The Blasphemy Of Blood began nearby. Seven well-dressed bodies were tied to stakes by thorns and barbwire, blood pouring from their constantly reopening wounds. The witches danced around the bodies who screamed for mercy, spouting out nonsense about bribes and such. Underneath them were logs that were to be lit on fire after the rituals were finished. The lower halves of the bodies would be burned while the rest of it would be carved in. Seven privileged members of the clan would then devour the heart of the person before them. Tonight, the members were in their finest clothes in the colors of their elements.

Orange-trimmed red for fire, black on black for darkness, white-trimmed silvery blue for lightning, gold-trimmed white for air, blue and blue for water, brown-trimmed green for earth, and purple-trimmed blue-white for spirit. There were no mages of light here. This was a dark clan full of people who specialized in different things. Only a select few were born with the mage blood. Two siblings who were included in the ritual tonight, were the strongest in the clan.

The members of the clan weren't all related by blood, more or so through ancient treaties between families and marriages but these two siblings, Tyler and Mavis Devereaux, weren't related to anyone in the clan in any way at all. Mavis had decided to come here and Tyler, her older brother, accompanied her. Mavis Devereaux was immediately noticed for her immense beauty with light tan skin, short night black hair, and icy blue eyes with cat-like pupils and silver sprinkled throughout irises that held dark but wispy strokes of black. Her brother Tyler Devereaux was also beautiful with the same dark hair and light eyes. Their skin are the exact same shade and they were close in height when they first came here.

It's been five years since the Devereaux came and Mavis is feared throughout the clan for her immense and incalculable power. Her hair grew out, though no one knows how long it is because she is rarely seen without her cloak, a long, expensive-looking, always clean, black piece of clothing it was, hiding her eyes in the shadow of the hood. The last person who tried to remove the hood was found dead the next day but no one questioned her. She can use all the known elements other than light but mainly specializes in darkness. Mavis knew some light spells as in healing and the such but wasn't very good at things of that sort. Tyler however was capable of light magic but never ventured into it, instead following his area of expertise: Fire

No one could compete with his fire which could change black when combined with his sister's darkness and would become impervious to water magic. Now the two at together, as was custom with the positions of fire and darkness, their robes perfectly fitting onto their toned and slender bodies. Tyler had grown taller and was now a full head taller than his powerful younger sister who's robes were on over her cloak. Cecil Ravenblood, a boy older than Mavis but eternally indebted to her though she never said so herself, came with the ceremonial knife to kneel respectfully with his head bowed behind Mavis on her left, ready to carve out the heart of the victim. Cecil was a spirit user, one of the few in the clan's village, but constantly refused to be the spirit mage in the ceremony that occurred on the seventh day of each month every year.

The seven victims were based on the seven catholic sins and since the Clan fancied themselves and the Neo-Catholics, they offered the hearts of the seven unlucky sinners to the seven powerful users of the elements. Darkness would consume Wrath or also known as Anger. It was always like that and Fire would take the heart of Pride. Another traditional pairing. Tyler himself despised people who committed the sin of Pride. It irritated him to an almost homicidal degree that would easily be tamed by the mere touch of the small, light tan hand of Mavis, the one who was always calm and collected.

Mavis rarely spoke. She didn't speak when she first came and those who claim to have heard her voice say it is the sweetest and most intoxicating thing they have ever heard. The people often expressed how they deeply desired to hear her voice in song, though all the clan members knew that Mavis sung but didn't sing. She had once revealed, in simple nods and gestures, that she had in fact sung before and liked it, but refused, in shakes and more gestures, to sing for anyone. Her name meant Song-Thrush and years ago, in the beginning when people were vigorous in their attempts at making her speak, people would use that on her.

They would often repeat something along the lines of stating the common belief among the clan members: Your name was connected to your fate.

That superstition never bothered Mavis at all. See, the tell-tale sign of a bad mood or anger in Mavis is when her right hand twitches ever so slightly. Everyone in the clan, especially past victims, have trained their eyes to look for this twitch, this almost unnoticeable movement.

