Do not wake a sleeping demon. This was a fact known by all and passed on through whispered tales spun by mothers to their fearful children.

Unfortunately, sleep was not something which came to demons easily; a truly daunting aspect of their physiology when taking their expansive lifetime into consideration. Whether it was day or night did not matter, as demons could see just as easily in the dark as they could the light, sleep would continue to elude them. Long had demons of all species sought a draught that would grant them a few blessed hours of unconsciousness, never to succeed due to their general immunity to such potions. Thus the elusiveness of sleep continued to plague demon kind. It is only by being completely at ease with oneself and their surroundings that sleep is attainable.

Sesshomaru wrinkled his nose as his sniffed the air in confusion, the scent of roasting meat strong despite the sulfuric, rotten egg, smell one tended to associate with the volcanic wasteland. Even stranger was the heaviness of his limbs and that his mind, which was typically rapidly analyzing the copious amount of information he took in every second, was lethargic and slow to process anything. Opening his eyes, he sought out the answers to his unspoken questions and was astonished by what he saw.

The sky. A blue sky. A blue sky and a giant battle axe. A blue sky, a giant battle axe, and a pair of mischievous cerulean eyes.

"What manner of magic did you use to disable this Sesshomaru?" he questioned without removing his gaze from the looming axe. Kagome cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"I was under the impression that we would be deciding who won the match during the night." Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at the clearly, sunlit sky. "Usually when someone claims they are going to decide a fight, they don't fall asleep within seconds of closing their eyes." Sesshomaru's eyes shot to Kagome's, fully awake.

"This Sesshomaru did not sleep."

"Well you were asleep enough to fall over onto your back and not sense my axe which has been hanging over your head the better part of the night."

'Impossible.' Sesshomaru thought. He hadn't slept for more than a few sparse moments, which were more of blackouts than peaceful sleep, since he had inherited his title as lord of the west having been under constant threat of attack. Yet, his muscles and mind attested to the truth in her words; both feeling incredibly well rested.

Since taking Rin in as his ward, Sesshomaru had begun to close his eyes in meditation during the evening hours. She had fretted over him for quite some time, distressed that he wasn't properly caring for his health. 'However,' Sesshomaru thought as he glared at the strange girl beside him, 'it appears she is capable of calming me to such an extent that I unknowingly fell asleep.' Any other demon would rejoice at finding such an individual. Sesshomaru, on the other hand, felt nothing but suspicion and annoyance. He did not appreciate his body working against him and had no need for luxuries such as sleep. He was fine the way he was.

"Anyway, that puts me at three wins and you at two." Kagome continued.

"Very well." Sesshomaru acquiesced, "What is it you will have me do as your slave?"

"Wow wow! Slow down there." Kagome rushed to say while waving her hands frantically, "I don't want you to be my slave. Besides, slavery has been abolished since 1949." Sesshomaru frowned once again at her strange numbers and principals. Slavery was definitely still practiced and the relationship between master and servant or lord and vassal was integral to maintaining the social hierarchy that allowed peace to rein. "I would rather have you as a friend."

"This Sesshomaru has no friends."

"I cannot believe how proudly you just said that." Kagome gaped in astonishment. "But if being friends is too much for you at the moment, how about having a mutual respect for each other?"

"Respect is something earned and not to be given freely."

"Well I beat you. That must get me some respect, right?"

"On the contrary," Sesshomaru said with narrowed eyes, "It only makes me want to kill you."

"How about being acquaintances then?" Kagome offered, grasping for straws. Sesshomaru paused to consider her suggestion. He didn't have many he would consider acquaintances, namely Rin and Ah Un. Eyeing Kagome, he reached out to pat her on the head. Enjoying the feel of her hair, he continued to do so while Kagome remained frozen in shock.

"Yes," Sesshomaru finally agreed, "You shall be this Sesshomaru's acquaintance."

"Wait!" Kagome called after Sesshomaru's retreating figure, "That is how you treat your acquaintances? An acquaintance is not the same thing as a pet, Sesshomaru!"

"They have never complained before."

"Just who are they?"

