgment day. Kanna looked at the pitiful group that was supposed to save the world.

The human boy, Yusuke, radiated exhaustion and fury; the other human boy, the one with the dead sister, was panting heavily and seemed to be on his last legs—it wouldn't surprise Kanna if he passed out in a moment; the fox, who was nursing his left arm that wouldn't stop bleeding; and the human priestess that was no longer anything remotely alive or human—the same very being that should be dead considering her injuries.

They stood watching in fear as demons came pouring from the other side. Hundreds if not thousands of demons came towards them. The demons cheered in victory and gave their war cry as they tasted freedom and paradise. It looked like it was an ocean in the middle of Tokyo.

Kanna cackled as she got sound.

"Which one do you want?" Kuwabara asked looking at their next targets.

Kagome said nothing but held her sword in an attack position and waited for a moment to strike.

"It doesn't matter to me," Kurama mentioned as he pulled his rose from his hair and adjusted his left arm so he could nurse it during battle.

"You know," Yusuke said staring at one particular demon, "I've always wanted to slay a dragon." He pointed to the massive white dragon flying towards them.

They rolled their eyes and breathed a heavy sigh before attacking once more; fighting the endless sea of creatures that kept emerging from the destroyed barrier.

Kanna stood from her spot. Her ass was numb from sitting so long. "Their fates are sealed." She placed her mirror in her kimono and descended her tree intending on getting something to eat.

End of D&T
Beta's Note: … O.o;

AN: I hope you've all enjoyed reading this story, and I didn't even break it up! It's a nice ficlet for an ending. It's been an exciting journey these past years. I've met some awesome people, I've laughed, cried, (not really), I want to thank everyone who's been reading this since the start. Without you, it might've taken me many more years to write this.

I'm not dying or dead, I will have other stories coming out. So please keep a lookout for them.

See, even my beta had no idea of the ending I had planned. I'm the guilty one here.

Since this is the last chapter, I beg you to review and leave your lasting impression.

Fyyrrose