A/N: Hello everyone, time for another chapter of Merging Paths. Hopefully this will be up by this morning. I really have to stop posting these so late, but it seems like I can barely concentrate during the day.

I do not own Saiyuki, but I do own the Daycarthro Chronicles. I hope you enjoy this chapter since it is Sanzo and Serafina filled. Now onward to chapter 10.

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Chapter 10: An Old Score to Settle

For the past hour, Sanzo and Serafina have been sending enough bad vibes to make a demon run away in fear. If Cassandra had a choice, she would get the hell out of the car, instead of enduring another minute of being in the uncomfortable silence. It wouldn't be so bad if they were yelling insults at each other because then they would be releasing their negative feelings. But instead they are sitting silently, keeping their anger in and letting it build. Then when she least suspects it, one of them is going to snap and all hell will break loose. Through her experiences with people with bad tempers, she has come to learn those who keep it in, are the ones to worry about, one clear example is Raven. It's even worse when the people who usually won't hesitate to tell someone to screw off, suddenly take an oath of silence. Any minute now all that anger is going to overflow and she is going to be caught in the middle of it.

Night-Blood suddenly growls, sounding more like an annoyed kitten than one of Daycarthro's creatures.

"Here, huh," Cassandra notes, but Sanzo glares at her.

"Stop muttering to yourself."

"This is it," Cassandra announces.

"This is what?" Sanzo counters, too caught up in his own thoughts to be paying much attention to what is going on.

"The place we are going to find your friends," Serafina snaps. "Why the hell do you think we came all the way out here?"

"And I thought it was to torture me," he growls.

"If you really want to be tortured, I'm sure I can come up with something?" Serafina releases the blade on her wrist to emphasize her point.

"Just try it." Sanzo releases the safety on his gun.

"Oh god," Cassandra sighs as she takes the keys out of the engine. "Let's get this over with as soon as possible," before Sanzo and Serafina kill each other.

"Fine by me," Serafina mutters, retracting the blade on her right hand. Everyone climbs out of the car and they appear to have been brought to a beach.

"Which person are we looking for?" Sanzo asks, as the kitten leads the way.

"I really have no idea. It could be anyone."

"As long as they don't try to kill me like that jerk over there did, they can't be too bad," Serafina adds.

"If I remember right, you attacked me first."

"Actually, you attacked first—remember firing that damn gun at me."

"It was a warning shot. If I really wanted you dead that time, you wouldn't be walking next to me right now and annoying the hell out of me!"

"You still fired the first shot, so don't you dare say I was the one who instigated our fight!"

"You were stalking me at the time," Sanzo replies, crossing his arms in front of him.

"Stalking! I wasn't stalking you!"

"You were watching me, weren't you?"

"Well, yeah, but it's not everyday that you find some guy wearing weird clothes unconscious on the forest-floor. I-I was...curious about you," she quietly admits the last part.

"You some kind of pervert?"

"You son of a..." Serafina trails off as she senses a familiar presence, she stops in mid-step.

"What is it?" Cassandra asks, turning to face her companion, but the dark-haired woman doesn't acknowledge her as she stares off into the distance. Serafina suddenly bolts to her left, leaving Sanzo and Cassandra behind. "Serafina!" Cassandra yells, about to follow her, but Sanzo suddenly grabs her wrist.

"Let her be. We have better things to do than chase after a stupid woman."

"I'm not going to abandon her!" Cassandra shakes his hand off.

"Continue on ahead, I'll bring her back, even if I have to drag her back kicking and screaming."

"Thanks," she smiles.

"Ch," Sanzo snorts before taking off after the annoying woman.

xXx

I know you are here! Serafina thinks as she races across the rocks. Where are you! The path clears and she sees the person she has been searching for perched on a boulder next to a small bluff. She quickens her pace then lunges at the blonde-haired woman. With little effort the demon avoids the slash and lands softly on her feet.

"You know it's not very nice to try to take someone by surprise," Lamya scorns, wagging a finger at her.

"Let's finish this now," Serafina falls into her fighting stance, her blade raised to strike at any second.

"Do you really think you are strong enough to actually stand a chance against me?" Serafina continues to glare at the woman, all her hate directed at the demon. "You really do have a temper, don't you? You know there is a way to put an end to both of our dilemmas." Serafina swipes at the demon, but once again Lamya evades the attack.

"I'd rather just kill you."

"You say that as if it is a simple matter." Lamya tosses her hair over her shoulder. "Just as stubborn as Evan." Lamya grabs Serafina's wrist, throwing her off her feet. Serafina quickly gets back on her feet and jumps forward with incredible speed, managing to slice Lamya's cheek. "It'll take more than a nick on my face to kill me—you're just pissing me off now." The demon places her hands together, a light glowing in her hands. Serafina raises her left arm, activating the talisman on her wrist. The light races at her, engulfing her, but the spell fails to hurt her while her thick bracelet on her wrist glows.

"Looks like the talisman my guardian gave me is effective against demon-magic," Serafina notes when she sees she is unharmed.

