Title: Still Time
Chapter 3:
They reached the entrance hall in no time because Sanzo walked fast ahead, crushing the stairs underneath him. Hakkai sighed wearily. I should have said something at least, he thought wretchedly.
What could he have said? Sanzo was their leader and Hakkai had always respected him and cared enough about him, up until now. And now? Hakkai mused. Now was worse, he thought. He started to have unsuitable feelings towards the monk. He couldn't begin to explain it to himself. When Sanzo looked at him with that piercing stare, his heart started to race and his blood began to flow wildly. When Sanzo kissed him, he felt things that he thought he had forgotten to feel.
Why did Sanzo kiss him?
Hakkai replayed the scene in his head. Sanzo's eyes were on him, so seriously, so intently, as if trying to memorize every detail of his features... Sanzo's lips were warm and soft, pressing hard on his own lips... Hakkai's heart began to race again. He placed his hand on his chest because it's starting to hurt.
There's no way the blonde monk was falling for him. It's not possible. Hakkai's hand went to cover his open mouth as realization dawned on him.
It's not possible.
Isn't it, Sanzo?
"Look at that, will you?" said the monk suddenly.
Hakkai looked up from his reverie and turned his attention to the direction of Sanzo's pointing finger. His eyes went wide in surprise to find a white dragon in the middle of the hall's floor.
"Hakuryu!" Hakkai started to run towards the white dragon. "I told you to wait outside, didn't I?"
Sanzo eyed the white dragon suspiciously. After all, Goku and Gojyo were kidnapped by a fake jeep. It might be possible that the one in front of them now was the fake one. He grabbed Hakkai's hand to stop him approaching a possible enemy.
"Wait!"
Hakkai looked down on his arm that was gripped by the monk. Immediately Sanzo let it go and turned away.
"Don't you realize that it may be a fake Hakuryu?" said Sanzo irritably.
"Fake?" asked Hakkai incredulously. But then he realized how true Sanzo words were.
"I'm being careless, aren't I?"
Sanzo ignored Hakkai's remark and approached the seemingly harmless dragon. He glared at it and received a pitiful "Kyu" from the white dragon. Sanzo took out his gun and pointed it at the dragon.
"Kyu!"
Sanzo unlocked the gun slowly in calculation and stepped towards the dragon. Hakkai opened his mouth to protest but changed his mind. Now that he's really looking at it, there was something different with the dragon. This white dragon seemed a little bit bigger than his Hakuryu.
"Kyu!"
The dragon slowly unfolded its wings and opened its mouth. Hakkai gasped in surprise. He recognized this familiar stance of Hakuryu.
"Sanzo!" he ran forward. "Watch out!"
White-hot flame was bursting out from the dragon mouth. Hakkai pushed Sanzo aside and created a barrier, barely in time, to stop the flame from harming both of them. He heard the monk muttered some curses from the floor and shot twice at the dragon.
It dodged the bullets and fled towards the stairs.
"Kyuu!" it screeched loudly.
Sanzo and Hakkai were running to chase the dragon, taking a few steps at a time. The dragon held the key to all this mystery. After all, it was the first enemy that had shown up so far.
This time Hakkai was running ahead of the monk. He was still fascinated with the dragon that was so alike with his dragon pet, Hakuryu. Could this dragon transform into a jeep too? Hakkai used to think that Hakuryu was one of a kind. Was he wrong in his assumption? What else could this dragon do?
He stole a glance from the corner of his eye at the monk running closely behind him. There were so many things he'd like to talk to him but that had to wait. Hakkai cast his mind back on the dragon, which was far ahead of them, screeching as it's flapping its wings.
The tower, Hakkai realized with his pounding heart for he was running out of breath. The dragon was heading to the tower. He clenched his fists tightly.
"Kyuu!" once again the dragon screeched loudly, as if announcing its arrival.
Sanzo and Hakkai arrived at the top of the stairs, panted heavily and looked up to see what's in store for them.
"Kyuu!" the dragon circled the draughty chamber leisurely, mocking the new comers of their weaknesses.
