(A/N: Let me start by saying that this chapter is my favorite so far. It's dedicated to Cyh Scaevola, who's awesome translation skills made this chapter amazing to me. Many hugs to her for that! In regards to the Latin, you'll find the translations at the bottom of the page. If it's confusing, I'm sorry! -EoS)

--Chapter 9: Maledicat Dominus --

Goku fidgeted in his chair, his hands wringing together as he watched the two priests prepare for the coming hypnosis. Though the older brunet had carefully explained what was going to happen, it wasn't enough to quell the feeling that was roiling around in the pit of his stomach. "I-Is it going to hurt?"

"Don't ask stupid questions," the blond commanded, giving him a stern look when their eyes met. He studied him carefully, noting the skittish expression that kept flitting about the boy's gaze. With an agitated sigh, he combed his fingers through the unruly locks to offer a bit of comfort. Amber eyes widened in surprise before a boyish smile of pleasure spread across Goku's face, and Sanzo could feel the head beneath his hand nod in assent.

Hakkai smiled at the scene, holding the expression firm as he turned to face the younger man. The pale hand was gone in a flash, but the brunet already knew that it had been there in the first place. "Are you ready, Goku? Remember what I told you?" His words were coaxing in their tone.

"Pay attention to your directions, listen closely, and relax. You're only going to ask me questions and that's all," the boy repeated with a slight shake in his voice, smiling to mask his nervousness. A look to his redheaded companion, despite the dazzling smile and the thumbs-up he offered, wasn't much of help when his face betrayed his own discomfort with the situation.

Letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding, Goku did his best to relax when he let his body slump backward. His eyes slid closed when he heard the quiet, soothing sound of Hakkai's voice filling his head. "Ready? Here we go."

Gojyo watched the hypnosis unfold before him, keeping his eyes trained firmly on the boy's face as he crossed his arms across his chest. He frowned, making a skeptical noise in his throat. "This sounds really stupid. How's this supposed to hypnotize the squirt?" The blonde looked at him with narrowed eyes at that, swinging his fist and bringing it down hard on the other's head. He let out a hissing breath, speaking in a low tone.

"Shut up, all right? Just sit back and watch."

When he had finished counting, Hakkai gave the boy a few minutes to see if it had worked. In that time, he turned to Gojyo with a serious look, finding it hard when he felt the urge to chuckle at the look of indignant outrage on the other's face. "Well, it's mostly tapping into the subconscious mind. Often times there are things that the conscious mind tends to suppress for one reason or another, but the inner mind is more open to suggestion and answering questions," he explained in a patient voice, snapping his fingers when he finished.

It took the boy a moment to respond, his body and mind seeming as though they had been temporarily disconnected. His movements were awkward and sluggish, eyelids fighting to open and his mouth slacking a bit. After a minute or two, it was as if a switch had been thrown as he seemed to gain some control over what was happening to his features. Golden eyes opened to reveal slit pupils that would look at home on a feral cat, who was looking at them as though he were deciding whether or not they were prey. The toothy grin that broke out across his face gave him the appearance of elongated fangs. It emphasized the other-worldly glow that illuminated his eyes and turned them the color of aged brandy.

Sanzo's own eyes widened at the sudden shift in personality, recognizing the studying, smug state that whatever this was had fixed so firmly on the three of them. He could easily transpose an equally familiar face with mismatched eyes over Goku's expression, and that angered him. "Goku?"

To their surprise, the boy shook his head with that damnable smile still firmly in place. His eyes flickered with amusement, as though this was the best sort of game. /Vix. Haudquāquam quod exspectābam,/ it spoke, the voice an almost indecipherable rumble echoing from somewhere deep inside Goku's chest. The words were in another language, and it took the older brunet a moment or two to place it.

"That's . . . Latin. But . . .Goku doesn't know Latin. He wouldn't, because it's a dead language, only used now by some of the older members of the Vatican." He turned questioning eyes onto Gojyo, noting the dumbfounded expression on the other man's face when he offered a shrug as a reply.