"An eight year old human child and a pet dragon."

"You have got to be kidding me." Kagome cried helplessly.

After Kagome cleaned up the breakfast food she had prepared for herself they began walking in silence toward the port of the volcanic island when Kagome suddenly spoke up. "Hey Sesshomaru, where are we going?"

"To find the jewel pieces."

"Then shouldn't I be leading? I'm the one who can sense them after all." Sesshomaru's steps faltered at the realization. He had been so accustomed to leading a relatively helpless group that he had nearly forgotten the reason he was keeping the strange human with him. "This Sesshomaru does not sense the dark presence associated with Naraku here any longer." He said covering up his mistake.

"Oh, ok." Kagome said passing him, "Then I guess that massive force emanating from farther inland is nothing then. My mistake. We can keep going then."

Sesshomaru clenched his jaw in frustration. The infuriating woman had sensed something that big and had failed to mention it causing them to loose valuable time. Even more annoying was the fact that he was being proven wrong by a mere human; though she was unlike any human he had met before. Sesshomaru leveled a glare in her direction that clearly told her to get a move on, choosing to ignore the smug look of satisfaction on her face as she proudly led them back inland.

"I was wondering, Sesshomaru," Kagome began as they crossed an arid plain, the ground cracked from lack of water. "Just what are you getting out of all of this? Why do you care if someone is amassing power?"

"That is none of your concern, woman."

"It's just that you seem more the type to allow an enemy to get stronger just so that when you decide to eliminate them it is more fun for you."

Though he didn't respond or change his facial expression, Kagome could tell that he was quite flustered at having been read so well. But what did he expect her to think when he shared her thrill of a good fight. If the opponent wasn't the source of mass suffering, she would probably allow them to gather their strength too. Though, from what Inuyasha had told her, Sesshomaru wasn't one to care about the humans who were suffering.

"You're some kind of lord or something, right?"

"This Sesshomaru is the cardinal lord of the West."

"…Right. That." Kagome sweat dropped as she came to the realization that her companion was actually one of the leaders of the world.

"Though after the fracture, I suppose I rule only the forest territory."

"So what about the other islands, do they have their own lords then?"

"Hn."

As the sun began to descend beyond the horizon Kagome suddenly stopped. Before them was an incredible canyon that seemed to split the earth. The escaping air whipped Kagome's and Sesshomaru's hair about as they leaned over to judge the depth. Darkness.

"Well. That's rather deep." Kagome said stating the obvious. "It's strange though, there is no water here to carve out such a canyon and even that would take several million years to do so. Well, either that or a glacier, but I doubt that that was what caused it here."

"Come, we will descend." Sesshomaru said grasping Kagome's right arm.

"What?" Kagome exclaimed trying to remove his hand. "I never said that the energy was coming from down there! Hold up just a min- AHHH!" Kagome shrieked as Sesshomaru lightly hopped off the edge. "ARE YOU INSANE!"

"Silence, woman." Sesshomaru scolded as they continued to fall, "This Sesshomaru has very sensitive ears."

"SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE! BUT WE HAVE BIGGER PROBLEMS TO DEAL WITH AT THE MOMENT. LIKE, MAYBE, THE GROUND THAT IS RUSHING TOWARDS US AT AN ALARMING RATE!"

Closing her eyes, Kagome clutched Sesshomaru's armor as tightly as possible. Sesshomaru remained unfazed as he propelled himself horizontally off the cliff face and across to a landing that jutted out of the rock. The moment his feet touched down, Kagome threw herself from him and began to worship the ground beneath her.

"You will cease you actions this moment, woman." Sesshomaru said looking over the edge, "There are more pressing matters at hand than your strange habits."

"I was just thanking the ground for existing." Kagome muttered petulantly but complied none the less. "It's rather hot down here though." She said fanning herself.

"That is because this canyon was carved not by water but by lava." Sesshomaru replied while continuing to look down below. Kagome paled and rushed to his side. As he had said, there was a river of lava steadily flowing; carving the rock face as it moved.

"Please tell me that you knew there was lava down here before you jumped, Sesshomaru?" Kagome asked darkly.

