AN: Lots of swearing at the beginning as Sanzo is irritated lol. A complication to their escape plan. Kougaiji is on the scene. Lirin makes another appearance. BAMF Yaone. BAMF Kougaiji. Nii is a bastard.
Credit to Qualapec the She-Wolf for starting this story and writing chapters 1-5.
Chapter Content Warning: language, violence
Chapter 20
It was the longest day of his life. After what felt like an hour or more, Sanzo would look at the clock to the right of the bed to find only twenty minutes had passed. Once he looked at it again for the billionth time, he slammed the twice read newspaper to the empty sheets next to him.
It was fucking six twenty-three pm. Yaone was still not back, and he was getting restless.
He took another swig from his beer can then set it down next to four empty ones. The buzz from the alcohol was not nearly enough to calm his irritation. Only nicotine seemed to take any edge off of that.
Sanzo thought about letting sleep take another bite out of the time spent waiting to leave, but he was sick of sleep. Still exhausted and still in too much fucking pain to joke about, the monk knew sleep would be the best thing for his broken mess of a body. But he was stubborn, so he fought his eyelids as they weighed down on him once again.
The thought of escape thrilled him, but he could admit he was not actually looking forward to leaving Yaone. Being alone with her the past few days had been nice. It sucked he had no idea how things would be with her after. He would not delusion himself to think he could convince her to join him. He would extend the invitation, but he knew she would decline because of whatever debt she felt she owed that wishy-washy prince.
Thinking of Yaone with that loser irritated Sanzo another measure over. Kougaiji must be gay, he figured. It was the only explanation as to why he was not fucking such a woman… Or maybe he was. Sanzo seethed for a moment before catching himself; what the hell should he care about it? If Yaone was willing to be used like that by someone obviously not willing to make any commitment, then that was her deal. But what if she was only doing it out of obligation as his subject? Anger began to bubble over at the thought.
What the hell. It's still not my problem. He needed to stop this hypothetical bullshit… And he would have already if he were not so fucking bored! Gods!
Sanzo looked at the clock again. 6:38 pm.
Picking up the newspaper again, he thought of making a paper airplane out of it. It would probably fly like shit being made of newspaper, but it was something to do. Unfortunately, his newspaper airplane creation was abruptly halted when he heard banging on the door.
"In the name of Gyokumen Koushu, open up!" came the muffled but booming voice.
Shit.
Sanzo had to think fast. Undoubtedly, Koushu had finally gotten word that Yaone was a possible traitor from Nii. They would certainly search every inch of the room, so hiding in any of the obvious places was out of the question. Fighting what was most likely multiple armed guards was also out of the question.
Damn it! He was sure there was only a matter of seconds before they would break through the door after it went unanswered. Pushing himself out of the bed and balancing on his one good leg, Sanzo pulled the large top sheet off of the bed and tied one end of it around his hips as he hobbled to the balcony. There, he tied the other end to the farthest baluster and painstakingly climbed over the railing. How he managed to do it with only one significantly injured, working arm and only one good leg before the guards broke in was nothing short of a miracle.
As he heard the door crash, Sanzo ran out of time to carefully ease his way down to the end of the sheet tied around him so he had to drop, praying the knots he made would hold. The adrenaline had helped him push back the pain before but did nothing for him now as his whole body jerked at the sudden stop. Sanzo bit his lip to keep from crying out at the shockwaves radiating from his ribs and shoulder.
With his right arm wrapped around the sheet, Sanzo placed his forehead on the taut line and tried to ease his hard breathing so he could hear what was going on.
After a lot of clattering and heavy footfalls from what sounded like two large youkai, Sanzo heard one of the guards say, "I don't see that bitch or the priest anywhere in here."
"Like he would be hiding inside that beer can you nabbed from the fridge?" He heard a deeper voice ask sarcastically.
"No, but I was checking in the fridge and figured I might as well. Looks like someone was drinking most of them over there." The youkai chuckled. "Who knew the little apothecary was such a drinker – or a slob."
"Hmm." Sanzo heard the deeper voice speculate before more footsteps. "It still has fizz. Guess that means someone has been here recently…"
"Well, if it was the girl or that Sanzo, they are gone now. We looked everywhere."
"What about the balcony?"
"There ain't nobody on the balcony!" the beer drinker whined.
"So, you didn't check it?"
A set of pounding footsteps came right before the rustling of the giant curtain being pulled back. "See, ain't nobody on the balcony."
Growling, then more footfalls sounded onto the balcony. As the youkai stood outside, no doubt looking for an escaped priest, Sanzo held his breath and prayed the tied sheet would be overlooked.
"What are you two doing here?" Sanzo's eyes flew open at the unexpected sound of Kougaiji's voice.