Sanzo opened his mouth to speak.
"Shit!" he managed.
In the far end of the room was a huge dragon, its scales were gleaming in the dimly lit room, sitting on a hoard made entirely of gold and assorted jewels. Its eyes glinted when it spotted two humans standing before it. It opened its mouth slowly if not lazily and blew a jet of flame at the visitors.
Sanzo dodged quickly and shot at the dragon while Hakkai was trying to block the flame by creating yet another barrier. It was like trying to hold back a tsunami with a piece of cardboard. The force of the flame was so strong that Hakkai was pushed backward in an alarming rate.
"Hakkai! Dodge!" shouted Sanzo urgently.
Hakkai maneuvered and managed to miss the flame in time although he could smell burning garments. He looked at his clothing and commented lightly, "Oh my. What a waste of good clothes."
"Ch," muttered Sanzo from the other side of the room.
"Your bullets don't seem to harm the big fellow there, Sanzo," observed Hakkai unnecessarily.
Sanzo reloaded his gun, ran towards the dragon and took aim. Surely the bullets hit the dragon? Sanzo cursed under his breath when the big dragon focused its attention to him.
//Who are you, human?//
The dragon seemed to speak in Sanzo's head. Its voice boomed in the depth of his skull. Sanzo grimaced.
"Attacking first then questioning," commented Hakkai. "A rather strange method of socializing, I must say."
So Hakkai heard it too, thought Sanzo. He kept his distance from the giant dragon. In the corner of his eyes, he could see the small white dragon circling around the room in a slow arc, as if watching an interesting show.
"We're here to take our friends back," stated Hakkai calmly advancing towards the dragon.
//Two humans in the dungeon? They are mine//
"What do you want them for anyway?" asked Sanzo, interested despite himself.
The giant dragon seemed to glare at Sanzo.
"And who are you, by the way?" added Hakkai.
//I am the last Keeper of Time//
"What's a Keeper of Time?" asked Hakkai.
//The Keeper of Time is The Keeper of The Knowledge. It is knowledge beyond any humans. I use Time to my own will. I can store, move, bend and stop Time. Everything in here is, you can say, Timeless. Nothing has changed here. Nothing will ever change unless I will it//
"Oh," muttered Hakkai uncertainly.
Is that why everything here doesn't seem to act normally? he thought. This place didn't obey the rules of time was what the dragon said. Hakkai recalled the dusty street outside and the wind, which didn't blow, and the air that didn't seem to move. Everything here operated on a different space of time. You cannot attack things that don't exist in time? Hakkai frowned. He couldn't understand. Everything seemed solid and real enough in this building and yet they didn't get blown up when they're supposed to be.
Did the dragon control the time here or was here operating a different time from the rest of the world? Hakkai tried to understand the dragon's earlier explanation. Either way, it didn't seem to make any sense to him.
//And now I must kill you//
"Must you?" asked Hakkai absentmindedly.
Or did the dragon mean that time was stopped here? Hakkai thought incredulously. His brain was working furiously. What's happened to Goku and Gojyo? Has their time been stopped too?
//You are invading the Sacred Temple of The Keeper//
"Sacred temple, huh?" Sanzo cast a sideway glance at his companion.
"You got it all wrong, Hakkai. This isn't a witch castle. It's a temple."
Hakkai scratched his head, "Ah I was very confident about it."
"You're right about the dragon, though," said Sanzo, carefully eyeing the said object.
"Yes," replied Hakkai brightly. "I told you-"
//SILENCE!//
The small white dragon took flight when the huge dragon unfolded its mighty wings. Hakkai paid his attention to the small dragon, which had fled out of one of the high windows in that room. He then cast his full attention to the giant one and took a stance.
A blow of bright energy ball hit the scales of the dragon with no apparent effect.
The dragon blew another jet of red-hot flame towards the green-eyed youkai. Hakkai held it back with his energy barrier but it was very difficult to maintain the stance. His hands were scorching hot, the wound on his hand was opening due to the extreme heat and the force of energy that he's employing. He knew his barrier wouldn't stand a chance against the dragon's flame and he was pushed backwards rapidly against his will.