"…"

"This is definitely something that you should share with an acquaintance! Where I'm from, people don't go throwing themselves off of cliffs with lava at the bottom unless they have a death wish or are specially trained."

"You doubted this Sesshomaru?"

"YES!" She hollered, "You were lucky there was a ledge here for you to land on. I don't even want to consider what might have happened otherwise."

"This Sesshomaru would have been fine regardless."

"How can you say that? Are you impervious to lava?"

"No." He replied coolly, "This Sesshomaru can fly."

"You can fly." Kagome agreed nodding solemnly, "Of course you can fly. Wait! You can fly?"

"If memory serves, there should be an entrance over there." Sesshomaru said once again grasping Kagome's arm and launching them through the air.

"You have got to be kidding me." Kagome cried as she watched the ground become a distant memory. Sesshomaru fought the urge to roll his eyes when Kagome latched herself to his side in fear, though, he didn't remove her.

They had to fly back up the canyon to a point a little over halfway up the wall before the tomb came into sight. The sight instantly reminded Kagome of the Al-Khazneh in Petra back on Earth. Carved into the cliff face were great columns and the entryway gave the impression of ancient roman entryways with its triangular portico. She could just make out the carved frieze above the columns depicting a great warrior defeating his foes in battle. Then there was the sheer size of the structure being well over two hundred feet in height.

"Incredible." Kagome all but breathed. The only thing masking the brilliance of the structure was the incredible darkness that flowed thickly from the entrance. Chills rushed down Kagome's spine at the hatred and twisted promises of power the darkness seemed to ooze. Kagome didn't even want to consider what would have happened if someone had gotten their hands on whatever was giving off such an aura. They were truly fortunate that the island was scarcely populated.

Sesshomaru shrugged his indifference and Kagome couldn't help but wonder at the difference in their upbringing if this was a typical sight for him. "My father's is grander." He offered as he landed at the steps leading into the cliff.

Kagome smiled, a teasing light in her eyes. "What is it made out of, diamond?"

"No. It's made from his skeleton."

Kagome allowed her laughter to rush forth as she gripped her sides. "I never took you for someone who makes jokes." She said as she righted herself. Sesshomaru was still standing before her, his expression not having changed from his usual taciturn. "You are joking right?" He turned from her, the fabric of his clothes kicking up dust in his wake. "Sesshomaru!"

Immediately after having entered the tomb they were submerged in darkness. Kagome waved her hand in front of her face and was unable to see even that despite her superior sight. Apprehension seeped into her as she strained to discover anything with her other senses.

"Can you see or sense anything, Sesshomaru?" She asked quietly, suspicious of their new surroundings. Not receiving a response, Kagome repeated her question before reaching out for where she thought he was standing.

Though Sesshomaru would never admit it, the hand that touched his arm startled him. He had not been able to see, hear, smell, or sense anything since entering what he supposed was the antechamber. Instantly he attacked with his poison claws.

"Outch!" he heard Kagome yelp from beside him, "What was that for, Sesshomaru?"

"You should know better than to touch this Sesshomaru's person."

"You weren't answering me and my senses seem to be acting up." She replied as she tried to remove his grip from her arm; an arm that should have been burnt off.

"This Sesshomaru heard nothing."

"I have been right next to you this whole time." Kagome paused. "Sesshomaru, can you see me?"

Sesshomaru said nothing as he searched the darkness; he could not even see his own hand let alone hers. To say his sensory deprivation was disorienting would be an understatement; Inu depend heavily on their sense of smell and hearing.

"You're arm," he began, "Does it not burn?"

"What are you talking about?" She replied annoyed as she continued to pull at his long fingers, "Your attack probably won't even bruise; it just startled me a bit."

Sesshomaru stood stunned. He had lost not only his senses but his poison as well? He looked down at where his hand should have been burning her arm off. Kagome was muttering a string of expletives as she continued to work on releasing herself. Cautiously, Sesshomaru relinquished his hold on her and was immediately met with silence. Narrowing his eyes, he reached out and grasped her shoulder and she once again became audible.

