III
The arrival of food was preceded by an aroma which hit the gut and sent primal instincts into overdrive. Goku sat up and literally began drooling. Gojyo would have poked fun at him, but his stomach embarrased him by setting up a growl before he could say a word. Even Hakkai turned to glance at the kitchen, and Hakuryuu perked up.
Sanzo lit a cigarette.
Goku's eyes sparkled as Mei and the children returned, bearing trays. "Is it all for us?" he asked, hands clasped together. He was practically bouncing up and down in excitement.
"I'm afraid it's very humble fare," Mei said, "But do eat as much as you wish."
"Alright! I won't stand on ceremony! Itadakimasu!" Goku grabbed his chopsticks and began to shovel food onto his plate.
"Hey, slow down, you stupid monkey!" Gojyo yelled, grabbing for the plate of dumplings that Goku had appropriated for himself.
"Do save some for Hakuryuu," Hakkai observed with a smile, taking a drink while waiting for the two to slug it out.
Goku looked instantly guilty. "Sure, have some." He passed Hakkai the remainder -- all of two dumplings -- as Gojyo raged.
"Hey, there's lots more stuff," Goku grinned. "Try eating vegetables, for a change." As Gojyo made a grab for his plate, Goku tipped it up and swallowed all its contents in one gulp.
"Idiot monkey!" Gojyo howled. "Well, I'm taking the rest!" He swiped madly at the remaining plates, and began eating as fast as was humanly (or half youkai-ly) possible. Hakkai chuckled at their antics, and helped himself and Hakuryuu to more. Even with Goku's appetite, there was plenty to go around.
They were almost ten minutes into the meal when Hakkai noticed that Sanzo had failed to touch anything. Slightly worried, he glanced over at the priest, who was somewhere through his second cigarette. He hadn't even drunk any of the water.
"Not eating, Sanzo? This might be our last good meal in a while."
Sanzo gave him a level stare.
"Is something wrong?" Hakkai asked quietly. "I know that you have--"
Then Hakuryuu gave a small "kyuu" and promptly flopped over.
At the same time, Goku shoved back his chair, half stood, and collapsed against the table, gasping for breath. Sweat beaded his forehead. Hakkai was on his feet immediately, but he had barely taken one step when his vision swum madly and a pounding pain blossomed in his head. He faltered, and his palm hit the tabletop with a crack at the same time Gojyo dropped his chopsticks and slumped forwarding, clutching his head.
Sanzo stood, retrieving his gun in the same motion.
"Poison," Hakkai gasped.
A dozen swear words sprang to Sanzo's mind. Poison--- but how? Why? And is there an antidote? he wondered.
Movement caught his eye, as a small shadow ran past the kitchen doorway. He took a step in that direction, fully intending to catch and interrogate any or all members of the household...
...When he saw a flash of silver to the right. He turned--
--and a footlong dagger slammed right through his shoulder and into the wood behind.
"Sanzo!" Even in the grip of gut churning nausea and a headache that seemed to split his head apart, Goku stilled summoned the energy to take two steps in Sanzo's direction before falling over. "Sanzo..."
Sanzo swore through clenched teeth, reaching up to grasp the hilt of the dagger. There was no way a human could have thrown a dagger such force. Which meant that...
...he cursed his carelessness. Of course. Of course. This was youkai territory. They had walked right into a youkai settlement and never realized. Until it was too late.
The memory of chattering voices at the door returned: It's them! The Sanzo-ikkou! It really is them! He's as they said -- gold hair, chakra, sutra...
Not awe. Fear. The desperate scrabble of people looking for youryoku limiters.
I didn't expect to have Genjo Sanzo himself turn up on my doorstep... it really is a surprise...
He had been a fool.
His vision abruptly flashed black, then returned, red misted. Pain exploded in his head as every muscle seemed to freeze. His legs gave way, and his weight must have been sufficient to yank the dagger out of the wall, because when he next could see, he found himself on the floor looking up at Mei.
He saw the power limiter then, an innoculous pendant -- wondered : how could I have missed it? She had another knife in her hand, poised to strike.
Poison on the blade. Shit. Twice and thrice blasted. But he refused to die, and certainly not to the likes of poison and a stab in the back. If only he could reach the Smith and Wesson--
--a foot came down on his hand, and another kicked the gun away. He could have screamed in frustration. But there was still one recourse when the easier one failed.