"Hakkai!" shouted Sanzo.
He shot the remaining bullets in his gun at the dragon's head. The dragon stopped flaming to Hakkai's relief and turned its great head to the blonde monk. It moved its huge body around awkwardly as to face its new opponent.
Sanzo reloaded his gun quickly while the dragon moved its scaly legs slowly to walk towards him.
Hakkai caught his breath and looked around wildly. There must be something, thought Hakkai. It must have a weakness. But what?
Their attacks didn't seem to have the desired effect on the dragon. It must be that time thing, cursed Hakkai inwardly. How could he deal with it? What did the dragon say earlier? It could store time, it said. It could stop time. When it stopped time, did it store it somewhere?
Hakkai reached a hasty conclusion. There must be something that's not timeless in this building. That's where the dragon kept its time.
Sanzo cursed loudly when the dragon's flame almost got him and burnt his robe's sleeve. He knelt on the floor and spat. All around him, furniture was crackling on fire and burnt. The temperature of the room went up alarmingly. Sanzo wiped sweat off his glistened face.
The dragon moved slowly, purposefully towards Sanzo. Hakkai caught a glimpse of something moving behind the dragon's back. A Machinery? Hakkai peered in the poor light of the vast chamber. A glint flashed across his green eyes. Of course, he thought triumphantly. The clock on the tower!
Hakkai ran towards the moving wheels of the tower's clock. It was a mere guess but it was worth a try. The clock on the top of the tower was the only thing that was alive in this building. It must be the key to defeat the giant dragon, Hakkai ran faster with that single thought on his mind.
"Hakkai! Watch out!"
Too late, the dragon's giant tail caught Hakkai fully on the chest and sent him flying towards the wall. Blood spurted from Hakkai's lips as he landed heavily on the floor. His ears rang loudly with the pounding inside his head. He mustn't lose consciousness, Hakkai fought the blackness that was overpowering his consciousness. He mustn't lose. Hakkai wiped the blood off his mouth and unsteadily stood himself against the wall.
While Hakkai was trying to get a grip on himself, Sanzo was in facing the dragon in its anger alone on the other side of the chamber. Sanzo had also been thinking about the weakness points that the dragon might have. Walking backwards, Sanzo took an aim at the dragon's eye. He shot.
The dragon let go a deafening wail as the bullet went straight into his right eye. Blood sprouted from it. Sanzo smirked in satisfaction.
However, his satisfaction was short-lived as the image of the dragon before him blurred and the damage was undone. Sanzo's eyes went wide. He blinked his eyes several times. What the hell is happening?
The dragon's right eye was undoubtedly fine. There wasn't a single trace of blood nor bullet nor anything. As if Sanzo hadn't shot his gun and injured it. Sanzo cursed as the dragon continued its advance towards him. The bullet might not hurt him but now the dragon was radiating even stronger menace than ever. Its mighty wings flapped threateningly. Sanzo covered his eyes from flying debris that was caused by the great wings' movement.
Hakkai watched all that with renewed comprehension. He began to understand this whole time business. It wasn't that the dragon was invincible to any attacks, quite the contrary, it was just an ordinary giant fire breathing dragon, which would feel pain when attacked. Hakkai clutched his painful chest but he smiled. His head was still pounding disturbingly and he was feeling strangely light and dizzy but now he could see a way out from this blasted castle, or temple, as the dragon had put it earlier.
He was right about the tower's clock. It was the key.
Hakkai thought. What he needed was an opening.
"Sanzo! Shoot at his eye! Again!" he yelled.
Sanzo cast him a fleeting glance and turned his attention back to the dragon. So he's got a plan, Sanzo mused in silence and smiled grimly. It'd better be a good plan. He aimed and shot twice.
This time, the monk hadn't only shot at one eye but both. The dragon wailed angrily and his body moved violently towards the offending monk. Hakkai took his chance and ran as fast as he could towards the clock's machinery. He could see the cogwheels and levers now.
