Psycho-CJ: Hi, back for another chapter. Sorry I didn't get this out sooner but I had so much stuff to do and it's kind of hard to get a chapter out if you have a 10 page paper due. Once again sorry about the wait.

Evan: Excuses, excuses! You're neglecting your audience—again.

Psycho-CJ: I said I was sorry.

Evan: Blah, blah, blah.

Psycho-CJ: You're just mad that I killed you off.

Warner: Yeah!

Evan: You wouldn't dare!

Psycho-CJ: Or would I?

Goku: Psycho-CJ does not own Saiyuki.

Warner: Evan used to belong to her before the...accident.

Raven: The rest of us are her property.

Chapter 19: Who Is the Fake?

XxxXxxX

Chapter 19: Who Is the Fake?

The gun shot rings through the room, causing Goku to clench his eyes shut. Something metallic and heavy falls to the ground, probably the gun falling from Evan's lifelessly hand. I don't want to see it, Goku thinks to himself.

"What?" Evan whispers. Goku opens his eyes, surprised to hear Evan's voice. Sanzo's gun resting in front of Evan, Raven's dagger pinning it against the ground. "Raven?" Evan whirls around to see Raven sighing with relief when he sees he came in the nick of time. "Raven!" the boy yells, racing to him then throwing himself into his arms. Raven stares at the boy in his arms, surprised by the desperation in his voice.

"Promise me you will never try to do something like that again," Raven sighs. "For a minute there, I thought I was going to lose you," Raven whispers, tightening his grip on Evan. "What would possess you to try such a stupid stunt like that?"

"I-I'm sorry Raven," Evan whispers, snuggling closer to his brother to make sure the person holding him is real.

"As much as this is interesting, we still have to find Hakkai, Warner and Cassandra," Gojyo cuts in. Raven pulls back from Evan and ruffles the child's hair.

"Can you sense them here?" Raven asks his brother. The boy closes his eyes, blocking out everything around him as he tries to focus on any other essences around them. The only people he can sense are the ones who are with him. Suddenly Evan feels light headed and his body slightly sways, hands wrap around his shoulders, keeping him balanced.

"It's almost time, isn't it?" Raven whispers.

"It doesn't matter," Evan mutters. "They're not here," Evan smiles at the others, hoping no one will be able to tell something is wrong with him.

"Are you sure?" Sanzo asks.

"What do you think?" Evan snaps. "You think I don't know what the hell I'm doing? I've been doing this for two hundred and thirty-nine years!"

"I thought you said you were two hundred and thirty six?" Sanzo snaps. Evan pauses, realizing Sanzo is right.

"Whatever," Evan grumbles.

"Aw, he looks just like his brother when he does that," Gojyo taunts.

"We'll settle this later," Raven hisses. Gojyo gulps, sensing the Hybrid didn't appreciate the joke. "So Cassandra isn't here," Raven thinks out loud. "I can understand why Warner wasn't dragged into this since he tends to be immune to illusion spells. I'm not sure about Hakkai though, but Cassandra tends to be weak to illusion spells, unless..." Raven's eyes darken as he thinks of something. Why didn't he see it before?

"What's wrong?" Goku asks.

"We're leaving now!" Raven yells.

"What the hell is your problem?" Gojyo yells.

"I'm not in the mood for your crap. Either do what I say, or spend the rest of your life in this illusion. It's your choice." Everyone looks at Raven, surprised by how angry he has suddenly become.

"Raven?" Evan asks, wanting to know why Raven has that killer look in his eye. Something has gotten under his skin. Raven glares at him and Evan takes a step back, realizing his eyes are more violet than usual.

This isn't good, Evan thinks. Raven is dangerous when he gets this way.

"Can we go now?" Goku asks.

"For once the ape makes a good suggestion," Sanzo replies. Raven takes a deep breath, knowing he can't let his emotions get the better of him.

I'll deal with her when I see her.