Her eyes right now looked glazed and glossy, unseeing though seeing. Cecil's stark white eyes with the lightest hints of lavender and blue flashed to her as the ceremony was picking up and oldest fire mage lit the fires with a mere glance. With a sigh, the blind boy with messy brunette hair began to discreetly nudge her. Tyler glanced at him through the corner of his eye, receiving the look on Cecil's face, a familiar look.

Another thing to Mavis: She fell asleep with her eyes open during important events. It was her thing. No one really knew other than Cecil, Tyler, and a few select people that the clan described to be the "Outcasts In The Affection Of Darkness" referring to how said people were usually outcasts and to Mavis using the Darkness while also harboring an affection for the outcasts.

Mavis's soft, pouty lips parted ever so slightly and her eyes, unseen by anyone but Cecil and Tyler due to the very helpful hood's shadow, were completely glazed, glossy like the glass eyes of a porcelain doll with light tan skin, flawless and fragile looking. However, everyone knew better than to assume that Mavis was frail or fragile. Taunting Mavis would be a fatal mistake as well. Her breathing was steady and her eyelids drooped to a half lidded stare, the blue hues of her eyes seeming to move silkily in the creamy shade they had changed to. Cecil threw a pleading glance to Tyler who sighed and sent a little waking flame on the exposed skin of her bare feet. All of the seven privileged wore no shoes during the ceremony.

Calmly, she sent a death glare in a warning, her right hand twitching a little from its place on her right thigh, also letting the two boys know she was fully awake and a little angry with them for having used fire on her. Cecil was learning to use air, even though he was skilled with spirits and gifted with the ability to see, just as Mavis can, spirits and auras even though in practical terms he was blind. The boy was already picking up well from his also skilled tutor, Mavis, whose best element second to darkness was air. A small cloud of darkness formed around the burn mark, which weren't severe in any way, and began healing it. Mavis was the first and currently the only dark mage who had learned to use the powers of the dark to heal their wounds. Usually, the darkness would only heal its users if the users were in life threatening situations. Mavis, on the other hand, was viewed to be absolutely loved by the powers of darkness. Clan members took this as no surprise of course and neither did Cecil, Tyler, and the other's in the "Affection Of Darkness" see it as unexpected. Tyler had already told the clan in a meeting about Mavis that before she learned to walk, she was already controlling the darkness and being saved by it. That was the only thing the clan was ever let know about the past of the Devereaux siblings. Tyler was easier to get along with as long as he didn't see you as a threat to Mavis or if you were a male advancing on said little sister.

The boy was very protective of Mavis, especially since her beauty was still something people talked of, causing boys from families new to the clan would come running to see her. Not that Mavis ever showed any outward signs of having or even desiring a relationship with others, let alone an intimate one, or to indulge in the carnal pleasures that a partner could offer. Most of the time when approached by people like royalty from far away countries who have heard of her beauty, she would fall asleep and Tyler would answer for her. Mavis never got much sleep during the night, she was always awake and training with the elements, or was reading a book of magic but it was more like her body was trained to be nocturnal. During their travels before coming to the clan, Mavis had trained her body to move with Tyler when it was asleep during the day but at night she was fully awake and on guard. Tyler often awoke to a destination further from where he fell asleep and would find out that Mavis had, in fact, carried him and all their essentials on her back during the night. Sometimes she would check into a hotel, leaving Tyler on a bed before falling asleep under said bed when day time came. Of course, Tyler would wake her up to go running or to exercise with him. During this time, she never wore a cloak like she did now.

Mavis nearly yawned but remained still until the ceremonial bells rung and the drums were hit with large bats. The fire was put out by the same old man who started it and the cutters rushed forward, neatly carving out the still beating hearts of the dying people, killing them of course. Tyler had a cutter who was also in the "Affection Of Darkness" named by Mavis as Aiden. Aiden practiced fire under Tyler and Mavis as his tutors and his named meant 'Born Of Fire' which fit him because he was a half-breed demon with red eyes and messy dirty blonde hair, born from a fire mage and a demon. The powers of fire were handed down to him by his father and his demon blood allowed him to pick up quickly like Cecil did. Cecil is a human and this makes a difference because he can hold his own, like all the others in Mavis's care.

