Psycho-CJ: Hello everyone, sorry it took so long to post another chapter, but I am just getting over a cold.
Evan: Yeah, she didn't write for three days straight. That's a record.
Psycho-CJ: This chapter is full of angst, but I did add in a interesting bit at the end of this chapter, definitely would fall under humor. Call it a special…treat.
Sanzo: She does not own Saiyuki, but the characters she does own, aren't worth owning.
XxxXxxX
Chapter 14: Sleepless Nights
"Wow, look at all the food!" Goku says happily as he tears open a bag of chips. Evan, Sanzo and Goku happened to come across an inn that had sign reading: "Sleep Peacefully tonight, to bring me more entertainment tomorrow." At first, the three were leery about the place, but Evan checked it out and Sanzo didn't sense any negative vibes from it. To their surprise the place is pretty nice. A room for each of them, a large living room and a kitchen with plenty of food to feed Goku for a week. Evan examines the place, still uneasy about sleeping here tonight. Daycarthro is being unpredictable, Evan wouldn't be surprised if this was some kind of trap. The boy closes his eyes and begins to talk in the demon language that Raven can't even understand. Light skips around the room and sinks into the windows and doors. Evan opens his eyes and smiles.
"There, now we have a ward-spell so we don't have to worry about being attacked tonight." Evan grabs a beer from the fridge and is about to open it when Sanzo whacks him on the head with his fan. "Ow!" Evan rubs his head.
"No underage drinking!" Sanzo hisses, taking the beer away from him and drinking it himself.
"I'm not actually a child. I'm older than you!" Evan hisses. Sanzo gives him the death glare. "Damn, you're just like Raven. He won't even let me smoke." Evan picks up an apple and takes a large bite out of it.
Goku is sitting on the floor with a stack of food around him. His eyes seem happier than they usually are as he stuffs his mouth. Evan finds himself smiling at Goku, it must be great to just zone out, forgetting about all the bad memories. I hope Raven is all right, Evan thinks to himself.
XxxXxxX
Warner and Raven make it to shore, pulling Gojyo with them. The three practically collapse when they hit land. Hakuryuu lands in front of them, watching them with his ruby eyes.
"From now on, I am staying away from rivers," Raven gasps. "Every time I'm near one, something like this always happens."
"I hate water," Gojyo adds.
"It wouldn't have been so bad if I didn't have to drag your sorry ass. A grown man who can't even swim, and to top it off he is a fish-demon!" Warner says in disbelief. "You have to admit this is pretty funny once you think about it." Warner bursts into laughter. Raven glares at Warner. "What, you didn't like the child version of yourself?" he asks Raven.
"I never acted like that when I was a child." Raven places his hands together and whispers an incantation and a fire forms on the ground in front of the three.
"That's because you didn't have a good childhood," Warner counters. "I'm sure if you had grown up like a normal kid, you would have acted just like that one."
If I would have grown up like a normal kid? Raven thinks to himself as he warms his hands by the fire. Nothing can ever be normal for a Hybrid, especially one that has lost the protection of his parents. I'm lucky Evan wasn't raised by my foster-father.
"What was so wrong with his childhood?" Gojyo asks, wringing the water out of his red hair. Raven doesn't answer, but Warner steps in.
"Besides being separated from his family then having a mean son of a bitch for a foster father, I'm surprised Raven isn't more screwed up than he is," Warner explains, as he sits on a rock. Gojyo does the same and Hakuryuu sits next to him, his eyes not leaving Raven once.
"I only lived with him for seven years," Raven mutters. Why are we talking about this?!
"I'm surprised you put up with it so long."
"I didn't have anyone else I could turn to," Raven pulls himself up so his back is resting against a rock. "He did offer me protection from the Daerenhs. It's not easy being a Hybrid without a coven."
"Hybrid?" Gojyo asks.
"Part Daerenh, Waeruock and demon, a generic name is half-breed," Raven quietly explains. Gojyo's eyes widen slightly. "At the time the Waeruocks and Daerenhs had been fighting. The Hybrids decided to side with the Waeruocks. My people did some pretty horrible things to the Daerenhs, which is why they wanted me dead. My foster-father was head of the Waeruock coven, he took me in, protected me, but at the same time, tried to make me into a emotionless assassin." Raven closes his eyes. "I wasn't allowed to laugh or cry—to him, any emotion was seen as a weakness that had to be beat out of me."
Warner plays with some stones on the shore, then skips them across the water. Maybe they're right about me being insensitive, Warner thinks to himself. Here I am, making Raven think about the past, even though I know how much pain it brings up.
"But finally you got smart enough to runaway," Warner reassures him.
"Maybe," Raven glances at the dagger on his ankle. But not before I killed those people…
"Gojyo, you said you were a half-breed too," Warner turns his attention to the red-head, who has failed to speak.
"My mother was human, my father a youkai—a taboo union, that's why I have red hair and eyes."
"So you're a first generation," Warner notes. "That must have been interesting growing up." Gojyo doesn't reply and he pulls a lock of hair forward to cover the scars on his cheek, his eyes gazing at the dancing flames. Raven stares at him for a while, realizing he isn't the only one who had a tough childhood.
