Mad World by Within Temptation

Lord Orochi was enraged. So much so his features were altering. Akiko could see the snake scales coming to the surface of his human skin, eyes looking more reptilian, and his tongue had split down the center. Tobi growled in warning at the demon, but the Beta was paid no mind seeing how the enemy only had eyes for the reincarnation. Where his arm was missing blood was still splashing against the ground and with an aggressive hiss he bared his fangs. Akiko did not flinch sensing his demonic aura growing. "You wench," he hissed out. "I have had enough of you! No more running! I will be your executioner!"

The lord's body suddenly expanded like a balloon before it sucked in and elongated shooting upwards. Head following to watch, a gigantic black snake reared its head before turning its blood red eyes on Akiko far below. Her ice would have no hold on him as he hissed again. He would squeeze the life out of her preparing to strike.

Sesshomaru came barreling through the battlefield, sights set on the snake demon with narrowed brows. He didn't hold it in anymore as the demon let loose towering over the forces below as the three-legged beast lunged over Akiko and Tobi tackling the reptile to the ground. Head snapping to the left at the sight of stampeding wild boars he young woman threw out the free hand and froze them to death before any could get too close. Understanding that the reincarnation had that area handled Tobi's attention was on the snake's tail that thrashed about trying to wrap around Sesshomaru's body to constrict him. The half-demon sank his sharp teeth into the skin drawing blood. It caused the lord to thrash harder as the Beta tried to hold his ground against the strength of the enemy.

Poisonous insects were beginning to surround them and the young woman was not going to allow them to get a chance to attack. Spinning on the ball of her foot, the blade came around with her creating a vortex of cold air with shards of ice scattered about. It surrounded her completely as the top of it expanded out over Tobi feet above to be sure he was well protected. The bugs never stood a chance as they were torn to pieces. The gust was in full force as Seshomaru pulled himself away from Lord Orochi allowing Akiko to change the direction of the vortex as it hit the snake forcing him to the ground in pain. The ice was like a thousand knives to the skin, tearing open scales and he couldn't escape it. His attempts to do so allowed the Lord of the West to claw into the snake near the neck. Lord Orochi snapped at the dog's ankle to keep him away from causing further damage.

Across the field, Miroku was struggling a bit to hold back the demons. The horde had killed off the few forces belonging to the households in the area and Shippo was loosing strength on top of Kirara. The two-tailed demon was sporting quite a few gashes and burns from those she had taken on, but refused to slow growling at those still approaching. The monk made a decision. Without allies in the immediate area he stuck the base of his staff into the ground and gripped at the beads wrapped around his cursed hand. "Stay back!" he ordered his comrades. It made the horde smirk thinking the young man was merely bluffing at their advances looking forward to ripping him apart. Tearing off the beads his hand opened to reveal the black hole in place as the wind picked up around them. "Wind Tunnel!"

The demons' eyes widened upon realizing they were being sucked towards the monk and many attempted to run. Some even dug their claws into the ground to remain in place as the force increased with each passing second. He knew the danger that there were poisonous insects flying about, and some of these demons were venomous, but it was a risk he was willing to take feeling the edges of the black hole stretching to accommodate everything being drawn in. "Miroku, be careful!" Shippo shouted over the noise. If he kept this up for too long there was a risk he wouldn't be able to stop it.

Leaving the vortex to run its course Akiko surveyed the area to be sure there was no further immediate danger. That was when something didn't feel right as her surroundings altered. With wide eyes everything had gone out of focus and the young woman wasn't ready to counter it so suddenly freezing in place. Noticing the reincarnation's hesitation, Tobi let go of the snake not pausing by knocking her to the ground out of harms way when a bat demon had attempted to swoop in. Hitting the hard surface on her side the battlefield snapped back. Blinking rapidly Akiko tried to make sense as to what happened when seeing through the soldiers that Naraku had been dealt a deadly blow from Inuyasha.