Tyler and Mavis were both demons, but an incident that occurred when Mavis encountered a vampire changed this so she was now a vampire-demon who knew the elements. She still aged and would until her set age, nineteen, when she would end the aging process. Tyler was also immortal as she was, but because of his demon blood. Aiden was eternally grateful to Mavis for saving him from a vampire and for taking care of him, even now. He was younger than her by a year but was taller than her, looking older.

Said blonde came back with the heart on a red plate in unison with Cecil who brought it on the black plate. They kneeled before Tyler and Mavis, holding the plate up with their heads bowed. Mavis and Tyler, also in unison almost like twins, took the plate with a thankful nod and began to devour. However, before Mavis would eat the heart, she made the sign that was tattooed onto her left shoulder of a reversed cross on top of a pentacle and surrounded by roses, though when she made the sing, she left out the roses since that was impossible to show with her fingers. Etched into her skin by a burning knife and then inked over as a tattoo across the horizontal part of the cross, was 'Forever the Cain of Darkness and the Kira of Light.' in pretty slanted writing. Kira was how the Japanese would pronounce the English word 'Killer' so the person who had captured her at the time, the vampire who changed her, carved the saying into her skin with a hot, burning knife that steamed the skin and a poison, not at all lethal of course but with the right dosage that prevented the wounds from healing, that came from a rare and exotic place laced the blade.

The vampire had been Japanese and neither Tyler nor Mavis knew his name. Mavis had been little back then. Very young actually, about seven years old, three years before she came to the clan when she was eleven and Tyler was fourteen. Now she is sixteen and Tyler is nineteen years old, both already honored as powerful beings. Now Mavis devoured the heart of wrath, the delicious blood, still warm from life and the fire the victim had been killed in, flowed into her mouth as she bit into it, her fangs piercing the organ instantly. Her eyes acquired a scary looking glow to them and turned gold, an eye color that her eyes changed to sometimes, with the pupils becoming thinner. Cecil walked away to assume his kneeling position behind her where he was before. After the ceremony, the seven members were free to do whatever though it would be looked upon well if they were to stay. Mavis didn't care about this of course and went to her home with Tyler, Cecil, and Aiden, to be greeted at the door by the twin girls Zelene and Selene. Both vampires but thanks to monthly tastes of Mavis's blood, they could walk in the light whenever they pleased. Selene used water while Zelene used earth and both were very skilled with their elements. They were also people who had been saved by Mavis, who now greeted them by returning their embrace before walking away to summon her familiar spirit, Luciano. Luciano used lightning for his element, often attacking from the sky when he flies on long, black wings with the ability to assume physical form due to being a very powerful familiar with an also powerful master to serve.

All familiars can assume at least one or two physical forms but Luciano can assume any form he wishes while other usually appear as animals. He can appear as something on the border line that separates animals and humans. Now, he was in his true form, the form of a Fallen Angel since he was as such with long, jet black wings, the sleek feathers flowing around the room as he kneeled down in a pentacle that hovered above the red carpet floor. His hair was a soft, long, silky black waterfall of night down his back reaching his hips on his slender but muscular frame, thick strands framing his face flowing over his strong shoulders and bangs reaching his chin parted neatly down the middle.

His fierce, cat-like green eyes seemed to glow, the irises lined with silver that also glowed like the hard to see tips of his flack feathers which were silver as well. Luciano, called Ciano for short by Mavis and many others, was tall and lithe with flawless sun-kissed skin, darker than both Mavis and her brother Tyler. He bowed his head before looking back up, "Good Evening Mavis, did you enjoy the Blasphemy Of Blood tonight?", she sighed and shook her head, "I see. What do you wish to do?", Mavis turned her head to look out the window, "Leave."

That was the first word she'd said in a long time. She hadn't spoken in a while, which was normal for her, but now that she spoke, Luciano was reminded of how lovely her sweet voice sounded but then remembered what she said, "Leave? Where?", she shrugged. All of the many clan members all lived on a remote island, unknown to the outside world other than through rumors of a beautiful and powerful mage, thus several people of royalty would call her out. The village leaders would then send her to a nearby island that was known to the world to reply to their requests. Of course, Mavis would always refuse and if she fell asleep, Cecil and Tyler would refuse for her. Always.