"Don't look at me. I don't know anything." Crimson eyes were unable to leave the face of his younger friend in disbelief, as a visible tremor sliding up the redhead's spine when that slit gaze met his own. Sensing the need to dissipate the tension growing between them, Hakkai posed another question. "If you're not Goku, then who are you?"

A deep, mocking laugh sprang from Goku's mouth at that, the thing doubling over as though it had been told something utterly hilarious. /Cur te dicam, peccātor? Homō cūius manūs dēdecī cum sanguinē aliēnus manent, occultatus ā tergō vestēs quod adhibet eius factī excūsāre. Mihi dicē: te excruciatne?/ Its eyes slid to the brunet's stomach as the smirk widened, clearly pleased that all the color had drained from Hakkai's face.

"How-?" was all he could manage, phantom pain pooling in his abdomen when his hand tentatively touched the fabric of his robes. No one, absolutely no one knew the reason he had that scar. Sanzo knew only vague details from what the villagers and the staff at the hospital had told him; but even then the blond ,the only person Hakkai would consider a friend, didn't know about that. He forced his eyes closed when the creature spoke next.

/Sanguis calidus eratne? Dissimilitūdō inter tui et eius sanguinem spectāvis dum scindēbat per tuum stomachum, antequam illam lāminam inter eius costas īnfīguis? Itane vērō, digna eratne, ea?/

"What's it saying? You don't look so hot, man," Gojyo asked, breaking his gaze away from Goku's own to rove worriedly over the brunet's hunched form. Another laugh filled the air, sounding gleeful as it echoed off the bare hospital walls. Suddenly, the redhead was very grateful that Hakkai had asked Aria to wait outside. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…."

/Tua sententia necessaria nōn est, semigenus./ The words were spat in such distaste that Gojyo didn't even need to understand what it was saying to understand the connation. He could easily derive its meaning from just the tone itself. Golden eyes still eerily alight, illuminating the prominent sneer that challenged the open look of surprise on the vermillion-haired man's face. Goku would never, ever speak to or about him like that. Whatever this was, it wasn't Goku.

Sanzo watched the creature through narrowed eyes, regarding it with a scrutinizing look. Instead of feeling nervous, all he felt was irritation that this wasn't turning out as they had planned. "It understands us, but we can't understand it, right?" He didn't like calling Goku an 'it' but whatever had taken over from the recesses of the boy's mind couldn't really be called human.

As he regained his composure, Hakkai managed a weak nod. His skin was still sickly pale as his hand unconsciously roamed towards his left eye. "Yes…I can only understand some of what he's saying. I haven't brushed up on my Latin since seminary training."

/Ego nōn sentiō necessarius esse vobis ipse explicāre. Quid essētis? Sīcārius et nefas et…/ the voice trailed off, as finally locked gazes with the reluctant priest. The smirk on its face widened considerably, splitting Goku's expression into one of almost grotesque amusement. /…et mendāx. Quid Deus cogitat, si quod cogitus es scīverit?/A tanned hand trailed across the boy's chest in a very insinuating gesture, eyes burning with something akin to lust.

When questioning emerald and suspicious crimson eyes turned in his direction, the blond snorted derisively. "What did it say now?" The words were biting, but Sanzo didn't dare to look away from the unearthly eyes that were attempting to drown him. He felt as though he was being devoured, in a way that made his skin crawl. It wasn't at all like the gaze of the boy that he had been noticing, innocently filled with admiration and a bit of longing, but rather with the need to possess. The creature smirked knowingly at him, as though it carried a forbidden secret beneath that curving mouth and exposed teeth.

"It said that you've been thinking about something…less than savory, if I'm translating correctly." The brunet's voice trailed off then, leaving the blond to fill in the rest for himself. Sanzo started at that, coming to the realization that such implied thoughts had crossed his mind fleetingly once or twice. How did this creature know? His eyebrows furrowed in a sudden rush of anger and embarrassment at the intrusion on his thoughts.

"You need to shut the fuck up."