"This Sesshomaru believes this room is meant to deprive one of their senses. Lesser demons would be driven to insanity. Unless we are touching, we will not be able to communicate."

"Ok?" Sesshomaru could hear all the questions in her tone and was thankful that she did not voice them. Just because he wanted to retain a few of his senses did not mean that he wanted to hear her prattle. "Now that you mention it though, I can't sense the tainted aura anymore. It's as if it vanished completely."

"That is likely a defense mechanism. Tombs of leaders or people with something to hide are often riddled with traps like this." Sesshomaru said as his mind began to work out the best course of action now that they could not use her as a compass.

"A booby-trapped tomb huh?" Kagome said speculatively. "We have those where I'm from as well."

"Oh?" Kagome could practically feel the oppressive force of his gaze on her. "An- Anyway, let's get going. No time to waste you know, we have a world to save after all." She finished with a forced laugh.

"Indeed."

"How did you know this was here anyway?" Kagome asked as they slowly began to work their way down the stairs; Sesshomaru's hold on her shoulder firm so that he does not lose her in the darkness.

"My father knew the demon who became the lord of this land after the Fracture. I received notice of the location of his tomb a while back."

"I see…" Kagome trailed off, not really understanding.

Kagome suddenly cursed when she ran directly into something hard and metal. Sesshomaru tensed beside her, immediately preparing for the unseen foe. Reaching out blindly, Kagome found what she had run into and immediately withdrew it when her hand began to burn.

"Gah!" she exclaimed, "What is with this place and all its hot surfaces?" Reaching around her, Sesshomaru felt the circular metal and frowned when his hand became hot as well. "Why would it be hot anyway? It's not like there is anything to be heating it in here?" Kagome was still blowing air onto her overheated hand when Sesshomaru began to yank her along behind her. "What do you want now?" she complained.

Sesshomaru ignored her as he continued to wander the room, occasionally coming across another heated metal disk. He finally stopped when he found one that was cool to the touch rather than heated.

"Curious." He mussed, "What could heat select metal to such a degree and why would such a source be here?"

A disgruntled Kagome got up and began to dust herself off; clearly not happy with having been dragged around by Sesshomaru for the last hour searching for kami knows what. Reaching out in the direction of his voice, having decided that the sooner they figured out how to get out, the better off they would be, her fingertips brushed the cool metal. For the first time she realized something, they were not just metal disks, but metal bowls.

Kagome wracked her brain for any reason a bunch of metal bowls would be found in a dark room or why they would be heated. Metal can become heated for many reasons: if it is over a fire, friction, conducting electricity, or has been sitting in the sun for too long. She paused.

"Move over Sesshomaru." She said nudging him out of the way to grip the bowl on both sides. Putting all her strength into it, she began to rotate the pedestal the bowl was perched sideways on. "Each of the bowls were facing different directions right?" Kagome panted as she continued to rotate it. "Metal heats in the sunlight and there is some sort of spell blocking our senses, our ability to see light. Back home, we would study ancient civilizations. Mostly their government or philosophy because it was the foundation for present day politics, but I always found the culture and buildings fascinating. They didn't have electricity and they had to find an alternative to burning oil because it was expensive, so they had to be creative. The Romans left holes in the ceilings so that light could enter in the middle of the room, the Incans built windows into the second floor storage rooms of their homes, the Egyptians, on the other hand, used mirrors."

"Mirrors?" Sesshomaru asked, sure that Kagome had finally lost it. Romans, Incans, Egyptians, electricity; all these things were strange to him. His curiosity for the mystery that was Kagome increased tenfold. She spoke as if her village was incomprehensible to him, as though she did not expect him to understand. In truth, she was right. However, he thought darkly, there is nothing this Sesshomaru cannot discover.

"Yea, have you ever noticed how mirrors can refract light?"

"Yes." Sesshomaru deadpanned. The only mirrors he had come across belonged to his mother or his father's concubine and they had been nothing but polished pieces of flat metal. However, though he had never seen a mirror refract light, he knew that it was possible as they were made from the same metals as swords which, when polished, could easily reflect sunlight.

