~*~

MEANWHILE ~ (Sanemi's POV)

"Dammit, Kumeno....."

Walking for a while towards the end of the long, dark hallway, I soon found a tatami-floored room. Stepping inside I felt the scent growing stronger by every step I took, finding it suffocating to even breath in. 

But, "What is this?" frowning at the strange sight.

Staring ahead there was a petite woman, long black hair piled on her head. She was bustling around the room with urgency in her steps, tending to six beds that stood in a neat row. Four children and two Demon Slayers lay in the beds, covered in linens so white, like they've been cleaned many times.

What caught my attention was two of the children and one of the Slayers were no longer breathing; flies had settled on their eyeballs and maggots crawling on their bodies. The children who were still alive had wasted away to skin and bones and stared hollowly at the ceiling with clouded eyes. The surviving Demon slayer, lying in the bed farthest to teh right, was wrapped in blood-soaked bandages. His groans in agony made my blood boil, soon before a violent fit of coughing overtook him and vomited after.

"Oh dear me!" The woman exclaims, in dismay. "It came back up again, did it? you poor dear." She wiped away the mess with a gentle hand, before giving the Slayer some water from the pitcher in hand. Just seeing the slayer trying to drink, he was too weak to swallow, as it dribbles from the corners of his mouth. Wiping the sweat from his temple, the woman soon propped him up on some pillows.

Without wasting another second, the woman turns to the girl in the next bed and began to comb her greasy hair. "We'll make you look cute, all right?" She lovingly smiles, as her dainty fingers run through the locks and began braiding the girls hair. Her words, her gestures were maternal, but she was no human mother. 

Her white fangs flash behind her amicable smile, and her eyes were crimson red.

"I'll always be here to take care of you," The woman half-sang, stroking the girls head delicately. Her head soon perks up turning towards me, "Oh! That's right! A new boy's come to join us. Please get along nicely, everyone." making my jaw clench tightly.

Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear from her, reveals the characters 'Lower One' inscribed in her left eye.

My stomach sank for a moment recognising those markings, as slayers been warned about those characters. Narrowing my eyes, I soon found my proof that this demon reported directly to Muzan Kibutsuji, "You're one of the twelve Kizuki,"

This was no ordinary demon for that fact. This was a demon with the greatest concentration of Muzan Kibutsuji's blood. A thrill of pure hatred made the hairs on my arms stand on end, feeling my blood boiling than cowering away. This demon has no right to live, especially ones that serve beneath the king himself.

Resting my hand around the hilt of my Nichirin Sword, i draw it out and charged towards the woman without hesitation.

Raising my blade I locked onto her slender neck, gathering every bit of strength to my attack to one single point. Avoiding my attack from the victims within the room, I swore to never show mercy towards the woman. The demon suddenly waved her slim arm and deflected my attack sharply, causing the crimson flower in her hair to flutter with the kiss of wind.

"Wha--"

Surprised by this, my eyes were widen and frustrated at the same time.

"Tee hee hee! No mischief, now!" The woman sneers, making the corner of her red lips to curl in a smile. Her smile, blossoming like a flower, was like a gentle rebuke to a naughty child.

Glaring towards her, "What'd you do with Masachika?!" demanding for her answer.

"Masachika?" She frowns briefly, her eyes were innocent for a moment. "Oh, I didn't want that one. Only you, my dear. Your little friend is doing just fine. He's looking for you, but he'll give up and go home soon enough..."

What does she mean? Why me?

The demon peers through my eyes as if searching through me, "Poor darling," She murmurs to herself. Her slender long fingers reach over, grazing over my cheek for a moment, causing me to jump back avoiding her. Readjusting my grip on my blade, my jaw clamped down tightly.

The demon brought her her fingers to her lips, with her cold empty eyes narrowing with amusement, "You were treated cruelly by a parent, weren't you? I can always tell from the eyes. Your father? Mother? Or....perhaps both?"

From the insult of my mother, my blood boiled hotly gripping my blade.

"Monster!!!!!" Swinging my blade wildly, my eyes blazed and wide. "You can go to hell!"

