Chapter 26: Illusions

How fascinating. Against all odds, she actually did it. Though I'd wager that blessed bullet made up for any waver in Izayoi's aim, Inukimi thought.

Even so, she couldn't help the inkling of admiration that crept in. For a human who grew up as a sheltered princess, she's come a long way. She's learned to overcome on her own the odds stacked against her.

Touga had been so nervous during the broadcast that Inukimi's hand automatically went to his shoulder to reassure him. To her surprise, he hadn't shrugged it off. Rather, he had appeared thankful.

Maybe things aren't as broken between us as I thought.

When the broadcast ended, Naraku's sanctuary logo appeared before the monitor turned itself off. Miroku bent over his chair, hiding his face, and to any human, his sobs of relief would have been silent—but not to the dog demons present.

"There will not be a second performance," Touga stated to the room. He turned his gaze on Chief Kimura. "We leave now."

The demon slayer frowned. "We need to wait until morning. It's dark now."

"The most effective attacks are launched in the dark," Touga countered.

"Sneak attacks, yes, or modern warfare relying on guidance systems and radar. We are humans with guns. Yes, we have night vision goggles, but that still impairs our full field of vision."

"Then back us up at dawn. The rest of us leave now."

Chief Kimura sighed. "It does us no good to split up now. We will travel with you. Who knows how long it will take to dismantle his barrier anyway? We may very well be attacking at dawn regardless."

"Then it's settled."

Chief Kimura nodded and left, presumably to gather her squads.

"Naraku is a dead man walking," Inuyasha growled, cracking his knuckles. Whether Kagome had been in her right mind or not, she had stayed draped over Naraku for the entirety of the broadcast—though it had served her well when Naraku started flaunting the demon slayer's gun and she grabbed it. Tsukuyomaru had just barely made out the fact that she was blessing it, mumbling, "Hit the mark."

"No question," his father replied, the cold tone of his voice promising a very painful end to Naraku.

"Just wait till I get my claws in him," Inuyasha added.

"I might have something better," Tsukuyomaru announced. He led them outside, where the squads were already packing the vans and SUVs. The bat demon went over to the one luxury car in the parking lot and popped open the trunk.

"I took the liberty of bringing these when I stopped by the Sanctuary to retrieve the footage," he said, pulling Sou'unga, Tessaiga, and Tenseiga out of his trunk. He handed each one to its respective owner.

As Tsukuyomaru placed Tenseiga in Sesshoumaru's hands, he added, "I hope you have no need to use it…but I brought it just in case."

Inukimi brushed the Meidou Stone around her neck on reflex. As far as she knew, Sesshoumaru had never successfully used the Tenseiga. If it was necessary, would he be able to?

It doesn't matter. Even if he cannot, Touga will be there. And if he is incapacitated…I have my own ways.

Waiting for the Slayers to get ready slowed them down considerably, and because the demons weren't allowed to fly ahead (lest they terrify the rest of the populace), it took everyone a few hours to get to the general area where Naraku's sanctuary lay. Then, they'd had to abandon their vehicles in favor of stealth as they approached the barrier.

The humans kept flinching and turning away, and the demons basically had to herd them. It wasn't any weakness on their part, Inukimi knew; rather, it was the influence of the barrier. Even so, it cost them time. So she wasn't surprised when her son got agitated.

"Father, we should go ahead and disable the barrier. They can come when it is down," Sesshoumaru said in a tone of voice that indicated he would go ahead with this plan whether Touga approved or not.

Touga nodded. "Good idea. Chief Kimura, do you copy?" he said into the earpiece he wore.

"Copy, General. Shall I assist?"

"Negative. Stay with your men. Over."

"Over."

The demons then advanced on foot through the trees. Then, a new voice spoke up.

"This is it, Master," Myoga announced, and Touga held up his fist in the military signal to stop.

"Myoga, how long have you been here?" Inuyasha asked.

"I came with Lord Tsukuyomaru, of course," Myoga answered.