"Well when they are curved," she continued as she heard a click and felt the stand lock into place. "The light can be manipulated to change directions and light a whole room."

Sesshomaru took a step back in shock as he was suddenly blinded by the onslaught of light. Cautiously, he opened his eyes to see a room covered in mirrors. Every surface was reflective and shone brightly. His eyes found the origin of the light was nothing more than a small hole above the door they had entered through. A door that was now sealed shut. Sesshomaru figured that they were quite fortunate that they even came across the only mirror that needed to be adjusted or they would have been in there for months. Reluctantly, he looked down to see a smug looking Kagome.

"Kagome 4, Sesshomaru 2." She smirked adding a point to her score. Sesshomaru had to stop himself from voicing the growl burning the back of his throat. Oh the things he was going to make her do when she became his slave…

"Come along, Sesshomaru." She said as she swaggered to the door hidden beneath a swath of mirrors on the other side of the room. "I can't wait around for you all day." That's what he gets for acting all high and mighty all the time, she added to herself.

He clenched his fist with promise, She will grovel at my feet and she will beg that I be merciful.

"Acquaintances, Sesshomaru." Kagome reminded him, "We're acquaintances."

He narrowed his eyes at her, Did she read this Sesshomaru's thoughts?

"No, but it's not hard to guess what's going on up there when your eyes are practically screaming that you will take great pleasure in dismembering me and pickling my organs."

"This Sesshomaru will take your preferences into consideration when the time comes." He replied diplomatically.

"If the time comes. As it stands, I am winning by a long shot."

"We will see."

When he arrived at her side, Kagome sent him one last smirk before wrenching the door open wide. They only had the chance to briefly see inside the room when both Kagome and Sesshomaru were forced to covered their ears in protection from the horrid screech rent the air, nearly rupturing their ears due to their more sensitive hearing. Kagome took one last glance at the creature and abruptly slammed the door closed again.

She froze and allowed her eyes to travel up to those of her companion who had not one, but two eyebrows raised in judgment. 'The weak human cannot even defeat such a weak creature.' They seemed to be saying. She grit her teeth and planted both hands on her hips aggressively.

"Oh, don't give me that look, Sesshomaru! You saw that thing too and where I come from, that is definitely not classified as weak." If possible his eyebrows rose higher spurning Kagome to growl in frustration. "It was on fire!"

"There are many demons that are aflame." Sesshomaru's voice was conversational as if commenting on the weather though Kagome could detect the edge of humor in his tone at her expense. "One should expect it in the tomb of a fire demon after all."

"Sesshomaru-" Kagome growled even as he confidently opened the door again. This time, instead of finding a horrifically flaming bird with chilling blue eyes and the feathers of many birds, a peaceful looking heron glanced their way in indifference. "Wha-"

"And you were afraid." Sesshomaru scoffed as he moved into the room. Kagome followed more cautiously, skeptical of the bird which had replaced the dangerous flaming one from before. When nothing happened, she began to search for the door. The circular room was covered in murals and, despite her earlier apprehension, was quickly captivated by the images drawn on the wall. Following the theme from the last room, they had an Egyptian style to them and she admired the beautiful calligraphy as she wandered along the wall.

Hearing a loud snap, Kagome looked to see Sesshomaru eyeing the bird distastefully. Apparently, he had walked too close for the birds comfort. Returning to the images before her, Kagome found herself caught on one painting in particular. A man with the head of a falcon and what looked like the sun resting above him was on a grand boat set afloat in a river. Oddly, at his side was a heron; upon its head were two long feathers and another sun. The boat was adorned with many treasures of gold, lapis lazuli, amethyst, and emerald.