"We should probably rest here for a while," Raven announces, not liking the conversation they are having. "Warner, you can take first watch."
"Why me?!"
"You're the one who has enough energy to start a conversation," Raven replies. "Or would you prefer going to sleep and risking someone killing us?"
"Stupid, Hybrid, always gotta be giving orders," Warner mutters to himself. Raven glances at him, then at Gojyo who still looks depressed.
"I'm sure we'll find Hakkai tomorrow," Raven finally says, hoping that will break Gojyo out of his self-pity.
"Kyuu!" Hakuryuu chirps.
"Then Papa Raven can find his little boy," Warner cracks. Raven flings a rock at Warner, barely missing his cheek. "Hey! That almost hit me!"
"I am not a father and Evan sure as hell is not my son."
"Though you two kind of act that way," Gojyo smirks. "You also act like his mother." Raven takes out his dagger and flings it at Gojyo, embedding itself in the rock an inch away from his hand.
"Shit! That almost hit me!" Gojyo yelps.
"Say anything like that again, and next time I won't miss."
"Touchy," Warner laughs.
"Go to hell," Raven hisses He closes his eyes and blocks the two out. Speaking of Evan, I hope he is able to sleep tonight…
XxxXxxX
Two hours later, Goku has already gone to his room to sleep, leaving Evan and Sanzo sitting at the table. Sanzo has his glasses on, which makes him look very intelligent, a cigarette resting in his hands. Evan is sitting in his chair, leaning it back dangerously. He is tired and could probably fall asleep at the moment.
"Why don't you go to bed?" Sanzo asks. Evan tilts his chair forward so the all four legs are back on the floor.
"Not tired," Evan lies. Sanzo puts his cigarette out in the ash tray.
"Go to sleep," Sanzo says, more as an order than a request. Evan watches the monk walk to his room and close his door. Evan stares out the window, he knows he can't fall asleep unless someone is with him. Raven always let him sleep in his room and because of that he could actually sleep. It's not that he isn't tired, its because he suffers from a form of separation-anxiety that is very common among demon children. The day when he escaped from the demons comes back to him, remembering how he would try to sleep on the cold streets, but couldn't because the longing would overtake him. He had allowed himself to be put in an orphanage in order to not be alone.
Evan stands up and walks into Goku's room. The boy is sprawled in his bed, the blankets tangled around his legs. Evan slowly creeps over to the bed and lays down. Goku turns over and manages to kick Evan in his sleep, pushing him off the bed. Evan lays on the floor, trying not to cry out. He gets back up and limps away from Goku's room and closes the door quietly behind him. There goes my one option, Evan thinks as he rubs his back. Sanzo's door stands before him and he shakes off the idea of sleeping in Sanzo's room. The monk would never let him. With a heavy sigh he goes to his room and lays on his bed.
After an hour of staring at the ceiling, Evan gives up and walks over to Sanzo's room. He quietly slips inside, careful not to wake the monk.
"What do you want?" Sanzo asks. I can't believe he sensed me, Evan thinks in awe. Raven usually can't sense me!
"I-I can't sleep," Evan replies.
"What do you want me to do about it?" Sanzo replies, uncaring.
"Can-can I sleep in here?" Evan whispers.
"No," Sanzo says shortly.
"I can't fall asleep when I'm by myself."
"Sleep with Goku."
"He kicks in his sleep." Sanzo smirks at his answer. "Please," Evan whispers, wishing he didn't have to beg, but too tired to let his pride to get in the way.
"Does Raven let you sleep in his room?" the question throws Evan off guard.
"Yeah, he kind of learned the hard way. If I can't sleep, he can't sleep."
"Don't you dare wake me up," Sanzo replies, rolling onto his side so his back is facing Evan. Evan smiles and lays on Sanzo's bed.
"Thank you," Evan whispers, drifting off to sleep. Sanzo rolls onto his back and looks at Evan who is fast asleep. He wasn't kidding when he said he couldn't sleep unless someone is with him. Evan looks like an innocent child, not the demon, who takes pride in annoying others. At the moment he was vulnerable, trying to hide behind a mask so others couldn't see the pain buried in his soul. In some ways Evan reminded him a little of Goku, that was the only reason he gave in.
"Baka," Sanzo says, deciding to go back to sleep.
XxxXxxX
Psycho-CJ: There we have another chapter.
Evan: Thanks for all the reviews.
Psycho-CJ: Speaking of reviews, my sister wrote it was your fault Esca Yugi was deleted and she was covering up for you.
Evan: What?!
Psycho-CJ: This is what she wrote…
MystiquePixie: Evan you are a pain in the butt and everyone knows that you where the one who started the whole thing in the first place.~flashback~ Hi MystiquePixie, what are you doing, asks Evan. Just editing Esca Yugi, explains MystiquePixie. Why?, asks Evan. Because I told CJ I would,explains Pixie. Why? Evan asks again. To make it short I would answer Evan's 1000 why questions only to be answering more of his questions. I told him to please leave me alone but he wouldn't budge. So finally I tell him I hear the ice cream truck and to go get some ice cream. Of course he asks for a dollar to buy the ice cream and when I reach into my pocket I accidently hit the delete story button and since my finger was still on the mouse button I agreed to delete the story. Of course I yelled at Evan only to make him burst into tears so I took the blame and gave him another dollar to buy himself two ice creams. However, Evan has been constantly rubbing in my face the whole erase of Esca Yugi and I am no longer going to take full blame anymore. Curse you Evan!
