Ib, Inuyasha 1. Enter the Gala

_When I had left my home this morning with my half-brother, I didn't suspect that anything was going to happen. I thought it would just be a simple day out to teach my worthless brother some culture and art. Though what I hadn't planned on was being pulled into some crazy world where my very life was at risk and that it was attached to something as insignificant and frail as this…_

_I pray that I can leave this nightmare, along with… the other person that is in the same predicament as I am._

It was a beautiful day in Japan, a young man with long silvery white hair looked himself in the mirror as he checked to make sure he was prepared for his day to go to the gallery. Thinking that it was a good day, to give his younger half-brother some culture, or at least praying that would be the case. Checking himself in the mirror once again, the young man's golden eyes stared at his pale complexion, seeing that he wore what appeared to be a button down white t-shirt shirt that didn't really cling to his body though it did show just a tiny bit of his muscles that adorned his chest.

He wore a simple pair of blue jeans held up by a black belt around his slim waist. His silvery white hair was loose in the back, his bangs hung just a little in his eyes, his pointed ears poking out from his silver hair. On his face were two magenta stripes adorning both of his cheeks, a blue crescent moon on his forehead and a magenta strip just on his eyelids.

He had a bit of a feminine appearance though no one could mistake his masculinity not much long afterwards. Smirking to himself for a brief moment, the young looking man could see his fangs poking out from his smirk, his fangs were sharp and deadly as always and knew that he could easily rip anyone apart with them if he so chose to… Reaching over, the young man grabbed his long white jacket and slipped it on as he stared at himself in the mirror. His fingertips adorned with sharp claws that could cut through steel and magenta stripes adorning his wrists. His crests… the only sign, besides his power that he was a full blooded youkai and not one with human and youkai blood much like his half-brother.

Breathing deeply, the young man wondered if going to this gallery would even help him teach Inuyasha any kind of culture. The boy was still in high school and didn't care about his image. The only thing he liked was getting into fights that were not even necessary. That was something that irritated the young man to no end and it made him want to smack some sense into the boy but knew that it would do little, to nothing.

The young man knew that today was possibly his last chance to get his brother to learn some culture or else he would just be a lowly half breed like he had always thought. Shaking his head, the young man grabbed his white scarf and wrapped it around his neck before he started to walk out of his room and toward the stairs. He had told Inuyasha to meet him at the front door and it was almost the appointed hour for their meeting.

Though, knowing him as well as he does, they would be a few minutes late since Inuyasha would try to plan some kind of plan to sneak away or to try to find some excuse not to go from something that doesn't even make any kind of sense to him. Shrugging to himself, the young silvery haired man made his way to the door before slipping his feet into his white sneakers. It was going to be an interesting day, if Inuyasha didn't learn culture, then at least he could have fun tormenting him with art of the greatest artist known to man and youkai alike. In fact, now that he thought about it, his father knew the great artist Guertena before the poor man had passed from this world to the next.

If he remembered correctly, there was a painting of his father in that gallery… it was one of the last paintings that the man had done before he had passed away. The other though, he couldn't really be sure what it was since he had never seen it himself and it had just recently been put up in the gala for the time being.

It did have him curious as to what this other painting looked like, or what it would have been worth. All of it was confusing and it had his curiosity perked at the thought of seeing it. Soon, he heard the soft foot falls of someone walking down the stairs. Turning his head, the youkai turned his gaze onto the stairs and saw a teenager walking down the stairs. He wore blue jeans that the knees were ripped out of them and looked a little torn just under the knees.

His long silver hair flowed with his movements and had two forelocks hanging over his shoulders. A pair of triangle dog ears perched atop of his head and his golden eyes narrowed down at the tall man that stood by the door. He tugged at his red and white football jacket before fixing his dark red muscle shirt underneath it. The teen narrowed his golden eyes before throwing on his baseball cap over his dog ears. It was the only thing that he was ashamed of…

"Sesshoumaru, I aint going to that stupid gala, I'm going to spend some time with my girl." Inuyasha said before he started to walk toward the door and grabbed his red and white sneakers. Sesshoumaru narrowed his gold eyes before grabbing the teens arm and pulled him back up onto his feet. The hanyou glared at him as he said "I am not going Sesshoumaru, galleries are just stupid and boring."

The older youkai rolled his eyes before he said "this Sesshoumaru is trying to teach you some culture. If not, then I will still have some fun in tormenting you."

Inuyasha just growled at his brother and crossed his arms. "You suck Sesshoumaru, you are such an ass." Growled out the hanyou as he walked with his older brother. Sesshoumaru though just smirked for the whole thing, knowing that he had won this battle. Today was definitely going to be a good day and for that, he felt a feeling of victory swelling within him.

* * *

><p>"Sesshoumaru, do we have to be here?" asked Inuyasha with a groan.<p>

"Yes, we do. Father was a friend of the artist that made all of these works of art… Now that father, and this artist Guertena are now gone, it just seems right that we see the gala ourselves." Sesshoumaru explained before adding "and to teach you some damn culture. You are royalty Inuyasha, yet you are spoiled and use the money like it's nothing… You don't take pride in your heritage and you just throw away your money." Sesshoumaru shook his head for a moment before running a hand through his hair and sighed softly before he started to walk into the gala, dragging Inuyasha behind him of course.

