Shinku no En: The Crimson Bond
by UltraM2000
Disclaimer: Don't own Saiyuki…yet. Severe fluff, M2000 style, and slight PWPness. GREAT liberties taken with portrayal of Chinese/Tougenkyou hell.
Avici wasn't exactly the cheeriest place on Earth. The best way to describe it would be a festering cesspool, or at least that's what humans thought. In reality, hell was only what you thought it was, thereby custom-fitting the torture to the individual. Two souls sitting next to each other could be screaming independently for heat and cold, darkness and light to alleviate their intense sufferings. Admittedly, Dougan had had no thoughts about the hell he was sure to see, only consumed by his desire for vengeance. Hence, Avici, to him, though not exactly the cheeriest place on Earth, was at least home; a quiet, silent space as boundless as infinity, somewhere to plot and plan and gather strength. Dimly burning torches cast light upon the cold stone flooring and rough floor made of solid granite blocks. Spartan, yes, but it suited his tastes—utilitarian, basic, cold and dry and plain and heartless. He looked over it all from his throne on a dais, much like Enma's own several levels above.
Dougan's greatest strength when alive had been his ability to extend his own ideas to others (or at least try valiantly), easing them into his own little Utopia, and this was exactly what he had done with the other souls—united their scattered thoughts into a single, forceful will to conquer the world they had long ago left. It had taken years to assemble them all and convince them of the rightness of this plan, but it had been worth it. Now, his target was almost in his grasp.
"Mas…ter…Dou…gan…" The messenger burst in through another door, gasping for breath, and almost flung himself at the demon's feet. "News…from…the…others…"
Dougan stirred lazily on his throne. "What IS it, Han?" I need my sleep if I'm going to look beautiful for Sanzo-sama." There was a touch of sarcasm in his voice—any respect he held for the monk was now tinged with vengefulness.
"Master, they are here," Han Kang spluttered, trying to catch whatever breath he had left. "Our front guard has been completely decimated by them, and they are closing in fast!"
Dougan bolted upright. "What about the…extra defences?"
"Our spies report they struggled against them for a while and are wounded, but they got through those too."
"Hot damn!" spat Dougan bitterly. "I was hoping I could watch Sanzo-sama bleed to death right in front of me…but ah well," he continued, his voice dropping to its normal, fluid wheedle. "Han Kang, take our…guests…to the chamber. Summon Chin and his son, and ask that they move their men out. Ask one of your men to bring Silver Horn's keeper, what's his name, Kaiganjin, to me, and Ken'yuu with him. Their skills will prove useful in the final preparations. [1] Now go."
"Yes master Dougan," Han replied with a deep bow and left him. Dougan looked around, cat-like youkai eyes scanning the area. Darkness surrounded him much like the black void within his heart—amazingly comforting. He didn't feel like he was in Hell or Heaven, just a sense that he was where he rightfully belonged. Soon, he would be able to share that wondrous feeling with the other inhabitants of Tougenkyou. A smile curved his lips, bitter and sinister. He decided that daydreaming could always wait and called out for his most prized servant.
"Houran? Houran, show yourself!" he yelled impatiently. In a small corner of Avici, the maiden stirred. Her garnet hair, loose from its bun, fell almost to the ground. She walked towards her master with a step lighter from fear than grace, eyes of ruby beauty dull and lifeless.
"What do you wish of me, m-m-master?" Houran whispered almost inaudibly, the last words nearly choking her.
"Nothing much, really. A much simpler task than what I last asked you to do. You will go forth from my chambers and receive Genjo Sanzo-sama and his companions for me. We must greet them properly, child. I don't want Sanzo-sama angry with me again if you make a mistake. Bring them to me. There is so much we have to catch up on."
Houran's heart did a small skip as she thought of the fact that Sha Gojyo would be with them, but she forced down the small, forbidden joy she had felt. "Must I?" she asked in a small voice.
Dougan shot a hand out, gripped Houran around the forehead and forced her head upwards, glaring down at her with his ashen-grey eyes. "If you want to keep your sanity, girl, you will."
Sanzo's fingers sneaked slowly to the trigger of his gun when he heard the footsteps. If they were from an assailant, it would make the ninth assault on their person since they passed through the paper planes.
"Not ANOTHER one!" Goku began, but Sanzo swatted him quickly on the head and dragged him towards the side of the corridor. If the attacker had not yet spotted them, they could utilise the advantage of surprise, and perhaps numbers. Hakkai and Gojyo, too, melted into the shadows and waited.
The footsteps drew closer, soft and light. Doubtless, the assailant was used to stealth in its movements. The ikkou didn't here the clink of metal that might signify a weapon—it was unusually unprepared, or it could just mean that the assailant had other means at hand.