"We were sent by our Lady Koushu to search the apothecary's room for the escaped convict and bring the girl in for questioning." The deeper voice replied in a relaxed manner that indicated he gave little regard for the prince's authority.
"Yaone is my subject, Koushu has no right to order you here. This room and her labs were under strict orders not to be disturbed. As Yaone in mine, herself and her belongings are under my jurisdiction only. You got that?"
"We just do as our lady orders. We could care less what you think you have jurisdiction over."
Kougaiji's stomping onto the porch halted right before the crack of a fist breaking bone could be heard. "I suggest you care, or I'll have your heads next time. Now get out of here before I break more than just your jaw."
The scuffling footfalls of scared youkai fled the room and Sanzo heard the prince storm off after them right before pulling to an abrupt halt.
"Yaone doesn't drink beer…" Kougaiji said to himself.
Shit, shit, shit! Sanzo's heart was stampeding in his chest as he heard Kougaiji walk back onto the balcony. In the long pause that followed, all Sanzo could hear was blood rushing in his ears.
Slowly, footsteps came closer to where the priest hung over the edge.
The first sight of Kougaiji's red hair as he looked over the railing nearly sent Sanzo into cardiac arrest, but he only gave the prince a stony glare.
For a tense, long minute Kougaiji just stared at the hanging monk. His face twitched with flashes of emotion as he tried to sort out what he was seeing. "Sanzo," he finally ground out.
"Kougaiji," Sanzo replied in kind.
Grinding his teeth, the prince held silent for another lingering moment. "Hang on," he said before turning and walking away.
"Funny," Sanzo mirthlessly said under his breath.
Sanzo heard the large door creak shut and Kougaiji returned. "What the hell are you doing here?" the youkai asked as he began to hoist the sheet and Sanzo up to the balcony.
"Swinging from a balcony."
Kougaiji growled. "I mean what were you doing in Yaone's room?"
"What, this was Yaone's room? I've just been randomly choosing rooms to hide out in and swinging from their balcony's hoping not to get caught. Who knew Yaone would have such good taste in beer?"
The youkai prince grabbed for Sanzo's hand and Sanzo let go of the sheet quickly to take hold before teetering backwards. "I'm not an idiot," Kou said before pulling the priest over the railing.
Sanzo turned the groan into a growl as he impacted his broken ribs and wounded shoulder into the railing and landed on the stone floor. While he struggled to sit against the railing, he breathlessly responded, "I know… Plausible deniability though."
Gradually, the monk watched Kougaiji's stern scowl soften as he took in the full sight of his injuries. He stood there, mouth agape, looking to be at a loss.
Sanzo sighed. "So, what now? You handing me back over to that sadistic bastard of a doctor, or is it finally time for my execution?"
With a look of disgust Kougaiji turned his attention down to the side. He stood there for a long moment contemplating before finally saying, "For Yaone's sake, I'm going to pretend like I never found you." Then turning back, he met Sanzo's eyes with a flaming intensity and added, "But mark me, priest; if anything happens to her because of you, I will hunt you down and kill you without a second thought."
A hiss of sizzling bubbles and a frantic yelp perked Yaone's ears to urgent trouble behind her. "Lirin, what did you add to the solution?" she asked as she ran over to a foaming beaker in front of the princess.
The girl was waving her arms and then threw a towel at the quickly overflowing mess. "It was just that hydro-stuff you told me to add to it!"
Scowling, the apothecary picked up a nearby beaker marked for hydrochloric acid. "I told you to add sodium hydroxide." Honestly, she had no idea how the girl could confuse the two so easily. "Don't touch anything," she said as Lirin was about throw some water onto the bubbling solution. "I've got to neutralize this before we clean it up."
Just as she finished cleaning the acid and Lirin had gone to sterilize some bandages, Yaone heard a commotion outside the door. "We are here under orders of Gyokumen Koushu to take the apothecary in for questioning," said an unknown soldier.
"I'm under orders of the prince, Kougaiji, not to let anyone take the lord's personal apothecary for any questioning," Dokugakuji replied in a low threatening voice.
With a puzzled look, Lirin turned to the healer. "Yaone, why would anyone want to question you?"
Wide eyed and ready to leap into action, Yaone answered the girl. "I don't know Lirin, but I think they believe I had something to do with Sanzo's escape." She grabbed a packed bag of explosives and other weapons she had prepared for her escape that night and checked over the contents before adding a few more things since she was likely to run into trouble now.
"But why would they think that? It's not like you would help that baldy monk."
"Listen, Lirin, whether I helped him or not, these guys don't care. I've got to get out of here before they break in. Can you cover for me? Don't let them know how I left out of here."
With a determined glint in her mischievous eyes, Lirin nodded. "Leave it to Lirin. I'll make sure nobody comes after you, Yaone."
