Kindred Spirits
An Inu Yasha and Saiyuki fan fiction by Iapetus
Disclaimer: I still don't own either series.
Beta Readers: Kenren Taishou and Truth to Madness
Well, this chapter was delayed due to some personal problems in my life, one of them being that my Great-Grandmother died on Valentines Day. I have winter break this week in school, so hopefully I'll be able to catch up on my writing, among other things.
Thank you for all of your support for this story by reviewing. They really make my day. ^^ Review responses can be found on my writing Live Journal for February 23, 2004.
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Chapter 8: Fall Through
Nataku had screamed out the boy's name, the world instantly coming into sharp relief. Life returned to his eyes as the pupils returned to their rightful spots; his expression growing wide with shock.
A brilliant light filled the chamber he was in, but he did not see it extend to all of Heaven. The holy light revitalized his body, breathing life back into what was once a catatonic and lifeless shell. He felt more alive than he had even before he had fallen "asleep," and rose from the chair he had been sitting in for over five hundred years.
Almost as suddenly as he had regained his energy, Nataku felt himself beginning to fade again. It wasn't like the last time – that time he had fallen into an "endless" sleep – but it seemed as if he were suffering from lack of energy. He was about to faint…
But if he were to faint, why did the room seem to flicker? He had fainted before and this had never happened. Why do I have the sensation that I'm falling? He wondered fleetingly. It's as if I'm being banished from heaven… His vision darkened as the falling sensation seemed to grow in speed.
What's happening to me? He thought lazily. For some reason, he wasn't too concerned.
"Heaven had given you up for dead. There is no way you can come back to life, or so they thought," a familiar voice called out to him in his head.
"Was I really that bad, Kanzeon?" Nataku smiled faintly.
"You haven't moved in five hundred years. Even your father Li Touten gave up hope, although that isn't saying much."
Nataku felt a hate grow in his heart. While he could not yet remember everything after his waking up, he remembered a rage towards the man he called his father. There was another emotion there too… but he couldn't place what it was. Was it loyalty? Why would he be loyal to a man who had caused him so much rage?
"Heaven cannot accept you anymore, because another has been found to replace your position as the Prince of War. Even if it is not your fault, you are being banished until you can prove your worth again," Nataku knew that if he could see the Merciful Goddess at that moment, she would probably be rolling her eyes. She had been one of the few people in heaven to see beyond his golden eyes, as she had with Goku. Kanzeon Bosatsu was the one goddess he knew he could trust at the moment.
"I never said I wanted to go back," Nataku said vehemently. "What is there that I could possibly want?" I want to see Goku, he thought desperately. I want to apologize for everything…
Wait, what did he have to apologize about? He was guilty of something he could not remember.
"Well, you can make your decision to come back to heaven later," the goddess told him. "Regain your memories, and discover who you really are, not what your father wanted you to be. Everyone was born for a reason, and you are more than simply a tool for your father and Heaven's use. You are much more than that."
The former fighting god felt his body land softly on the ground of the earth, and he marveled at the texture of the moss against his back. He could not move – his energy was still gone. However, before he dropped off to a deep sleep once again, he asked the goddess of mercy one last question.
"How am I supposed to do this?" he demanded.
"It wouldn't be any fun if I told you that," she laughed. "But finish what you started. You'll know of what I speak in due time." With that, her voice vanished, and Nataku fell into a deep sleep. This time, however, his eyes were closed.
As Kagura walked down the hallway towards her master's main chamber, she pondered the object in her hand. While she had no idea what it was, Naraku had said that anything would work, as long as it was from the future. The wind demon didn't know why an object from the future would help them travel into the past, but she did not question her Master's commands. No matter how much she hated the vile half demon, he knew what he was doing. No one ever called Naraku a fool.
Whatever the spider demon was about to do was definitely obscure. Kagura had never heard of a spell to send one back in time – only two paradoxes existed in the world. The first was Inu Yasha, who had somehow been resurrected from hell itself. The dead priestess Kikyo's situation did not count, since her life was "restored" to her due to a mountain witch demon's herbal magic. No, the other paradox was the well that the woman Kagome traveled through.
In an epic battle, Naraku had tried to pass through the well to Kagome's time, but had not succeeded, even with the possession of Shikon Shards. He had lost a third of his body in that fight, and it took him a month of organ swapping to bring him back to the standard he was before. The dog demon's rage towards his attempts at trying to attack the priestess while she was at home infuriated him, and Kagura, at that time, had truly been scared of face the half demon. By his appearance, the demon blood flowing within his veins threatened to take superiority, just so that he could kill his adversaries.