The image appeared to wrap around the entirety of the wall and the scenes seemed to shift to tell a story as Kagome continued her perusal. She saw how the boat was stripped of its splendor and twelve women joined the man and bird. Their journey was filled with danger as they entered twelve worlds and met with many creatures. A different woman would step forward to guide them each time they entered a new world. A land of the dead where souls live, the land of the spirits of the corn where peace reigns, a realm of judgment ruled by a great enthroned man who appeared to weigh lives with his scale casting some into pits of fire, a sea of sand where only serpents or creeping creatures may glide upon the sand, a burning lake where betrayers are cast into, a land of life housing three shrines along the riverbank, a serpent of hell emerging to drag all who pass into its depths, a vast world of dead gods and their faithful followers, the river running red with the blood of sacrifices, a great army of light meets and guides the boat as it continues its journey, a realm of fire and torture, the falcon headed man shedding his skin and being reborn into the world.

Looking around, Kagome found that she was back where she had started. The room was circular and the story seemed to begin again as if it were cyclical. Twelve realms. Twelve women. A man with a falcon head and sun crest.

"Fuck." Kagome exhaled as she finally understood their situation. The snapping of a beak drew her attention back to Sesshomaru who looked ready to behead the bird. A bird that had two feathers and a sun disk above its head. "Wait!" Kagome yelled suddenly as she hurried to calm him. "I don't know much about the traditions here, but that" she said pointing to the perturbed bird, "Is definitely dangerous."

Sesshomaru scoffed at her insinuation that mere poultry could defeat him.

Kagome shook her head, annoyed at his need for posturing. Just who was he trying to impress? "Do any of these symbols or images look familiar to you, Sesshomaru?" His eyes flashed about as he looked around the room once again.

"They are the teachings of a more obscure and thought to be dead religion. They are depictions of a nightly ritual surrounding a god of some sort. The religion worshiped the sun so it is safe to assume that there was darkness and danger associated with the night. Many of the texts have been lost though, and little is known of them."

"I was afraid of that." Kagome groaned. "You remember those Egyptians I mentioned in the last room? Well they had a similar ritual."

Sesshomaru turned his full attention on her, curious about these ancients from her home. "Continue."

"They believed that their sun god, Ra, underwent a cycle of rebirth each day. Upon nightfall, he would die, and twelve goddesses would guide him through one of the twelve different realms of the Duat each hour. He was often accompanied by a heron known as the Bennu which was characterized by having two feathers and the sun crest upon its head."

"And this makes the bird dangerous?" Sesshomaru asked skeptically.

"It's the nature of the bird that is dangerous." Kagome replied quickly having noticed that the bird was beginning to advance on them. "The Bennu would accompany Ra because they shared the nature of rebirth. More specifically, the Bennu is born from its ashes after combusting into flame."

"Then that other bird was…"

"Oh yea," Kagome breathed, "Were dealing with the original phoenix."

Almost as if their words drew out the true nature of the bird, it erupted into flames and charged them both. Diving out of the way, the Bennu was successful in separating them and it immediately descended upon Kagome, believing her to be the weaker of the two.

Quickly summoning a bow with arrows, she peppered the bird and found to her dismay that her weapons were not having any effect other than causing minor discomfort. Dispelling her weapon she did what anyone in her position would do; she ran.

Thankfully, Sesshomaru was quick to unleash his sword upon the bird and was successful in drawing its attention away from her. From the sidelines, Kagome watched as Sesshomaru skillfully fought the Bennu, easily evading its flames while making precise cuts to disable its wings.

Kagome found herself in awe of Sesshomaru; though she herself had fought him she had not had the chance to admire the efficiency or fluidity of his swordplay. His breathing and movements were synchronized so to achieve greatest amount of strength without exhausting himself and his every step was a tactical advancement. Even an untrained eye could tell that he was a man who had fought many battles and learned from his experiences; who knew what his weaknesses were and strove to improve them. His eyes shone with the knowledge that the lives of many depended upon his victories. That he was a man a woman could depend upon, someone who would keep his promise to return to her. Someone Kagome would trust at her side, defending her back, protecting her heart-

Kagome immediately terminated that train of thought, her right hand reaching down to touch the metal band upon her left hand's fourth finger. Remember, Kagome. She told herself sternly, You have places to return to, promises of your own to keep.