Closing his eyes, he marshalled his thoughts around the pain and rapidly began reciting the mantra that would unleash the power of the Maten sutra.
But even as he struggled for the words, the world went dark, and darker, and thoughts disintegrated until absolutely nothing remained.
***
Sanzo opened his eyes.
He saw the desert, stretching out sickly gray under a pale moon. The wind raised thin films of dust as it crossed the dunes. He saw... Hakkai leaning against a rock, his eyes shut, and Hakuryuu snoozing by his side. He saw Gojyo, unconsciously hunched up against the cold, muttering soundlessly in his sleep. He saw Goku rolling over his onto his back, his mouth opening in a snore.
And he saw himself reach over to push Goku back on to his side.
Realization hit him as the first arrow whizzed past to shatter on rock, and youkai swarmed out around them. He glanced around, seeking some way out -- some illusion, just some dream -- when there was a wrench of freezing cold and darkness, and the scene switched.
He saw the sun setting on a small farm. A river ran in the back, beside a field where green sprouts in neat rows grew. He saw Mei, the two children. Tapered ears and clawed fingers.
Another youkai emerged from the house, buckling on a sword belt. He spoke quietly with Mei, and many words must have been exchanged, but Sanzo heard nothing. Then Mei turned, and the children ran forward to hug their father goodbye...
...and he saw their faces.
Worry-fear-hope-sadness-do you really have to go, daddy-promise me you'll come home-promise me-promise
Some emotion wrenched at his heart in something akin to physical pain, then the scene shattered again--
--and he raised his Smith and Wesson to put a bullet between the youkai's eyes--
--and he saw a youkai lift his blade to run his teacher through--
--and he saw Mei's face promise me you'll come back--
--and he saw a spray of blood and--
--shock horror dread denial--
--I couldn't protect him--
--Daddy, save us from the bad men!--
--Promise me--
--The youkai rose, a bloodied sword in his hand and--
--You'll come home and--
--The youkai raised his blade--
--Right, Daddy?--
--and when he screamed a cry of denial and brought his gun to bear, it was Koumyou Sanzo in front of him, a bloodied sword in hand raised to kill.
And now you know, his teacher said, still wearing that gentle smile.
For a moment, he saw a youkai corpse at his feet. And somewhere, a child burst into tears.
Oshou-sama never raised his hand to kill.
Not ever, not that night, not when the youkai had poured into the room intent on stealing the sutras. Koumyou could have marshalled the power of two sutras, could have picked up a weapon and fought, or even resorted to martial skills.
But when Sanzo had stepped forward, fully intending to protect his teacher to the death, he had found Koumyou blocking his path instead.
And had protected his life with his own
"And now you know."
The ground was littered in corpses. Human. Youkai. Half breeds. He had killed them all, efficiently, mercilessly, left their rotting bodies for the ravens. Now he saw behind those nameless faces. This one had two children. This one had an aging mother. This one had died to save another. This one, and this one, and this one...
"And now you know."
And all excuses simply failed in the face of Koumyou's knowing smile.
"Oshou-sama..."
I tried.
But that wasn't enough. That had never been enough. How could one argue with a man who'd chosen to die instead of taking a life?
Is there any cause so noble that it is worth taking a life for?
And there was nothing in that smile that hinted of rebuke, but he could hear the accusation as clearly as if Koumyou had spoken it aloud. You defied all my teachings. You destroyed the sanctity of life.
You are not fit to be my successor.
Koumyou raised the blade he held and levelled it at his throat.
Sanzo closed his eyes.
***
TBC
***
...I need to take a quick opinion poll. I originally intended to do a similar scene for each of the characters, based on their own experiences, but frankly, it'll be more of the same, and I don't know if I'll bore people out of their minds by the time I reach the fourth one.
On the other hand, leaving it as Sanzo-only would be rather imbalanced.
So what do you think? Should I write the PoVs for the rest, or should I just move on with what's left of the story? (Which, as you can probably tell, isn't very long.)
And the votes for really angsty vs just plain angsty stack up 5:3. ^_^ *takes notes*. *refuses to say more*.
Yes. I can't resist writing Sanzo abuse. You must have figured that out by now. ^_^
Once again, thanks muchly for the reviews. (By the way? 'muchly' is not a word. Just in case you were wondering.) And please do me a great favor and answer the question above... because if not, I'll take the easy (lazy) way out and not write the PoVs for the rest. *nods*.