After paying for the tickets for himself and his brother, the young man sighed softly as he walked past the ticket booth. Looking around, they noticed that the walls were pure white. In fact, the place even looked like some kind of manor. Looking around, the young man noticed that all of the paintings that were along the walls seemed something that had both really happened, and of course something that seemed unreal. Stopping in front of a painting, Sesshoumaru stared at the picture of a man hanging upside down by what seemed like a powerful rope.

"You sure this guy wasn't fucked up?" asked Inuyasha.

"He was a sane man Inuyasha. Well, at least from what father had said though I may not be so sure myself." Sesshoumaru admitted before shaking his head and started to walk past some of the other paintings. Though some of these paintings made no sense to him, some were of things that didn't seem possible while others just seemed like things that would happen at some kind of circus. Though he wasn't going to judge on what he was painting, yes, the man was dead but he couldn't judge the poor soul for all of his work. People loved his work… _'Why that is I may never know but he does have some tastes…' _thought the dog youkai.

Turning his gaze back onto his brother, Sesshoumaru calmly said "just look around. But if I sense your youkai disappearing from the building than I shall hunt you down and drag you kicking and screaming back here." Sesshoumaru saw his brother's skin turn white for a moment before he nodded and walked off. It was good, Inuyasha knew his place as the beta, and it was one thing that they knew at a very young age. They are to listen to their alpha no matter the price; it was against the rules unless they dared to leave their pack.

Sesshoumaru sighed softly, if only looking after Inuyasha wasn't in their father's will then everything would have been perfect but sadly, the hanyou was the only living blood relative left in his family… There was nothing more than he could do about that sadly…

Looking up at a painting, Sesshoumaru saw that it was a woman with long flowing hair though only one eye… Must have been some kind of Cyclops or something for there was no way this was a human being. Closing his eyes, the young man knew that this was going to be strange seeing all of these paintings. Maybe this was a mistake, maybe it was a mistake coming to this gala for all of these paintings were rather bizarre than normal.

Breathing deeply, Sesshoumaru kept on walking down the long halls. He would see different paintings; it had him curious as to which paintings would just reach out to him. It was a rather strange thing that most paintings would sometimes reach out to someone unless it would be a sculpture instead… He knew that the sculptures would be on the second floor...

Walking up the stairs, the youkai wondered what kind of sculptures the man had made over the years. There had to be something that would just reach out and perk his interest. Looking around, he saw that there were many people walking up and down the stairs with him. Some were couples, families with their children… or just single people, like him, coming to enjoy the art. In a way, it made Sesshoumaru almost envious of the families…

He himself had hoped to find a strong female that he could love… to hold dear in his arms but knew that he could never find someone like that. To never find a strong enough female that could rival his power, someone to match his looks. It seemed, impossible for that to be in his future… Closing his eyes for a brief moment, Sesshoumaru stopped in his tracks as he tried to think on what would be in his future. Though the only thing he saw was him living his almost immortal life living alone and forever. For Inuyasha, was only a hanyou and only had longevity, for his life would far out live a human…

Sighing softly, Sesshoumaru opened his eyes and started to walk up the last of the stairs before a weird scent had reached him. Blinking in confusion, Sesshoumaru sniffed the air for a brief moment and turned his head… only to start staring at a woman who stood next to a little boy. Well, maybe a young teenager. The woman had long black hair that reached the middle of her back. Her clothes consisted to a long blue sundress and white sandals. Well, it wasn't that cold so maybe it was okay to wear that or she just didn't feel the cold as easily.

The boy next to her, he wore blue jeans, a black t-shirt and some black with white stripe sneakers. Hm… it made him wonder what they were looking at. It seemed like they were really interested in that painting that they were staring at… Sniffing the air, the youkai noticed that the scent of apple blossoms was coming from her. Inhaling softly, Sesshoumaru knew that this was the best thing he has ever smelled… it was… all natural scent… he hated those fake scents that women wore now a days, all of those perfumes that they wore made him sick and it made his nose burn.

Looking up, he saw that she was staring at some kind of painting; he couldn't tell what it really was though he could faintly make out the orange roses. Maybe it was some kind of field of orange flowers… he never understood the point of flowers besides that they normally had some kind of hidden meaning. Though for orange flowers, he couldn't remember what it was at the time… Maybe he would remember somewhere down the road or he would look it up online or in a book.

Sighing softly, Sesshoumaru made his way down the hall, just walking past some headless sculptures and some weird couch that looked like it had some candy canes sticking out of the back. It didn't look very comfortable though he knew that it would be a challenge for sure to have made something like this.

Soon, Sesshoumaru had stopped short when he stared at some kind of sculpture. Frowning, it looked like a giant rose, the stem was straight though near the bottom it curled up like a coil to keep itself standing up. The petals were red to him, but for a brief moment, they had flashed blue. Rubbing his forehead and closing his eyes, the youkai wondered what that was about. What did that mean, why did the rose turn from red to blue? That didn't make any kind of sense and it made him a little confused as to what had just happened. _'No, it was all in my head. Nothing is wrong with me, it is impossible for youkai to become ill.'_ thought the silvery haired man before he looked over at the nailed in tag just by the wall and saw that the sculpture was called 'Embodiment of Spirit'.