For a brief moment, Gojyo saw shadow darkening shadow, and leapt upon the form, tackling it with a crash and a thump. Acting quickly, he firmly locked the back of his opponent's knees, effectively preventing any further struggle. "Gotcha!" he yelled triumphantly, only to almost get his nose sliced off by a kyoujin, a wide-bladed dagger.
"Do you have nothing better to do than attack your kind?" a woman's voice snapped tensely. Gojyo almost dropped the shakujou when he heard it, and one word instantly flew to his lips.
"H…Houran?"
Clink! The kyoujin clattered to the ground. "G…Gojyo-san ja nai desu ka?" [2]
Hakkai approached the two, shedding light on the shikigami's face. The shock in Gojyo's eyes at seeing her was mirrored in Houran's own as they stared up at their 'assailant' in dire shock.
"Well then…" Gojyo drawled slowly, suddenly at a loss for words. "So I get to be on top this time when we meet, eh?"
"Gojyo!" hissed Hakkai, colouring at the cheeks.
"Get off me please, Gojyo-san," Houran replied crisply. Shikigami do not blush. She wriggled out from underneath him and dusted herself off.
"Ah, Houran!" Goku exclaimed, eyes widening.
Sanzo quickly changed tack and shoved his gun back into his sleeve. "I wouldn't exactly expect to see you down in this dump," he said, mirroring Goku's sentiments. "What are you doing here?"
Houran swallowed, ignored the question and recited her piece. "Dougan-s…sama…sent me here to bring you all to him. He wishes to greet you."
"Greet. Yeah. Ha ha ha," Gojyo snorted. "Twisted bastard can greet the business end of my…"
"Now, now, Gojyo," Hakkai interrupted with a fixed grin cold enough to sustain nitrogen in its liquid state, "we can let him meet that business end soon enough. Don't spoil the surprise." It was clear he hadn't completely wiped from his mind the disgusting images of Dougan prancing around in a dress similar to his beloved Kanan's. He then turned to Houran and gave her a warmer, much gentler smile. "It's been a long time, hasn't it, Houran-san?"
The shikigami forced a little smile and nodded slightly. "It has indeed. My greetings to you, Hakkai-san, Sanzo-sama, Goku-san, Gojyo-san…" Her voice was calm, uninflected. "Come. Let's go. I have kept Dougan-sama waiting long enough."
Houran silently led Sanzo and company through the winding corridors of Avici. The darkness, emptied of its usual population, only held the sound of breathing and footsteps. Amazingly, no more sorties came to attack them. Goku grew curious and gave voice to these doubts.
"Dougan-sama's men recognise me as his shi…servant," she explained. "Anyone they see with me, they are not allowed to harm. They know Dougan-sama deals with such people personally."
"Lay off the sama, why don't you?" Gojyo cut in, lighting a cigarette. "It's not like we think particularly highly of him."
Houran bowed her head slightly, not changing her pace. "Forgive me. It is not my will, but an obligation," she replied softly. "I am still bound to him as a shikigami. Yes, even in Avici. While he is still my master, I have to obey him."
"We'll spring you for sure after Dougan is put down for good, Houran…count on it. Word of a kappa." Gojyo's voice was surprisingly husky.
Instantly, and surprisingly, Houran whipped around to face him with eyes blazing in mad fury. "You will attempt no such thing," she managed to splutter.
"If you actually want to stay here, you're a lot weirder than I thought," Gojyo retorted, a bit confused and offended.
"What is the use of wasting your attention on one who has no hope left? There is no point to it. What has happened and what will happen cannot be changed. I have already accepted my fate…"
"…Which is to be stuck with that bastard in the worst level of hell for eternity? What happened to the Houran who wanted to live? What happened to the Houran who wanted to prove she HAD a life somewhere in there, eh?" Gojyo's brows dipped dangerously downwards in an angry glower, and he jabbed her sharply in the chest. He was rewarded with a stunning slap.
In the silence that ensued, you could hear the air molecules skidding to a dead stop.
An angry red mark stood out on Gojyo's cheek as the anger leaked away from him. Houran dared a glance up at the man's face and immediately regretted it. Those eyes were so full of concern, shock and sorrow that it hurt. Still, she managed the words somehow, angry and short as they were. "That Houran, Gojyo-san, is not in Avici; she is in a place far worse. I cannot expect you to understand that, nor can I force you."
"Houran…" Gojyo began gruffly. He would have said more—a LOT more—if Goku hadn't cut in just then.
"Gojyo, will you never break your disgusting habits?" he grumbled. "Look at you, hitting on a ghost—!"
The moment Gojyo whipped round, crimson eyes blazing like heated magma, Goku knew he'd said the wrong thing. He would have definitely made his excuses if Houran had not stopped him gently with an outstretched arm.