Kagura pushed this bad thought out of her mind as she walked into the chamber without knocking. Naraku, who would usually quietly reprimand her for her brashness, said nothing. He was again staring into Kanna's enchanted mirror, transfixed on the contents inside. I wonder if it is someone's soul, or just a vision… She had little time to think further, for Naraku turned his attention to her.
"Welcome back, Kagura," he said quietly. "Did you find what you were looking for?"
You mean what you were looking for, Kagura thought darkly. "Yes, I was able to find it," she answered politely. Trying to hide the acidity in her persona, she walked over to her "father" and handed him the object.
"I found it outside the well. It appears as if she dropped it unknowingly, because she did not seem to miss it while talking with her companions," Kagura pointed out.
"What is it?" the spider demon wondered.
"I have no idea," Kagura said truthfully. "Will it work?" I don't care if he has his heart in my hand, there is no WAY I'm going after another object of the miko's. She rarely drops anything at all.
"Yes, it should work," Naraku reassured. "In fact, this will work better than I hoped." He smiled wickedly and continued. "See?" he held out the object. She had seen enough of it not to have to see it again, but was obliged by her master to look at the device once more. Slowly, he twirled the small and thin rod in his fingers. "It will spin nicely."
What does spinning have to do with anything? "How are you planning on doing this, Naraku? I've never heard of a curse or spell to manipulate time."
He smiled, a small smile, as he lowered the object from the air. "That actually came to me in a dream. A god saw that I wanted to go back in time, and told me how. He didn't seem very happy about heaven, so I knew I could trust him."
Why would a god tell a demon like Naraku how to mess with time? Kagura pondered. When a person messes with time, they mess with their own lives. I have no idea why the woman, Kagome, keeps traveling back here when she risks changing her own future. There were times, of course, when Kagura realized that Kagome did not care about changing the future. But the woman was still human, and humans were not perfect.
"I have simply been waiting for an opportunity to implement the curse, and the conditions have finally become perfect. The time is now." He pulled out the polluted fragment of the Shikon no Tama with his left hand, and motioned for Kanna to set her mirror on the ground. The white demon sprinkled some herbs on the surface of the mirror, and then fell back to Kagura's side. Kagura watched with interest as her master continued with the plan.
"How does an object from the future help you go back in the past?" Kagura questioned. "That doesn't make any sense."
"An object from another time is not supposed to exist in this one. Each one is a hole waiting to be filled from within the void through the time stream that was created. If one can shift this void into the opposite direction…"
Kagura knew that this process was risky. Time traveling was always a fickle thing.
Setting down the object on the mirror, he began to concentrate his energy into the Shikon no Tama. It was something he rarely did, for it alerted others to his true presence, and not some golem. Holding the enormous shard above the mirror's center, Kagura noticed the object beginning to rotate to the left. She briefly remembered the priestess mentioning it in one of their battles at some odd point as being "counter clock wise." Why she remembered that now, she didn't know. As the shard came closer to it, the object moved faster whilst as the shared moved away from have a normal sense of humor), he might have played with this effect for several minutes. However, Naraku had never been normal.
Suddenly, the object stopped spinning, and pointed itself firmly in one direction. The corners of Naraku's mouth twisted upwards in an insane grin as the mirror began to shimmer in an eerie pink light. There seemed to be another color mixed in with the others, and Kagura was reminded strongly of yellow. At least, she thought it was yellow. For some reason, she could not be sure. The room suddenly began to flicker ominously, and Kagura fought the urge to cry out in alarm. So I'm going with him? She thought slyly. Well, it isn't like he could ignore me. I'm a part of him. Kagura's mind suddenly began to blur, and she could not focus on either her master or her older sister. What is going on?
With one last blast of energy, Kagura could feel herself being pulled, by what part of her body she did not know, away from the castle walls. However, as they passed through the blackness of time, the wind demon began to loose her demonic energy.
Damn you, Naraku! She cursed her master. You don't want to suffer as much so you draw on us… Kagura couldn't finish the thought. She felt her mind fade as she fell into a daze. She vaguely felt herself land onto the ground of the past before the darkness consumed her.
The sun streamed down through the open roof and into the courtyard, spilling it's light onto the water lily covered pond. While the sight was truly beautiful to mortal eyes, its appearance never changed. The only thing that kept a certain bodhisattva from being bored out of her mind was the reflection in the water.