Turning his gaze, Sesshoumaru saw the woman walking by the hall; he had a short glimpse of her before she disappeared from his sight. What was it about her that made him want to see her more? She was nothing more than a human and she should mean _nothing_ to him but for some reason he felt the need to know her more than ever. _'I must be ill after all…'_ thought the young man before letting out a soft sigh and turned back to the sculpture once again and started to walk away. Right now, he should just check out the rest of the paintings before he texted Inuyasha and tell him to meet him at the entrance… He wanted to see that one painting of his father before he left at least and of course, that one last painting…

The painting that he wanted to see to wonder what the man's very last painting was before he died. The man had been a genius at the time, one of the greatest artists to have done paintings, sculptures and so much more… Closing his eyes, Sesshoumaru made his way over to a long painting that didn't really seem to make any kind of sense…

Stopping in front of the painting, Sesshoumaru noticed that it was a black background though the rest of it almost seemed like a darker version of the gala… Which made no sense to him nor, has he ever seen this painting before the last time he was here. Was this another painting that had been created by Guertena when he was alive but it had never been found until recently… Well, that was what he was concluding anyway…

Looking under the golden frame, Sesshoumaru had managed to read the title of this painting… "'Fabricated World…'? What kind of title is that?" Sesshoumaru said aloud, not really sure how anyone could name something like that unless the painting was what the gala would look like in some kind of other world but if that was the case… How did Guertena know what the gala looked like for this gala was made years after his death. Something was fishy about all of this and he was going to get to the bottom of this… somehow…

Suddenly, the lights started to flicker, causing his golden eyes to look up and saw that the lights were, indeed, flickering. "Must be the wires…" whispered Sesshoumaru before he looked around and started to frown. Something was odd… there was something wrong about the area now. In fact, it seemed... quite.

Narrowing his eyes, Sesshoumaru knew that something was wrong that there was something big coming his way, whatever it was he just knew that he didn't like it. Growling softly, Sesshoumaru looked up at the painting again and thought that it seemed different. There wasn't a huge difference but he knew that there was something wrong about this painting now…

"What the hell is going on?" said the youkai before the lights had finally gone out… the silence finally reaching him as it made him think one thing… Something that shouldn't even be possible until closing time for the gala and of course, why his phone hadn't started to ring either from a phone call or a text… "Where is everyone?" Asked the youkai, puzzled as to why everything had turned dark.


	2. It Begins

Sesshoumaru couldn't believe that this was happening. He had only wanted to show Inuyasha some culture and all of a sudden, everything turns dark and seemingly everyone had vanished. It was rather odd that everyone had disappeared in the first place. Narrowing his eyes, Sesshoumaru started to wander around the gala hoping that he could find anyone that would be able to tell him what was happening in the gala. Had he been that distracted that he hadn't noticed that everyone was being evacuated from this place or was there something more that was happening that he just didn't know what it could have been?

He had no idea what it could have been, though he had a sinking feeling that there was something that was wrong… Looking at his cellphone again, Sesshoumaru saw that he had no service… That made no sense, he shouldn't have this problem, he had just paid the bill a week ago and now his phone wouldn't work? "Strange…" whispered the young youkai, blinking his golden eyes he stared at his surroundings. All he could see were the paintings, sculptures and statues that the artist had created in his life, and now they almost had a hint of a sinister look to them for some reason…

"This is ridiculous…" whispered Sesshoumaru before he started to make his way toward the main entrance. He was just going to leave and if he had to, he would break out… buildings such as this were easy for him to break out of without causing the whole building to fall on top of himself, in fact it was _very_ easy. Breathing deeply, the silvery haired young man made his way toward the main entrance, wondering if he would see any kind of hint as to what had happened to everyone that had been in the building before he and Inuyasha had arrived, though it seemed that the further he made his way into the gala toward the door, the more confused he became.

No matter how far he walked, there wasn't a trace of anyone here. Either by sight, hearing or scent, there wasn't a single trace of anyone having ever taking a step into this building since it had been built. It had him a little confused and of course, curious… as to what was going on around him though, he had a feeling that he would never find out… At least, not at the moment…

Letting out a soft sigh, the young man took another look around at his surroundings before he stopped dead in his tracks. There was a painting that he had missed on his way toward that huge painting… It was a painting of his father… The man had long silvery white hair pulled back in a high ponytail. Sapphire blue stripes on his cheeks and gold eyes that could pierce through the souls of his enemies. The man though could only be seen from the shoulders up, though Sesshoumaru knew the structure of his father without having to be questioned about it.

Closing his eyes for a brief moment, Sesshoumaru knew that he could not stay in the past, but right now he must focus on the present and get out of this building before someone accuses him of being some kind of art thief, after all this place holds art that would be priceless for anyone that would want to steal anything from this place. Opening his glowing eyes, Sesshoumaru started to make his way down the stairs, hoping that he could get out soon. This place was starting to even give him a chill… There was something… wrong… Something strange about this place that he just couldn't put his finger on and it confused him to no end.