"Dear me, there's no talking to you, is there?" with little effort, the demon dodged my blow. "That won't do. A child mustn't fight his mother." She laughed gently, before that sickly sweet scent grew thicker stinging my nose.

Blinking my eyes for only a split second, the room suddenly transformed. A gasp shortens in my throat, staring at the walls as they became slabs of pulsating red-black flesh. The clean white beds where the demons victims were, lay pale, flappy lumps, like overripe fruit. Grimacing at the stench, my attentions back to the bitch.

"What is this foul place?" I grimace, lowly.

"My belly," Her voice remained steady and kind, her smile never wavered or changed from before. "You're inside me now, my child."

"Huh?" furrowing my brows, I was in disbelief. 

She arches a delicate brow, "You doubt your mother? What about now?" before a burbling sound reaches my ears, noticing the bodies of the three dead children sank into the lumps on which they lay. The walls of flesh pulsed with even greater strength, than before. The smell burned my nose more, wanting to block the smell but the sight was worse.

The demons red tongue flicks out licking her luscious lips, "Delicious,"

"What'd you do with them?" I question, my voice low with anger.

She smirks, "Why, I ate them of course," The demon replies, amicably. "I sent them into the depths of my womb. Now we can be together forever." She sighs, contentment lacing her soft voice while pressing her hand against her breast.

The urge to vomit threatened my stomach. Never have I felt disgusted by a demon, and my will to have this demons head grew stronger by the wasting second. I won't be satisfied, till this bitch falls at my feet.

"Enough!!!! "I snarl, baring my teeth. "Quit this sick Mommy act right now!"

"Act? Oh, dear," The demon shook her head. "It's the honest truth. Illness stole my own dear daughter from me. Now, in her place, i ease the suffering of children not blessed with kind loving parents. You see, I can always tell which ones they are. The pain they've suffered. How sad they've been. I take these poor children as my own and become their beloved mother."

"Don't give me that!" I spat bitterly. "What kind of a mother are you? You call this caring?!"

After keeping my focus on the woman, at the corner of my eye I noticed one of the demon slayers awake and still awake. His eyes looked weak and hazy, crawling on his belly while propping himself upon his elbows. A weak moan slipped past the the slayers lips, as I soon recognise the slayer.

"You....." my eyes widen, recognising the young man's face. He was from the final selection. His name was Uraga. He'd been strong and hearty.

"Shinazugawa," Uraga whispers, barely there. His was windpipe must be crushed. "H....help.....me" his arm reaches out, seeing how malnourished he was. How long since he's been here?

The demon's face falls flat from her kind expression, before marching towards Uraga with a threatening aura. Raising her hand baring her sharp nails, she went to claw at his throat, but i sharply stepped in and grabbed him before landing her strike on him. Surprisingly Uraga was light, he made it easier to dodge the attack and took a few steps away. Setting him down I felt his hand weakly tug on my uniform, as I held him protectively.

"My girlfriend.....waiting for me..." Uraga's clouded eyes, weakly meet mine. "Please. I don't. Want to.....die....Don't want...."

For a moment thinking back on seeing Uraga last they met, I recall that Uraga never got along with his own parents. His mother in particular. Despite everything he went through, he'd dreamed of starting a family of his own as soon as he could. Gritting my teeth in frustration, I was really in a tough bind.

In his condition, even if Uraga could get immediate medical treatment, he had perhaps a fifty-fifty chance of survival. 

"H......elp.....me," Uraga groans again, as my hand rests over his for a moment.

"It's okay, Uraga. Don't talk," Reluctantly, I pull my hand away from his own.

"So you've abandoned your mother, then?" The demon assumes, with a flat voice. She sent the weak slayer an icy piercing glare. "Just like her. Honestly, I have such ungrateful children. All the time I spend on you, and for what? Such a bother. Well, if you're going to betray me, you can get out of my sight this instant. There's no point in you being alive anymore. i don't want you. Go ahead and die!"

Glaring at her, "What are you rattling on about?'

Suddenly I felt Uraga moving in agony, as he was spasming while cradling his head in his hands, "Ahhhhh....ahhhh!" Uraga cries out, moaning and groaning. 

"Hey!" I panic, grabbing Uraga's shoulders and tried to shake him out of it, wondering the hell was going on with him. What was she planning to do?

