Disclaimer: Not mine...

A/N: Okay I wrote most of this in a day...so as usual now I feel like it sucks. But now you see I wans't lying when I said to watch for an update ;-) well I'm busy, party tomorrow with my...(ahem!) "semi"-boyfriend, long complex story anyway...so! This chapter's title describes it fairly well. See I needed to show these plotlines...the middle one starts slow but when it takes off, it takes off. You'll see. Ack contact has been acting up all day. (sighs) OOOooo...Potty mouth I swear it only happens a little bit. Now I need to get going and take my bad contact out and talk to my "semi-serious-thing-boyfriend."

ENJOY! I command you to!

Descent into Madness

Kagome jerked awake, her breath whistling sharply. High, keening cries reached her ears at the same moment she blinked her eyes, struggling to think and gain awareness. Instinct, more ancient than almost any other, commanded her to reach for the source of the crying sounds. Her probing fingers, thick and still numb from her heavy sleep, reached warm skin a moment later and clutched it.

The room swam slowly into her vision: spacious, dim, and furnished in a style she identified as old fashioned with screened walls and windows that allowed her to see the shadows of the people passing in the hall and the birds chattering outside. There were no lamps or lights in the room that she could tell and already her eyes felt tired just being open a few seconds, despite the low light. When she moved she felt the layer of cold sweat that was covering her body. Her muscles ached and her mind felt foggy.

If not for the crying she surely would've rolled over and fallen back into her deep, unnatural sleep—but the terrible cries were impossible for her to ignore them short of coma or death. With a weak grasp, she pulled the source of the noise—Koinu—close to her and stroked his smooth skin and fuzzy light hair and ears.

The pup's shrill cries died down slightly, becoming mere whimpers almost the moment his mother responded to him. He nuzzled close to her and reached tiny, grasping palms toward her breasts, searching for food.

Kagome sighed, feeling lethargy already settling back into her bones the moment Koinu's cries eased. Her fingers on the pup's ears and hair slowed and finally stilled when Koinu's sounds stopped. Her dreams were already fast coming to her, images of darkness, blood, sickness and fear. A monster haunted her dreams, a demon so ancient that his entire species had died out millions of years ago. She tried, instinctually, to shy away from his presence within her, but the beast held onto some part of her soul that she couldn't reach, and sent dark tendrils of his spirit to act as a poison that spread through the whole of her, mind and body alike.

She might've slipped away into the monster's grasps again, fighting a battle that she couldn't seem to win, if not for the fact that Koinu couldn't get to her milk. Frustrated, the pup started to whimper again briefly when pawing futilely at layers of clothing failed to offer him a reward. When Kagome didn't respond to him immediately, Koinu advanced to all-out crying again.

As his shrill cries hit her eardrums again, Kagome snapped awake, gasping at the air like a drowning woman. The dim light of the room seemed to sear her retinas like a hot brand. She winced and struggled to adjust again, but Koinu's cries wouldn't wait. Struggling through the furs, Kagome pulled Koinu closer to her again and took a good look at him, trying to force her mind to clear of the perpetual fog it seemed to be in.

Koinu sat on her stomach, his new tears mingling with the still wet old tears from his first cry. This time when his mother stroked his ears and his hair the crying went on unabated. The pup reached for her face with his tiny, clawed hands. He patted her neck, her chin and lips before falling forward against the crook of her shoulder. His tears against her skin were warm—almost hot.

For the first time since the strange illness had reasserted itself onto her, full awareness and memory smashed into Kagome. She realized that the child lying against her was her baby, her son. His tiny white ears moved against her chin, acting as a quiet reminder of all that had happened to her over the years: the well, Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Kilala, Kohimu, Tisoki, and Kasai. Koinu's tears were suddenly a thousand times more painful to her.

Carefully cradling Koinu to her, with an effort, Kagome pushed herself up into a sitting position and fumbled with her clothing, trying to nurse the pup. How long had she been asleep? What was wrong with her? Her memories of exactly where she was and how she'd come to be there were foggy, thought she struggled to regain them. Something dark within her mind repelled every attempt she made to think about it.

