**A/N**  YAY! Chapter 7 is here!! You know you're excited- I can see it in your eyes! ^_^ Thanks so much for the reviews I've been getting- nothing short of just plain awesome. Tell your friends to read! I love getting these things *is a review junkie*.

Dragoncat- Good! I'm glad your interest in the story keeps growing. I hope you continue to read and enjoy the story!

Megumi- LOL you're too funny. I'm not sure if your getting hyper is a good thing, but if the story makes you happy, then by all means, keep reading!

Silver on the Tree- I strive for being at least semi-realistic. I know they come from an anime and this is nothing more than an anime fiction, but considering that the fellas are no longer in their anime world…^_^  I'm glad that you've related to one of the characters! That means I'm doing my job as an author *chuckles* just you wait and see what these girls have in store for the Sanzo party…

Searose- Look! Another chapter! Be Happy! Chapter 8 will hopefully be done soon as well!

(Dis)claimers: I don't own Saiyuki, or the characters, nor am I affiliated in any way, shape, or form (other than being a collector, that is!). All original characters and the story idea belong to their respectable owners ^_^ (me and a few choice others, that is!)…

Chapter Seven

~Secret Plan~

Houtou Castle – Laboratory

      Perhaps textbook definitions of a laboratory entails white walls, fluorescent lighting, and neat stations with eyewashes and pull chain showers, with everything perfectly organized in their respectable places. Despite being such a room, the lab under Houtou Castle proved to be quite the opposite.  The atmosphere was forbidding; omniscient colors from three computer consoles offered the only illumination, wires lay tangled in strange nooks, and miscellaneous tinkered objects were strewn every which way.  It seemed there was a pack rat, desperately clinging to every part of a devious mind's experiment gone wrong.

      The devious mind who created it hunched over a lone console, tap-tapping away on a broad buttoned keyboard. After the machine emitted a series of high pitched tones, the scientist sighed, sitting back in the swivel chair none too gently. Half-lidded eyes reminiscent of a lizard gleamed ceiling-ward behind a pair of wire rimmed glasses, fingers scratching his chin of dark stubble. A smirk played upon his lips mischievously as he worked around the white bunny doll nestled in the crook of his arm to light a cigarette.

      "Dr. Ni, there is to be no smoking in here." A sharp female voice rang through the shadowed lab.

      Alas, Ni was not alone as he so often wished he could be. The voice belonged to Dr. Huang, a tall, slender woman with chestnut hair styled in a short bob and a gaze that held scrutiny for anything Ni said or did. Huang crossed her arms over the open white lab coat that put her short blue dress on display. Obviously she waited for him to extinguish the cigarette.

      "What's the matter Huang? Is the class president worried we may burn something valuable?"

      Ni's voice caused a shiver to dance along Huang's spine, and in the worst way possible- it was such a lilting tone, laced with an unnerving malicious calmness.

      "Smoke can ruin the equipment, Ni, it is a proven fact. As a scientist you should know that."

      This made a third party cackle in delight. In the corner of dual computers there sat Professor Wang, an older youkai male with wires running from his balding cranium. He rarely spoke, but it appeared he had a twisted sense of humor, taking joy in hearing Huang get fired up over Ni's provocations. Huang suspected that Ni and Wang conferred new ways to torture her poor mind every morning before she woke up.

      Ni smirked, holding up the white bunny doll, contorting his voice to a creepy halting falsetto.

      "Don't. Worry. We've special equipment- top of the line."

      Huang fumed at him. "The smoke bothers me, Ni- snuff it out!"

      Another laugh erupted from Wang at the professor's outburst.

      "Oh, is poor Miss Class President jealous of Lady Gyukomen Koushu's special treatment of Ni? Is it because he can smoke but you can't have the drinky-drinky?"

      "Stop calling me that! You're pathetic Ni!" Huang seethed through clenched teeth, balling her hands into fists, and then tried to calm down. Her gaze flickered to the computer screen behind the eccentric man. "What is the status on the capsule you found?"

      At the inquiry, Ni put out the cigarette and dropped the bunny act, turning to the computer. Huang approached, hesitantly, looking over his shoulder at the digital map of Shangri La. Ni gestured to the screen vaguely.

      "The yellow cursor is where the capsule is, still in the Gansu Forest and untouched.  We're all who know about it and so we shall get to it first. How delightful, hmm?"

      Huang traced a manicured finger over yellow waves emitting from the cursor. "Is this the energy coming from it? What are the readings?"

      Ni handed over a file, thick with research for the capsule. "It's all in there, Dr. Huang…I think you can manage to find what you're looking for."

      The female doctor thumbed through page upon page of pie charts, formulas, hypotheses, and scrawled writing with a growing interest. "Incredible. Ni, the energy contained in this is just remarkable! A living energy so strong can only mean that a very powerful being exists inside of the capsule."

      "A demon," Ni speculated, "or perhaps even a god, hmm? One locked away, never meant to be found- such legends exist."

      "...Aside from the tale of Gyomaoh and the former War Prince Nataku?" Huang handed the files back to Ni. "What legend might that be?" She assumed that her co-worker knew something he was not letting on.

      With a wily chortle, Ni reclined loosely in his chair, grinning slyly. "I'm afraid I can't discuss all the information that I've worked so hard to get, Dr. Huang. I have to keep some surprises to myself, don't I?"

      Wang cackled again, his bone thin digits flying over his keyboard, wide eyes never leaving the screen before him.