"Everyone needs to focus on breaking this illusion," the Hybrid announces. "If all of us focus, we should be strong enough to overcome this illusion." Everyone looks at Goku.

"What? Why are you all looking at me like that?" Goku asks.

"You ain't one known for using your brain," Gojyo comments.

"Hey! I use my brain!" Goku yells.

"Not now," Raven cuts in. "If you do as we say, I'll make you a feast when we get back."

"Really!" Goku cheers.

"Raven sure knows the way to Goku's heart," Gojyo whispers to Sanzo. "Maybe you should take lessons from him." Sanzo smacks him with his fan.

"Let's go," Raven announces. Sanzo, Evan, Raven and Gojyo close their eyes, concentrating on breaking free from the spell. Goku looks at the four of them then does the same. The fog wraps around them and the five of them disappear.

XxxXxxX

Warner's body is slammed against the wall and for a second he blacks out. He slides down to his knees, but within seconds he is slammed back by a wind-spell.

"You are such a troublesome boy," Daycarthro notes, tilting his chin up with the end of his staff. "I wonder why my spell failed to work on you." Warner's eyes drift to his fallen companions. Hakuryuu nudges Hakkai, hoping he will wake up.

"What did you do to them?" Warner demands glaring at the god before him.

"I cast an illusion over them, right now they are facing their greatest fears. I wish I could hear them screaming for mercy." The god smirks. "As for you, I suppose I have to kill you with my own hands." Warner pushes himself further against the wall, as the god twirls his staff. Light pulses through the staff, the jewels on his hands reflecting the light. Warner's eyes widen as he finally realizes something.

"You're…" A gun shot cuts him off and a bullet grazes the god's shoulder.

"Get the hell away from him," Sanzo orders his gun aimed at the god's head. Raven, Evan, Gojyo, Goku and Sanzo stand up, feeling a little light headed. Cassandra and Hakkai wake up as well, their eyes looking at the god before them. Daycarthro rubs his arm, the blood pouring from the wound, but the god doesn't appear to be in any pain.

"Took you long enough to break my spell. Maybe you're not as strong as I've heard."

"You knew we were going to break the spell!" Gojyo says in disbelief. "Then why did you cast it?"

"To torture you of course. It would be too easy for you if I killed you right away. You deserve to suffer."

"Raven, he's not…" Warner gasps, but the god slams the end of his staff into the Vaerire's gut.

"Bastard!" Evan yells, heaving a ball of light at the god. The teal-eyed man raises his staff and a barrier blocks the attack.

"Why are you doing this?' Cassandra asks the god. Raven looks at the blonde woman beside him and his eyes suddenly become cold.

"Daycarthro, this is your last chance to change your mind," Raven announces. The god smirks at him, giving Raven his answer. "So be it," Raven places his hands together as he chants in the language of the Waeruocks. Little balls of energy form around him, circling him while throwing strange shadows across the walls. He moves his hands away and the balls split into two groups—one group races at Daycarthro while the other group hits Cassandra.

"Cassandra!" Goku yells, about to go to her aid, but Raven pulls him back.

"What the hell are you doing?" Gojyo demands.

"I'm protecting everyone." Raven casts a spell and wind wraps around his dagger, molding it into a double-bladed sword. His right leg falls back slightly and he defensively raises his sword.

"Raven," Cassandra whispers, standing up as she wipes the blood from his lips. "Why? She asks, tears streaming from her eyes. The tears seem to strengthen his suspicious. When was the last time he saw her cry? And even when he has seen her cry, she only shred a few tears.

"Shut up," Raven hisses, he swipes with his sword and a strong wind throws her against the wall. "Now die!" Raven swings his sword, a mass of wind whirling around him. He is about to unleash the attack when a chi blast hits him from behind. Raven grimaces when he feels blood wet the back of his now torn shirt.

"I'm sorry, but Raven seems to not be acting like himself," Hakkai apologizes. Daycarthro's laughter breaks the silence.

