Author's Notes: Thank you for the reviews. I've been having a great problem with this fic but now, I'm beginning to solve it one by one... Thanks to all your help especially my nee-san! You're great! ^_^ !

Disclaimer: Yah di yah di yah...

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CHAPTER 10: Ignorance

1000 years ago; Eleezyienne

Thene sighed as he watched Blair and the vah talk from the corner of his eye. He had nothing against them, but it was painful to watch his brother ending up in a doomed relationship. It was probably better if he had fallen in love with a human. In such a case, destiny might have been kinder.

But a vah? It was hopeless! Not only were they considered to be mere machines, but they were also reputed as being the lowest life form. Maybe it was because they were 'programmed' to only follow gods...or because of the fact that they weren't gifted with a heart. Or maybe both.

Thene was the god of the earth. He was the most passionate, most sentimental, most loyal, most caring god and because of this, he was probably the most beloved god of all. People called him "The God of Nature and Life," which is very fitting for him. It was, after all, his idea to create animals and plants and probably all of nature.

Every spinster constantly worshipped him, and not just because they admired his modest look, flowing dark brown hair and concerned light violet eyes. Zhehn called him his right hand. Rei called him 'Dearest Brother'. Sarah called him 'The Humble One'. Blair calls him 'Brother'. Spade called him 'Emotional ball of mushy guts' - which is probably the best compliment the fire god can ever make to an emotional ball of mushy guts. All in all, everyone liked him.

He was always concerned about everything. He spent most of his time worrying about things that didn't even concern him. "That Blair...my unfortunate stubborn brother..."

"Yeah, and I wish I could give him a good lashing! Hanging out with that bitch… Who does he think he is? Leader of all gods?" Sarah butted in, letting her anger loose like she always did around Thene.

Sarah was the complete opposite of Thene. She didn't care for anyone except herself, herself and…herself. Just like Blair, she was never contented with being the goddess of water. She wasn't even satisfied that she was probably the most beautiful of them all, what with her aqua-colored hair and stinging purple eyes. According to her, she deserved better capabilities, better powers... not just wet stuff. No matter how Zhehn explained to her that she was born that way, she still couldn't leave things like that. She wanted to be the best in everything, and because of that she was branded as a bitch. Zhehn called her a bitch (secretly), Rei called her a bitch, Thene called her 'disturbed sister who needs psychological counseling', Blair called her bitch and Spade called her bitch, too, except that he sounded proud about it when he said so.

That didn't stop her for being so goddamn obnoxious. She hated lowlifes, includes humans and vahs (surprise!). Because of her violent and negative attitude towards humans, she got the title, 'Goddess of Destruction'.

Evidently, she wasn't too happy about that. So, in a fit of rage, she destroyed half of the world hoping to teach humans a lesson. And with that she earned her complete title as 'Goddess of Destruction and War'.

Thene gave her a smile, "Well, they share something special, you know. And don't forget that the vah was created directly from Blair's heart. That means she's a part of him, and vice-versa. With that, they can do almost the same things at the same time, they can read each other's mind which, is very strange and thing, plus---"

"Stop it with the ancient history, ok?" she cut off irritatingly, "They're just a bunch of unruly children. To hell with them!" She sat down and pouted.

Spade's face twitched. "To hell with them?" Then he grinned. "Aw, don't hide it Sarah. We all know you like Blair." He chuckled and did a rather disturbing pantomime of how Sarah would act if she were in love: "Oh my, Blair. Kiss me! I'm your sister, but I don't care, just kiss me!"

"Shut up."

"That's incest, you know."

"Shut up!" Sarah threw a shoe towards Spade, but as usual the fire god managed to dodge it with great ease.

Sarah glared at him. How she hated that perverted freak.

"Incest, incest, incest, INCEST!"

"SHUT UP!"

The door suddenly burst open and out came Rei, who looked like she had just gone through hell. She crossed the room, all the while glaring at Spade and Sarah. "Ok, knock it off children."

Sarah turned away from Spade and pouted again. "HE started it."

Raising a brow, Spade chuckled and grinned. "Oh yeah? It's the truth you brother-loving bitch." He messed up Sarah's hair and dashed behind Thene, who had a smile plastered in his face all the time.

Sarah stomped her foot then, all the while trying to get her hair under control. "See?!"

With a sigh, Rei rolled her eyes and seated herself. Did they have to fight every time they met? It was funny sometimes but it got really annoying at other times. She crossed her arm and glared at them both.

Rei was the goddess of wind. She was adored by everybody, with her bluish silver hair and caring but firm bluish violet eyes. She was not the most powerful but she did have her way with them all. She was probably the most respected and beloved goddess, not that she had any competition. She was also the most understanding and the one tasked to take care of the people's love life and destiny. Because of her tedious work with all the love pairings, she had also become the most hardworking and the most frequently weakened. She did almost all there is to do for humans. That's why humans literally worshipped the ground she walked on. And with that she earned the title, "Goddess of Love and Mercy".

After a while, Rei looked down and took a deep breath. Her face reflected so much exhaustion. Immediately, the atmosphere of the room shifted. Rei may not have been the strongest but she had never shown a single hint of weariness in all her life.

But for the past few days, they had noticed that she was growing weaker day by day. Zhehn confirmed that she had lost three of her vahs, and two more are destined to die before long. They couldn't blame her. It was mainly their fault why she was really working herself to the limit.

Rei heaved a sigh, "I'm not going to last long. You know that don't you?" She lifted her head slowly to look at them.

Everybody avoided her gaze. It was too painful to look at a dying sister, especially when you really loved her. Rei forced a smile and told them, "Everything's falling apart. We all know something will happen, eventually." She walked towards the window and leaned on the wall. "The wind has been telling me things. Horrible things. The end might be near, my dears."