"Then why the hell didn't you speak up before this?"

"I…did not wish to alert the slayers to my presence, Master Inuyasha," the flea added in a low voice.

"Enough," Touga said. "It appears we're at the main gate. Check for security cameras."

Indeed, an electronic gate stood before them, not unlike the one outside Western Sanctuary. If Naraku had tapped into the DSC headquarters' security feed, he was likely already aware that they had left. They needed to hold whatever element of surprise they still had.

"There—on the gate post," Sesshoumaru noted.

"So we should scale the fence away from the gate," Inukimi remarked. "But that will only work once we remove the barrier."

"Allow me," Tsukuyomaru said, stepping away from them. "There is no barrier out there that I cannot lift."

The bat demon flew above the line of sight for the camera, his wings covering the moon. Then he flew forward. However, as soon as he flew past a certain point, his body seemed to emerge from that same area, heading back the way he had come in some bizarre, mirrored illusion.

"I see," he murmured to himself. Then he turned back around and shoved out his hands. His eyes reddened and his teeth elongated as his wings flared with power. A red aura surrounded him. Though he appeared to be touching nothing, as Tsukuyomaru pushed forward, the tension in his arms indicated that something was trying to repel him. He only dug in harder. Beneath his fingers, the barrier slowly took on a physical, curved form. Then, it began to splinter like cracks of glass.

Tsukuyomaru finally pulled back his fist and punched through the fissures. Flares of red light shot from the point of impact, racing around the area in a dome before the entire barrier shattered and collapsed from within.

Where once there had appeared to be an empty forest, a gleaming casino resort, all gleaming glass and metal, flickered into view atop a tall, stone foundation.

"If Naraku is at all connected to his barrier as I am, he will have felt that. We have to move," Tsukuyomaru said.

"Finally," Inuyasha hissed, whipping out Tessaiga, which grew to its massive size. Inukimi had a bad feeling about this, knowing how impulsive the boy was, but before she or anyone else could stop him, Inuyasha ran forward and sliced open a huge chunk of the fence away from the gate. Then he was off and running.

Sesshoumaru darted after him, and Inukimi sighed. After all these years, her son was starting to pick up some bad habits. Touga and Inuyasha were assuredly to blame.

Her husband also frowned in his boys' direction and tapped into his comm unit. "Chief, we've breached the perimeter. We'll act as the vanguard. Follow with your squads when ready. Over."

"Roger. Dawn is approaching. We need to figure out a way to get the Wind Tunnel inside without alerting Naraku, and then we'll follow. Over."

The Wind Tunnel. Even Inukimi had been impressed—and a little perturbed—upon seeing the notorious weapon in person for the first time. The DSC had developed this machine gun specifically to take down giant demons in their true forms. If rumors were to be believed, even those gruesome pets Naraku kept would not survive a round of spiritual bullets from that weapon.

Even so, Inukimi preferred to think of it as a last resort. She would much rather have the opportunity to tear into Naraku's ilk herself—and she had every confidence that she and the other demons would succeed.

"Copy that. Over and out." Touga then looked over at Inukimi. "Ready?"

She nodded in the direction the boys had gone. "Not as ready as those two, apparently." She rolled her shoulders then, working out the joints and reacclimating herself to her fighting gear. It had been some time since she had worn this outfit, but now that the modern era allowed women to wear tighter clothing and pants, it didn't feel as strange as it once had. Then she smirked. "But I admit that I am anxious to rend some heads from some shoulders."

Touga huffed a laugh. "Of course you are. But…I can't disagree. Let's go." He signaled to Tsukuyomaru, who flew over the forest after the boys, then set off. Inukimi followed. It didn't take long to catch up; Inuyasha was slower than they were, yet Sesshoumaru was, strangely enough, just keeping pace. Is he staying by his brother's side as part of a defensive formation? At one time in life, she would have never even considered such a thought; but then, she had not been with them during World War II, when last they fought together, so perhaps it was a learned behavior they had fallen back into.