During the night when Tyler would sleep, she was sent on nightly missions. She'd come home just before he woke up and would crawl under his bed to sleep, something she did often. It was habit of her's she had carried with her all her life. Whenever they camped outside, on the scarce times when she wouldn't carry him to an inn, she would crawl into his sleeping bag, somehow finding her way to get under him. He would be awake whenever she did this and would just accept it. It was her way of reassuring herself that he was there.

Not that she couldn't sleep alone or was scared to, Mavis was fearless. Mavis just wanted to make sure that she was in range to protect her big brother, since she was more powerful than he was. She liked to be around to protect her brother and her friends which consisted of Aiden, Cecil, Zelene, Selene, Reno, Zero, and Luciano. All of whom felt grateful to her for varied reasons that usually were basically the same when you look past all the details. Luciano sighed and smiled at her as she released the circle, allowing him free movement around the room. Zelene and Selene, with their long chocolate brown hair and hazel eyes glazed in gold, burst in, "Did you talk!?", Zelene was the first to burst out while Selene followed suit, "About leaving!?", they were both very loud, not that it was a necessarily bad thing, and this alerted the others. Aiden, Cecil, Tyler, and the newly returned Reno and Zero, both were male twins and also indebted to Mavis, to the momentous discovery that Mavis had, in fact, spoken.

Luciano sighed as they all burst into the room, pushing over Zelene and Selene. They were all gifted in the ways of the shinobi so they were all over the place, hopping over the railing on the hallway since her room, their ultimate destination, was on the second floor, and jumping over the fallen bodies of the others until they all eventually stumbled, tumbling onto the carpeted floor with several thuds. Mavis watched this with her usual half-lidded stare, awake this time but apathetic and sleepy, until a sigh escaped her soft lips. She removed the bloodied and dirtied robes of tonight before she unzipped her cloak and set it on her bed, revealing her Chinese style kimono dress underneath with the high, stitched collar, short sleeves, long hem with slits from her hips to her mid-calves, the shorts underneath, and the dragon designs that covered the black kimono with red stitching.

She wore matching black gloves with fierce red dragons winding mighty bodies around the strong cloth. A power limiter, fairly strong and one of three, was a silver ring with a rather large ruby, the inside of the ruby inscribed with a reversed cross. On the left side of her dress, a reversed cross stretched along her torso, the horizontal bar of the cross on her slim waist. Mavis sighed and they all gazed at how long her hair had grown. The wondrous waterfall of perfect, straight, soft, silky, night black fell down her back, passing her hips a little and the bangs, a medium length fringe that hung over her eyes, which pierced like two stunningly beautiful blue lights through the night. Her gaze was steady and her long, curling black lashes were coated in flawless mascara while black eyeliner rimmed her eyes perfectly. Somehow, her skin retained its light tan, having gotten darker from the times she and Tyler would venture to some empty place where she would abandon her cloak to run in the sun, tanning a little in the process. She was still the same shade as her brother, both of them looking the same.

Reno and Zero were the last to enter the room. They were less eccentric compared to the others, especially the sisters Zelene and Selene who were their natural enemies in the house, but differed in personality ever so slightly. Reno was perverted most of the time while Zero was more serious and didn't think about perverse things like his brother. Both brothers were hot-headed and sometimes quick to anger, but often were analyzing their surroundings. Zero looked around and sighed in harmony with his brother who whistled, "Why is it that no one told me we were going to have some group fun? I love dog piles.", Reno mused, grinning like a wolf enticing an innocent rabbit. Mavis rolled her eyes before turning to look at the two platinum blonde with their red highlights and deep blue-violet eyes. Flawless sun-kissed, Euro-Hispanic skin.

Zelene was the tomboy whilst her sister, Selene, younger by two minutes, was more girly but not an air-head. Both have caramel skin, flawless as well, from an African mother and a French-Italian father. They were both known to be very helpful, helping around the village., and their very exotic beauty was something people often talked about. In fact, all the people in the "Affection Of Darkness" were very beautiful and talented, causing others to say that Mavis cultivated only beautiful ones. Of course this was a lie. Mavis wasn't purposely targeting beautiful and talented people, it just happened that way.