Quickly Hakkai gathered his energy with both his hand and when he felt it's powerful enough, he let it go. A blast of white light, accompanied by the breakdown of a lot of metals sent disturbing noises across the whole building. Where the clock had been was now a big charred hole.
Hakkai turned his head just in time to see the great dragon realizing what's happening only too late. It let go of his last wail of anger and lashed at the blonde monk. The monk hadn't had a chance to dodge when a talon as big as a tree caught him and hurled him across the room. The dragon screamed in anguish. Its glistened scales were rapidly becoming somewhat gray coloured. The dragon's great face was now covered with wrinkles and lines. Time had caught up with it. With one last breath that was as audible as a sigh, the dragon crumbled into dust.
With eyes wide and mouth open, Hakkai watched the rapidly aging dragon before him in fascination. He hadn't expected this. Nor had he expected the flailing Sanzo as he was hurtled at a speed towards the newly created hole. Hakkai ran as he'd never ran before and threw his body on the floor and caught the monk's right hand just in time at the mouth of the hole.
"Sanzo!"
The green-eyed youkai stopped himself from being pulled downward by sheer will. He could feel the wind blow in his face. Hakkai grimaced. He had used his wounded hand to reach out for the monk. Bad move on his part, he knew.
Sanzo felt the pain from his outstretched arm and shoulder spreading fast to his other limbs. The last blow of the dragon was not something he could just ignore. He might have broken a few ribs. Damn dragon, he cursed silently.
He looked up at the grim and determined face above him. He opened his mouth to say... what? What do people say in a situation like this?
Sanzo looked away and cursed at the world in general and his weakness in particular. He had looked down and realized the fall would definitely kill him. He cursed inwardly at himself. How could he be so careless?
A trickle of blood was slowly traveling down his face. Blood?
Sanzo looked up once again and saw what it was. Hakkai's wounded hand was gripping his hand tightly but it was obvious that the wound had opened and even though the green-eyed youkai tried to hide it, the pain that was displayed on his face was noticeable. Blood trickled freely from the wound.
"Let go of me!"
Hakkai looked incredulously at the monk, "What are you talking about, Sanzo?"
"Don't be stupid," Sanzo glared. "You know you can't hold on much longer."
"I won't let go," stated Hakkai firmly.
"Idiot," hissed Sanzo. "You'll fall, you idiot!"
"No," replied Hakkai stubbornly. But cold sweat was betraying him. He wasn't sure how much longer he could hold on like this. But one thing that he was sure about was he wasn't going to let go.
Sanzo couldn't bear thinking about dragging the green-eyed youkai to death because of his own weakness. Wasn't he the one who said he'd kill anyone who's on his way? He was in the way now, he knew. There's no need for both of them to die. Sanzo pointed his gun at Hakkai's outstretched hand.
Hakkai's eyes narrowed as he realized what the monk's intending to do.
"Nice try, Sanzo," he said grimly. "Shoot my hand and I'll jump."
"W-what?"
"I said," said Hakkai slowly and deliberately. "I won't let you go."
Sanzo looked up to find only determination and defiance on the youkai's eyes. They were locked in a battle of will. The monk glared with all the anger that he could muster but at last he was the first to look away. Hadn't he known it, once Hakkai got something on his mind, it's useless to try to change it.
"Ch!" was all Sanzo could manage.
Hakkai smiled the smile.
He realized that any moment now he could lose his grip and plunge to death. Together with the blonde monk. And he didn't want that. Not yet. He was just discovering a lot of things about the said monk. And about himself. They couldn't die now. But he was so numb now he couldn't feel anything. Hakkai prayed to whatever gods happened to be listening.
And then, unexpectedly something caught his attention. Hakkai strained his ears, he thought he could hear something. Someone.
Could it be...?
"Hakkai!" gasped someone from behind him. "What the hell's happening?"
"And where's Sanzo?" asked another familiar voice.
= = = = = = = = = =
The four of them were safely inside an inn, sitting around a table in Sanzo's room. The monk had decided to cancel the earlier plan and stay another night to recover from today's skirmish.