The demons only made it as far as the bottom of the switchback ramp leading up the stone foundation before alarms within the sanctuary sounded.

"So much for the element of surprise," Inukimi drawled as she, Touga, Sesshoumaru, and Tsukuyomaru flew up to the top of the foundation. Inuyasha, meanwhile, jumped from level to level on the road leading up, right on their tails.

When they reached the main courtyard, they found it empty, though bright LED and neon lights blazed in the hotel.

They flew towards the front door, but a shadow appeared from inside, stopping them in their tracks. Inukimi recognized that stance and gait. The fliers landed, and Inuyasha caught up with them.

The front door blew open and Kagura walked out, holding her fan in front of her face. "Well, well, look who finally decided to join the party. You're late, you know."

"Where're the girls?" Inuyasha demanded, raising Tessaiga into a ready stance.

"Inside," Kagura answered. She chuckled. "I'll admit, they've given Naraku quite a fight tonight. Not only did Izayoi and that demon slayer upset his plans during the arena fight, but I hear Rin nailed him good." Kagura opened the fan in front of her mouth, hiding her lips as she chuckled. "Honestly, I don't blame her. I wouldn't want to have sex with the man either—even if he wasn't my 'father.'"

Inukimi tensed. He dared to lay his filthy hand upon my daughter-in-law?

She knew what it was like to be mounted against one's will…but for Rin, such an assault would be so much worse.

Kirinmaru's attempt upon her person had never bothered Inukimi beyond the fact that she had been too weak to repel him alone; it was the reason why she could stand to be around him now and even call him something of a friend (insofar as she had friends). But that was because demonic culture was based on power dynamics. She was expected to be able to fight. At the same time, she was also expected to submit to those stronger than her—because such individuals would be mighty indeed.

Rin was only human though—and she was breeding, at that. Even from Inukimi's perspective, Naraku forcing himself upon the girl was a gross violation of the power dynamic.

And yet…it almost sounds as if she held him off. Kagura wouldn't have mentioned as much otherwise.

Even so, a glance over in Sesshoumaru's direction showed a body so taut, his patience was likely about to snap. It was a wonder he hadn't already flown over and cut off the head of the messenger.

Yet what Kagura said next inflamed Inukimi even more.

"But I hear she's being induced now. After all, since the fight in the arena didn't pan out, Naraku's got to deliver on something for this party, and he's decided it's time to put those half-demon brats to use: as meal items."

Sesshoumaru's eyes flashed red, and he growled, his teeth and claws elongating to even more lethal points.

"Sesshoumaru, stop! Don't let her rile you—you can't go on a rampage when the girls could still be inside!" his father shouted.

Kagura snapped her fan shut and tapped it against her chin. "Oh, I wouldn't stop him. After all…." She trailed off as the metallic creak of a rising garage door rattled. "He's going to need his size."

Shouts rose up from below, and gunshots rang out. Inukimi frowned. Had the DSC followed after all, even in the dark? What happened to waiting until dawn?

Kagura smirked. "I see you brought a number of the DSC with you as backup. A pity there won't be much left of them."

Tsukuyomaru shot into the air, looking down over the area. He sucked in a breath. "Touga, they've released Naraku's monsters!"

"So what'll it be?" Kagura asked, holding out her fan. "Fight me to get to your mates? Or help out your little demon slayer friends before they're eaten alive?"

"One of us is more than enough to beat you, Kagura," Inuyasha snapped. "First, I'll plow through you, and then I'm heading straight for that bastard, Naraku."

"You're welcome to try," the red-eyed woman answered with a smirk.

Heat blistered against Inukimi's head, and she looked up to find a gout of flame shooting down towards them. The dog demons leapt out of the way just in time. When the flames cleared, Hakudoushi appeared behind them, sitting on the back of an enormous white horse with a flaming mane and tail.

Inukimi frowned. Had none of them sensed Hakudoshi's approach? How could that be?