As Koinu started to nurse, Kagome realized with a jolt that she was hungry and thirsty. The question came again to her: how long? But she couldn't tell and couldn't remember at all. Through blurred vision she saw that there was a ceramic bowl of water beside the bed that had mostly spilled out onto the matted floor, but aside from that there was not sign of any care.

Dimly she recalled the castle, a female dog demon who called Inuyasha kin. I'm a hostage…the image of the blue-black hair of the tall, young demon lord that called himself the heir to…wherever she was…returned to her. He'd left with Inuyasha as assurance that she wouldn't be harmed.

But it looks like they aren't exactly doing the best job. The spilled bowl drew her attention again and she wondered, idly, if it was what had made her sick.

Yes, this is all a trap, Kagome.

She stiffened, looking around once only to wheeze with pain as the sharp motion kinked her neck muscles. There was no one nearby, but the voice, clear as a bell, continued unabated.

You were meant to think that Inuyasha is working for your best interests, but it is a lie, a trap for you, poor innocent and trusting human to fall into. Didn't you see it? He left you here for the demon woman, the one with the pink eyes. You know he doesn't think you're a strong enough mate…

Kagome trembled against her will and clutched Koinu closer to her chest. The pup, troubled by his mother's actions, stopped nursing and whimpered worriedly. Big blue baby eyes gawked at her innocently, but Kagome didn't notice. She was preoccupied with scouring the room with her eyes, looking frantically for the source of the voice and at once praying that it wasn't coming from inside her.

"That's not true!" her voice squeaked, unaccustomed to use lately.

Don't lie to yourself, Kagome. You know Inuyasha would never willingly leave you alone, you or especially the child, not unless he had stopped caring. You remember what that was like, don't you? When the hanyou ran out on you? Surely you remember competing with Kikyo?

She closed her eyes and bit back the old pain that rose within her at the sound of her previous incarnation's name. "Things were different back then," she whispered into the dim light and silence of the room around her, "Kikyo and the demon woman are completely different from each other. Inuyasha hated the demon woman, and they're related—and I've always been strong enough for him."

He calls you weak all the time because he knows what you are, nothing but a frail, weak and worthless human. That's why he let you think that he was related to this demon woman and then he ran away with her. He knows you're too stupid to doubt him!

"No! That's not true at all!" Kagome jerked her head around again, straining to see into the shadows. She thought she heard footsteps around her, but her eyes showed nothing. "What are you? What are you doing to me?"

I am only telling you the truth, human. You were nothing but a practice bitch to that filthy hanyou. You should've known better.

"Get out of my head!" Kagome stumbled, falling forward. She clasped her hands over her ears and fought the push of tears behind her eyes. Koinu screamed where he was trapped underneath her, dazed and confused by his mother's raging turn of emotions.

You're too weak, little human bitch. You'll never be rid of me until you submit yourself to me, until you accept the truth of what I'm telling you…

She shook her head, "No, no." with one hand she grabbed up Koinu again and curled up tightly in a fetal position. She closed her eyes tightly against the world. "Please hurry Inuyasha…"

Laughter resounded through her skull. He's never going to come for you!

"The cropland is completely decimated in the Isei province. It is not possible for my resources to be used to fuel the wars in your province, Arasoizuki." Nishiyori sat back on his haunches, smug and secure in his bargaining position. He was senior in age to all of the Middle Land's rulers, even to its central leader, Lady Taikokajin. His blue-black hair was streaked with a deep, coarse gray, but his eyes, olive green in color, remained as sharp as ever—almost as sharp as his mind.

The younger lords around him were stiff with formality, a response bred into them only as a matter of forced respect and diplomacy. Nishiyori was old enough to remember a time when the inuyoukai rulers fought one another to the death over simple administrative decisions. In some ways he preferred the older, barbaric tradition because it finished things quicker and left no slowly smoldering angers amidst the group. Now they were forced to listen to him deny their requests for aid when all of them knew that his lands in the Isei province, had been the most successful for several years now.

They looked toward Taikokajin, who sat on a raised platform at the front of the room, serene and silent, as if she were nothing more than someone's wife or mistress when in actuality she was their ruler. Nishiyori smothered the smirk he felt growing on his face. As usual, Taikokajin had ignored the subtleties of their meeting and was saying nothing to call Nishiyori on his bluff.