The creature shrugged nonchalantly, leaning back and clearly enjoying the priest's rage. /Tanta īra. Et ubī nārrem multī secretī tibi…num amārēs sīcārius patrī tuī? Eh, Fīlius Flūminis?/

Even the blond caught the implications in that statement, his breath hitching in his chest and his heart forgetting how to beat at the familiar name. How long had it been since he had been called that, the highly unusual pet name that his mentor had bestowed upon him as a child? Brushing his shock aside, he glared hard into those unholy eyes once more. "How dare you?"

"It says…it says it knows your father's murderer, Sanzo…" the brunet breathed, startled at the way the words were affecting his companion, letting his statement fall away unfinished out of respect for the blond. Blue-violet eyes blazed with a mix of anger and outrage, tinted lightly with a morbid curiosity that the priest would never admit to feeling.

"Just stop this now. I can't take this, and neither can you." The sudden interjection from the formerly quiet redhead brought three varied gazes onto him rather suddenly. Gojyo hugged his arms tightly to himself, as he stared at the other two men with a slight curl to his lip. "This thing needs to leave now. It's not Goku, and it's not going to answer your questions. It's just fucking toying with us." Despite the shaking in his limbs, his voice remained steady as he openly challenged both of them.

Hakkai looked to his blond companion, his eyes offering the question that he could not force his mouth to form. A slight bit of his color had returned, but his gaze remained haunted from the tumultuous memories that had been dug up from the recesses of his mind. "Sanzo?" he asked, finally finding his voice.

The other priest's stare was fixed on the creature's amused face, the boy's innocent features into a haughty expression that would not back down for anything. Its eyes were still taunting him, all of them with knowledge but finding supreme satisfaction in holding it over their heads. With one last hard look towards the boy, the blond nodded his assent.

Hakkai snapped his fingers, starting to count back to reverse the process and bring Goku back to himself. Again, the boy's eyes slid shut and his body went lax as he slumped back in the chair once more. A shuddering breath escaped from his parted lips, blinking blearily at the three men when he finally opened his eyes again. "I-I'm really sleepy…" he slurred, nodding off and toppling out of his chair. If it hadn't been for Gojyo's quick movement to wrap his arms around the other's waist, it wouldn't have been just Goku's body that connected with the floor.

"I'll carry him to bed." The redhead gingerly scooped the boy up in his arms, a slight shake of his head accompanying the grumbles that were sounding under his breath. He still looked shaken, but the relief that it was indeed his younger friend that he was carrying written across his expression.

Once the two priests were alone, the brunet collapsed heavily into the chair that Goku had been occupying, his hand brushing through his bangs. "That…was certainly interesting." His voice shook, even as most of the color had returned to his face. He no longer looked on the verge of being sick. "What do you make of it?"

The blond ignored the question at first in favor of lighting a cigarette, despite the knowledge that he was in a hospital and the no-smoking sign situated on the wall behind him. He was as rattled as the other man, but he masked it with his usual indifference. "What ever it was, it was certainly a smartass. Dumb ape," he sneered around the cigarette clenched between his lips before letting out a stream of smoke as he spoke. "And…I don't know. I would say that it was a possession of some kind, if I believed in that kind of shit. As it is, I don't know what the hell just happened."

Hakkai nodded, eyes falling on the frowning vermillion-haired man that had just entered the room again. He posed his question again to Gojyo, receiving a shrug as his reply. "Don't ever do that again…something wasn't right about that whole deal. Goku's not like that, and he doesn't talk like that. Whoever that was, it wasn't Goku." Gojyo shot a dark look to Sanzo and to his cigarette, moving closer to the seated brunet to distance himself from the smoke. In such close proximity, the redhead knew he would find himself craving one and that was the last thing he needed.

"What makes you so sure that it wasn't Goku? It was Goku's face speaking, and his voice, wasn't it?" Sanzo's eyes were challenging and his question was clearly loaded, a hint of a smirk playing on the edge of his mouth. The dark look his observation earned him amused him, though it was left unsaid just how true his statement was.

"Because Goku isn't like that. He's a sweet kid, and he would never say things like that. Did you see Hakkai over here? He just about fainted dead away when that thing said whatever it said to him. And you didn't look so hot either, priest-boy. Goku's never been vicious like that just to be that way, not since I've known him."