"What do you think of my steed?" Hakudoushi asked, patting the horse's neck. He held a naginata in his other hand. "Would you believe we found him sealed away here when we started grading the land? It was a wonderful surprise to find Entei, once known as the fastest demon, still alive after so many centuries."

Entei? Was she supposed to know that name? How great could the horse be if she didn't even know who it was? And yet, if he was as fast as Hakudoushi boasted, that would explain why they couldn't sense him until the last moment.

Suddenly, shots fired and a cry of pain rang out in the forest below from the demon slayers. Hakudoushi cooed, "Oh dear. I think the demon slayers may have found themselves woefully unprepared for Juuroumaru's pets. This generation really has gotten soft, hasn't it?"

"I'll assist the demon slayers. You all take care of them," Tsukuyomaru said, flying to the edge of the foundation and then dropping below it. Hakudoushi let him go.

Touga flew into the air and unsheathed Sou'unga. "Entei, I never took you for the type to heed a master. Is Hakudoushi really that strong?"

So Touga knows him. That figures. He's probably fought more foes than he ever told me about.

Entei whinnied, pawing at the air. One second he was there, and then the horse vanished. Suddenly, Touga was knocked out of the air and into a pile of construction equipment. Entei and Hakudoushi floated where Touga had been, the latter with his naginata thrust out.

"Dad!" Inuyasha cried out.

Touga pushed himself out of the debris, his body covered in dust and dirt. He coughed. "I'm fine, son. Don't worry about me. Worry about getting the girls."

"Just try getting past us," Hakudoushi said, and as he cackled, his visage suddenly parted, and a dozen more of him and Entei appeared, encircling Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru, and Inukimi.

"What the?" Inuyasha said.

Inukimi glanced skyward and had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. "A cheap illusion. Use your nose to figure out the real one, child." So hopeless.

"Why don't you do it?" Inuyasha barked.

Inukimi tilted her head back, spotting the odd speck of brightness in the dark sky. "Because I'm going after the illusionist," she answered before turning into a ball of light and shooting into the air. This one was so far above, it was no wonder none of them had sensed or smelled him, especially given how Naraku's foul stench coated the area. But as she neared, she still could not pick out a different scent.

Which meant this had to be one of Naraku's children.

With it still being dark, her bright form didn't lend itself to stealth, so she focused instead on speed. To her surprise, however, the illusionist, who appeared to hover in the air upon an origami crane, of all things, didn't move. Nor did he remove the sword strapped to his back. Rather, a pinkish barrier formed around him.

Does he think I am an attack? Inukimi wondered. Her lips peeled back into a ferocious grin as her teeth enlarged. Well, in a way he's right….

Inukimi burst into her true form, maw wide open. She snapped it shut over the entire barrier; shield or not, nothing would survive long in her acidic stomach.

However, as she bit down, her teeth clacked together over empty air. Where was the satisfying crunch of muscle and bone? The spurt of blood on her tongue? Instead, all she felt was a flicker of fire burning the top of her mouth. She blew it out and whipped around, searching for her prey.

"How intriguing. I did not expect to face off against the Lady General today," an effeminate male voice tittered. Byakuya reappeared at a distance from her, quite unharmed.

Inukimi growled. Making doppelgangers of himself on top of his brethren? He was an illusionist through and through. This would be tricky.

But that was the thing about magic and illusions—there were rules. Strength, distance, and stamina all played a part. Sometimes the magic was tied to an object, and sometimes it was tied to the person itself. She just had to figure out Byakuya's rules—and break them.

The first question: Could Byakuya fly on his own?

Inukimi flicked her tail, sending a wave of wind towards him, and the sudden gust sent Byakuya and his crane spinning. Byakuya fell off the origami creature, which tumbled away. Inukimi chased after his falling form, but just as she was about to snag him, he pulled a flower out of his jacket and vanished in a whirl of air.

Inukimi froze, scenting the air. Where had the dandy gone? She neither saw nor sensed him in the sky. Had he retreated to the ground?