Arasoizuki threw Sasugainu, Taikokajin's younger brother, a look of desperation. Only Sasugainu had any bond with Taikokajin, only Sasugainu truly dared to approach the problem.

With a sigh Sasugainu shook his head at Nishiyori. "Perhaps we might deliberate on this matter further another time?"

"Certainly, but it will change nothing, Sasugainu."

"We'll see, but for now I vote we move onto less dire and serious matters—such as Lord Arasoizuki's upcoming marriage." Sasugainu turned to face his older sister who sat, distant, lost in her thoughts and delusions on her high, monarch's platform. "Lord Arasoizuki has brought his proposed mate with him so that she may be approved and they may consummate their bond and produce the Itou province's much-needed heirs."

Taikokajin's eyes snapped up on the last word. "What about heirs, brother?"

"Arasoizuki has brought his intended mate with him for your—"

"Why are you wasting my time with such dribble?" Taikokajin snapped abruptly, her pink eyes glittering with annoyance.

Her brother bowed low, hiding his surprise with the swift movement. "My lady…" Nishiyori and Arasoizuki forced their faces to remain stony and unaffected by the outburst. It was tradition for the central ruler to give a blessing on any new pairing that was destined to create heirs. Taikokajin, however, didn't seem to care.

Arasoizuki lowered his eyes to the matting on the floor between himself and Sasugainu, shifting uneasily. "Do you approve of the bloodlines, Lady Taikokajin?"

"Well who is she? Why isn't she here?" there was a rustle of thick pleated fabric as Taikokajin pushed herself to her feet and stared down at the male rulers who were still calmly seated below her. "I can't approve her bloodline Arasoizuki if I don't know whose daughter she is!"

Nishiyori snorted, his face twisted in a brief sneer. "Why would my lady Taikokajin care anything about bloodlines?" the old leader's eyes slid over in Taikokajin's direction, glinting dangerously.

Everyone in the room stood still as glass, frozen with shock. Nishiyori, it was true, had reason to be upset with Taikokajin, but he had never before acted on such feelings. Through marriage Nishiyori was actually Taikokajin's uncle, he was also closely related to Taikokajin's now deceased husband and mate, Haiseishoku. He despised Taikokajin's rule over the Middle Lands as an abomination of justice. The proper ruler should have been Sasugainu, Taikokajin's younger brother, but Nishiyori had aspirations of his own that didn't include either of the siblings.

Under normal circumstances Nishiyori would've respected Taikokajin and never spoken out against her. To speak out and challenge one's leader was frowned upon, and it could prompt Arasoizuki and Sasugainu to turn on him for disloyalty. Nishiyori was a patient, conniving leader—he could wait and bide his time for the right moment to strike, no matter what he was really feeling.

Even when Haiseishoku had died under such suspicious circumstances, Nishiyori had never openly confronted Taikokajin about it because she still held power and favor in the Middle Lands. But as time had passed she'd begun to deteriorate and Nishiyori had grown steadily bolder. It appeared now that his time to challenge her authority—perhaps in Haiseishoku's name—had arrived.

Taikokajin stiffened, her jaw set hard. A muscle twitched in her forehead directly above her nose briefly before she stilled it. "What is this, Nishiyori?" she kept her voice calm and cold.

"I was merely asking," he bowed slightly to her but didn't bother to hide his slight sneer, "Why does Lady Taikokajin, who took a human male as her second mate and replacement to the great demon Haiseishoku, care about Arasoizuki's choice of mate and its resulting bloodlines?"

"Lord Nishi—" Arasoizuki tried, unsuccessfully, to cut the impending argument short, but his words were silenced when Nishiyori threw him one stern glare. The young demon lord looked quickly away, pretending to be uninterested, but in his lap his hands tensed up into fists with his frustration and embarrassment.

"Why should our lady, who mothered a filthy hanyou as her second-born, care in the slightest about proud young Arasoizuki's bloodlines?" Nishiyori narrowed his olive-green eyes on Taikokajin's flushed, stiff form, "Or perhaps you are just interested in meeting his mate to make plans for killing her, just as you killed your own mate? Tell me, dear little niece, what does Haiseishoku's spirit say to you in your dreams? I know what he says in mine…"

"Silence!" Taikokajin spat. Her face was pale, her pink eyes wide. She held a minor resemblance to a stunned rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming car.

