"Forgive me father for I have sinned..."

The blond male recites while his body convulses and blood escapes through his mouth. His amethyst-eyes are fixed on two pools of burning ambers while his mind is flooded with a myriad of images and thoughts. I was born to a family who utterly believes that the destiny of humans is to fight vampires and kill them for our survival.

Legends are one of the pillars that support humankind's need to explain anything beyond their comprehension. However, legends present the unique alternative that while they cannot be proven true, they cannot be completely ignored or dismissed; such is the case of that of vampires. Vampires have fascinated and struck fear into the hearts of mortals since they are considered supernatural beings. For some, they are a cursed race. For others, fallen angels. In either case, it is the destiny of humans to fight them and kill them for our survival.

I never cared to understand if vampires are a cursed race or fallen angels; vampires are a threat to humans. Thus, they must be annihilated. The problem with this philosophy is that vampires are difficult to spot. What I meant is that everyone believes vampires cannot stand sunlight, or are killed simply by spraying holy water or using garlic; however, they are able to walk during daylight. The sun, holy water and garlic have no effect on them.... the clever suckers. There are only two ways to kill a vampire. The first, which is the simple and more effective one (any moron can do it) is with a swift blow to the head with a metal object. However, unless it is a sword made of silver that has been tempered with the five elements or four depending on what ideology you are verse on, Eastern philosophy (Japanese) claims five elements: earth (Chi), fire (Ka), water (Sui), wind (Fu), and void (Ku). Western philosophy claims four: Air, fire, water and earth, the task of severing the head would be a piece of cake or a monumental effort. If ordinary metal is used, you have to make sure you posses superhuman strength with an enchanted sword any idiot may claim the glory.

The second, which is the most difficult to carry out, is with a vanishing gun. The gun, again, is made of pure silver and only shots silver bullets inscribed like the swords with the sigils of the elements. It might seem a little obvious that it is easier to carry a gun nowadays than a fucking sword. However, the difficulty lies not on the size of the weapon or visibility, but with a sword all one has to do is aim for the neck and delivers the swift blow. But with the gun, one must aim for the heart while chanting a sutra to vanish the death. While any idiot can carry a gun, not every one may chant sutras accurately. Only the holiest of men are versed on the art of chanting sutras and there are not many of those left on this planet of sinners—including yours truly.

Like I said before, spotting a vampire is very difficult since they look like your average human with the exception that all of them are beautiful creatures. That's one reason the legends tend to make them fallen angels more often than a cursed race. The only difference between a human and a vampire is the number of chromosomes they carry. We humans normally have 46 chromosomes while vampires range between 50 to 120 chromosomes. And unless a handheld and undetectable device to measure chromosomes is created anytime soon, there is no way they can be easily identified. One way to detect them is by the exotic color of their eyes and hair. While it is not an exact science since some humans, too, sometimes are born with such exotic features, ninety percent of the time it is a vampire. One trait that is true among all legends is their strength and agility. They seem to move defying the laws of gravity and time since they do not age like we humans do despite all our efforts and scientific advances to slow the aging process. Once a vampire has reached his/her twenties, they seem to be perpetually young unless they are over centuries old then some signs of minor aging can be found. Therefore, it is difficult to maintain well organized data on vampires by any organization of vampire slayers. However, we do our best to keep our archives updated so that we can identify a vampire through the non aging trait.

Another way to identify a vampire is through his/her fangs; however, the only way a vampire may show fangs is while feeding. Again, contrary to popular beliefs, vampires are not the starving, blood sucking creatures legends have painted them out to be. They eat food like any normal human requiring only feed on blood only once or twice a year. Vampires only feed on blood to renew their life force and, if the vampire has a mate, there is no need for them to feed on anyone else since they share their blood; thus, replenishing their own life force among themselves. Unless a vampire is injured or his/her survival threatened, there is no need to go on blood thirsting hunts. Therefore, it is also hard to catch a vampire during feeding time and thus confirm that it is a vampire. While there is always an exception to every rule, vampires keep pretty much their identities well hidden. The most powerful go to the extreme to wear magical devices to control their powers so they appear as normal as any human being.

Then, there is the difficulty to deal with half-breed, children of taboo the union of a vampire and a human being. Another false belief is that a vampire can turn a human being into one of them by just drinking their blood and then mixing it with his own. A human cannot become a vampire nor a vampire become human. However, it has been noticed that by sharing blood, human life can be increased by a hundred years the normal life span. However, the union between a human and a vampire can produce offspring that are neither completely human or vampire. They do not need magical devices to control their power. They seem to possess all of the strengths of the vampires and the weakness of the humans since they are very prone to illnesses and their life span is a middle ground between humans and vampires. Which makes me wonder…? How do you kill something that is technically human?

I was born better yet breed to be a vampire slayer. I cannot complain about my childhood. I had everything my heart desired. Nothing was spared to make my wishes come true except the warmth of a loving and caring family. Although, in their own way, my parents did love me and cared about me—just not in the conventional way. At any rate, how much can you expect from British Nobility? I was born in London into the House of Wettin, first son of the Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels; my name is Lord Konzen. How old I am is not important. What matters is that once I turned thirteen years of age, my parents sent me to India to study under the tutelage of Kyoumon Sanzo. For the next four years, I became his star and favorite pupil. When he passed away, he left me to inherit his title. And, from that day forward, I received the holy name of Genjo Sanzo. I have traveled all over the world learning all sort of magical and martial arts techniques. I have traveled to America and studied the Native American spiritual ways. Then, a year ago, I went to Japan to hone my martial art skills. Since then, my life changed… forever.

"Forgive me father for I have sinned. I fell in love with my enemy…"

TBC

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Saiyuki that totally and unashamedly appear on this fan fiction. They are the product of Kazuya Minekura's wonderful imagination. However, the plot is totally my selfish desire to get some romantic thrills, which are only alluded to or implied, on her creative work.

Author's Notes: The following story is inspired by a fan fiction written by Iapetus Somewhere I Belong. I like to thank HARPGO and Pyrite for their great job at editing my horrors. While HARPAGO started helping me with this story, she had to decline to continue supporting me due to some previous commitments. However, thanks to the goddess Pyrite step in to help me finish and continue with this story.