She just felt an affection for them that had nothing to do with physical appearance. Mavis now sighed as Zelene growled at Reno's comment, "Who would want to screw you, the thought of it disgusts me!", she laughed and Zero shook his head, knowing what was ahead, "An who would screw you, flat girls.", Reno retorted, also targeting Selene with the insult. Selene glared. It was true that the twin girls weren't as developed as Mavis was, but that gave the girls an innocence and this is what Selene used to reply, "At least people like us! We look innocent unlike you two delinquent brothers.", now she targeted Zero and being called a delinquent pissed him off, "Innocent, my sexy ass!", Reno yelled with a smug look. Zero smirked as well, "Neither of us are delinquents unless you count being sexy a crime, so I guess you are innocent.", they high-fived when the sisters just muttered a 'humph' as they crossed their arms and turned away, mumbling stuff along the lines of "Filthy morons."

Cecil finally spoke up after the bout between the four finished, "Is it true that you spoke Mavis?", he asked, innocent white eyes unseeing but seeing her image through the mind of her puppy, who now crawled onto her lap as she sat on the bed. Mavis looked up, "Yes I did, to Luciano.", the sound of her musical voice silenced everyone until Aiden broke the silence, "Say all of our names. We want to hear you say our names.", he said, which was true. Luciano had liked the sound of her voice speaking his name and the others wanted to hear it. Mavis blinked until Tyler nodded, "Yes and say Aniki!", the boy urged. She shrugged, "Aniki. Reno. Zero. Aiden. Cecil. Zelene. Selene. Luciano.", Mavis said apathetically while they all were happy like kids eating candy on Halloween as they were smiling and talking amongst each other about how awesome it was that Mavis had spoken at all. Luciano and Tyler however stepped out of the conversations to talk to Mavis. Tyler sat on the bed next to her and Luciano allowed his wings to disappear as he sat down on the floor by her, his head resting on her leg.

"I want to leave. Simple. But I want you guys to stay here. Luciano has to follow me anyways since he's my familiar but I want the rest of you to live here without me for a while, promise?", she asked, loud enough for everyone to hear. An awkward silence filled the air as Mavis awaited her answer. Everyone thought about it until Tyler broke the silence, "If we feel that you're in danger, through our mental links, you do know that we'll be there and go against our promises?", he asked softly before adding, "Plus, if Cecil predicts anything, we'll drag you, kicking and screaming, back to us.", Mavis nodded, "I understand.", she said before getting up, grabbing a soft black towel, and walking into her bathroom, starting the shower.

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Next Day

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Mavis awoke in her sleeping bag with the smell of food being cooked. She was outside, under a canopy of trees on the edge of a make-shift campsite in a baggy t-shirt and shorts, both of which were black, and no shoes. Her hair was dirty, though still silky and soft, and for a minute, Mavis thought she was traveling with her brother, years ago before joining the clan. Mavis was well-rested from actually sleeping that night while Luciano had carried her over the vast part of the ocean blue that separated the island of their clan from the land of the Buddhists, Shangri-La as it was called. She'd been here before of course, back then she didn't have Luciano as a familiar and it was only her, her brother, and later on her puppy, Isaac, who happened to be part demon, giving him the rare ability to assume either human form or the form of a large wolf that was a little bigger than a car and was capable of carrying several people. Back then, she had met a Sanzo priest at a temple and was completely surprised by his foul mouth, drinking, and smoking. She liked him for being unlike the other priests and before she left, she gave him a bracelet, saying that he wasn't allowed to change his ways or to forget her face.

How he responded was by dragging on his cigarette, blowing a cloud of smoke, and looking at her, then said "I understand.", before sliding it on his wrist. The bracelet was supposed to combine their fates together, though that wasn't her intention. She just wanted him to be her first friend. Isaac in dog form was cuddling up to her legs in the sleeping bag, still asleep. Mavis looked around to see that instead of her brother Tyler, it was Luciano cooking her some stew.