It was what kept her from going insane on many occasions; with all the formality and traditions she had to deal with in Tenkai. She wondered fleetingly if her nephew would have been as bored as much as he has been had he had access to such a novelty.
No, he had to wait for his heavenly "distraction," just like she did a long time ago. His had come in the form of an actual living creature, and the bodhisattva had to admit to herself that she hadn't watched her pond as closely during the rest of her nephew and his pet's stay in Tenkai. While Tenkai didn't like being shaken up by the little heretic, she personally believed that it needed it.
Kanzeon Bosatsu looked down at the water with a smile on her face. She generally tried not to meddle in the events of humans and demons, except when things proved to be boring. The Gods were not there to lord over humans and demons, but to watch over them. Apart from one instance, where her nephew had threatened to die again, she had not touched anything regarding the flow of human life. That was, until now.
While their journey was proving to be highly interesting already, Kanzeon couldn't help but throw a wild card into the deck. It wasn't good for someone to think that they had everything planned out. Where was the fun in that? She wanted this to be unpredictable to all sides concerned.
Not a soul in Heaven or Hell could have predicted that her dear nephew would have mysterious dreams of a foreign priestess from another time. The corners of her mouth rose even higher at the thought. Yes, she had looked inside her nephew's dreams, and had been surprised to find another soul with him. "Imouto," as he called her, had a soul similar to his own.
The Goddess had been surprised to find out when she peered into the future, which she rarely did, that the woman in question was born approximately thirteen centuries later.
It was there that she had found the woman's younger brother. He was a skilled fighter, and had also been born with the powers of a priest. Higurashi Souta was not nearly as powerful as his sister, even if he didn't realize he had any spiritual power at all. Powerful priests and priestesses did not obtain their power by meditation or devotion – they were born with it. The goddess smirked at the notion of how the grandfather of these two individuals could be so different from them. He was devoted to the faith, and yet had no power.
Tenkai had also not counted on Nataku ever waking up from his catatonic sleep. After the disaster five hundred years ago, the Jade Emperor forbade more than one heretic residing in heaven. It wouldn't be long until the rest of heaven discovered the former Prince of War's disappearance, but by the time they did, they wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Gods were not to meddle in the affairs of humans, but leave them to their own devices. A banished god could do what he desired until the rest of heaven decided to finally deal with him. Oh, what she would do for that kind of freedom…
She could hear Jiroushin approach, and turned her gaze away from the water. The game would continue, even if the other sides didn't realize that she had started to play her own hand.
The uncomfortable silence has long since faded. Kagome was glad, she didn't like the others taking pity on her. It wasn't good to dwell on what she couldn't prevent. They had a job to do, and she was going to help them do it.
"We need to do an extortion sometime soon," commented Miroku. "Our supplies are running short."
"Don't you mean pretend there is a demon at a lord's house and steal all of his valuables?" Shippou asked dubiously.
"Or blackmail him in some way?" Sango put in, eyeing the monk with distaste.
"Stealing and blackmailing are harsh words," the monk smiled reassuringly. "I like to think of it as borrowing."
"You corrupt monk! You never change!" Inu Yasha said bluntly. "We don't need those supplies anyways. I don't know what you're talking about."
"Well, ever since Kagome-chan decided to bring back only what she needed essentially, we no longer have her food source to depend on." The female demon exterminator pushed a long strand of her black hair behind her ear, and looked straight ahead. "And unless you want to live off of Houshi-sama's snakes and frogs, I suggest that we make a stop at the next village."
"Oh, Sango-sama, is my cooking really that bad?" Miroku asked in a mockingly hurt voice.
"You didn't bring any ramen noodles with you?" Inu Yasha asked Kagome, worried.
"No. There's no way I can bring enough to last a full year, and I needed a smaller bag. My backpack would only get in the way later."
"You could have brought SOME back," the half demon grumbled.
"Hah! Stupid Inu Yasha!" Shippou laughed. "You're supposed to be a dog demon. Can't you scavenge for your own food yourself? You're pathetic."
Kagome rolled her eyes in response to that comment.
"Oh yeah?" Inu Yasha challenged. "Hey Kagome, did you bring any candy with you?"
She shook her head. "No, I don't have room for any of that stuff. I don't mind Miroku-sama's cooking."
"Thank you, Kagome-sama!" the monk found his way to the miko's side. "You don't know how much this means to me!"
"What?!" Shippou exclaimed, "No candy?"