Just then, a familiar howl tore through the air, and Inukimi chanced a look back at where she had left the others. Like her, Touga had transformed and was trying to snap up that annoying brat, Hakudoushi.

Gunfire and shouts beyond the courtyard drew her attention. Chief Kimura's forces faced off against two of Naraku's enormous demon beasts. Tsukuyomaru appeared to have trapped three others in a barrier, and they had turned upon themselves in their lust for blood.

"My lady," a familiar yet unexpected voice called. Inukimi spun around to find the sun cresting the horizon—and Kirinmaru flying towards her.

Inukimi morphed back into her human form. "Kirinmaru, I'm surprised to see you here," she answered.

"Why is that, my lady? I promised Touga that I would assist in the fight to bring down Naraku, did I not?"

"Indeed…but that was before we learned your sister joined forces with him."

Kirinmaru's expression darkened. "Indeed."

She knew Touga had called Kirinmaru before they departed, but from her understanding, the beast king had been torn about joining them precisely because he did not know if he could bring himself to face his sister.

"You've made up your mind then?"

"Zero and I may not always see eye-to-eye, and I try not to pry into her affairs more than necessary. But here, I must draw the line. What she has helped Naraku do is…barbaric. We have evolved past such machinations. Although I suppose the revelations of the last few months have taught me that I never gave my sister as much credit as she deserved for her deviousness."

Was he referencing how Zero had sent him into Inukimi's path all those centuries ago to breed her during her heat?

Well, I suppose it's better late than never that he's learned.

"Shall I help you search for your prey?" Kirinmaru asked.

"No, I will find him soon enough." Besides, she wanted the experience the thrill of the chase—and the capture—all for herself. Inukimi then nodded towards the area where the DSC were getting demolished by Naraku's demons. "I believe Tsukuyomaru could use your assistance, however."

Kirinmaru nodded. "Very well/ Good luck, my lady."

Inukimi scoffed. "If you need luck, Kirinmaru, then I'll have need to doubt your skills."

Kirinmaru smirked. "Then I suppose I shall have to prove myself." With that, he saluted in a flirtatious manner and flew off to assist the DSC.

Knowing Kirinmaru would get everything under control there, Inukimi turned back to her own quest. As long as Byakuya was on the loose, they would never know if they faced true enemies or illusions. She needed to find him and eliminate the threat.

A shadowed movement diverted her attention to the forest just beneath her. Was it her prey? She descended to the forest floor, sniffing. But if she had thought she would be able to find Byakuya by scent, she was wrong. That wretched miasma had even infiltrated the wilds out here, carrying with it Naraku's foul stench. Just from a business perspective, I cannot see how this would entice customers….

But beneath that odor lay the hot, metallic tang of old blood and just a whiff of cold scales.

The sensation of dozens of eyes prickled her back, as if the trees were watching her, but with those gazes came a barrage of weak demonic energies. She looked into the branches and spotted the shadowed forms of pterodactyl-like creatures huddled together. It took a second for her to place where she had seen one of them before: on Princess Abi's shoulder at Naraku's gala earlier that year.

So this is where she's breeding them.

They eyed her with hungry gazes, but as she expanded her demonic aura, they shrank back. At least they weren't stupid. She was the greater predator here. Still, their scent overlayed that of the miasma for this entire area, making it difficult to discern if Byakuya was around—especially since he smelled just like Naraku.

A glimmer of light further inside the forest had Inukimi dashing after it. Had it been the glint of the sun off the sword Byakuya kept strapped to his back? Another glint—this time zagging where the other one had zigged—forced her to change direction. The light kept leading her further into the forest, and yet she never caught sight of her prey.

Finally, Inukimi took note of where, exactly, she saw the next light—the very tree, in fact—and as soon as she reached it, she stopped, looking it over.

And there, cleverly hidden within the branches, was a tiny square of paper. Inukimi pulled it down and turned it over. The paper flashed brightly anytime the light hit it, and she was able to direct it where she pleased.