Nishiyori smirked openly at her while across from him the two younger demon lords shifted uneasily and refused to look at either of the arguing leaders. Finally Sasugainu cleared his throat and spoke out hesitantly, "Where is Shimofuri, sister?"

Taikokajin shifted her stance slightly to face her brother, but her eyes never left Nishiyori's face. "You will address me as Lady Taikokajin, Sasugainu."

Sasugainu bowed once, mumbling his apologies. "Lady Taikokajin, where is Shimofuri?"

At the mention of her son a second time, Taikokajin finally tore her gaze away from Nishiyori. "My son is…" her voice died and her eyes became misty and unfocused, as if she were suddenly caught up and reliving her memories. The silence in the room pressed around the demon lords and all but Nishiyori moved uneasily at it.

At last Taikokajin took a sharp breath inwards and suddenly sank to her knees again, covering her face with her hands. The scent of salt from her tears easily reached the three demon lords a short distance away. Sasugainu's face burned red abruptly as he fought with the inner instinct of the inuyoukai to protect and comfort his kin by attacking the one he perceived as having hurt her—Nishiyori. Despite his efforts a growl rose in his throat and he turned a glare on Nishiyori.

"You've driven her mad!"

Nishiyori snorted arrogantly. "I think she did that on her own, little nephew." He turned his nose up, looking down on Sasugainu as if he were no more than a pup.

"You old…" Sasugainu bit his own tongue, silencing himself. Nishiyori's smirk was enough to assure him that his urge to protect Taikokajin would be used against him, to make him seen as unsteady and biased. It would be easy for Nishiyori to use that against him and make him appear incompetent. Then the old dog could challenge both Taikokajin and Sasugainu together, effectively killing two birds with one shot.

"We should leave…" Arasoizuki began, uncertainly, but from her platform Taikokajin seemed to spring to attention.

"No!" she shouted, rising to her feet again. One of her human maids, Nikimi, scurried away from the demon woman with a frightened expression on her face at the sudden turnaround her mistress had made. "I have a proposal for you all to consider, and I will make it worth your while."

"What is this nonsense?" Nishiyori grumbled, scowling. "You've gone mad! I—"

"I have not gone mad." Taikokajin raged, breathing hard, "But I am aggrieved."

Slowly Taikokajin moved down from her platform, appearing stiff and as regal as her tear-smeared makeup would allow. "I have sent Shimofuri out to inspect the lands and control the lesser youkai…but I have received word recently that he has been taken hostage."

Nishiyori scoffed sharply. "That is impossible."

"You dare doubt me?" Taikokajin breathed, pinning her pink gaze on him.

"Shimofuri is Haiseishoku's son." Nishiyori narrowed his eyes on Taikokajin when she made a face of something close to disgust, "He is far superior to any lesser demons or humans that would try to threaten or ransom him. Why are you lying to us, niece?" he sneered.

Sasugainu was also scowling, not with disdain but with confusion. "Sister—"

"You all will call me Lady Taikokajin!" the demon woman nearly shook with outrage. Her gaze flicked between the three demon lords, waiting to see if any of them would challenge her. None of them did, so she relaxed slightly and pressed on with her lie.

"It was not a lesser demon or any samurai that took my son from me." She let her voice quaver slightly, a mother's worry and fear, "It was a son of Inutaisho—"

Nishiyori laughed, "Lord Sesshomaru? What has he done to inspire your wrath, Taikokajin? Why are you making up lies about our cousin?"

"If you will not hear me out," Taikokajin hissed through clenched jaws, "Then leave."

"Si—Lady Taikokajin," Sasugainu began, mumbling haltingly, "The son of Inutaisho you are speaking of—"

"Silence, little brother!" Taikokajin snapped. She started pacing, avoiding looking at any of the demon leaders directly. Arasoizuki and Sasugainu scowled confusedly while Nishiyori tried to hide his disgusted sneer. Sasugainu alone knew that his sister really was lying, in a roundabout way. Shimofuri was with a son of Inutaisho, Inuyasha. But he'd assumed that things had taken care of themselves by now. Was it possible that the Inuyasha character was still alive and really holding the young Shimofuri hostage?

"You all know of the tales of a hanyou called Inuyasha, do you not?" Taikokajin demanded a moment later, still pacing.