"Resourceful, aren't you?" Lamya laughs. "But I'm not reliant on spells to defeat my enemies." The blonde-haired demon slams her fist into Serafina's gut, knocking the wind out of her and sending her flat on her back. "You should know better than leaving yourself open like that," Lamya scorns as she is about slam her foot down to crush Serafina's ribs.

A bullet whizzes towards the demon, but at the last minute she pulls away from Serafina and avoids what could have been a deadly shot.

"Now what do we have here?" Lamya asks, turning to face the angry monk. "Oh, it's Genjo Sanzo, bearer of one of the sacred sutras. I've been meaning to pay you a visit."

"Does it look like I give a damn?" Sanzo replies, cocking his gun.

"You should really watch your tongue," Lamya warns. "I'm not known for being a patient person."

"Get out of here, you damn prick," Serafina gasps as she forces herself back onto her feet. "I don't need your help."

"Shut up, stupid woman. I'll do whatever I damn well please."

"I said, stay out of this!" Serafina yells.

"And I said shut up." Sanzo fires at the demon, who vanishes from sight.

"Behind..." Serafina begins, but Sanzo whirls around firing another shot. Lamya swears under her breath when the bullet nicks her shoulder.

"Hm, now I know why Zev had trouble with you." Lamya appears at a safe difference from Sanzo. "But I'm not a fledging like him!" She heaves a ball of light at Sanzo.

"Idiot!" Serafina mutters, as she knocks Sanzo out of the way, using the shackle on her left hand to absorb the energy. She winces when the light still burns her flesh, but if she had been a little bit slower, the attack could have taken her arm off.

"I can't believe you would defend this human who has shown you so much disrespect," Lamya scoffs.

"I don't want anymore people involved in this, so leave him out of it." Serafina readies herself for an attack, while Sanzo dusts off his clothes, angry at her for thinking he can't take care of himself.

"I can make my own decisions!" Sanzo yells at her, preparing himself for another attack.

"Then make the decision to leave me alone!"

"I'm not doing this for you!"

"Will the two of you shut up!" Lamya screams, interrupting their argument. "It's not very professional that you two are having a domestic dispute at work." Sanzo's eye twitches, not liking what she is implying.

"Shi ne!" Sanzo fires a shot at the demon, but before he knows it he ends up eating dirt, while a searing pain runs down the lower part of his back from where Lamya kneed him. Serafina charges at the demon, bringing her blade down, but with one swift motion, Lamya ends up behind her, grabbing the back of her neck. Serafina gasps for air as she finds herself now dangling over the edge of the bluff, while rocks litter the bottom.

"As entertaining as it is to fight with you, I really don't have the time for it." Lamya begins to loosen her grip on Serafina's neck. "Looks like you failed to protect your companions, just like you couldn't protect your mother and father." Serafina eyes widen and Lamya smiles at her. "Hopefully you will survive this, because it is so entertaining to see you clumsily try to kill me," with that Lamya releases her, letting her fall. She walks over to Sanzo and grabs him by his golden locks, raising him so they are at eye-level.

"Let go of me," Sanzo threatens.

"What are you going to do to me if I don't?" she challenges. Sanzo quietly mutters something under his breath. "Are you saying your final prayers?" He doesn't reply as he continues whatever he is doing. Suddenly his sutra wraps around her arms and legs. "What is this!" She gasps, finding she can't move as his sutra restrains her.

"I don't like being talked down to." He is about to fire his Smith and Wesson when he finds he can't pull the trigger. What the hell? I can't move! Lamya laughs at Sanzo, relief washing over her face. His eyes drift to his left, seeing a man with intense black eyes—the same man that Evan once warned him about. Slung over his shoulder is an unconscious Kougaiji.

"It looks like the Prince thought I needed your help. Are you finally going to fight the Raven-tachi?" Jareiko doesn't reply as he raises his free hand and Sanzo's sutra drops lifelessly away from Lamya. She glares at the monk, who is still unable to move. "Worthless human, the nerve of you for actually thinking you could kill me." A ball of light forms in her hands, ignoring the mental warning Jareiko is giving her. "But at least you're not going to suffer too long." She is about to finish him off when she suddenly gasps. The light dies out and she drops to her knees, gasping for breath. Her breathing turns back to normal as Jareiko releases her. "You're a lucky man that Jareiko has decided to spare your life for now, but the next time we meet—I'll kill you." Lamya vanishes from sight, leaving Sanzo alone with the dark-eyed man. The two look at each other, but Jareiko does not possess any malice directed at the defenseless monk. Jareiko closes his eyes, finally gauging how strong the human is. He turns on his heels then vanishes from sight.

What was he? Sanzo wonders when he finds his body is no longer paralyzed. He doesn't like how he was at Jareiko's mercy. He shakes it off then walks over to the where Lamya dropped Serafina. She doesn't appear to be moving. Another idiot to save, Sanzo thinks to himself as he carefully climbs down the bluff. A couple of minutes later he makes it to the bottom, and kneels down to the unconscious woman with blood smeared on her forehead.