"How annoying," she grumbled. Byakuya had led her on a wild goose chase. She tossed the paper aside and headed back from whence she had come, for if she had been in Byakuya's shoes, she would have been heading in the opposite direction of her pursuer.

And perhaps it was good that she did, for just then, the telltale rat-a-tat of machine gun fire ripped through the air of the otherwise silent forest, and several of the resident bird demons flew away.

Had the DSC finally managed to bring the Wind Tunnel into play? It's about time.

Just then, something snaked up her leg. Inukimi looked down—a vine—tried to pull away, but it wrapped around her calf and held fast, rooted to the ground. It hadn't been there a moment before, yet it appeared to have sprung right out of the ground.

She slashed it off with her claws, and a thick miasma poured out of it. Inukimi backed away, more put off by the putrid stench than anything, only for more vines to shoot from the ground and grab her arms. She twisted, ripping them out of the dirt, and more miasma poured forth. The birds above her all squawked and flew off.

She continued to cut down the vines as they shot up, but they grew into a veritable jungle as they reached for her. Every one bellowed noxious gas, which fogged the air and impeded her ability to see. This was going nowhere, and Inukimi found herself with two options: retreat into open air or fall into the trap….

And thus bring the spymaster out into the open.

Inukimi sagged, as if the poison had infected her, and let the vines wrap around her limbs. As she suspected, they didn't seem intent on tearing her apart—merely holding her down. Moments later, her patience paid off.

Byakuya appeared from the shadows, an infuriatingly calm smirk upon his lips. "I'm disappointed, really. I thought it would be much more difficult to bring down the Lady General."

Inukimi rolled her head around as if she were drowsy. "You will not…have brought me down…until you kill me."

"Oh, Naraku does not plan to do that. He has no grudge against you, you understand. In fact, he believes you could be allies. After all, you do not seem quite as…attached to humans as your ex-husband and son are. He noticed you at the gala, after all. Of them all, only you partook of his blood offering."

Interesting. "So, you wish…to turn me against…my family?" she asked.

"When you put it that way, it sounds cruel, but what is family anyway? Is it a bond of blood or something you create? Many people find families outside of their relatives, and then there are families that disavow one another and never speak again. Case in point, your son angered you recently, did he not? Everyone knows how you feel about humans. And the fact that he mated one, of all things…."

"Indeed. He disappointed me…greatly." It was both the truth—at the time—and a lie.

Byakuya nodded in commiseration. "Frankly, I was surprised to see you at his wedding. I did not think you would approve. …Or did your alpha command it?"

Inukimi frowned, for that hit a little too close to him. Technically, Touga had asserted himself as an alpha to make her see things his way back in the spring…which ended up causing even more of a mess between them.

She hadn't meant to make Byakuya think he hit the mark, but the grin on his painted lips showed that he did. "I see. As I said: what is family? Why must you continue to heed a demon who left you for a human? Does he not deserve to feel some of the pain you must have felt all these years?"

Is he an illusionist or a mind-reader? Inukimi quickly masked her emotions, only just remembering that she needed to appear weakened and drowsy from the miasma. "I certainly…have my issues with…Touga. And Inuyasha…has never mattered…to me. But…to fight against Sesshoumaru…would go against…my maternal instinct."

"Ah, well, I can help with that," Byakuya said, pulling out a shinigami-shaped paper. He reached forward as if to stick it on her breast.

Inukimi didn't know what that paper would do to her, but she didn't intend to find out.

She yanked up on the vines, ripping them apart as she went for the demon's throat. Byakuya jumped back, but Inukimi flipped forward, yanking her legs out from the vines. They spewed miasma, and Inukimi used the momentum from pulling free to flip a few more times towards Byakuya. As she righted herself in the air, descending straight for him, she jabbed, aiming for his heart. Byakuya pulled out a flower and teleported but only managed to get a few more meters away from her when she landed on the spot where he had been just a second before.

Interesting. Is he running out of stamina to go any further?