Tears fill Uraga's eyes, "Shi......nazu....ga...wa......" he weakly looks up up to me, with pleading eyes. His eyes swimming in tears.  Then he shook is head faintly as if resigning to his own fate, as a smile spreads across his tear-streaked face. "It's no use........No one.....can betray....Mother..."

Suddenly he pulled a dagger from his uniform. In one swift motion, he slashes his own throat as blood coaxes over me. Crimson red stained my white haori, and across my face while I stare in horror, "Uraga!!!!!"

The young slayer collapsed with one final breath, still spasming with pain.  Slowly he stopped moving, feeling my chest grow heavy seeing a fellow slayer dead. Tears trailed down his hollowed cheeks, which was only stretched skin over bone. Anger slowly rises within me, my breath becoming erratic.

"You......" A deep growl leaves my lips, trembling with anger. "What did you do to Uraga?!"

"Dear me, what are you so upset about?" The demon's smile grew back, upon her red devilish lips. The gentleness returns to her pale skin. "That naughty boy tried to make me out to be the villain, don't you see? My only desire is to live happily ever after with my beloved children. he was trying to spoil our joy. He took advantage of my generosity. Dying is the least he could do to make up for that?"

The fuck is this bitch on about? This has gone too far, it's repulsive.....

Something snaps within me as my eyes dangerously met hers, "DAMN YOU!!!!!!!"

~*~

MEANWHILE ~ (Kumeno's POV:)

"Huh?"

Did I just hear Sanemi? Was that him?

Turning sharply around taking in the sound of the voice, nothing was in the line of sight to see him. Searching further back into the house again, I persisted to keep investigating around to find anything I missed. Taking my steps towards one particular room in the house, I found myself in front of the mirrored dresser that old man described. 

The thought somehow haunts me. If Yae had made the deal with the devil king himself, there might be a clue some here.

Crouching down in front of it, I noticed the mirror was covered by a thin embroidered cloth. The antique seemed normal, despite looking like any ordinary rosewood made furnishing. The handles on the drawers, were made of something that resembled the same metal ore  that is made into our Nichirin sword. If the dresser has been designed as a charm against evil, the artisan might very well have used iron from Mount Yoko. The iron itself, bathed in sunlight, held the power to repel demons.

Opening the drawer cautiously, it was found to be empty.

Curiously I reach inside and brushed my finger tips across the bottom and top, only to hear a slight rustling sound. "What is this?" frowning for a moment, I noticed something was stuck to the top of the drawer. Carefully peeling it away from the wood, so it wouldn't tear whatever that was inside. Finally having hands on the item, it turned out to be a piece of pulp paper, folded clumsily. Opening it expecting nothing much, my body froze.

Characters trailed along the page, written in red that dried to black:

~ Mother made me drink poison.....

~Mother burned my throat....

~ Mother boxed my ears.....

~Mother tore out my hair......

~Mother pulled out my nails....

~Mother broke my bones....

~Mother doesn't hug me.....

~Mother says she didn't want me....

~Mother says she loves me.....

~Mother is trying to kill me

Help me help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help help 

The characters towards the end were badly drawn, half scrawls.

My breath grew shaky in horror, my hand subconsciously holding my hand over my hand, almost dropping the paper. For a moment I panicked grabbing the paper with both hand, as a dry crackling sound fills the eery room.

What the-- What is this? Did her mother.....kill her?

Refusing to believe such a horrible fate for the child, and the twist of the story. Judging from the old man's story, this has been Sae's room. Yae killed Sae.......

Basically everything I've been told about the woman he was pitying, the noble woman in the story was only drenched in black. For a moment I stared at the mirror, assuming she must've  stared into the mirror the whole time, admiring herself. The picture-perfect image of motherly love, nursing her child. Then what about her husband? Had his death really been an accident? And who dug up Sae's body?

My breathe quickens like I ran a mile or more, the images were sickly and repulsive to imagine. 

The page was smeared here and there with long-dried tears, piecing things together. Has Sae bitten the end of her finger to write the note in blood? The characters seemed to writhe in pain, radiating terror and desperation of a girl not yet ten years old, living through a nightmare. My chest weighed heavily, finding this story far more agonisingly painful to imagine for the young child.