"Raven, it seems they have figured out you are working for me," The god laughs as he stands up, the front of his trench coat scorched from the attack. "It appears your cover is blown." Everyone looks at Raven as he pushes himself up, his eyes not leaving Cassandra once. This whole time he has been working with Daycarthro? "Why do you think it took him so long to find you three and why Raven's and Cassandra's connection has been severed."

"That's not Cassandra," Raven is back on his feet, his sword ready.

"The demon in Raven must have taken over," Cassandra explains.

"Shut up, imposter," Raven runs at her, about to cut her down. She ducks out of the way the blade nearly slicing her flesh.

"But it has to be her," Evan yells. "Her essence is exactly the same. You can't copy someone's essence!"

"Evan, help me," Cassandra pleads.

"What do we do?" Goku asks Sanzo.

"Things have gotten a lot more interesting," Daycarthro says as he watches Raven trying to kill Cassandra. Sanzo points the gun in the air, firing a shot, Raven pulls back from Cassandra, not wanting to be shot by the monk.

"Sanzo, you have to kill him," Cassandra yells.

"Daycarthro, you may have been able to copy her essence, but you screwed up when made her personality," Evan replies. "Cassandra would never want to kill Raven, even after everything Raven's demon did to her, she still wouldn't kill him."

"Besides, you two should really get your stories straight," Sanzo replies. "Cassandra said their connection was still working." He fires at Cassandra, but she manages to put up a barrier in the nick of time. Evan uses the distraction to go to Warner's aid. He counters the restraint spell and Warner crumbles to his knees, gasping for breath. The second he recovers he stands up.

"Raven, that's not Daycarthro! Look at his hands!" Warner yells. Raven looks at the god and he doesn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"You really need to learn to shut up." The god swings his staff and fire races at Warner. Evan fades out with Warner, taking him back to the safety of the others. The god tightens his grip on his staff and Raven finally sees what Warner was saying.

"The Sphere on his hands isn't reacting to his spells," Raven announces. Since Daycarthro has been reincarnated, his power lies with in the jewels on his hands. Usually when he casts spells, the sphere glows from the power being used. "That can't be Daycarthro." Everyone falls into their fighting stance, knowing they have been giving permission to dispose of the god, one of the factors that has hindered the others from acting.

"But if that isn't Cassandra and that isn't Daycarthro, where are the real ones?" Gojyo asks.

"A better question would be, how come these people have the same essences as the two," Evan mutters as he prepares himself to cast an spell. "But I hate it when people screw around with me, so I guess we are going to have to find the answers some other way." He chants in his demon language and energy seems to pulse through the boy. Light forms in his hands focusing it into a ball.

"Sumimasen," Hakkai apologizes as a chi blast smacks Evan head on. Raven curses under his breath and uses a water spell on the green-eyed youkai, but Cassandra shields him.

"Hakkai's a fake too," Gojyo gasps.

"Can things get any worse?" Sanzo mutters, firing at Daycarthro.

"Actually, they can," Daycarthro announces as he snaps his fingers. Goku whirls around in time to see red wind heading straight for him.

"Goku!" Sanzo yells.

XxxXxxX

Psycho-CJ: All right, there's that chapter. I hope the part with Daycarthro makes sense, since I haven't really gone into background info on him. I'm still not very happy with how it turned out, but I'm going to see where this takes me.

Evan: I'm sure it will come out fine just like everything else.

Psycho-CJ: Did you actually compliment me?

Evan: You must have misheard me.

Psycho-CJ: Right, anyway thanks for all the reviews. I can't believe this fic actually reached 50, I thought maybe it was only going to get twenty or something. Thanks to Rook, Sumitra, Mei Cera a.k.a. Gensui Meia and Dreamless_Sleep for reviewing. And to Dreamless_Sleep, I'm sorry you didn't like last chapter and hopefully the next chapters will like more.

Warner: People are actually reading this?!

Gojyo: I'm as surprised as you are.

Psycho-CJ: (yawning) As much as I'm enjoying this bashing, I am going to get some much needed sleep. Till next time!