"It's all right, Goku-san. What you say is quite true—I'm just another spirit here. A spirit." She emphasised the last word, wondering if Gojyo had noticed. A half-demon…a man and a shikigami, together? Impossible! The relationship layered taboo upon taboo. A shikigami, rightfully speaking, was a creature already dead from the world, whatever life force it possessed artificial. It hurt immensely to have him here by her, in flesh and blood and real life, when she knew they could never be together in this lifetime. Happiness and sorrow intermingled inside her as she walked on, trying her best to ignore her fellow half-demon. "Onegai, Gojyo-san," she murmured, turning away from him again, "don't make things harder than they already are. Let's go."
Mathematics had never been the kappa's strong point, but he put two and two together easily enough. With a silent, small shrug, he shoved his hands in his pockets and tromped along resolutely, ignoring the stares of the other three.
Houran bit her lip, tasting blood all of a sudden. So close. She had to keep going in this way, even if it broke the one person who had shown her any care in long, gloomy years, even if it broke the half-demon. She would make sure that he would live.
Love has never needed words to speak, ever since man first drew breath; She'd forgotten who'd told her that before—possibly one of the visiting priests her father had had an affinity to listen to [3]—but she shooed away the thought and quickened her pace. Although she didn't at all want to lead the ikkou into a trap when they had done so much to try and stop Dougan before, not doing so would destroy her last chance to put things right. Dougan was not the only one with time on his hands and thoughts to kill it with—her father, the late Houmaou had not neglected his daughter's education and she still possessed a fairly sharp mind. It just didn't serve Dougan like her body still did.
She had made up her mind over this a long time ago, in fact several days after her awakening two years back. Some things would have to go, some things would need changing…but not quite yet.
Dougan waited impatiently for his shikigami to arrive with news, rubbing his fingers along the smooth edge of his long axe. All around him, souls waited in tense anticipation. Many stood on the dangerous precipice between sanity and madness—at the most, some ran on empty and autopilot, including many of his generals. Dougan smiled a thin smile to himself as he thought about this. How lucky he had known so much darkness that Avici seemed only a step into the deeper end of the pool. For once in his life, everything was under his grip and perfect control, from his trusted generals serving him for a chance at salvation, to his most humble lackeys, driven to fight in their craze for freedom...and their craze for the Sanzo-ikkou's blood.
All of a sudden, the beast Silver Horn let out a growl and pulled away from the group of fighters, saliva dripping from its hungry jaws. Kaiganjin pulled it back with his dark Buddhist rosary and soothed it with gentle words. "Dougan, our friends are here to play," he murmured gently.
"Ah," Dougan grunted. He rose from his place, taking up his weapon, a large and ornate axe. "Kenyuu, how be our guests?"
"Sleeping like babies in the chamber, Dougan," the man purred, smiling in a very oily and self-contented fashion.
"Excellent. Now let them come."
No sooner said than done. With a resounding crash, all four of the Sanzo-ikkou kicked the great doors to the core of hell open. Old, burned-off talismans were peeling away from the wood, signs that Dougan had been tampering with the seals upon him and his fellow criminals in Avici. In an instant, all the souls in Avici rose up as if to swallow them, stopped only by Dougan's presence.
"Welcome, Genjyo Sanzo and his companions," Dougan sneered, putting a bitter edge on the last word. "I sincerely hope that you will enjoy your stay here…because after I'm done, you'll wish you had never pushed me aside."
"Just you try it and see," Sanzo growled. Dougan ignored him.
"Houran, that is all. You may go."
Houran felt her heart begin to beat faster and faster as she looked up, looked at Sanzo, Goku, Hakkai, Gojyo and then Dougan. "I may really go? You will not need my subsequent services?"
Dougan laughed. "No, child, I need you no longer. I have achieved my goals."
"As you wish, master."
Having said this, Houran took a few graceful steps backwards, bowed and turned to go…before promptly whirling round to send a furious, flaming wall of ki energy at the charging demons.
[1] Kaiganjin means Broken-Eye God. You probably know the guy by a simpler version of the name…;) The last few paragraphs included one villain from a previous fanfic and a few from canon Saiyuki. Have fun finding them.
[2] Gojyo-san ja nai desu ka – Are you not Gojyo-san?
[3] You'll know which priest I'm making an allusion to if you've read 'Komoriuta' (Lullaby). Shameless plug for a fluffy ficlet.And to my ever dear reviewers...
Ashura -- I am updating to relieve stress. XD Actually, my mom had a book once that explained all about the levels of Chinese hell, but I couldn't seem to find it so I got the info off the 'Net. There IS a short version of Chinese hell somewhere in the original version, though. Thanks for your kind words.
Kurtain -- Thanks.
SeaGull -- An excellent point to raise! *gives cookie* Are they dead? Perhaps. *secretive giggle* That would be telling.
P. One -- Dougan is down there for the sake of a story. No, SERIOUSLY, he was found guilty of spreading disharmony among practitioners (read: tried to kill Sanzo and thereby unwittingly let the resurrection of Gyuumaou go on). Refer to the previous chapter's review thanks to see why I'm not putting Kanan in down here.