"Don't get any ideas, Houshi-sama," Sango said in a dangerous voice. Her hand was twitching on the hold of her boomerang strap, and the perverted priest decided it might not be a good idea to grope Kagome in thanks.
"Now who's pathetic, Shippou-chan?" Inu Yasha emphasized. "You always talk about how you're a full-blooded demon and I'm not. You're a fox demon; you should be able to find your own food too."
"Don't call me little!" The fox demon said hotly. "I passed my coming of age rights with flying colors."
"Ah, yes." Miroku smiled. "Young Shippo is no longer a child. And is it not true, dear Sango-sama, that dogs are better scavengers than foxes?" He grinned evilly, especially when the demon exterminator caught on.
"I must disagree with you, honorable Houshi-sama." Kagome had to stifle a giggle before Sango continued. "My experience with both dogs and foxes leads me to believe that foxes are better scavengers. However," Kagome could barely contain her laughter now, "it is MUCH easier to train a dog."
"What are you implying, Sango?" Inu Yasha said hotly.
"That you could be trained more easily than Shippo," she remarked simply.
"No one will ever tame me!" the half demon said defiantly.
"Sit."
The young man's body slammed into the ground as he let out a frustrated growl.
"What was that for?" he asked in indignation.
"To help prove a point," Kagome said simply. "That's all."
The half demon growled, and got up. Kagome found it amusing that he always forgot about how the three humans would come to the fox demon's aid whenever he was teased. Only Kagome would defend him when he was teased, and she didn't do it that often, anyways. The three humans found the pastime amusing, especially when both demons hated them coming to their defense. Well, they pretended to, anyways. Kagome thought they kind of enjoyed it.
Suddenly, the young woman could feel two things simultaneously. The first was the sensation that a Shikon shard was headed in their direction. The second feeling was that she knew the presence. Kagome focused her senses in an attempt to discern the user's identity before he or she appeared. It was not only familiar to her because she had seen this person before, but also…
Inu Yasha's eyes narrowed in hatred and thirst to prove himself. Kagome could tell by his reaction alone that she had been right, even before the person in question appeared before them. Had Kouga approached them, the hanyou would have had a slightly more laid back approach to his reaction. He would have been aggravated that the wolf demon had come to pester them again and try to take Kagome away, but the two demons' relationship had developed into the kind of friendship that has constant fighting. Had the person been a random demon, Inu Yasha would have probably just rolled his eyes in annoyance. No, only one person earned this particular look.
Sesshomaru stepped out from behind a tree nonchalantly; the impassive look displayed on his face as always. Kagome's eye focused naturally on the shard that was implanted in the dog demon's upper right arm. Somehow, they weren't completely sure how, Sesshomaru had had his arm restored from his father's grave. He claimed to be using the shard to help heal his arm, and that was all. The demon had his pride, and wanted his arm to be restored so that he would not have to depend on others. Of course he never said that, but Kagome could see it in his eyes.
How was it that both Inu Yasha and Sesshomaru could be so much alike and yet be so different at the same time? Myoga had once said that they were too alike for their own good, and were exactly like their father. As Inu Yasha reached full demon adulthood, the resemblance became rather striking.
"What do you want, Sesshomaru?" Inu Yasha demanded hotly.
"What does he always want?" Miroku asked the half-breed.
"The Tetsusaiga," responded Shippo.
"Inu Yasha's life," answered Sango.
"Possibly more shards to heal his arm," put in the priest.
Kagome, due to the fact that the other obvious answers had been taken, chose not to reply.
"You should listen to your companions, dear little brother," Sesshomaru said casually.
"Sesshomaru-sama, why do you want these Shikon shards and not the one that we found awhile back?" It was a voice that belonged to one of the creatures that grated on her nerves the most, Jaken. Kagome had never liked him, ever since he helped his lord travel into the Great Inu-daiymo's grave. He was just a little toad who was willing to gang up on people, and Kagome couldn't stand him.
"Because he said it was a trap, Jaken!" A young female voice said from further in the forest. As she stepped into view, Kagome realized it was Rin, who was now a teenager like Shippo.
"Ah, I'll bet our good friend Naraku probably placed it there for Lord Sesshomaru to find," Miroku said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"You'd think that he'd realize that we'd see through that by now," Sango rolled her eyes.
"I'm sure you would not be able to, dear brother," Sesshomaru smirked as he moved to attack. However, he stopped suddenly in his tracks. A terrible sense of foreboding had descended on the whole group, and could not be ignored. Inu Yasha, who had opened his mouth to combat the insult, closed it quickly.