The brunet sighed, removing his glasses to press the heel of his palm into his left eye. He could definitely feel a headache coming on. "I have to say that I agree, Sanzo. That creature…knew things that it wasn't supposed to. There would have been absolutely no way that Goku would have known some of what that…thing knew. As it stands, I'm going to have to go back to the church and start doing some research. I wouldn't say that it was a possession, but…I think it may have something to do with Goku's wounds." The other two men nodded, the room falling silent after that.

Aria walked in then, her expression anxious and questioning as she looked from one face to another for an answer. She had seen Gojyo carrying Goku's unconscious form to his bed, but the man hadn't said anything to her. "What happened?"

"Ah, Miss Aria…I'm afraid that it's much too late to explain now. Would it be a terrible inconvenience if we stayed the night? It's dark out, and I don't know if we could find the path to make our way to the church," Hakkai asked politely, breaking in before either man could answer her question. Truthfully, he was more than sure that he could find the way, but he didn't trust himself to make the walk back safely. He was still shaken and the precipitous flow of memories that weighed down on him was not helping. No, staying at the hospital was probably the best option for them right now.

The woman shook her head, looking irritated that her questions had still gone unanswered. She folded her hands in front of her, keeping her voice even as she spoke. "No. There are plenty of empty rooms, so it won't be a problem. I'll go start making one up for each of you." A sharp look crossed her features when she finished speaking, indicating to the brunet that he was going to tell her what happened, before she turned on her heel and left the room. He couldn't fault her for worrying, since she played the role of mother to the golden-eyed boy.

"Do you mind staying here? Perhaps I can check some of the medical books they have here to see if I can find any information. I'm sure Miss Aria would be able to help me." His words were meant for the blond, who had been staring down the hall with a thoughtful look on his face. It took Sanzo a moment to realize that he was being addressed, the blond frowning hard at being caught off-guard.

"Whatever. It's not like I have a choice anyway." With that, the reluctant priest started off down the hallway in the direction of Goku's room, leaving Hakkai to wonder exactly where he was going.

An audible yawn sounded from his other side, a faint smile crossing his face when he caught the redhead in the act. "Why don't you go off to bed, Gojyo? I'm sure you're tired," he offered, feeling his own exhaustion weighing down on him. However, too many questions were flitting about his mind that needed to be answered before he could go to sleep. Plus, the nightmares that he was sure would haunt him would only serve to keep him awake as well.

Gojyo's head jerked up at being addressed so suddenly, but his mouth curved into an easy smile as he leaned back against the wall. "Nah. I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep for a while, but thanks. I'll be fine-" The sudden sound of a door swinging open and crashing against the wall interrupted him, cutting him off mid word. There, standing in the doorway with his chest heaving from exertion, was Jien with a very stricken look on his face.

"Gojyo! God, I'm sorry! Kougaiji just told me what happened with Mom…" the dark-haired man started to say, but Gojyo's frown told him that they should take this conversation elsewhere. Understanding as he looked to the confused brunet still seated in the chair, he motioned for Gojyo to follow him into the next room. The redhead complied, offering a silent shrug to the priest before disappearing through the doorway.

"Well…I guess I need to get going as well." The statement was made to no one in particular, heading off to find whereever it was Aria had gone off to so he could make sense of the muddled mess inside his head. Perhaps burying himself in research would make him forget what the demon's words had conjured in his mind. He could only hope.

(Translation: May the Lord curse him)

-----

(Latin translations in the order they appear:

"Hardly. Not at all what I expected"

"Why should I tell you, sinner? A man whose hands remain stained with the blood of others, hidden behind the robes he uses to justify his actions. Tell me, does it ache terribly?"

"Was his blood warm? Could you tell the difference between his blood and your own as he ripped through your stomach, just before you planted that blade between his ribs? Was she really worth it?"

"Your opinion is not needed, half-breed"

"I do not feel it necessary to explain myself to any of you. What are you? A murderer, an abomination, and..." "And a liar. What would God think if he knew what you have been thinking?"

"Such a temper. And when I could tell you many secrets...wouldn't you love to know your father's murderer? Eh, Child of the River?"