My vision blurs like a fade of white. The poor girl......She must've suffered terribly. She must have so afraid. A teardrop sinks into the paper, soaking the old paper. 

Suddenly the scent of the strong fragrance was slowly lifting, weakening allowing my mind to clear up yet again.  This time for a second or two, I heard his voice again. My heart pounded, feeling troubled by this gory story. Standing up quickly to my feet, "Sanemi! I can hear you!!!! Where are you?!"

Whirling around I couldn't see him, except when i draw my blade to aim at any threat, it caught on the fabric that draped over the mirror. The silk cloth slid off, drifting down to the tatami mat on the floor. "Seriously, masa," I spoke to himself, about to pick it up. I paused. A flash of something moving met the corner of my eye.

Lifting his head back up to look back at the glass mirror, "What?" gasping out in surprise. 

Looking in the reflection of the mirror, I saw Sanemi right behind me. 

He was standing in the middle of the room, facing a female demon--no, facing her.  For some reason, he had his blade turned in the wrong direction. The female demon's grin grows upon pale complexion, watching from a safe distance with glee. My skin crawls in response, "Sanemi! She's behind you!!!!!"

Turning my heel with my blade again towards the Demon herself, I cut through empty air, "What? But........they were right here!!!"

Perplexed, I turn back around to look in the mirror. In the room reflected here, Sanemi was attacking empty space with one technique after another. My eyes watch the female demon, watching with a devilish sneer. For a second I blink a few times repeatedly, noticing that I wasn't reflected within the mirror. Even the display case in the corner of the room was also missing.

Realisation hits me, "Thats not.....here,"

Was the mirror showing me a different room? Or an alternate world?

Leaning closer towards the mirror to get a better look, I noticed Sanemi had disappeared and replaced by the original reflection as I saw myself again. Surprised I quickly grab onto either side of the mirror frantically, "Wait Sanemi! Where'd you go?!"

Shaking the mirror more as I panicked, I suddenly stopped. The display case was there again in the corner of the room. There sat an incense burner on the top shelf. Glancing back over my shoulder, the case was empty. 

"What?" 

I was confused, and even more troubled by this. My mind is in turmoil, as I keep glancing at the mirror before staring hard at the glass. There was a reddish smoke wafting up from the incense burner. The sickly, rotten- but somehow fragrant scent hung in the air as it had since I set foot inside this building. "It couldn't be.......Was the scent coming from this burning?" murmuring to myself. 

Help......

A soft whisper fills my head causing me to looking around, but the voice was faintly pleading in my head.

What was that?

~*~

MEANWHILE ~ (Sanemi POV)

"Dammit!!!!"

Cursing under my breath the demon deflected another of my attacks, as I kept attack for a while hoping to land a blow on her. "Why can't I hit her?"

"You are a little fool, aren't you?" The demon sneers, as if she's lecturing me like a child. "I told you before, you're inside my belly. No one can hurt me here."

I don't believe her, I refused to believe it. However she was right for the last part, because my own blade could never touch her. The fleshy walls around me seemed impervious to damage. Those walls even swallowed up Uraga's corpse. I can't even bring his body back, to return to his girlfriend who would be waiting for him. The thought ate away at me. This is pathetic! Wrong!

"Do be a good boy and settle down," The demon urges, with her usual amicable tone. "You're my child now. Mother will keep you safe. She'll be with you forever. You can stop all this pointless fussing. Come now, I'll give you a hug. Or maybe you'd prefer a lullaby."

"Shut up!!!" I snap, with a groan. She's toying with me, and I knew damn well she is. She hasn't even made a move in attacking me, only enjoying my failure. She's only letting myself steady my strength and mind, as if no matter how hard or strong I use my attacks, it's pointless. 

Especially in this pulsating and insufferable room......

To even have a chance in defeating her, I would have to get out of this place. But how? Questioning more than getting answer, everything was becoming futile in the end. My hand gripped my blade, my breath grew unsteady while coming up with two plans. To get myself out, and get the kids out.......

At the corner of my eye I noticed the last two children. The boy was sick and