Kagome felt as if she was in an earthquake, but the ground wasn't shaking. Despite her attempts to remain standing, she fell to the ground. Her right hand immediately grasped the Shikon shard, trying to draw strength from it to help this terrible feeling pass. When that didn't work (in fact, it made it worse), she grasped the grass in an attempt to regain a sense of balance. It was impossible to let go of the Shikon shard – Kagome felt that something terrible would happen if she did. She looked around at her friends, trying to gauge how they were reacting to this.
Sesshomaru had not fallen to the ground like she had, but was down on one knee, clutching his right arm. His breath was ragged, as if he had just run a great distance. Pain was in his eyes, like what Kagome could feel in her own.
"My lord!" Jaken said in a concerned voice, running to his master's side. Rin was close behind him. "What's wrong?" He seemed impervious to the magical pressure, along with the teenage girl. Kagome's companions were not so lucky.
Miroku, Sango, Shippou, and Inu Yasha had not been brought to their knees, but it looked as if it was difficult for them to stand. Sango braced herself against her boomerang and motioned for Kirara to jump into her free arm. Inu Yasha defiantly refused to use his Tetsusaiga for support, but gritted his teeth against this mysterious force. Shippou pushed his hand into a nearby tree for support.
"What's going on?" he asked in a ragged voice.
Miroku was supporting himself with his staff as he replied. "Look at the Shikon shards…" his voice was also harried.
Their gazes turned to Kagome's large shard first, then to the Sesshomaru's arm. They were glowing brightly, and in an unusual color. Its aura was pink as always, but there seemed to be something else. Is it yellow? I can't make it out… Kagome thought, frustrated.
She looked up, and noticed that her friends were also glowing. It was odd, since she couldn't actually see any light, or where it was focused upon. It was more like a feeling… as if their battles were less severe… or something like that.
A feeling was growing in her heart that she could not ignore. Crying out, Kagome fought against the pain in her chest – the sensation that an invisible hand was trying to rip her apart.
Where is the attacker? Kagome tried to focus. What is going on?
Before she could even consider how to answer the two questions, waves of energy swept through her body, making her feel unbearably hot. Her vision blurred and her eyes began to roll into the back of her head. Surely she was about to die…
I'm going to die from something that I don't even know what it is? Kagome mentally demanded to herself. She couldn't accept that. Focusing all of her willpower on her mind, she forced her vision to focus.
The others were writhing as she was, but something else was happening. They were disappearing. She tried to call out to them, but nothing came out of her mouth. She noticed the scenery begin to flicker, as if a scratch had appeared on a movie reel. The flickering increased in frequency, and her friends faded away.
Unable to take anymore, the young miko tried to find something for her mind to focus on. Her mind blanking out, she instinctively reached for the first presence her mind could recognize. The identity of the person shocked her immediately back into awareness.
"Oniisan?"
The backseat of the jeep was being unusually silent for that time of day. Sanzo knew that he should be enjoying the quiet while it lasted, but it put him on edge. It disturbed him to see his companions act as if nothing had happened the night before. Well, to them nothing had happened, even if they knew something wasn't right.
Gojyo would have generally dismissed a gap in his memory as the result of getting drunk, but he would always remember going out to the bar the night before. The fact that he also did not have a hanger ruled that particular option out.
Hakkai (who Gojyo had never been able to get drunk) also seemed to be bothered by not being able to recall his memories. His eyebrows would often furrow together when he thought no one was looking, and he seemed distracted every time the priest looked in his direction. The driver should concentrate on the road, but the way the green-eyed demon was watching it, it was as if they were on the edge of a cliff. In truth, they hadn't driven such good roads in weeks.
While Hakkai and Gojyo had attempted to hide their apprehension, the monkey had not been so discreet. He had woken up depressed, and had even refused to eat breakfast. It was the first time Sanzo could ever remember ordering Goku to eat a meal. The priest knew that his "pet" never did stay depressed for long, and when he was feeling better the first thing that would come out of his mouth would be –
……
That was odd. They monkey had always interrupted his thoughts in moments like these. Curious, he looked at the young man through the reflection of the rear view mirror.
He was reading something, which surprised Sanzo. Goku had never been known to willingly sit down and read anything quietly, even when he was interested in the topic. He would usually read out loud, or comment on almost every single line. Yet, as the monk studied his charge's face, he saw a similar expression to the one Hakkai had. Goku was trying to figure something out, and it appeared as if he thought the answer was in that book.
