Never Eternal
by yumeneko
Disclaimer: As usual... Saiyuki is Kazuya Minekura-sensei's... I'm just using it for angsty stuff...
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Another rewritten yet short chapter…
Warnings: Huge amounts of angst. Sanzo + Hakkai semi-fluff in later episodes. Sanzo shall become OOC. Might drive you sick. Lots of blood and gore. IYADA!! It's CG effects!! Wheeeeeee! *Thinks of Sanzo going through that portal thing with all the pretty Squaresoft CG... swoon!*
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"Memories of those loved that were in the valley of the shadow of death have come to haunt me."
Sanzo reappeared in a strange building. It was cold and dark. He walked on to look for the memory of Hakkai dying. But he was oblivious to what was happening in the outside world.
While Sanzo was in the place of memories, the reaper gave Gojyo the music box to guard while she had to continue reaping the souls of the dead. She put on her black hood and took her scythe, but Gojyo touched her shoulder, gesturing her to stay.
"Why is death so beautiful?" He asked.
The reaper stopped and turned around, "That's because I take on the soul of... never mind... She died a long time ago... She was only mortal..."
"Only mortal?" He questioned, "Then why didn't you resurrect her?"
"It was in my job! My job is to send the souls of the dead to Hades!" The reaper cried out.
"You should have done what was right and saved her!" Gojyo demanded.
The reaper was in tears, "I wasn't allowed to... so the only way I could save her was to keep her soul."
"Who are you?" Gojyo asked.
"I am Azrael... The Angel of Death... I have no body or soul, so I take on the soul of a person who is meant to be saved. Only those worthy to be saved are to be resurrected." Azrael took off the face of her soul to reveal nothing.
Sanzo continued to walk across the building when suddenly a strong current of water took him. He felt as if he would drown, but due to his state of oblivion, he was able to breathe in the water. A moment later, he saw Komyo picking up a boy who looked like him in his youth.
"Komyo..."
He got out of the water and followed the boy and his master to Changan.
"This boy..."
The boy looked around and Sanzo saw his face.
"Is me..."
Azrael took the soul of a dead soldier out of his body and put it in a bottle, "Well then... This is the last soul on this battlefield. I'll go back." She teleported back to where Gojyo was sitting with the music box.
"Why did you say that Hakkai was to be saved?"
"Kanzeon Bosatsu told me to go against my job for once. If that soul had gone to Hades, he would be instantly transferred to Heaven! And Kanzeon decided that he had a big job here on earth..."
"And what job is that?"
"To aid you in your journey to the west..."
Sanzo watched every fleeting memory of his youth. His life wasn't played out in whole, only things he remembered were shown.
"I wish I could change my past... But my priority is Hakkai!"