"Not so tough without your barrier," Inuyasha pointed out.

With a glare Naraku's body slowly began to regenerate. Whatever the half-demon had done to his blade, the enemy could not fully heal as part of his form continued to lay in ruin. His attention was split between him and the demon slayer, while keeping an eye on Kagome that had joined them once more. By throwing away the priestess he had hoped that by separating them one of his reincarnations could hunt her down and rip the jewel shard from her grasp. But Naraku could no longer feel the connection between his children. Instead, he could sense the pack much more than before, and a new demon had joined the ranks. Spotting the growing ice irritated him that the snake demon didn't have things under control. It allowed the older teen to join the fight with her spiritual powers. He needed to separate Kagome from Inuyasha again to be sure the half-demon was distracted.

Lord Orochi threw the Lord of the West to the ground, causing his massive form to cause the ground to quake under his weight. Free to move, the snake dashed towards Akiko's position, the young woman standing once more, and with a great exhale a frost cloud escaped her lips with a greater intensity than before. Gliding backwards across the ice she had created to give distance the frost burned the reptile's skin rearing back to try and get above it. The blade disappeared from her grip for a moment as both palms slapped against the grass. It created a wave of sharp spikes to extrude towards his underbelly just grazing the surface of Lord Orochi's skin as he continued to try and avoid them.

From above, Lady Sanjou drove through the air at incredible speed towards the unsuspecting lord. Her talons dug into the area around his eyes trying to gouge them out, while using her beak to assist. If the demon was still in human form he would have been hollowing in pain, but it only came out in hisses as Lord Orochi tried to get away. He wanted to break that hawk demon in his jaw, but had trouble finding her through all the blood and painful cuts.

Dropping to the side so to not be vulnerable in the air the enemy managed to avoid the protruding ice crashing against the ground. Lady Sanjou pulled back, not chancing the disadvantage of being so close to the battlefield where she could be snatched out of the sky. But it didn't matter because Sesshomaru had recovered, head butting the demon causing further pain to spread through him.

"Are you all right?" Tobi questioned.

He had returned to the reincarnation's side as she took on a wild boar, cutting it down with ease. "Fine," she answered aggressively from the attack she dealt.

But he didn't exactly trust her word from what had happened. The Beta watched her look around the field before realizing Akiko was searching for Naraku. By trying to escape Lord Orochi they had drawn closer to his battle against Inuyasha and Kagome. Though his massive form made it difficult for him to move about the various demons he had absorbed were allowing him to fight at a long distance, a spider leg embedding into the ground inches from Sango as she avoided the blow. Swiping the Ice Blade through the air, a storm of ice shards rained down on Naraku slicing him to ribbons. The barrage caused her focus to go, confirming her theory: any attack that affected him caused his curse to falter. Her sight was going, as the field came back into focus for the time being.

The half-demon wasn't expecting the attack, glaring at the reincarnation further away and dispatching an ogre in her direction. However, Tobi, followed by Aisu as the two wrestled with the creature, tackled it to the ground. The distraction allowed Kagome to land an arrow in his side as her pure energy caused the area to explode. But not enough to dislodge the jewel shard. Annoyed with herself for not succeeding again her eyes landed on a section of ice sticking out of him. That's when she got an idea, turning towards the young woman and finding her cutting down a weasel demon.

"Akiko!" The sound of her name had the young woman finding Kagome a few feet from Naraku. But instead of verbally saying anything to tip off the enemy to their plan the older teen frantically pat at her abdomen. It was confusing for a moment before Akiko finally understood. Without hesitation the Ice Blade swung around releasing multiple shards that took aim at the half-demon's body once more. It tore into his misshapen body parts causing Naraku to glare in her direction once more. That was when one sliced across his stomach. It was so deep it tore open the skin dislodging the jewel from him. The chunk holding the shard flew through the air before hitting the ground. The half-demon knew immediately what he had lost, turning towards it and watched as Kagome lunged across the ground.