He looked over when he saw that she was awake, "Good morning Mavis. I just thought we'd have a little breakfast before heading over to the town nearby.", Luciano greeted, smiling. She nodded as he handed her a warm bowl as she sat up and exited her sleeping bag to sit on one of the logs that Luciano had brought over to serve as places to sit. Mavis took her seat on one next to the log Luciano was sitting on and ate the stew while conversing with Luciano on their future actions and what to buy when they get into town. All the time she was at the campsite, she had been thinking of the priest, Genjyou Sanzo, while she ate and took a bath in a river Isaac carried her to in wolf form a few miles east.

She sighed and dressed before simply walking back to the camp site, which wasn't too far since she was walking on air. Mavis put on her socks before sliding on her boots and looking down at her bracelet, one matching the obsidian stone one she gave to Sanzo, on the same hand as her power limiter. In a mirror, she checked all her ear piercings. A dangling pentacle on a short chain had a small, circular white back that she slid through the backing of the earring before doing the same for the backing to the reversed cross, black outlined in red, that swayed slightly from a chain a little longer than the right one. A rose stud above a ring in the top of her left ear served as her second power limiter while a her third one was one of the two cuffs on her right ear.

Luciano had already packed everything when she got there and Isaac was napping in human form, a form he felt comfortable in, with a collar around his neck. The little tag said 'Isaac' on it and the collar itself served as a power-limiter for him since he was still a demon. His cheeks had whisker marks on them, the third and last one just around where his upper lip was and he had pierced his right, human ear with a ring which a smaller, thinner ring on it that held a ruby sphere of bright red, which allowed perfect mental contact between him and Mavis over distances. Since he wasn't really a exactly like a human like other demons, he had two sets of ears and a tail that swished sometimes while he slept. Said ears are black with white tips and is pierced near the tip of his right ear.

Isaac woke up upon smelling Mavis's scent, which was strawberries and roses, and smiled at her, his canines like fangs that framed the corners of his rosy lips. His perfect sun-kissed skin went well with his night black and chocolate brown hair that held hints of orange in the sun and white tips at the ends of his messy spikes. In dog and wolf form, he has white paws and white tips on his ears and tail which carried over in his human form minus the white paws but his long, sharp black claws carry on instead. His tail wagged as he sat cross-legged, grinning with his large, multi-colored eyes. Isaac's right eye was golden while his left eye was blue like Mavis and Tyler's eyes, carrying silver and white specks in the irises. When Mavis used an excessive amount of power or was regenerating energy, her left eye would become gold. In fact, whenever she used magic, hard to notice gold edged her eyes and would begin to eat away at the blue until she finished, then the gold would just slowly go away. Isaac grinned wider as she pet him.

"Hey Mavis!", he said and hugged her fiercely with the vigor only a dog could muster. Luciano shot him a disapproving glance before picking up the big bag that held Mavis's sleeping bag and the one he used when he wanted to along with their supplies, money, and food. If they ran out of money, Luciano decided that he would return to the clan's island and take the money. Mavis just said that they could use credit. Isaac on the other hand, didn't really care about money. Besides, they would only have to pay for a single bedroom since Isaac could turn into a puppy and Luciano was a familiar spirit that could go invisible whenever he wanted or when Mavis told him to. This way they saved money and not take up too much space. The ring in Isaac's dog ear allowed him to see Luciano when he was invisible like Mavis could since she was his master.

Mavis picked up a different cloak, a looser cloak that wasn't form-fitting to the torso like her usual one, which was black with a chain on either side of the bottom of the hood connecting, belt loops to hold a black studded belt, and long sleeves that had zippers at the shoulders so that she could take the sleeves off when she got hot or didn't want them. She tied her long hair back with a ribbon then put on a black hospital mask over the lower half of her face, careful with her earrings as she pulled the elastic straps behind her ears, and shrugged into her cloak, buckling the belt and zipping up the torso, the rest of the cloak flowing closed without a zipper.

After Mavis finished, the three began to walk, idly talking about random things while Mavis still couldn't get the thought of Sanzo out of her mind, and took her randomly remembering Sanzo and thinking about him as a sign that she may see him soon. She believed in fate, though maybe not all of the superstitions of the clan she had left behind, and wondered if their fates were entwined.