Shaking his head, Sesshoumaru made his way down the stairs and started to walk toward the entrance, hoping that they would be at least unlocked. That would give him some indication that someone was still here somewhere. Though he had a strange feeling that it wouldn't be that easy… there was that feeling in the pit of his stomach that told him there would be some kind of trouble for him, what kind, he wasn't a hundred percent sure as of yet.

Soon, Sesshoumaru made his way into the main hall, he saw the reception desk and saw that it was empty. The brown desk only had some fliers for the gala but they didn't seem very new to him. In fact they almost seemed like they had been made years ago, when the gala had first been made instead of roughly a few days ago. Strange… had he been brought back in time or was this some sort of spell that made him only see what they wanted him to see… He couldn't be sure though it would explain the weird things that he had been seeing so far since the lights had started to flicker off.

Breathing softly, Sesshoumaru made his way toward the door and reached for the handle. As soon as he pulled on the door, he had hoped that it would have opened for the young man though sadly, the door remained shut. In fact, it didn't even budge an inch even to indicate that it was locked. More like, the door was only there for decoration or that it was merely painted there instead of it being painted there in the first place. Growling, Sesshoumaru tightened his hold on the door and started to pull on the door, wanting to get out of this place, using all of his strength to pull at the door so he could escape this nightmare…

Only for the door to shock him right to his core. In fact, it almost felt like the shock had gone straight to his very soul. It made him almost scream out, almost… Sesshoumaru flew away from the door and landed hard on his back. If he had been human, it would have hurt him, though thankfully for him he was a youkai, and something like a hard fall to the ground wasn't painful to him in the least.

Yet, the pain he did feel was coursing through his body from the door. He would have to find another way out of this place… Groaning, the silver haired young man tightly shut his eyes for a brief moment as he tried to get his body to stop protesting in pain. If he knew what it felt like to be purified, then this would be it though, it felt almost dark and sinister. The pure essence of evil, darkness, greed and desire. He wasn't sure what would cause this kind of darkness per say, or what had caused this magic to be brought on he wasn't sure though he had a feeling that he would find out at some point…

Breathing deeply, the young man slowly opened his eyes once the pain had started to fade from his body. It seemed that he would have to find another way out of this place though he just wasn't sure what it would be that would help him escape from this place but he would do whatever he could to escape… Maybe breaking down the wall would help him…

Giving himself a mental nod, Sesshoumaru pushed himself up onto his feet before he looked straight ahead. The wall seemed like his only option, at least at this point in time… Narrowing his golden orbs, the young man rushed forward building up as much speed as he could before he slammed his shoulder into the wall… only for that weird energy to be sent through his body once again, sending him flying right across the room and into a wall across the room.

Blinking slowly, the young man tried to get his sight to focus once again. Shaking his head, the young man breathed deeply before moving his body away from the wall and tried to slam his body again into the wall, this time he focused his power into his claws. Focusing the poison that resided within his body into his very claws, hoping that the poison that would drip from his claws, would be enough to slash his way free of this place and get back home, making sure that everyone he knew was alright… Closing his eyes for a brief moment, Sesshoumaru focused more and more of his power through his body, wanting to put in as much force as he could…

Soon, his claws made contact with the wall… his claws slashing at the wall, yet it only threw him away. Growling darkly, while he was in midair, Sesshoumaru twisted his body around as he held out his right index and middle fingers as a glowing neon green whip and swung it at the wall. If his claws wouldn't work, perhaps his poison whip would do him the honour of breaking him free of this place.

Sadly, like his claws, as well as his other tries of freedom, he was thrown back as the attack made contact with the wall. Sesshoumaru slammed into the wall once more before he let out a growl. "How will I escape this place…" he growled, eyes flashing crimson for a brief moment only to let out a soft sigh and shake of his head. There had to be another way out of here, though he wasn't sure what it was… but there had to be something that could help him escape this place though that would mean that he would have to look carefully through this place before anything else happened in this place.

Breathing deeply, Sesshoumaru looked around before his eyes fell back on the wall once again. The wall seemed to have either healed itself, or his attacks did nothing at all… Turning to look over his shoulder, the young man saw that the wall he had slammed into also didn't have a dent in it from the force of his body colliding into the wall. Shaking his head, the young man dusted himself off before he started to journey through the halls of the gala, hoping that he would be able to get away from this place soon, before this gala drove him mad. When he was free, he was going to have to call a priestess or something to purify this place, to make sure that there wasn't some kind of curse on this place…

Shaking his head, the young man looked up wondering if he could transform into his true form only to think against it. If the walls wouldn't even crack from his poison claws or melt from the poison itself, then transforming into his true form would do nothing to help him. Closing his eyes, Sesshoumaru dispelled the poison from his claws before he started to make his way through the gala once again hoping that he could find some kind of clue as to what he could do to break free, though every idea he had would only fail him and it wouldn't help him to escape from this place. There had to be some kind of seal here that would prevent him from escaping, so maybe if he found that, he would be able to escape from this nightmare.