"No!" he bellowed. Reaching into the lump the older teen fished for it trying to push away the fact that she was digging through the corpse of a demon that Naraku had absorbed. "The Shikon is mine!"

"As if!" Inuyasha shouted. Cutting off the arm reaching for Kagome, the half-demon released an array of attacks to keep him off her.

Pulling their section of the shard from a pocket the older teen pressed the two pieces together tightly in her grasp feeling the jewel mold together and become whole once more. Opening her hands the round, pink item of interest reflected her appearance in the surface. They had it in their possession. She had it in her grasp. And looking up at Inuyasha as he continued to hold back an enraged Naraku, she had to figure out what to do now. She could run from the battlefield to secure it safely away, she could take it back to her era. But upon seeing all the bloodshed happening around her, Kagome could not allow this thing to be around any longer. If things didn't end right here, right now, this would occur all over again and no one would be able to survive that.

Miroku cried out a few feet away, drawing her attention as Sango rushed to him and gripped his shoulders tightly to show that she was there. "Miroku–!"

"Get away, Sango!" he ordered. "I can't close it!" His time had come. The curse was finally coming into full effect as the black hole nearly took over his entire palm. It would suck in him and all those nearby till there was nothing left. But instead of running away the young woman wrapped both arms around his chest, kneeling behind him with a cheek pressed into his back.

"I won't leave you!"

He would die because Naraku wasn't defeated as tears collected in her eyes. Looking back at the jewel Kagome wracked her brain as to what to do. For something so small it had caused so much trouble and chaos. Without it Naraku would have never come into being. Miroku would have never been cursed. Sango and Shippo would have never lost their families. Inuyasha would have not been asleep for so long or hunted by his lost love. She would have been able to have a normal life in her era.

If only this thing would jus disappear–

Her eyes widened glancing up towards where Inuyasha was fighting. She just needed a wish to end it for good. A specific one that would make sure this never happened again. So no one suffered their fate these last few years. So the future had a chance.

Akiko pinned the snake's tail to the ground with her ice daggers so the lord couldn't attempt to slither away. Tugging against the hold the snake turned his attention on the reincarnation. It gave Sesshomaru the opportunity he needed to bite into the back of Lord Orochi's neck. Looking back to find her cousin and see if they had succeeded in separating the jewel shard from Naraku, she saw Kagome sitting on her knees.

Their eyes met across the distance between them and immediately Akiko realized that Kagome had figured it out. The wish she had needed to save them all. And the young woman knew what would come with it based on the fact that her sense was beginning to struggle. But she could not be selfish. Looking back to Lord Orochi and Sesshomaru thrashing about the dog demon's grip on the back of the enemy's neck tightened. Pulling back the snake's head it gave the young woman an opening. Holding out her blade the free hand swiped across the flat section of the weapon and then up. The ice extended past the sword stretching up into the air. The pointed tip arched close to the reptile's scales, cutting into the surface up the center. But it didn't stop there continuing to press against the underside of his jaw and breaking through. The ice ran through the mouth and up through the top of the head causing Lord Orochi to spasm with wide eyes. He couldn't open his mouth or find it in his control to resist against his attackers. Everything was fading out.

Whirling back on her cousin, Akiko realized that Naraku had broken through Inuyasha's defense and was lunging towards Kagome with murderous intent. She wouldn't make it in time to protect her cousin, screaming,

"Kagome, do it!"

"I wish you would just disappear!" Kagome shouted at the jewel.

It began glowing a bright pink that was so blinding it forced the human to close her eyes. Akiko watched as it completely engulfed her cousin and Naraku, whose eyes were wide in surprise and horror. It continued to grow drawing everyone's attention, as the fighting seemed to halt for a moment. The built up energy released, sending a shockwave through the field that threw all of their feet making it difficult to see anything before the world went silent.