Inukimi punched a tree that was between her and him, sending the trunk flying at Byakuya. It started a domino chain, causing other trees to topple, and the demon kept busy dodging them and the falling branches. With his attention thus occupied, Inukimi charged at him and slashed with her poison claws. Though he just managed to evade, the edge of his haori split and sizzled. Byakuya's eyes widened as a curl of smoke wafted up, and he reached inside his haori again.

Inukimi jabbed once more, this time grabbing onto the garment and yanking on it. If she divested him of it, he'd have no more paper toys to play with.

Unfortunately, she overestimated her strength. Instead of pulling it off, she tore it—which had the same effect, really. Origami papers fluttered to the floor, and Inukimi crushed them into the mud as she passed.

Sweat glistened on Byakuya's forehead, and his breath came in heavy pants, but instead of appearing afraid, he took on a more determined air. When Inukimi next struck, he batted her hand away with his left arm. She expected him to go for the sword with his right and prepared a countermove, but instead, he reached for a gourd at his side.

Before she could dodge, he flung the gourd out at her, and the water splashed her in the face. She paused to wipe it out of her eyes, and Byakuya took the chance to flit around her, pouring water in a circle. When Inukimi looked up, Byakuya stopped, heaving. Then a moon arose from the ground upon which she stood. She tried to step out of it towards the demon, but as soon as she did, the moon collapsed, and she fell away into another dimension—an endless space of pink clouds.

She knew it was another dimension, because she had experienced such things before. One did not undergo a Rite with Akuru without traversing the space-time continuum.

A host of smaller demons swarmed her out of nowhere, but Inukimi dispatched them with a bored flick of her wrists.

"Do you really think you can keep me here?" Inukimi asked as another demon tried its luck and failed.

She was not surprised when Byakuya answered. "You played the game well, Lady General. I admit…you caught me by surprise. It's quite exhausting…you see…to use so much magic…one right after the other. I certainly…needed the break. But the only way to make you stop…was to kill you—or move you somewhere else!"

So he still intends to make me turn upon my husband and son. Otherwise, he would have killed me. Unless he was unable. Interesting.

Inukimi looked around the area, but she saw nothing else aside from the pink clouds and the constant sea of demons attacking her. For another dimension, it was really quite dull. "And where exactly have you put me?" she asked. She needed him to speak again so that she might pinpoint his voice.

"My gourd…can contain multitudes, Lady General—not just some water."

Ah. So I must destroy that too.

"And how long do you intend to keep me here? I assume you still wish to turn me against my family?"

"As I said…I'm rather out of breath," Byakuya replied.

Aaaand, there.

Inukimi pinpointed a lone little demon not attacking her—a bulbous, bat-shaped eyeball. One that looked curiously like the creature that flitted off from the Sacred Tree at Sesshoumaru's wedding. "So once I have recovered…I will return to the others…and see if your services are even required," Byakuya continued.

You are confident to think Naraku's ilk can overcome my family. And a fool to think you can keep me trapped here.

For Byakuya was not the only master of dimensions.

Inukimi made sure to keep her attention off the eyeball while pretending to be focused on rebuffing the horde of demon fodder flying at her. As she plowed her way through them, she moved ever closer to the eyeball. Strangely though, its gaze had gone half-lidded, as if it were unfocused. Was Byakuya that tired? Distracted?

Then this was her chance.

As soon as she was within reach, she snatched it.

Inukimi's poison claws dug into the eye, and Byakuya screamed as it smoked. She clutched it tightly, and using it as her anchor to Byakuya, she tapped the Meidou Stone at her breast and summoned a portal into the Meidou—a pathway to the netherworld. She leapt inside, and the demons that dared to follow her perished as soon as they crossed the threshold.

Only the holders of the Meidou Stone and Tenseiga could navigate this world successfully without succumbing to death.

