Saiyuki- Battle Zone
Chapter 9
Lacrymosa
"I heard one of your best creatures betrayed you. So, what're you going to do about it?" asked Kougaiji as he stood in the room, facing Maura who had turned her back to him. She hated him with all her being, and he was the same for her.
"Don't worry yourself over that my Prince, all my creatures have an expiration date" answered Maura as she turned to look at him with an evil grin. Kougaiji looked at her in surprise, then in curiosity.
"What's an expiration date? What have you done now Maura?" exclaimed Kougaiji as his hands clenched into fists and he debated over summoning a giant fiend to destroy her. She cackled wildly, and then smirked at him.
"Are you sure you want to know, you haven't even met my other monsters, and your stomach couldn't even handle the Night Stalkers. Do you really want to know what the expiration date is?" asked Maura as she walked to him, running her fingers gently along his arm as she toyed with him.
"I don't care! Tell me anyway!" snarled Kougaiji as he smacked her hand away. Maura didn't seem to be affected by this, and continued to smirk at him.
"Very well then, don't blame me if you go and throw up again. An expiration date ensures that my monsters can't betray me for long. It's a date and time that's programmed into them when they're still an embryo, and when that time nears, it shows on them somewhere. And then, when that time strikes..." stated Maura and Kougaiji's eyes widened in shock.
"And when that time strikes?" asked Kougaiji and Maura cackled wildly.
"They just drop dead for unknown reasons" finished Maura and Kougaiji gasped in shock. He then growled and clenched his hands in fists again. The door then opened to reveal Dr Nii. He still carried his giant bunny his arms, and he lifted it up, waving one of its paws at Maura and Kougaiji.
"Hello Lady Maura, Lord Kougaiji. How are you today?" Dr Nii said in a little voice to represent the bunny. Kougaiji had to refrain a growl, and stormed out the room, whacking his shoulder into Dr Nii's, and exited the room. Dr Nii then smiled at Maura who smiled wickedly back at him.
"Dr Nii, welcome. Also, i have a question for you. When does Esther's expiration date show up?" asked Maura and Dr Nii checked the list he had in his hands. He smirked at her.
"In twenty-four hours ma'am. Her date should show any minute now" answered Dr Nii and Maura grinned in wicked delight. She then started laughing maniacally. Dr Nii just continued standing there smiling.
Meanwhile as the Sanzo Party continued driving along, Chrysanthemum was asleep in the back of the jeep with the girls, Goku, Gojyo and Esther were in the middle this time. Sanzo had lit another cigarette and was puffing through it quite quickly. Hakkai was continuing to drive with his eyes closed.
Esther then started scratching at the back of her neck, so Goku stood up in the jeep and began checking out the back of her neck.
"Hey, what's this?" asked Goku, making Gojyo get up on his knees as he began checking too. There was a barcode with a date and time underneath it printed on the back of her neck.
"Number 10573638, time: 24 hours. What's that supposed to mean?" asked Gojyo as he looked at Goku in curiosity. Goku shrugged his shoulders because he was clueless.
"Why not ask the patient?" suggested Sanzo and then Goku and Gojyo looked at Esther expectantly. She looked at her hands which were now tucked up in her lap.
"Sounds like an expiration date that you normally pick up on food packages and stuff" muttered a very sleepy Chrysanthemum as she sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"Well, hello sleeping beauty! Good afternoon!" greeted Hakkai, making Chrysanthemum throw her pillow at his head, and he cracked up laughing. Chrysanthemum pouted slightly from his 'so not funny' joke.
"It is an expiration date. It's mine" answered Esther, making Goku and Gojyo gasped, in fact, everyone in the jeep gasped in shock and surprise.
"And what happens when the time runs out?" asked Sanzo as he bit into the soft part of his cigarette in anger.
"I just drop dead. It was programmed in all us monsters that Maura made, we all have an expiration date" answered Esther and Chrysanthemum gasped in horror.
"How cruel! How could someone human do such a thing?" exclaimed Chrysanthemum as she made sure Hisako and Ruka were still sound asleep. She didn't want them to hear such a horrible thing.
"Well, what about you Chrysanthemum? You've been suffering from coughing attacks since that day we ran into Tameka at the festival. You've also gradually begun losing your appetite. I'm more worried about you than myself at the moment" asked Esther making Chrysanthemum think carefully.