Thene tried to comfort her. "Don't say that, sister. We're going to get through this. We created Darkness. We can destroy him too..."

Sarah smiled and added, "Yeah. I just know we'll win."

"Yup, so stop talking about the end or whatever...It's just going to make me more queasy..." Spade slapped Sarah's back so hard that she had to take his hand for support. But he meant well.

Rei looked at them and nodded. But this wasn't the truth. She knew how things would end but she was not going to interrupt the flow of destiny. It was going to be a sad end. But the story was just beginning; it has not yet begun. The wind has been telling her things...so many things...about the Book of Prophecy, about Darkness, about Halai, about the Youkais, and about the attack that was going to happen tonight...

"Tonight..."

***

Eli took a step backwards and stammered, "But-but I want to-to know about my-my guide." She couldn't believe what Sanzo just did. How could he point that dreadful gun at her? And he was supposed to be a monk! One thing she hated was a deranged religious freak with a revolver ready to shoot her head off anytime now. She gulped hard and looked at Kamatayan.

Kamatayan smiled amusingly. Now, she understood the situation. But why would he keep his real identity from her? It won't change anything... She rubbed her chin and thought of some plausible reasons the monk might be considering. Is it because he hated the responsibility? 'Could be. But that's too shallow for him. He must have thought about something else...But what could it be?

Sanzo didn't care much. Actually, he didn't really care at all. He looked at her coldly and commanded, "Go back, Eli." Why couldn't things be just easy for him? He hated kids. He hated female kids. He hated female vah kids.

But Eli had no intentions of going back. She was dead scared of the gun facing her, not to mention the one holding it. Nevertheless, she was determined to know about the guide. It was the closest she could get to...

"I'm not going anywhere."

***

It was a fine afternoon. Blair and his vah were on top of THE hill, as usual. It had become a habit for them to 'hang out' there and just talk their asses off. She didn't really like the idea of wasting her saliva all day but it was much better than being ordered around by some bossy god whose only pleasure seemed to be watching a vah suffer, suffer and suffer some more!

However, he enjoyed every second of their talk. Blair felt like he was free by just talking to her. Yes, it was a pathetic loser kind of thing but he felt more liberated. And he liked that.

"I'm having a really hard time calling you vah." Blair started looking at her as he laid back and just relaxed. "Don't you have a name or something?"

She chuckled and lay down beside him, "Name? I wish I had. But you forgot my god, Vahs have no right to own anything. Not even a name." She felt a heartrending feeling but she quickly dismissed it. Vahs weren't supposed to feel that way.

"And you're ok with that?"

She hesitated for a moment but finally nodded in response. "I am, after all, just a vah." She looked at him and smiled as she added, "Even though I'm a friend, I'm always going to be a vah."

He nodded and sighed. "I wish I can be as free as a bird." He felt bad about what his vah just said. But she had a point. He couldn't change who she was; she'd just be a vah forever. And he'd just be a god forever. And both of them would always be trapped in this beautiful hell with only their thoughts and each other to comfort them.

Forever?

How he wished to be a bird flying so high...

A bird passed them and they watched as it flew across the endless sky. Then suddenly he heard her chuckle. He looked at her as if he was asking what made her laugh.

She smiled at him and looked directly at the sky. "Who said birds were free? For if without the branches where they rest their tired wings, they will sooner or later be trapped in the never-ending sky...until they just drop down and die."

Blair smiled and nodded in consent. His vah wasn't stupid at all. "But I made up my mind, vah. I'll name you."

She laughed at the futility of the idea but she asked him anyway, "What will be my name then?" She loved times like this, when the both of them are just talking their minds out, not caring for anything. Just talking.

"From now on you're going to be called---" He looked at her as she waited half anxiously. He grinned and concluded, "Well, it's a secret. I'll tell it to you when we get back."

It was near sunset and it was a long way back to the palace. The sky was slowly turning into a deep shade of crimson. It was magnificent and awe-inspiring. Who knew? This just might be the last time they'd ever see a sunset like no other: a sunset in Eleezyienne.

"If only I could stop time, Vah. I'd like to stay a little longer between the day and the night."

"If only…"

***

"Sanzo, what happened?" Hakkai called out looking at the two worriedly. They were puzzled when Eli just ran out of the room in a heartbeat. She looked like she just saw a zombie, which scared them a bit. But they chose to stay behind, wanting to know how things would go.

Hakkai was having a weird feeling that there was actually somebody talking to Sanzo. When you had a contract with the goddess of love and mercy - or any other gods, for that matter - something like this can happen. Not just the tree, although it was kind of funny to imagine Sanzo going mad and all.

When Sanzo pulled his gun however, that was the time when they had to dash out of the room, much to the customers' irritation.

"What are you doing Sanzo?" Gojyo asked again. He was a close friend of Sanzo, but pointing a gun at an innocent girl is another thing. Besides, you never know if the guy really flipped out or not...

Eli glimpsed at the trio and sighed in relief. At least, she was sure that Sanzo wouldn't fire anymore. He'd never do that in front of them of course...would he? She gulped and finally got enough courage and called out to Kamatayan, "Tell me! What were you and Sanzo talking about?! Something about my guide!"

Hakkai relaxed suddenly and sighed. He was right. Apparently, Sanzo was keeping something from him too. And just when he thought he had the upper hand...

Eli looked at Kamatayan angrily, "Tell me, Kamatayan." She was at the end of her rope and who knew when she'd blow up? She just had to know. She just had to.

Gojyo and Goku had never been so confused in their life before. They looked at each other and sighed in frustration. "Eh?"

***

eleezyienne: Again, if you want to flame me... just give me a private message. I'm open for anything!