Evan: My fault?! Okay, this is how it really happened…
In California, in MystiquePixie's house…
Evan: Now Helena, when you see Auntie Tina, I want you to say…
Helena: Tina Baka!
Evan: (pats her on the head) Good baby.
Psycho-CJ: Oh, so that's where she learned that from.
Evan: (sweat drops) Ahem, then suddenly I heard-
Little kid's voice: Why?
MystiquePixie: Because Psycho-CJ told me to.
Little Kid's Voice: Why?
Evan: Of course I was concerned because we were the only ones in the house, so I went to investigate…
MystiquePixie: Here's a buck, go buy yourself ice cream or something.
Psycho-CJ: So, you're saying you weren't the one who was harassing MystiquePixie. Then who was?
Evan: I can still barely believe who it was…
Evan: Pixie, who are you talking to?
MystiquePixie: Go away, Evan, I already give you a buck.
Evan: (Looking at small boy holding a buck) What the…?!
Psycho-CJ: Who was it?!
Evan: It was none other than…(dramatic pause) Chibi Sanzo!
Psycho-CJ: Chibi-Sanzo…? But you two don't even look alike!
Evan: But he was wearing a black wig and he wasn't wearing his robes.
Psycho-CJ: (sarcastically) Sureee, why would Chibi Sanzo impersonate you?
Evan: Revenge.
Psycho-CJ: Revenge?
Evan: Revenge.
Evan: What are you doing here?!
Chibi Sanzo: Urusai! (Thwack!)
Evan: Why did you hit me?!
MystiquePixie: (oblivious to the two) I told you to go get ice cream.
Evan: Huh? (shakes off the reply). Chibi Sanzo, you're going down. (music plays as Evan charges at Chibi Sanzo.)
Chibi Sanzo: Baka! (Smacks him hard on the head. Evan falls over with stars in his eyes).
Evan: (dizzily) Ow…
Chibi Sanzo: That's what you get for stealing the spot light. (Chibi Sanzo places fan back into sleeve and walks off).
MystiquePixie: What the…?! No, I didn't mean to delete it! Evan look what you made me do! (Looks at Evan who has tears in his eyes).
Evan: Pixie! (points his finger in the direction Chibi Sanzo took off in).
MystiquePixie: Oh, don't cry. Here go buy another ice cream. I'll tell Psycho-CJ it was my fault. (hands a dollar bill to him).
Psycho-CJ: (Laughing) You got beat by a Chibi Sanzo. HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Evan: Hey, he's pretty tough for a chibi!
Psycho-CJ: That is the worst story I have ever heard!
Evan: But it was true!
Psycho-CJ: HAHAHA!
Chibi Sanzo: Urusai! (Chibi Sanzo walks by wearing a black wig. Psycho-CJ looks at Evan then to Chibi Sanzo who has a ice cone in his hand).
Psycho-CJ: Okaaaay…?
Evan: (crosses arms in front of him) Told you there was Chibi Sanzo.
Psycho-CJ: At least Pixie bought you an ice cream…
Evan: Not exactly…
In California…
Evan: I can't believe I lost to Chibi Sanzo. (has ice cream in hand). And now Pixie thinks it's my fault Esca Yugi was deleted. Things can't get any worse…(About to eat ice cream when someone snatches it away). What the…?!
Chibi Goku: Sanks! (runs off with ice cream).
Evan: PIXIE!
MystiquePixie: I already bought you an ice cream, leave me alone! (To self) Augh! Psycho-CJ is going to kill me!
Psycho-CJ: You know what this means, right?
Evan: That Chibi Goku stole my ice cream.
Psycho-CJ: No…the chibis have escaped and are causing havoc.
Evan: (eyes widen) May the gods help us all…
Gojyo: What are those two talking about?
Warner: Don't know, don't care.
Psycho-CJ: Oh, and Rook, I am actually working on The Daycarthro Chronicles series, but none of them have been published yet. Hopefully I'll try by the end of the year. So far the first three have been written. Book 1: The Hybrid introduces Cassandra and Raven, Book 2: Untitled, introduces Warner, Book 3: Demon Child has Evan. Right now I am writing Bound by Death, Angel's Curse and another one that deals with Evan's previous life.
Evan: See, she wasn't kidding when she said she is a very busy person.
Psycho-CJ: (Smiling) and that's not including the other books I am writing.
Warner: And if only she would get off her lazy butt and actually try to get published.
Psycho-CJ: Shut up! Okay, I think I've made this chapter random enough, so next time back to the humor chapters and I think I might post two at the same time to make up for how long it took me to post this chapter.
Evan: Till next time!