The great bird, feared by many, truly didn't stand a chance against Sesshomaru. Fighting to its last, the great bird shrieked which momentarily disabled Sesshomaru due to his proximity with it, thus providing the Bennu the opportunity to close in on him. Sesshomaru brought up his sword to parry the birds claws at the last moment, successfully knocking the bird off balance. Though the bird had advanced on Sesshomaru in a desperate attempt to finish him off, the move proved its own undoing when Sesshomaru took advantage of its imbalance and sliced the birds head clean off.

Satisfied that he could finally work out some of the tension that had been building up lately, Sesshomaru proceeded to clean his blade before replacing in its scabbard at his waist. When he had finished his task, he turned triumphant eyes on Kagome.

Kagome's heart instantly beat a little faster. Back home on earth, Kagome knew that women would instinctively be drawn to his charisma. They would think that they could tame him; that though he may have an evil streak, he would be kind to them alone. However, Kagome also knew that they would be wrong. The creature standing before her was a proud demon and to tame him or even think to would be to destroy everything that makes him who he is. Despite the corpse at his feet and the bloodthirsty light in his eyes she couldn't help but think he looked magnificent.

Once again, her fingers brushed her engagement ring in reminder.

"This Sesshomaru 3, the plebeian 4." And the stupid dog had to open his mouth, she thought exasperated.

"Oh, shut up." Kagome muttered, eyeing the corpse of the bird. Nothing in the room had changed and no door had appeared. That meant that something was still missing. Looking back at the images she struggled to find the answer.

"It is fortuitous that this Sesshomaru was here," Sesshomaru said as he came to stand beside her, dropping the bird's head at her feet. For some reason his instincts had driven him to present his kill to her and, though he did not know the reasons why, he decided to humor them as long as he could get a reaction out of the curious girl.

"Well for some reason, my powers weren't working." Kagome muttered as she half ignored him and completely ignored the head.

"Hn. This Sesshomaru believes that that was a result of the nature of your powers. As a miko, your powers are of holy origin. The bird, too, drew its power from the holy forces."

"That's not how the power works here, Sesshomaru." Kagome sighed as she turned to face him. "From what I've seen, all power comes from nature and the spirits that abide in all living things. Power can be tainted, but its origins have the same root as your abilities and my own. I suppose that it's possible that power can be categorized based on how the power is manifested though. I was taught by a miko so your hypothesis my not be completely incorrect."

Sesshomaru remained silent, speculating her words. Or rather, her choice of the words what she had seen.

"I can't seem to figure out this last part though." she said turning back to the wall, "It's so frustrating, like the answer is at the tip of my tongue. Something about the origins of the phoenix…" She trailed off as she remembered the sight they had come upon when entering the room. "Shit! Sesshomaru, we have to run!" She yelled as she grabbed his arm, much to his consternation, and pulled him to the other side of the room after tossing the head back towards the body. Just as she did so, the Bennu erupted into flames that burned so bright the two had no choice but to avert their gaze.

As the light began to die down, a rumble began to shake the room and they both watched as a spiral staircase descending beneath the floor made itself known. Cautiously, Sesshomaru and Kagome made their way to the top of it and were about to begin their decent when a soft chirping filled the air causing Kagome to pause. There lying among the ashes was a baby heron with two little feathers and a sun disk on atop his head, rolling on its front as it tried to stand; its legs too weak to support its body. It took but a moment for the little thing to capture Kagome's heart and she turned pleading eyes upon Sesshomaru.

"No."

"But Sesshomaru-"

"No."

"I promise that I will take care of it!"

"Do you even know what it eats? Its preferred habitat?"

"But-"

"Then there's the issue of it spontaneously catching fire."

"It only did that because you killed it." Kagome pouted.

"This Sesshomaru said no and that's final."

"Wait…" Kagome said with narrowed eyes. "You're not the boss of me! I am a grown woman living in the twenty first century!" She turned back to the bird that was nibbling at the surrounding ashes. "I'm going to take you home with me." She said smiling down on it fondly. Sesshomaru chose to ignore the two of them and confidently strode into the depths below.