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With The Sanzo Party

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Sanzo sneezed as he sat in the passenger's seat of the green jeep, Hakuryu, a dragon who turned into the aforementioned jeep they were in, while Hakkai, the owner of Hakuryu and possibly only person in the jeep who was even remotely sane though the way he smiled all the time was getting kind of creepy, drove while humming to himself, seemingly oblivious to the loud fighting in the back where Gojyo and Goku were having one of their famous arguments. The usual of course.

"Every time you sneeze someone's either thinking or talking about you.", Hakkai said cheerfully, receiving a grunt in reply which was barely audible due to the bickering in the back, "Ero Kappa! At least I don't look like a cockroach!", Goku yelled, "Baka Saru! Least I don't whine like a bitch about food all the time!", Gojyo replied. They were both standing up, "What'd you say!?", they both yelled, holding each other's shirt collars.

"Now now you two…standing up in the jeep is dangerous…..", Hakkai said, "Try to calm down…", he glanced at the vein showing in the priest's forehead, "Uh…Sanzo…", he tried to keep the angry blonde from trying to kill the two in the back but wasn't as lucky. Sanzo stood up and shot his gun in the space between them, sending them sprawling away from each other and falling their seats.

"Shut the fuck up or I'll shut both of you up myself!!", he threatened. The long sleeve of his yellow robes slid down his arm a little as he pointed the gun where he had shot only moments before and revealed a simple bracelet of polished obsidian on a stretchy black rope, usually used for bracelets like that, that ran as a thin chain through the slightly jagged stones to connect them together. Hakkai had never noticed it before and Gojyo brought up aloud what Hakkai had begun wondering.

"Hey is that a friendship bracelet Sanzo?", he asked then smirked, "So, who's the lady you've been hiding away, droopy eyes? She's pretty cute isn't she?", he asked. Sanzo glared back at him, pissed off that he was pretty close to the truth about the bracelet. The half-breed continued to urge him for more details until Sanzo crossed his arms, sitting in his seat. Hakkai glanced in the corner of his eye Sanzo staring down at his wrist, a sad, remorseful look of reverie in his droopy violet eyes. It was a look no one had seen before and that shocked Hakkai, though he said nothing and kept driving.

The town came into view so they stopped in the back, letting Hakuryu change back into a dragon that perched on Hakkai's shoulder before walking around the front into the lobby. Hakkai walked over with his cheery smile and checked the four in under Sanzo's name. Sanzo glared at him for this but walked up to the room with them, leaving their things in the room. Later, they play poker to figure out who got what bed, as usual. In the room, Sanzo took a warm shower, still staring at the bracelet around his wrist. It was always with him, in his pockets if not wearing it, and felt cool against the skin of his wrist as he showered. When he walked out, he saw a pack of cigarettes and his robes washed, probably by Hakkai because Hakkai was just that kind of guy. His kind and cheery composure made it almost hard to believe that this guy had killed one hundred demons in their sleep and became one due to his homicidal rampage.

He dressed before emerging from the shower in minutes, drying his sunshine colored hair and smoking a cigarette, "Saaaannzo……I'm hungry…", Goku whined from his place on the ground. Sanzo rolled his eyes and looked back down to his wrist where the bracelet was hidden. Having the bracelet pointed out to him again made him remember her and her face clearly. Sanzo had uncharacteristically kept his promise to her and wore the bracelet she gave him that matched her own. The priest had worn it since then like a second skin, almost forgetting its existence on his wrist or in his pocket but at the same time fully aware of it. He paused to glare at the brunette lying on the floor, having discarded his shoulder pads and in only his pants and shirt. Goku's shoes were haphazardly set down by Hakkai's neatly put ones and Gojyo was still wearing his while Sanzo's was by the bed, away from the door.

Another drag on the cigarette and another cloud of smoke from his lips before the cigarette was replaced where it had been, "Whatever.", he mumbled, not really caring about food.

Goku jumped up happily, "Yay food!!", he exclaimed, practically jumping into his shoes and urging the rest, "C'mon c'mon you guys! Let's go already!", the brunette monkey king yelled to his companions. Hakkai smiled and put on his shoes while Gojyo purposely took his time getting up from his chair, just to piss off Goku and of course it was working.