"There is no such hanyou. Surely it was an inuyoukai from the mainland instead." Nishiyori watched Taikokajin's movements around the room with suspicious olive-green eyes. "Are you trying to justify your second-born as somehow better than Haisheishoku's son, Taikokajin? You should know by now your lies—"

"It is not a lie! The hanyou Inuyasha is not a myth; he is in fact the second-born pup of Inutaisho's line. This information was given to me from Sesshomaru himself. This hanyou has taken Shimofuri from me!"

"This is ridiculous!" Nishiyori rose to his feet, his face was twisted with disgust that he didn't bother trying to hide as he bowed briefly toward Taikokajin. "I have had enough of your insanity, niece. I will take my leave of you for good."

There was silence in the room as Nishiyori walked out. Only the clattering sound of the door rolling shut behind him disturbed the remaining three demons inside the room.

"He is a traitor!" Taikokajin blurted a moment later. Both her brother and Arasoizuki flinched at her outburst. "He would leave Shimofuri to die at the claws of this monstrous hanyou! He has taken Shimofuri—we must stop him! Arasoizuki, there has been fighting and wars in your province," a feverish look awakened in Taikokajin's eyes as she spoke. Her pacing stopped and she moved to kneel in Nishiyori's abandoned spot.

Arasoizuki blinked at the breach in conduct and scooted away from Taikokajin slightly as she continued speaking rapidly at him, laying out a bizarre plan.

"If you use a few of your armies with mine and Sasugainu's to stop the hanyou as he enters our borders again out of the Western Lands, Arasoizuki, then I will fund your wars indefinitely. I will provide food for your province. I will send Shimofuri with my finest warriors to destroy the samurai and lesser demons that have troubled you. Your younger brother, the one that causes you so much trouble—Yabureru—I will give him Tsukiyume to marry for an alliance. I—"

"Taikokajin!" Arasoizuki finally interrupted her, at last stopping the flow of frenzied words from her mouth, "I will not agree to send my armies with yours to stop this hanyou you speak of. We have seen no evidence that he has Shimofuri with him. And why would he do it? It would be suicide for him to enrage the clan like this…"

Taikokajin's eyes flew wildly to Sasugainu. "You know, brother. You know that the hanyou took my son from me!"

Sasugainu clenched his jaw tightly and looked between his crazy sister in Nishiyori's old seat and the confused Arasoizuki. It would fall on him to either go with his sister's strange convoluted plan or discredit her as insane, which was how she appeared more and more. He sighed, heavily and found his inner composure carefully, keeping his face stony.

"What she says could be true, Arasoizuki…"

"Could be true!" Taikokajin hissed viciously at her brother, leaning toward him menacingly, "You know it is!"

"…but though the hanyou may have Shimofuri now I believe that my sister sent her son with him. And it is actually she who has trespassed against the hanyou by keeping his mate and pup against their will…"

"Traitor!" Taikokajin snarled, lunging for Sasugainu's throat. The younger demon evaded her, jumping to his feet gracefully without even breaking a sweat. Half-sprawled on the floor and stumbling in her rage, Taikokajin spluttered up at him as she struggled to rise. "You would let Shimofuri—your kin!—die at that hanyou's claws? His spirit will haunt you like—"

"Like Haiseishoku's spirit haunts you, Taikokajin?" Arasoizuki grumbled, scowling. He too had risen from his sitting position and had taken a spot beside Sasugainu.

"Why you little bastard! I will send my armies to destroy your province for this insolence!"

Arasoizuki shook his head and turned his back on her, saying over his shoulder, "Your sister has gone mad, Sasugainu. I offer my sincerest apologies." He strode confidently from the room, ignoring Taikokajin's cursing behind him.

Alone with his crazed sister, Sasugainu found that he couldn't look at her, couldn't bring himself to fully hear her crazy mutterings. She still wore her proud, beautiful face, but it was twisted and smeared with her makeup. Her hair, white like snow, had fallen askew of her face. Her pink eyes seemed almost alight with her inner, crazed fire. She still looked like their father; carrying many of the same features but in feminine form, but seeing her in such a way shamed him and made him sick.