When the winding stairs finally ended, the trio found themselves in a room of archways arranged in a circle so that each door led in a different direction. There were six vaulting archways, each inlayed with a green, red, yellow, orange, blue, or white stone at the crest of the gate. Carved into the stone wall above them were the words 'Hall of Lies.'

Groaning at the sight, Kagome wined, "I hate arches."

Though puzzled at her meaning, Sesshomaru moved forward to investigate the entryways. It seemed that they each had a short inscription carved into the ground before each gate.

"Red: spring is a time of truth." Kagome said as she peaked from behind his elbow. She glanced up at him, looking for a sign of comprehension, before moving on to the next arch. "Orange: A pure soul will guide you. Yellow: Enter. Green: Water reflects the truth. Blue: Fear the blood of fallen enemies. White: The gate of the sky speaks true."

Humming to herself, Kagome shuffled about trying to figure out the puzzle. The silence was stifling, something she definitely did not appreciate about having a mute companion. Speaking of which, Kagome turned to ask if he could shed some of his infinite wisdom on their predicament only to watch as he walked confidently through the yellow marked gateway.

Sesshomaru frowned when the hall beneath the gate ultimately reached a dead end. His claws racked against the stone halting his forward progress, frustrated. The sound of stone rubbing against stone sounded in his sensitive ears and he immediately became aware of the walls closing in on him. Without wasting any time, he launched himself for the gate which was slowly being covered by a narrow piece of descending stone. Of course it didn't stand a chance against him.

Kagome coughed as the dust of shattered stone filled the room and she quickly covered the baby Bennu with her shirt. When the dust finally settled, Kagome felt the overwhelming urge to scrub away the layers of dirt which had adhered to her sweaty body. Even worse was that Sesshomaru, the cause of the problem, was brushing the single speck of dirt that had landed on him from his shoulder with a look of severe dislike upon his face.

"Smart, Sesshomaru. Really smart." Kagome said dryly.

"This Sesshomaru had determined that the yellow door speaks lies." He said it with such distaste, clearly angered at the fact that something, even if it was inanimate, would dare lie to him.

"That's too bad." Kagome said slowly, like she was speaking with a child, "Why don't we try to figure out the answer before recklessly going through one of the doors next time? How does that sound?"

"Do not patronize this Sesshomaru."

"I wouldn't dare." She retorted with an incredulous gasp. His eyes narrowed on her, not believing her lie for even a moment. "So I guess this means that we have to figure out which door to go through." She said as she threaded her fingers through her hair frustrated. "I guess let's work our way across then."

"Hn."

Kagome shot him an annoyed look then moved to investigate the doors again. "So the red door says that 'spring is a time of truth' which we can take to mean it is a time of falsities. Spring would be green?" she finished as she looked to Sesshomaru for confirmation. He nodded in agreement. "So the green door is out."

Sesshomaru went next and examined the orange door. "A pure soul will guide you." He narrowed his eyes on Kagome, immediately suspicious.

"Don't look at me like that!" she snapped, "I haven't felt the dark energy since stepping into this messed up tomb."

"Hn." He replied doubtfully, "Purity is often associated with the color white."

"So the white door will not guide us." Kagome clarified, "Ok. And clearly the yellow door was wrong." Sesshomaru grumbled something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like a promise of death to the tombs creator. "The green door says that the blue door is a reflection of truth." At the same time, both Kagome and Sesshomaru looked at the door located across from the blue: orange. "So the orange door is also false as it is the reflection of lies."

"The blue door states that one should fear the blood of fallen enemies." Sesshomaru gave the door a challenging look. "This Sesshomaru fears nothing."

"That's great, Sesshomaru, really." Kagome replied distractedly, "So the blood is referring to the color red and the inscription can be translated to 'We should not fear the red door." Kagome clapped her hands together. "Well, I guess that sums that up. Let's take the red door."

Cautiously, they approached the red gate. Sesshomaru was amused to hear Kagome repeating a mantra of 'I hate arches, I hate arches, I hate arches,' as they stepped through, also recalling with further curiosity that she had been careful not to touch anything in the previous room. When nothing happened upon their entrance, Kagome released a great sigh of relief.

Then…the floor collapsed.