Hakkai also began thinking over past events that could've resulted in Chrysanthemum falling ill, but none came to mind.
"It could've been that snow storm we got stuck in. Chrysanthemum and I had to bunker down in nothing but blankets in the freezing snow with no shelter, so that could've been it" suggested Sanzo, but Chrysanthemum shook her head.
"No, if it was due to the snow or cold, my nose would be running too" stated Chrysanthemum and Sanzo nodded, agreeing with her.
"Mummy? What's going on?" asked Ruka as she and Hisako began waking up a little. Chrysanthemum then glared at the gang to end the subject of Esther's expiration date because they girls greatly admired her and thought she was wicked and awesome. If they learned she was going to die soon they would be very depressed and sad, and that was the last thing she wanted.
"Nothing sweetie, we were just talking about that really big blizzard we all got trapped in. You remember, don't you?" answered Chrysanthemum and Ruka nodded, having to think a bit before because she was so tired.
"We ran into Tameka who tricked us into believing she was you. That lady's mean" said Ruka as she started hugging Chrysanthemum slightly, who patted her head gently to calm her down a little. Hisako rubbed her eyes sleepily, and then crawled to Esther, and hugged her from behind a little.
"Hey Hakkai, what happened when you went to go rescue Chrysanthemum the first time we met Tameka, who know, when my brother showed up to help?" asked Gojyo and Hakkai thought to himself for a little.
"There was a Night Stalker, and, it was eating her soul!" answered Hakkai as his eyes widened dramatically. Everyone gasped and tensed a little.
"Maybe the reason Tameka was able to fool us so easily is because the part of the soul that the Night Stalker stole was placed into her, making her act more like you. And that's the reason you're becoming ill, cause there's part of you missing!" exclaimed Goku and everyone looked at him in shock and amazement. Goku blinked dumbly for a few seconds, wondering what he'd said.
"I don't believe it!" exclaimed Sanzo in shock and disbelief.
"The monkey's actually got a brain after all!" stated Gojyo making Goku pout and start picking a fight with him. Chrysanthemum sighed in defeat, along with Sanzo and Hakkai, and then turned back to Hisako and Ruka. Esther was laughing at the fight, finding it ridiculously funny.
Chrysanthemum was tending to the girls at the back of the jeep. Ruka had sat in Chrysanthemum's lap and requested she brush her hair for her, so Hisako just sat in front of Ruka and watched. Chrysanthemum sung quietly to Ruka while she brushed her hair, while Ruka and Hisako played Red Hands.
Suddenly Chrysanthemum started coughing again and everyone stopped and looked at her, very worried. Once she recovered, she looked up at Hakkai and Sanzo in the front, and gave them a shaky thumb up. Hakkai nodded, still worried, and hit the accelerator again, heading for the next town.
Chrysanthemum then started brushing Hisako's hair when they switched places and started playing Red Hands again. Esther had turned around to look at them, and was watching Chrysanthemum with a worried expression.
When they finally arrived at the next town, they went to a restaurant to get something to eat. Goku started scoffing the food down quickly, and Ruka and Hisako ate as well. Gojyo was trying to snag some of Goku's food, while Sanzo, Hakkai, Esther and Chrysanthemum just settled for some drinks.
Everyone was having fun, drunk and dancing, enjoying the day and planning to dance the night away. A drunken man came along, slamming his hands on the table that the gang was at, and began yelling in a friendly way at them to get up and join the party. Chrysanthemum looked at Sanzo awkwardly, wondering what they should do.
Sanzo took a sip of alcohol, and then poor some into another glass, handing it to the man, who took it, took a sip, and then started yelling that his mouth was on fire. Hakkai looked at Sanzo as a drop of sweat rolled down his cheek.
"That was pure vodka wasn't it? Don't you think that was a bit harsh?" asked Hakkai and Sanzo smirked to himself. Chrysanthemum's face was one of shock to see Sanzo doing something like that, but she guessed he did it to protect the group from the drunken people, but she could've also been wrong.
Esther sat next to Chrysanthemum, offering her a cup of what appeared to be whisky. Chrysanthemum inspected the cup, and then looked at Esther who smiled at her.
"Whisky is supposed to help with coughs and colds, it apparently kills them. I just thought if you had some it would help kill your cough, at least for a little while" explained Esther and Chrysanthemum smiled at her, nodding, getting what she was saying.