Sanzo knew the contemplative mood couldn't last forever.
"Hey, what are you reading?" Gojyo asked as he noticed Goku's concentrated face.
Bingo.
Goku jumped slightly at the voice. "Nothing," he said quickly.
Sanzo watched with interest as the scene played out. He was so involved with that book that Gojyo surprised him?
An attempt was made to hide the book before they saw what it was, but Gojyo grabbed it while simultaneously holding the younger man back at arms length. "Yeah right it's nothing, what could possibly shut you up for so long?" He turned the book over to see the cover.
"The Adventures of Anpan? You have got to be kidding me."
"Give it back, Gojyo!"
"Hey, at least you're reading at your age level. Isn't it for kids who are around five years old?"
"Shut up and give me my manga back!" He knocked Gojyo's hand away and dived for the other arm. The water sprite simply had the tankoubun change hands so that it was still out of reach.
"Calm down back there, you two," Hakkai called out in conditioned response to the noise. As usual, they didn't pay attention to their driver.
"I don't care if it's for little kids!" Goku said hotly. "That manga means a lot to me! I don't want you to mess it up, you perverted water sprite!"
I don't remember Goku every caring about manga before, Sanzo thought to himself. In fact the temple never allowed it on the premises. I would have known if he had snuck some into his room.
Sanzo usually would have cared less about what the water sprite and monkey were fighting about, but something in Goku's expression made this fight different from the others. It was as if he was desperate.
"I've never seen you with it before, you must have just got it. How can it mean that much to you?"
The priest could finally take no more. Turning around, he hit the two over their heads with his paper fan.
"That hurts!" Goku covered his head with his hands, momentarily releasing Gojyo.
"What was that for, you damn monk?" Gojyo demanded hotly.
"You were both being annoying. Shut up and give him his damn manga back."
"Why should I-" the half demon's comments were stopped by the barrel of a Smith and Wesson pointed in his direction. After a couple seconds of glaring at each other, he tossed the tankoubun back into Goku's lap.
"I'm sorry," Hakkai apologized.
"Why should you be sorry, Hakkai?" Sanzo questioned, slightly suspicious.
"I'm the one who bought that manga for Goku; it was when we were out shopping earlier today. I know that we aren't supposed to have any extra baggage, but it seemed like he really wanted it. He wanted it more than the meat buns from the vendors in the next stand-"
Hakkai statement was cut short as the jeep was brought to a screeching halt, sending his two backseat companions head first into the dashboard and almost through the windshield. Hakaryu protested as Hakkai tried to calm him down.
"I'm sorry, Hakaryu, I didn't mean to stop that quickly." He paused as the dragon continued to speak. "No, Gojyo and Goku did not hit you on purpose…"
"Ow, that hurt." Goku rubbed his head as he moved back into his seat.
The priest would have normally hammered the both of them into the floor of the jeep with his paper fan, but there was something else that prevented him from doing so.
As Gojyo and Goku both sat back in their seats, he watched them quietly. So they noticed it too – some kind of foreign chi just appeared out of nowhere…
"What the hell just happened?" Gojyo asked the obvious question. His voice was irritated, and Sanzo knew exactly why. They couldn't pinpoint the odd feeling that chi gave them.
It was all around them. He didn't feel as though it were some kind of ambush, whatever "it" was didn't seem very interested in them. In fact, "it" didn't move.
Sanzo searched the new power signatures and tried to grapple with what he felt. It was too far away to feel it more specifically, but he could sense an enormous youki. It made him feel sick inside – like that presence was the vilest thing that had ever existed.
Sanzo tried to clear his mind of his own thoughts and focused on the other presences. There were too many. He couldn't separate them from such a distance, but…
He heard a familiar voice call out to him. It was confused, and desperate for answers.
Oniisan? He heard the voice whisper in his mind. Oniisan, are you really here? Her voice was weak, as if her energy had been drained from her.
Imouto? Sanzo replied, trying to discern where she was.
Both Sanzo and the voice seemed shocked that they had actually heard one another. What the hell is happening? The priest thought, confused.
She sounded more bewildered than he was. Where are we?
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Due to the problems I've been having, I do not know when the next chapter will be out. Over half of it is written, but one part is giving me a lot of problems. *glares at Sanzo* Hopefully it will be done soon.
Comments and criticisms appreciated! ^^
-Iapetus