"Eh, stupid woman, wake up," Sanzo orders her, tapping her on the cheek. She groans in pain, before her eyes slowly flutter open.

"Oh, it's you," she whispers, her eyelids slowly drooping.

Great, she's hurt. I'll probably end up having to haul the stupid woman out of here. Serafina shakes her head, forcing her body to sit up.

"Where is she?"

"She's gone," Sanzo replies, sitting back as he pulls out a cigarette and lights it. "They also got the person we were looking for.

"Damn," Serafina swears.

"You seemed to take that fight personally."

"So what if I did," she counters.

"You keep acting that way and you're going to get yourself killed."

"As long as I take her with me, I really don't care," she whispers.

"Why?" He acts like he doesn't care as he exhales a cloud of smoke.

"Why do you care?"

"I don't."

"Then stop asking so many damn questions—you're beginning to sound like 'Rocks for Brains.'"

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Sanzo's voice takes on a dangerous edge. Serafina laughs slightly at his ignorance, thinking fondly of one of her friends.

"That's what I call Orion. He has the tendency to pry into my past, kind of like what you are doing, but he's a hell of a lot more likeable than you are."

"Like I give a damn. I don't like you at all," Sanzo replies.

"To tell you the truth, whenever I'm around you, it takes everything in my will not to beat you senseless."

"I'd like to see you try...stupid woman." She snatches the cigarette out of his mouth and crushes it against the ground.

"I'm not really in the mood to argue with someone like you."

"Like you!" Sanzo repeats, his anger rising. She doesn't reply as she slowly moves her body to stand up. "What are you doing?" He asks, placing his hand on her shoulder to push her back down.

"What does it look like I'm doing? You expect me to stay here all day."

"I expect you to understand that you're injured."

"That tends to happen when someone drops you on some rocks." She rolls her eyes, wondering why he even cares. "I've gone through a hell of a lot worse than this, so don't act like I'm some weak woman who can't handle a little bit of pain." She shoves his hand away and proceeds to slowly stand up, her mind analyzing the pain that spreads through her body. A few bumps and bruises, left arm still messed up from blocking that attack—nothing serious, she concludes. "We better hurry up. No doubt Cassandra is going to run into Lamya." She grasps a rock jutting out of the side of the rock-wall, and is about to pull herself up, when her wrist begins to throb, forcing her to lose her grip. Sanzo catches her before she falls, surprised by his own actions. "I don't need your help!" She smacks his arm away from her, while absentmindedly rubbing her aching wrist.

"Ch," Sanzo grunts, turning his back to her as he scorns himself for acting without thinking. Serafina closes her eyes, realizing she should be nice to him since he was only trying to help—something he doesn't seem to do very often.

"But, thanks anyway," she whispers, barely loud enough for him to hear. His eyes widen slightly, surprised she would ever thank him.

"Ch, crazy woman," Sanzo replies, but Serafina doesn't respond as she once again attempts to climb back up the bluff. This time she doesn't fall, doing her best to ignore the throbbing pain as she climbs back to the top. Sanzo follows her, slightly amazed at how stubborn she is.

When they reach the top, both are surprised to see Cassandra and the fully transformed Night-Blood racing towards them.

"Hey guys!" Cassandra calls, looking down at them. "I wasn't expecting to see you two here," she says, sounding winded. "Night-Blood and I have been running around this whole place. One minute the person was one place, then suddenly they disappeared, only to reappear the next minute before vanishing completely. This is the last place they were at. Did either of you run into them?"

"It was Kougaiji," Sanzo informs her.

"Where is he then?" Cassandra looks around, but she doesn't see any sign of him, but she does sense a demon's essence.

"The demons got him."

"Who was it?" Cassandra asks, finally noticing how beat up Serafina looks.

"Lamya and Jareiko."

"You didn't try to fight him, did you?" Cassandra asks, worry filling her eyes.

"He didn't give me the chance. He just took Kougaiji with him and left with Lamya."

"That's good. He still hasn't been given permission to fight us. But what are we going to do about Kougaiji?"

"There's not much we can do," Serafina replies. "Let's contact Raven and regroup, hopefully they were more successful than we were."

xXx

A/N: That's all for now. And don't worry about Kougaijij, there will be a lot more of him in the coming up chapters. I have no idea what next chapter will be like, but it looks like there will be a little bit of everyone, but I'm not promising anything at this point. Thanks to all the wonderful reviews and I hope this chapter met your Serafina and Sanzo needs. There should be a lot my fights later on and sorry if the ones so far have been pretty short, they will get longer as this progresses. And I'm glad everyone seemed to like the part with Yaone and Hakkai since I did spend a lot of time working that one out.

Thanks to Rook, Throwa, Kurtain, Ali, Max, Sumitra, Ruby, swtrkgalditress, Quist, chubby Sanzo, and Hit n Run for reviewing. And special thanks to MystiquePixie for helping me out with this chapter. I'm pretty surprised at how well this is going since original character stories tend not to do well in fanfiction. I'm so lucky to have such a great audience and I hope everyone is enjoying this so far. Till next time!