A clang of swords drew Yaone's attention to the door. It had come down to a fight. She only hoped Doku could fend them off ok. Turning back to her escape route out the window, Yaone perched herself on the sill before telling the youkai princess, "Just don't blow anything up, Lirin. I'd like to still have a lab when I get back."
With a nod from the girl, Yaone swung out the window to scale the wall outside.
It was a long drop to the roof below, but Yaone was not concerned by the height. As a practiced assassin, she was used to climbing stone walls like those which made up Houtou Castle and had no issue ascending to the room above.
Slinking down the darkened halls, Yaone made her way to the stables hoping no one had been to search her chambers already. If she were lucky, she might make it with the dragon in time to break Sanzo out before anyone discovered him, but she had to hurry.
Once she entered the stables, she peered around the corner before entering, making sure no one was around that would give her any trouble. Seeing only a couple young stable hands busy towards the back, Yaone tiptoed to Apollo's stall.
"Care to explain why there is a Sanzo priest in your bedchambers, Yaone?"
The sound of Kougaiji's stern voice nearly made the apothecary jump five feet into the air. "My lord, you almost gave me a heart attack."
"Answer the question, Yaone!" Yaone could see the hot anger in the prince's eyes as he stared down at her.
Swallowing, Yaone bowed her head. "I'm deeply sorry for any trouble my actions may have caused you, my lord." She raised her head to look him in the eyes. "But Sanzo saved my life, and I had to return the favor. He was going to die if I did not get him out of there… You don't know what he went through… all for my sake."
The youkai prince swallowed, and deep concern overshadowed his rage. "I could see enough to have an idea. Why didn't you tell me, Yaone? As your friend if not your prince?"
Like a punch in the gut, his words hit her. She had hurt him by her silence, and on top of that, she had showed disloyalty to her sovereign. "I wished to spare you my betrayal, my lord. I hoped to escape with him tonight so no one would be the wiser; he just got enough strength back to make the journey. If you knew, it would put you at a greater risk of being tied to his escape."
"Even without me knowing I'm tied to his escape! I'm tied to you. Honestly, I don't know how to deal with this right now. You should have at least told me; told me the whole story. If he truly sacrificed himself to save you as you said, did you think I would not honor that? And if you didn't, why would you go against me?"
The rock sank deeper into her stomach; she really screwed up. "I don't know. I was only trying to do what I thought was right at the time. I'm so sorry I betrayed you, my lord." Yaone knew she had to make this right. She owed Kougaiji everything for what he had done for her and she swore an oath to serve him. "You may punish me as you see fit. I will step down as your apothecary even, if that is what you feel is best."
Kougaiji sighed and stepped aside, revealing an already bridled dragon. "Like I said, I don't really know what to do about this right now. I'll figure it out when you get back."
Yaone's heart leapt in her chest. Had her lord really prepared her dragon for her already? "I – I don't know what to say."
"Just be careful. I'll do what I can to make sure you get out safe."
She was so relieved she wanted to leap over to Kougaiji and kiss him, but Yaone simply walked over and took the dragon by the reigns. "Thank you, Lord Kougaiji. I will be careful. Please be careful yourself."
With an affirmative nod from the prince, Yaone took off into the air.
Rippling concern flowed through the demon prince's hot-blooded veins as he stormed back to Yaone's room. That woman may be committing treason, but he would do everything in his power to make sure she got away with it unharmed.
Just what had happened that night she helped Sanzo escape? Why would she hide what really transpired? Did she not know how much he cared? How much she meant to him? If something were to ever happen to her…
Kougaiji never really cared for the monk before, aside from the respect he felt for him as a worthy opponent and someone willing to risk his life for what he believed in, but he could admit he felt differently now. If Sanzo had really saved Yaone from whatever fate that evil bastard would have inflicted on her, then he also owed Sanzo a debt. He had seen how close to death the man looked hanging from her balcony, and how utterly beaten he had been when he pulled him up. All those dark bruises covering his torso and the multiple wounds that were bleeding through Yaone's expert bandages made him realize a little bit if the hell the priest had been through under Nii's care. It made his stomach churn.
Entering Yaone's chambers, Kougaiji found Sanzo right where he left him on the balcony. As he approached the slumped over monk, Sanzo struggled to lift his head but held a sturdy glare in Kougaiji's direction.
"I'm only here to make sure Yaone gets out of here safely," Kou told him.
"Hmm, and where is she?" Sanzo asked, barely above a whisper. The man looked ready to pass out again.
"Good question." The prince walked over to the railing. The moon was waning and held little light, but in the distance, he could see a flying dragon headed towards them. "She's almost—"
When Kougaiji turned back to the monk, the icy hatred in Sanzo's eyes as he looked towards the bedroom entrance stopped him mid-sentence, and he followed his gaze.