"But where would such a seal be placed in this building…" mumbled Sesshoumaru before he shook his head and started to make his way past the stairs, when he remembered something… this all started when he looked at that painting, what was it called again? Oh right, Fabricated World… "I must-hm?" Sesshoumaru frowned a little when he saw something on the floor. Blinking his golden eyes slowly, he saw that it was paint, blue paint that had somehow appeared on the floor and not only that but the paint had formed words.

_Go to the painting that started it all, and you shall learn of an exit…_

Odd, but he wasn't going to lose this chance for escape. Perhaps this was Inuyasha's idea of a prank; if that was the case then he would have to increase his powers against him when they're training again. Shaking his head, the young man started to make his way up the stairs; he knew that this may be his only chance, though if Inuyasha was only pranking him somehow, then he would discipline the hanyou before anything else would dare to happen. Inuyasha after all, did not want to come to this place more than anything and had wanted to spend time with his friends or his woman. Though would the hanyou have gone this far just to get some kind of revenge on him for forcing him to come to this place?

Shaking his head, Sesshoumaru highly doubted that the hanyou would have been clever enough to have pulled something like this off. The teenager had an IQ that was far too low for his own liking and knew that he would have needed great help to get him to pull this off. Stopping in his tracks, Sesshoumaru sniffed the air… there still wasn't a trace of a human, youkai, or hanyou in this building, or anything that could have covered the scent. There had to be something that was covering the scents and it had to be something extremely powerful though he still could not be sure what it could be as of yet.

"What kind of trickery is this…?" said Sesshoumaru, not really expecting any kind of answer in the first place. Turning his head to the left, he couldn't help but stare at the painting with the orange roses… there seemed to be something off about this painting, though he wasn't sure what it was… though maybe he could call the gala tomorrow and tell them about this painting, though assuming so that he could figure out what it was that gave him such an uneasy feeling about this painting so much.

Looking ahead, the silvery white haired young man went back to making his way toward the large painting, wondering if he would really find his answer there… Praying though that there was something there that could help him escape from this place…

Looking up, Sesshoumaru saw it; he saw the strange painting… had this painting really caused all of this? If that was the case how was that even possible? There was no possible way for a painting, _a painting_ to have caused all of this though he knew that there was something wrong with this place. Shaking his head, the young man stood in front of Fabricated World and tilted his head. "How can this painting help me?" asked Sesshoumaru before he started to look around the painting… looking at the frame, wondering if there was something else that would cause all of this though so far he was coming up empty handed.

Tilting his head to the side, Sesshoumaru placed his fingers on the painting for a brief moment, wondering if maybe he would find the answer on the back of the painting… Narrowing his eyes, Sesshoumaru soon grabbed the frame of the picture and tried to move it though sadly, like the door it wouldn't budge. "Is everything stuck in this place?" growled out the youkai before he shook his head and leaned against the painting for a moment, not really caring if he damaged the painting at the moment.

"How can I escape?" muttered the youkai before he crossed his arms over his chest. There had to be some way for him to get out of this place, though it seemed that no matter what he just couldn't get out of this place. Yet, he wasn't going to give up hope, not just yet. If there was one thing that he knew, it was that he was not a quitter. He had to keep trying, there had to be something that those words told him that would give him some kind of clue and this painting was the key to finding his way out of here.

Turning around, the young man tilted his head for a moment before placing his hand on the painting. "How will I find the key to my escape from this place from this painting…?" Suddenly, something shot out of the painting and wrapped around his wrist. Sesshoumaru didn't even have time to react, for as soon as the strange black tendril had grabbed him, Sesshoumaru had found himself being dragged into the painting. He tried to claw himself free but no matter what, it had a firm hold over his wrist and he just couldn't get away from this place.

"Damn it!" shouted Sesshoumaru as he tried to press his free hand against the painting, only for it to sink into the frame as well. "It's absorbing me!" shouted Sesshoumaru as he felt more tendrils shooting out of the painting and wrapping around the man's body before pulling him into the painting. No, this couldn't be happening, he had to break free. This thing was going to absorb him before he could even escape and not to mention, it was pretty stupid way to die… being absorbed by a painting, that was just plain stupid… no wait, it was _very _stupid and he was going to make sure that he would break free of this painting before he was fully absorbed.

Then, at that point, the youkai's power started to rise, his eyes turning a deep crimson as he felt the painting starting to loosen its grip on him, this was the moment of truth, he was going to be able to escape from this place after all. Yet, it seemed that the painting had foreseen this for soon it had released some kind of toxin that he could not place as to what it was before his mind had started to fade… the last thing on his thoughts were these…

_'How could I not have stopped a painting from defeating me?'_ after that, the young youkai's eyes drifted closed, his mind fading as he slipped into darkness…


	3. Blue Rose

Sesshoumaru slowly started to open his eyes; all he could see was a long black hallway with what he assumed to be stars going downward. Frowning a bit, he carefully pushed himself up, and he felt… rather odd for some reason. He didn't know what it was that had caused this weird feeling to swirl within his very being but at the moment that didn't matter. He had to find a way out of here… wherever here was anyway. Shaking his head, the youkai pushed himself up to his feet and took one last look around before rolling his eyes.