"I am sorry for this, sister." He murmured, staring at the door, longing to escape to his sane mate and the outside world with its clean, clear air. "I will see to protecting you from Nishiyori—and I promise I will find Shimofuri for you." Then he can take your place…

Sasugainu hurried, with as much dignity as he could muster, from the room.

"We must pass word on to Mother through Sesshomaru." Shimofuri spoke toward Inuyasha's backsides as he tied his sword, Ribikou, back onto his belt.

At his side Tsukiyume stared with a solemn expression at the ground, unspeaking. There was a wrinkle at the top of her nose, the only sign that she wasn't actually a statue—it was an expression she wore because the air stank of the blood and deaths of many, many hanyous like herself. Earlier Inuyasha would've worn the same expression too, but now he had far more pressing concerns on his mind. The hanyou stood near the path that had led him and Shimofuri into Garou's killing ground in the first place, his body stiff and his ears pressed firmly down into his fair hair.

It was the look of one that has just learned of the death of a loved one.

"No delays." He half-grunted once, "We head back immediately."

"It won't take long, Lord Inuyasha." A little sucking-up to his renowned hanyou cousin never hurt anyone, Shimofuri thought, "Lord Sesshomaru is likely still in the area."

"Then you do it, I'm not waiting." Before he'd even finished speaking, Inuyasha had started to walk off. The tenseness in his gait was a sign that in only a second or so he would be leaping and bounding away as fast as he could go.

"Wait!" Tsukiyume's high voice made both Shimofuri and Inuyasha pause, though the hanyou refused to turn back.

Tsukiyume walked toward Inuyasha's red robed backsides a little unsteadily, here bare feet shifting and crunching the sand beneath her feet.

"Little sister?" Shimofuri asked, sounding openly concerned. His deep blue eyes followed her progress carefully.

"Lord Inuyasha." The hanyou girl ignored her older brother's voice and instead bowed low on the ground behind Inuyasha. "I must thank you for coming with my brother to save me, and apologize for our mother's cruelty."

"Tsuki—" Shimofuri started once, sounding alarmed, but his younger sister continued unabated.

"You must know that our mother has your mate and your pup in her possession—"

Shimofuri stammered as her heard his sister's words, "How do you…" but when he looked toward Inuyasha and spotted the his cousin's golden-eyed glare he silenced himself sharply.

"—to make sure they are safe, may I suggest that you send Shishi-sama ahead to speak with our mother in your stead?"

Inuyasha's ears turned backward, a sure sign that he wasn't all-too agreeable to Tsukiyume's suggestion. Slowly he turned round to face both the prostrated hanyou girl and the startled—but desperately trying to hide such a reaction—young demon lord. He stared for a long moment at Tsukiyume's crouched form, contemplating her. Then, slowly, his gaze turned toward Shimofuri instead. The young demon lord steadied himself, meeting the hanyou's gaze directly, trying to appear dignified despite his bafflement.

"No offence Tsuki," he rumbled after a moment, still not taking his eyes off Shimofuri, "But how do I know your brother won't screw me over with your mother."

"I will travel back with you, while Shishi-sama runs ahead to stop our mother and protect your mate and your pup. My presence with you will be assurance to both my brother's loyalty and to mother's. You will have my life as forfeit." She bowed lower still to the earth and pressed her forehead to the dirt.

"I don't need either of you to help me—" Inuyasha's blustering was cut off by Tsuki's small voice again.

"I was not saying you did, Lord Inuyasha. Only that it would be of great help in saving your mate and son. Shimofuri is the fastest of any of us, he alone can change into his true form."

The hanyou's golden eyes narrowed suspiciously. He looked between Shimofuri's confusion and Tsukiyume's careful prostration. "I can't trust you—how the hell do you know so much about me? You were that fucking thing's hostage for a month!"

"I am given to spiritual powers, as my father was." Tsukiyume murmured, but her confidence in the face of Inuyasha's anger was beginning to waver. "That was how I was able to save you from the demon's black magic curse during the battle."

Inuyasha shifted his stance once, apparently uncertain. At last he lifted his gaze to Shimofuri again and asked, "Would you leave Ribikou with me again?"

The young demon lord bowed his head slightly and fumbled a bit with the sword at his waist. "Yes…"

"Then give it to me and go stop that crazy bitch mother of yours before I kill her."