"If it isn't my favorite prince and the runaway," an empty voice echoed from the darkly shadowed man who just walked in.
"Nii Jianyi, you bastard. I told you there would be hell to pay if you hurt Yaone!" Fire began to form under Kougaiji's hands, and the air sizzled from the heat. He began the chant to summon a fire fiend, hoping to fight back the evil scientist and signal to Yaone that there was trouble at the same time.
The creep just stood there smiling, his raven black hair swaying from the power of Kougaiji's summoning.
Heat intensified as the prince neared the end of his chant, and he felt the resonance of the fiend he called forth. The creature roared as it was released from its dimension and tore towards the smug bastard still standing with his hands in his coat pockets.
Without so much as blinking an eye, Nii dissipated the fiend before it could singe even a hair on his head. "Is that all you've got?" he said menacingly. The air around him suddenly changed into an intensely dark void as he threw a blast of psychic energy towards Kougaiji, sending him into one of the pillars.
Sanzo continued his stoic glare but did nothing to move from his position by the railing.
Slowly walking closer towards the balcony, Nii lifted his hand in a placating gesture. "Now, now prince. No need to get all hot and bothered. I'm only here for the escaped prisoner." He looked down at Sanzo and gave him a lusty grin.
"Like hell you are!" Kou yelled as he gathered his legs underneath him and stood, blinking away the darkness clouding around his vision. What kind of power did this guy have? He did not even move or chant to summon such an attack. "You'll have to go through me first. This prisoner is now under my protection."
Those words earned him a scowl from the priest. Clearly, he had no idea why Kou would be protecting him when Yaone was not around.
"Oh ho. You sure? You know that won't be hard for me to do, prince."
Fortunately, Nii was still standing far enough away that Sanzo was not in the line of fire for Kougaiji to summon another fiend. This time he would not be summoning any average fiend. "On San Maya Sato Maei Sowakaonsha Rei Jawamei Unhatta…" The air once again crackled, and Kou felt the mighty fiend answer his beckoning. The most powerful fiend he learned to call on, the strength of the hellfire ogre could not be matched. He felt its power connecting with his as he formed the words to the chant, the impressive field of energy flowing through his palms as the portal opened. The roar of the beast thundered as it voiced its thirst for destruction.
"Engokuki!" Finally, the titanic fiend broke forth from the six worlds and burst its way towards Kougaiji's foe.
A loud rumble followed as Engokuki destroyed everything in its path. The force of the blast from the colossal ogre pushed Kougaiji back. Sanzo raised an arm to shield his face from the heat as well as pieces of stone that flew in all directions.
After the fiend burned up in a flash of light and the dust started to settle, an eerie chuckle broke through the clattering of debris.
A puff of nicotine appeared from the cloud of smoke and dust before Nii followed. "And here I was, dismayed that I had left my lighter back in my lab."
Kougaiji could only stand, wide eyed and mouth agape at the man standing before him who managed to stay in the path of his strongest fiend and take no apparent damage.
"That'll be enough of that though. I don't need to waste anymore of my time with you, little prince." With just a turn of Nii's head and a smug smile towards Kougaiji, the prince was flung back into the pillar once more.
Kou grasped at his chest as he felt a deep pain tear through it when he slammed into the stone. Bringing his hand up to view in his darkening vision, the last thing the demon prince saw was blood.
A sense of cold fear shocked Yaone as she watched Kougaiji beginning to summon a fiend from her balcony, and that fear turned to horror as she saw him get thrown into the balcony pillar. She urged Apollo higher so she could see who had invaded her room to attack.
"Oh gods, no." She whispered to herself when she saw a certain black-as-evil scientist standing coolly in the aftermath of the prince's fire.
While hovering, she felt more than saw the villain shift his gaze out to her, and she knew she had no chance. Sanzo had been right, that man was leagues beyond them in terms of power. Since surely Nii would take Kougaiji prisoner as well as Sanzo, there was only one course of action she could take if she hoped to save the men she loved.
AN: Swoon, I love Sanzo when he his irritated/pissed. Hopefully you guys enjoy some of the snippets of comedy like I do. Just the whole situation of Kougaiji finding Sanzo on the balcony like that makes me chuckle. The sarcasm is great.
I love how big Kou's heart is. He's put in a tough spot learning Yaone betrayed him, yet he still does everything he can to make sure she is safe.
Nii is a bastard lol. Using Engokuki as a lighter! Burn! ha ha ha, so savage. It's badass. Gods that guy is scary. He's so powerful, none of them hold a candle to him. How will they ever defeat him? (I have some ideas) ;)
Ooo, what's Yaone going to do?