This area just seemed to have turned into a darker version of the gala… not to mention he felt this weird feeling from this place… He didn't know what this feeling is, but what he could tell was that it wasn't normal. There was something off and it surrounded him like a bad smelling wet blanket… in fact, it almost felt like something was pressing down on his body… hindering him in some way or another, he couldn't be sure what it was but at the moment he couldn't think about that. Sesshoumaru knew that he would have to think about finding a way out of this place.

Walking down the stairs, Sesshoumaru wondered what he was going to end up seeing in this place, was it just like the gala he had been in before being thrown into that painting or was it something else that he would end up seeing? Shaking his head, the young man knew that he would just have to deal with what he'd end up seeing but then again, it was just a gala and like any gala, there were only paintings here and they couldn't hurt you no matter how hard you tried to think of any other possibilities.

Shaking his head, the youkai looked at the walls and saw that there were no paintings on the walls of the staircase, so maybe the paintings were further down on the ground level, he didn't know but what he did know was that the weird feeling was getting worse… In fact, it almost felt like something was drawn out of him and placed somewhere… he didn't know why it felt like that, but it couldn't be good no matter how hard he tries…

Stopping at the bottom of the stairs, Sesshoumaru looked around and saw no paintings on the wall facing him but when he turned around he saw two paintings on the walls that were near the stars. One was a lake full of blue water with small brown rocks that in a way, resembled islands. The other one, on the other side looked the same but the water was red instead… "Blue pits of hell and red pits of hell…" mumbled Sesshoumaru before he started to walk away down the hall to the left which the painting he declared 'blue pits of hell' was and started to look around. There had to be some kind of clue as to where he was now, for there was no way that this was the same gala, there just couldn't be any way for this to be the same place…

"Perhaps this is nothing more than a dream and I shall awaken soon." Said Sesshoumaru, not really thinking that this could be real. After all, who has ever heard of a person, or youkai being dragged into a painting in the first place? That wasn't very believable and he knew that no one would have believed him in the first place. Besides, it was not real; this could be nothing more than a dream.

Nodding to himself, the youkai pushed himself to keep on walking down the hall, just wanting to get out of here as soon as possible, or, at least to wait for himself to wake up before anything else happened. Taking a glance from left to right, he didn't see any more paintings… hm, did that mean that there were only those two paintings in this area or was it something else? Shaking his head, Sesshoumaru didn't even know why he was bothering to think of any of this when this, was nothing more than a dream. A nightmare at that, a nightmare that he cannot seem to wake up from. Perhaps Inuyasha is just enjoying seeing his half-brother asleep and having to deal with such a thing in the first place.

Running a hand through his silvery white hair, Sesshoumaru looked up when he saw a door… There was something painted on the door in blue letters… Odd, why would this person pick blue for the words on such a dark coloured door? White would have been better for this dark door.

Leaning closer to the door and squinted his eyes, the young man could faintly make out the words "come in, and take your prize. Do not lose it, for if you do you will die…" What the hell was that supposed to mean in the first place? Rolling his eyes, the young man grabbed the door knob and opened the door before he started to make his way to go inside the room. Looking around, the youkai frowned when he didn't see anything in the room… it was nothing more than a darkness.

This was rather odd, that's for sure though again… this is nothing more than a dream and that was all it was… Blinking in confusion, the young man opened the door more allowing more light to come on into the room and that was when he saw it. Standing in the middle of the room was a table with a vase… within that vase, was a blue rose. "A rose? That's what this place wanted to give me was a damn rose?" Rolling his eyes, Sesshoumaru slipped the rose in his pocket, not really sure why he should even keep it in the first place but he may as well…"

"How can such a beautiful flower though be real?" asked Sesshoumaru out loud, not really sure or expecting any kind of answer in the first place. Shaking his head, the young man just rolled his eyes once again before he started to walk on away, though what he didn't understand was the weird feeling that he got from the rose. The rose felt weird, like there was a part of himself within each and every petal in that rose but he just didn't understand what it was as of yet. Taking a deep breath, he kept on walking down the hall, wanting to find a way to escape this place once and for all.

* * *

><p><strong>Blue roses do not occur in nature, at least not the absolute blue roses. Roses lack the pigment that produces blue color. Our blue roses have been painstakingly created and imbued with a special meaning.<strong>

**Much like its mysterious origin, the blue rose means mystery. An appreciation for the enigmatic, the inexplicable is expressed by blue roses. A tantalizing vision that cannot be totally pinned down, a mystery that cannot be fully unraveled is the blue rose. A person who receives the blue rose is the subject of much speculation and thought. A complex personality that does not allow easy interpretation is what the blue rose indicates.**

**Another meaning of the blue rose is that it symbolizes the impossible, or the unattainable. Since the blue rose itself is a rarity in nature, it stands for something that is hardly within one's grasp, an object that seems too difficult to be achieved. Thus the blue rose is admired and revered as an unrealizable dream.**

**The blue rose being in itself something very extraordinary expresses that very same feeling. "You are extraordinarily wonderful", the blue rose exclaims. A truly wonderful personality, almost chimera-like is what the blue rose says about the receiver. A flight of fancy, an irrepressible imagination is what the blue rose is all about.**