The usual commotion was soon ensued, resulting from both Gojyo and Goku trying to ask and explain what had happened at the same time.
"So yeah! We were taken to that creepy town and then-"
"I could have beaten up that Hakuryu look alike if-"
"You couldn't even beat a seatbelt!"
"What did you say, you stupid monkey!"
"Don't call me-"
"Shut up!" shouted Sanzo irritated and stood up from his seat. His fan slapped the heads of both monkey and kappa. It was so peaceful when these two weren't around.
"Ouch!"
"Ouch!"
Gojyo cursed and rubbed his head.
"Anyway, what's happened to you guys?" he asked Hakkai was calmly sipping his cup of green tea.
"Yeah," chirped in Goku. "You were in pretty bad shapes when we found you."
Hakkai put down his cup and told them his story, deliberately omitting certain incidents. He glanced at the monk when he got to the part of the story where they were in the dungeon. Their eyes met for a second before the blonde monk looked away and Hakkai quickly returned his attention to his audience as not to attract unwanted attention from the two. It would be so ackward to explain to these two. Hakkai plunged on with his narrative.
When he was telling his audience about their fight with the giant dragon, Goku started asking him questions.
"What do you mean by storing time?" his brows wrinkled in confusion. "I don't understand."
"Well," Hakkai scratched his head. "It's a little hard to explain although I think I understand the principle correctly but I'll try."
"It's like this," he began.
"As far as I could understand it, the dragon could turn back time. For example, when it's got wounded, it turned the time back to where he hasn't been wounded and stayed or continued from there."
"And it's the same with all the things that building. The dragon controlled the time of everything inside the building and probably outside too. So when we attacked the door or the prison bars or basically if we attacked anything there, it wouldn't have any effect at all because they would be automatically reset to when they hadn't been attacked."
"I think that's also what happened to you two. I think the dragon stopped your time, that's why you two looked as if you're dead."
"Oh!" Goku's mouth opened in comprehension.
"I guessed where the dragon stored the stolen time correctly, luckily," Hakkai allowed himself a little smile. "And blew it. When the clock was blown up, time leaked into the place and caught up with everything. That's why the dragon turned to ashes because it should really have died long time ago."
"I should have known," Sanzo suddenly contributed to the story. "Dragons like that have extinct ages ago."
"Ah," sighed Gojyo. "It's a relief."
"And so it ended our story of tonight," concluded Hakkai cheerfully.
"Wow!" said Goku. "I wish I could have a go at the dragon."
Gojyo put his arm on Goku's head, "Idiot. You can only think of food and fight."
Goku pried Gojyo's hand away, "Better than you who thinks only women and beer!"
"The only things in the world that kept me going so far," grinned the red-haired man.
"Pervert!"
"Monkey!"
"Don't call me-"
"Can't you two shut up?!!" yelled Sanzo. A vein on his temple was throbbing alarmingly. He had endured enough for the day, he didn't need anymore nuisance from the annoying duo.
"And get out from my room!" he pointed the gun threateningly.
"Wah!"
Both Goku and Gojyo raced towards the door and slammed the door before a loud bang was issued. Gojyo cursed the monk loudly and swore vengeance.
"Ahahaha," laughed Hakkai with his usual calmness. Everything was back to normal and he was glad of it.
"Anyway," he stood up from his chair and moved towards the door. "It's getting late. I'd better get going too."
"Hakkai," called Sanzo when Hakkai was opening the door. Hakkai turned around.
"Yes?"
Sanzo looked at the green eyes of the man standing in his doorway and reached a decision. He had decided it earlier today, in that forsaken tower. And he would do it now.
"Stay here tonight?" he managed to say.
Hakkai stood motionless for a few seconds, hesitating. A million of thoughts flashed across his mind. A million doubts rose in the depth of his heart. He gripped the door handle tightly as he's making a choice.
Hakkai stepped back inside the room and closed the door carefully.
To be continued...
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Author's Notes: It's actually THE END of the story but I will put some kind of an epilogue to wrap things up tidily.
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