No sooner had she opened the one portal than she closed it and opened another—one right above Byakuya, who was doubled over in pain. She flew straight at him, pummeling the demon into the ground. She pushed his face into the dirt, keeping a knee down on his back. Inukimi then smashed the gourd at his waist with a fist and shoved the writhing eyeball into his empty socket—though certainly not out of any misplaced mercy.

For as soon as the eyeball melded back into Byakuya's skin, the poison that had infected the torn appendage filtered into his bloodstream, and the veins around his eye grew green. He tried to scream, but it came out a wheedling sound, for she had knocked the air right out of him. Byakuya was so preoccupied with the pain that it was an easy task to wrest his arms behind his back.

Inukimi was just about to pierce his heart or chop off his head—she hadn't decided on which one yet—when Touga's voice carried through the air. "I don't think that's actually Kagome or Rin. Why would Naraku endanger the lives of his hostages like that? It makes no sense."

Inukimi paused, despite herself. Why was Touga here? Had he defeated Hakudoushi? Were Sesshoumaru and the whelp with him? How long had she been trapped in that dimension?

"But I can smell them," Inuyasha protested, answering one of her questions.

Inukimi didn't know what they were talking about, but it sounded as if they had found the girls at least. However, as Byakuya shifted beneath her hold, she dug further into his back and looked down. That's when she noticed the sly smile twitching on his lips.

Inukimi frowned. Whatever they're talking about, it's his doing.

Inukimi had landed near the edge of a clearing. Just past the edge of the forest, she spotted Touga and his sons on a grassy lawn near a complex of boxy, wooden towers as tall as the trees and arranged in neat rows along the tree line. A low hum filled the air—like the buzz of bees. Inukimi had read in the report that Naraku was breeding saimyoushou insects and using their poison as an opiate to keep his human stock subdued. However, she saw no evidence of Kagome or Rin—though as Inuyasha had said, she could smell them.

Or rather, she appeared to smell them.

Inukimi hauled Byakuya to his feet as Touga continued, adding, "Yes…but their scents are weaker, as if they merely passed through here."

"How could that be?" Inuyasha asked.

"Because it's an illusion," Inukimi announced, emerging from the shadows of the forest and striding into the clearing. She marched Byakuya in front of her. "This one led me on quite the merry chase, but thankfully, it seems Naraku finally had need of him. With his attention divided, I was able to pin him down."

"How do we know he's not an illusion? Or that you are, for that matter?" Inuyasha asked.

Byakuya smirked, which must have been a feat, given his ravaged eye and the poison drawing down his face. "You don't."

Inukimi gave the half-demon a cold stare. "Do you think I could be so easily replicated, whelp? Or that I would mistake a fake for the real one?"

An involuntary shiver ran over Inuyasha's body. "Okay, yeah, you're the real deal." Then he pulled out his sword and leveled it at Byakuya. "Alright, spill it: what have you done to Kagome and Rin?"

"I haven't done anything…but it appears Naraku's let them go." Byakuya nodded over Inuyasha's shoulder towards the hives. "They're right there."

"Don't think that'll work this time!"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried out. None of the dog demons could help looking back towards the hives.

Kagome stumbled out from behind one, clutching a bleeding arm to her chest. The tang of that blood in Inukimi's nose belonged unmistakably to that girl. She pulled Rin behind her, the latter supporting her stomach and struggling as they ran towards them. Inukimi tensed as she scented Rin's blood as well, though she could not see any injury.

Is this yet another trap, or—?

"Inuyasha, quick—you have to run away! It's a trap!" Kagome yelled.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha answered, springing towards her, just as Sesshoumaru bolted towards Rin. When he landed before the girls, Rin let go of Kagome's hand and launched herself into Sesshoumaru's arms.

"Sesshoumaru, thank goodness. I was so scared," Rin whimpered, burying her face against his neck.

"Rin, you're safe now," Sesshoumaru said, pulling her close and pressing his nose to the top of her head. But then he froze.

And Rin bit into his neck.


AN: I know the last update had A LOT going on, so I decided to split this chapter into two. We'll finish the fight against Naraku next time!