**Blue and its deeper shade purple have for long symbolized mystery and ambiguity. Again, the fact that the blue rose is a flower that has been fabricated increases this sense of surrealism. The meaning of the blue rose in this sense is an appreciation for something that cannot be grasped in full measure.**

**The lighter shade of the blue rose, which is almost akin to lilac, expresses the first flush of love. Enchantment, a feeling of being completely bowled over in the very first instance is another delightful meaning of the blue rose. Lavender and lilac have both been associated with romance since time immemorial.**

**The blue rose is also used as a symbol of caution. It expresses a need to be discrete. Again, there is a whiff of secrecy and mystery as expressed by the blue color.**

**New opportunities and new possibilities are also some other meanings of the blue rose. The blue rose denotes the excitement and the possibilities that new ventures bring. The mysterious beginnings of new things and the excitement therein are very nicely expressed by this flower.**

**The blue rose is a flower that seeks to convey a message of mystery, enchantment and a sense of the impossible. One should never forget that as a flower that is not found freely in nature, the blue rose has a certain charm and unique mystery that does not reveal itself freely.**


	4. Pain

Walking down the long hall way, Sesshoumaru tried to go back up the stairs after getting the rose, only to find that the staircase had disappeared while he was getting the rose, or, it had disappeared after he got off the stairs and wondered down the hall. Either way, he didn't have a way to go back and now he was forced to walk further into this nightmare. Looking at the rose that he had tucked into his pants pocket, the youkai wondered what he was to do about it… He knew that he should just throw it away, but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to do that for he felt his own energy within the rose… there had to be something wrong with him to sense that…

Shaking his head, the youkai had to stop thinking like that. There wasn't anything special about this rose, there was nothing about it and he knew it. Looking forward, the young man saw the doors that lingered on the walls of the hallway. Was one of these doors a way out? He couldn't really be sure though it wouldn't hurt to try to find some way out of here right?

Walking to the first door that was closest to him, Sesshoumaru grabbed the knob only to be shocked as soon as he touched it. It wasn't enough to hurt him but it was enough to cause his arm to go numb for a few seconds. Rolling his eyes, he walked to the next door, wanting to see if the next one would at least lead him to an exit from this hell hole. Sadly, the next door exploded and sent him flying with the door, of course slamming into him. _'Why did that hurt me?'_ thought a confused Sesshoumaru, he pulled back his jacket to reveal an unharmed blue rose and sighed softly in content… wait why did he even care about the stupid rose in the first place?

"I am only causing an inner turmoil… nothing more." He mumbled to himself before he shook his head and walked through the doorway. It made things easier for him to get through since he could keep pushing himself to go forward. Yet, he didn't know what more could be seen in this place… nor did he really care for that matter.

From what he could see though, it just looked like an empty hall. Not really much to look at, it was just greyish black walls and nothing more. "Some gala…" muttered Sesshoumaru before he looked forward. As he walked though, he couldn't help but wonder more and more about the rose and of course the weird pain that he had gone through just moments ago. How could he have felt any kind of pain in the first place? Most of all, why could he still sense his own life within the rose, was there more to this rose than he thinks or is this all just in his head? No, this couldn't be in his head, for this was all just a lie and a dream. Perhaps he is just in the normal gallery and he had passed out or something or maybe, he was still in his bed sleeping peacefully.

That would be something he would rather happen… there would be no way that he would accept that he would have passed out if this had happened. Growling softly, the youkai refused to believe that he could have passed out or to even accept that it had even happened in the first place. He wouldn't have that kind of thing to taint his honour as a youkai. The thought of Inuyasha finding him passed out sent chills up his spine, though not the kind you would get with fear. Far from it, more along the lines that he was so angry that his anger could not go any hotter, but went colder if that made sense.

Shaking his head, the young man knew that he would have to hurry up and leave this empty hallway. It had nothing here, and it bothered him to see such an empty hallway. To him, every hall, no matter where it was, had to have something. Like a window or some kind of picture or painting. Either way, there would be something on the wall or he knew that it would be the way it should be. At least to him anyway, though that could mostly be because he grew up around art and valued it in any shape or form.

Looking up, Sesshoumaru was surprised that he didn't see any kind of sky light… was this place underground or maybe it really was nothing more than some kind of dream… _'I may just need to keep going through with this dream just so I can get out of here sooner…' _thought Sesshoumaru before giving his head a small shake.

Looking ahead, he frowned a little when he saw a weird looking door. It was blue as the sky when the sun was up high. Did that mean that this was the exit? That would be interesting if that was the case but either way he knew that he would have to be careful since he still had that weird feeling about this place… like this was some other kind of world that was created by some kind of unknown power or strength of will. He couldn't really be sure what it was, but what he did know was that he would have to stay on his toes with this place for now…

After all, when in an unknown and new location, you need to be careful no matter where you are. He had to be on his guard, if only he had his sword with him but at the very least he had his claws… "What is with this place anyway?" asked Sesshoumaru, not really expecting any kind of answer in the first place.