Sanzo didn't pay attention to their fighting as he put on his shoes and threw the towel he had used on the bed. He slipped off the bracelet into his palm and held onto it tightly as if his life depended on it, "Idiots.", the blonde said before walking out, Goku dancing around him until his paper fan came down upon his hand, "Ow! Sanzo! What was that for!", another smack and Gojyo laughed as he exited the room before Hakkai, who held the door like the gentleman he was.

The fan came down on the redhead before he knew it, "What the hell you rogue priest!", Gojyo yelled back, rubbing his head where Sanzo had hit him. Said 'rogue priest' continued walking, the fan hidden in one of those sleeves, somewhere in that robe of his. It was really hard to imagine that this guy was a priest at all. He sat down at a table, followed by the others who didn't hesitate in ordering their food. Sanzo ordered a drink and food for himself while the others ordered, Goku ordering several things on the menu, practically drooling from thinking about the food.

Sanzo played with the bracelet in his hand under the table, still smoking his cigarette. The doors to the restaurant-lobby opened and two people walked in. One was a boy with white-tipped, black dog ears and a tail that swished as he happily trailed behind the other one. This other one was cloaked, so the gender was hard to tell as the person gracefully walked towards the check-in desk with the dog boy following, his different colored eyes seeming to glow happily. They carried no luggage other than the mysterious cloaked person carrying a black backpack. Sanzo watched them, sensing power limiters on both of them but more than one on the cloaked person, also feeling a sense of familiarity. The cloaked person handed the backpack to the dog boy who slung one strap on his shoulder and his tail continued to swish. People watched the boy and wondered what was wrong with him.

Goku watched in amazement, "Whoa that's so cool!", he said in a low voice so that the dog boy couldn't hear with his most likely superior hearing. The dog boy continued to go about, oblivious to the whispering around him. The cloaked person unzipped the torso and unbuckled the belt before shrugging out of the heavy-looking black garment. Sanzo's cigarette nearly dropped when he saw the face of the girl revealed as the hood fell off and the cloak was handed to the dog boy.

"Name please?", the man at the desk asked. She regarded the man, uninterested with him and stared apathetically, "Mavis Devereaux.", she said simply. Now Sanzo's cigarette did fall down onto the ash tray, straight out of his mouth. It was her, it was Mavis.

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They arrived in town at around two in the afternoon. Luciano flew off with their things except Mavis's backpack and waited on the roof of the hotel for a signal. They thought it was fine to walk in with Isaac in the form he was in now, his human-demon form with dog ears and a swishing tail, inside. Luciano would wait on the roof with their things until they sent a mental message to him to come into the room. Mavis continued to think of Sanzo, feeling absolutely sure now that she would meet him in her travels. They came to the hotel and walked in, stared at by everyone. Mavis was about to snarl at them but then thought about what they were seeing: a boy with dog ears, a tail, and whisker marks with a mysterious cloaked figure wearing a mask and a hood that covers their eyes. Something you don't see every day.

Mavis walked up to the check-in desk to get them a room, taking off her backpack so she could get out of her cloak. It was bothering her that there were dozens of pairs of eyes burning holes in her back. Isaac didn't really mind that he was the one who gathered the most attention and was blissfully oblivious, humming to himself and swishing his goddamn tail around constantly. Finally she shrugged out of the cloak, also handing that to Isaac, and hearing a male voice after saying her name to the man behind the desk, "What's wrong? Your cigarette fell out of your mouth. Hey Sanzo?", the name echoed in her ears. For a moment, she thought she had heard wrong.

There was no way Sanzo could be here…right? Mavis turned around, only to be assaulted by the sight of none other than Genjyou Sanzo with his unruly sunshine blonde hair and droopy violet eyes which had widened at the sight of her. All she could think of was him and the bracelet around her slender wrist. Mavis stepped closer and Sanzo got a better look at her, now fully sure that it was her and no one else. She looked down at him, now standing over the blonde priest who sat in his chair, and her eyes stared into his, "Sanzo.", she whispered in a questioning voice, though it was a statement and not a question.

Sanzo continued to look at her, nodding his head, "Mavis.", he said casually as if it had been only yesterday that they had seen eachother and not years. Mavis only laughed and Sanzo smiled a little.