"Mummy? Could i just have a sip of that? I want to try it, see if i like it or not for when I'm older" asked Ruka and Sanzo immediately said no. Everyone on the table looked at him.
"Alcohol is something for adults, children shouldn't even get a taste of it, only when they're adults can they handle alcohol and appreciate it" stated Sanzo and Chrysanthemum glared at him slightly. She held a cup out to Ruka, not with whisky, but a milky type of alcohol in it.
"It's milk with brandy. It's less alcoholic that the whisky, and a lot nicer too, it's more pleasant for younger people like you and Hisako. When you take a sip, just hand it to Hisako cause it looks like she wants to try it too" stated Chrysanthemum and Sanzo's mouth nearly it the table. Hadn't she been listening to a word he said?
"Did you hear a word i said?" exclaimed Sanzo as he punched his end of the table slightly. Goku had raised his hand calling out that he was next to take a try of the alcohol. Chrysanthemum glared at him, and shot daggers at him that made his hair stand on end.
"Of course i heard you silly, but whether or not i took any notice is an entirely different story you idiot! These guys are adults or nearly adults, it's better to let them get accustomed to adult life gradually rather than have it hit them all at once. Don't you get that?" asked Chrysanthemum and Sanzo growled under his breath slightly.
"Now now, we have more important things to worry about, remember?" stated Hakkai and Gojyo nodded in agreement.
"Like what!" exclaimed Sanzo in fury and Gojyo pointed at Esther, who was looking at the table and staring at her hand.
"Should we tell them now Chrys?" asked Gojyo and Chrysanthemum looked at Gojyo with a funny expression.
"Did you just call me Chrys? Why would you call me that?" she asked him and Gojyo chuckled slightly.
"Well, Chrysanthemum is kinda a tongue twister every now and then, so i thought Chrys could be your nickname, a shortened version" answered Gojyo. Chrysanthemum nodded twice, and Gojyo nodded, accepting her answer.
"Girls, there's a slight problem that's come around. You see, you know how Esther's a Night Stalker? Well, she's programmed with a..." stated Hakkai when suddenly a scream echoed through the restaurant. Everyone gasped, turning to look at the source and saw al whole pack of Enkidus and Night Stalkers at the front of the restaurant. Tameka was sitting on the giant black one, laughing maniacally.
"Why, hello again Sanzo Party! And i must say Esther, you're looking very alive at the moment!" stated Tameka as she cackled wildly. The Enkidu she was on, Atticus, started making a funny noise that sounded like laughter, but it sounded more like pants and ruffs due to him being in his wolf form.
Chrysanthemum and Esther stood quickly, and the rest of the gang quickly followed. Tameka raised her arm, and the gang bent into battle positions, with their weapons out ready, and then Tameka swung her arm down. Screeches and snarls were heard as the two herds of monsters jumped into the restaurant, attacking and killing all sources of life in the building.
Tameka cackled wildly as she heard screams and splatters and sounds of ripping flesh. She heard gun fire and yells, but all that could be heard from the rest of the town was silence, as they'd been killed already, and the restaurant was the last place left with life, but that wouldn't be for much longer if they didn't do something soon to stop them.
Chrysanthemum grabbed her bow and arrows, aiming at an Enkidu that had jumped up, attempting to strike her down. She fired and hit the beast in the chest. It yelped in agony, then continued its pursuit, making Chrysanthemum dodge, then yell out to Hakeryuu.
Hakeryuu was having troubles of his own, and had quickly flown out of the restaurant, narrowly missing a Night Stalker's sharp claws. He transformed quickly and the gang ran out and hopped in, driving off at an incredible speed. Esther had transformed and was flying after them quickly, but was also stopping any monsters from attacking the jeep. Chrysanthemum turned to see how Esther was doing, and gasped when she saw Esther get hit by a Night Stalkers claws, scratching her back.
Chrysanthemum was frozen in shock that she didn't even notice the screeching noise heard beside her, but quickly snapped out of it when she heard Hisako's voice.
"Look out!" she cried and jumped in front of Chrysanthemum, getting snatched up in the Night Stalker's claws instead of her. Chrysanthemum gasped in horror, and cried out to her, trying to reach her, but missed by an inch.