He reached the door at long last, and reached for the door knob. Though, as soon as he had grabbed it, the door had flung open, though not like the last one had. No, in fact this one had been opened from the other side for something had thrown itself at him. From what he could make out of his attacker, it was… _'A woman in a picture frame?'_ It was, a woman, the upper part of her body sticking out of a golden frame, she wore a blue dress and had bright blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She had thrown herself at him and tried to attack him by swinging her arms. For a painting, it was strong as any demon he had ever faced in his entire life.

The woman in blue let out weird grunting sounds, as if she was trying to grab at something though he couldn't be sure what it was. Not as of yet anyway… either way, he knew that he had to push her back with all his strength but damn it, she was strong. "Get off of me!" shouted Sesshoumaru using his youkai strength to throw her off of him before jumping back up onto his feet. This was not what he had in mind when he had walked through this place. Okay yeah he wanted to see art but art that came to life!?

Before he knew it, the woman in blue leapt at him once again and tried to grab at him, as if she was after something on his person. Whatever this thing was after, he didn't know but he wouldn't let this person have it… wait, could it even be considered a person? Nah. Growling darkly, Sesshoumaru swung his claws at the woman in blue hoping to scare it off though it seemed that she… it… was braver than he gave credit for she kept on trying to attack him for some kind of item on his person. This was not going down very well… he should have won by now.

Rather, the woman in blue seemed to be using more strength, to the point of it matching the power of a full youkai. How is that even possible?! There is no way that some kind of painting like this could have any kind of demonic energy and yet here it was, proving him wrong. Shaking his head, Sesshoumaru lifted his leg and kicked the woman in the face, hoping that would shake her off or at least get her to leave him alone. So far that did little to no good for it seemed that she only bit his ankle causing him to slam his leg into the walls, hoping that would get her to let go of him. Damn it! What was with this thing in the first place?!

Before he knew it, the woman reached out at him, trying to grab at something once again. Was there something on him that it wanted? Whatever it was, it had to be important or it was after it for another reason. He didn't know nor did he really care about what it wanted only that he wanted the stupid thing off of him before it ruined his pants!

Growling darkly, Sesshoumaru spun around to build up momentum and slammed his leg into the wall one last time, causing the creature to fall off and land on the ground unmoving. Was it dead or simply knocked unconscious? It had him curious for he knew for a fact that it couldn't have killed a youkai if this thing, of course had the power of one but did it also mean it was a youkai? He walked over toward the creature, careful to make sure that if it made any sudden movements, he would kill it without a problem. He just had to be careful was all and of course be prepared of the whole thing.

Carefully, _very_ carefully, Sesshoumaru examined the creature, wondering what it really was. There had to be something special about the whole thing though he didn't know what it was. To him, all it looked like was a woman crawling out of the painting and nothing more… was it some kind of spell or perhaps it was all just part of his dream. He didn't know nor did he really care. Tilting his head, he had to admit for a human, she was beautiful but not enough for him to really feel sorry for her.

Her blonde hair covered her face so he couldn't really make out any details only that to him, she looked like a normal human woman that wouldn't stand out in a crowd. Not a very large crowd anyway so the best bet is to just finish off the creature before he continued on with his journey. Standing up, the youkai held out his claws as he got ready to strike but before he could the young woman-looking creature jumped up and swiped her hand at him.

Before he could react, Sesshoumaru saw her rushing off in what looked like she was crawling. Guess without having legs that was all the creature could do but either way, she was fast. Tilting his head at the retreating creature, Sesshoumaru checked his body to see if she had placed anyone on him or if she had caused him any kind of damage that would require him to rest in any way…

"Wait… the rose is gone…" Sesshoumaru said with a frown. That explains the weird feeling of his life moving through the area. Shrugging to himself, the youkai didn't really think that it would have mattered much to him anyway, nothing worth his troubles to try to find the rose in the first place.

"May as well keep walking." He said to himself before continuing down the hall. Now he could go back to his quest to get the hell out of here and make sure that he would have this place wiped from his memory and nothing more and nothing less. As he walked though, Sesshoumaru couldn't help but feel a sense of unease and… lifelessness if that was possible. It felt like he was empty inside, like there was something wrong with him and there was just something wrong in general though he didn't know what it could be.

Soon, he started to feel pain in his chest. Odd, he shouldn't feel any kind of pain like that, let alone in his chest… Stopping for a moment, Sesshoumaru placed a hand over his chest, right over his heart before shrugging it off and started to walk on forward once again. Only to stop when he felt the pain starting to worsen. What was wrong with him? How can he, the great Sesshoumaru feel a pain that was unknown to youkai? Gritting his teeth, the silver haired youkai felt the pain spreading all over his body, feeling like his body was being run over with a steam roller over and over again for months.

Vision started to blur, the pain was becoming unbearable and it made him want to vomit what little he had in his stomach at this moment. Breathing deeply, the youkai leaned against the wall, hoping that would support him until he could get further away from this hall, thinking that was the cause of the pain that he was feeling.

No wait… did it have anything to do about the… no that's just silly! It wasn't possible and it broke the laws of physics and he knew that! Yet, that was the only thing that he could conclude to be the problem of his pain. Gritting his teeth once again, Sesshoumaru fell to his knees before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and that was when his world became dark…


End file.