      Dr. Huang huffed, "Dr. Ni, we are supposed to work together, otherwise what is even the point of sharing this lab? Telling me the tale will only help…"

      "…Work together?" Ni interrupted, dubiously. "Why Huang, if that is the case then you won't be against doing research yourself. You are a smart woman, or so you believe. Perhaps you'll make discoveries of your own, and then maybe Lady Gyukomen Koushu will give you special treatment too so you don't feel so…incompetent."

      Huang stared, aghast at his insults, her cheeks flushed red. He made her blood boil in such a way she thought one day she might explode with rage.

      "Y-you're despicable, Ni!" she stammered before pivoting on her heels, leaving the lab.

      Professor Wang continued his devilish laugh and Ni lift up the white bunny doll, manipulating its arms to wave at the retreating female.

      "Bye-bye."

*                                                    *                                              *

Houtou Castle- Kougaji's Chambers

      Prince Kougaji paced the confines of his room with a silent gait, hands tightly clasped behind his back as his mind swarmed with stray thoughts.  The youkai had remained focused on the retrieval of the capsule since he heard of it the day before, his heart and soul intent to reach it before his step-mother did.  With that kind of power at Kougaji's disposal, Gyukomen Koushu would no longer have any hold over him.

      But where exactly did the Gansu Forest lie?  He'd learned only the name of it by eavesdropping, but Kougaji refused to follow Ni to the door of Koushu's private quarters.  The prince did not even want to think about what sort of…conferences went on behind those doors.  He shivered the unwanted thoughts away before they took shape of unwanted images.

      "Kou?" Someone called from the doorway.

      Turning, Kougaji found his closest friend and loyal bodyguard, Dokugakuji, standing against the door frame.  The youkai prince raised his chin in acknowledgement to his friend's presence.

      "What is it?"

      Dokugakuji entered the room, running a sinewy hand through bristled black hair, his blue eyes set on the other. "Ririn told Yaone and me there was something up with you yesterday. Is there anything bothering you?"

      Kougaji scowled for a moment- that annoying half sister of his had to be a brat by opening her big mouth, didn't she? He supposed Ririn only did it out of concern, but now his friends would surely not leave the matter alone until they got answers.

      Dokugakuji and Yaone were close to him- he knew they'd support his decisions no matter what the risk, even if it took major coaxing on Kougaji's part to make them.  The question was, would the prince dare subject them to such danger?

      "I've just been thinking," Kougaji finally said, assuming it was the safest answer.

      Unfortunately, Dokugakuji knew better and saw through the charade. "Kou, what's on your mind? We know you were lurking outside of Koushu's throne room, courtesy of Ririn…did you hear something?"

      Kougaji turned dark violet eyes from the built youkai, staring out of the window where a black dawn consumed Houtou Castle. The mists emanated from somewhere there so the early and later hours were always void of light.

      "I overheard Ni speaking with her as I passed by," he began slowly, recounting the event. "It seems he has found a capsule in a forest in the Gansu region that contains a living energy. Supposedly the power coming from it is so strong, the creature inside may possess the strength to free Gyomaoh."

      "Damn," Dokugakuji frowned, crossing muscular arms over his broad chest. "So you're worried about them reviving Gyomaoh?"

      "He's afraid Lady Koushu will use it to break the seal but won't keep her promise to free his mother."

      Both youkai men turned to see Yaone standing in the doorway. Her orange eyes glimmered with sympathy from behind strands of deep purple hair. Kougaji met her steady gaze, knowing full well she heard everything said.

      "Yaone, where is Ririn?"

      The female apothecary smiled gently. "She is still asleep. Forgive my assumption, but the possibility of Koushu breaking her promise is a great one."

      "She's right Kou." Dokugakuji conceded with a nod. "Koushu might plan on screwing you over- she's not exactly trustworthy."

      The prince motioned for Yaone to close the door, not wanting anyone who might pass by to hear the conversation. Obliging, Yaone quietly shut the door and moved to stand near the other two.

      "That is why I must find the capsule before she does. I am tired of being her puppet- first we're forced to do her dirty work of chasing after Sanzo's Maten Scriptures, and now we're ordered to do nothing until she deems it fit." Kougaji began to pace again, his anger rising.

      "I won't allow her to continue dangling me from a thread- I'm going to get that capsule first and she will obey me. My mother shall be freed, I'll be rid of Koushu for good, and Gyomaoh will remain sealed."

      Yaone laid a hand over her heart. The determination that she so admired in her prince was now frightening her.

      "Lord Kougaji, is it wise to bring something of that caliber back to Houtou Castle? Even if you hid it, there is still a chance of Ni finding it."

      "I do not plan to return here until after I've opened it, Yaone."

      Dokugakuji narrowed his eyes. "Where do you plan on going then, and how are you going to open it?"

      "That is my concern, not yours!" Kougaji snapped, wheeling around on him.

      Simultaneously the youkai guardians stepped back in their surprise. Lately their prince had been in a foul mood, and with each passing day he was swallowed by inner darkness. There had been several nights where Kougaji's cries of frustration echoed from his quarters, causing his friends to worry greatly for his sanity. How much more torment would he put himself through before allowing those who cared to help him?

      As he calmed down, Kougaji gave a sidelong glance to the others and noted their expressions.  Remorse filled him for being so harsh.  Yaone and Dokugakuji were only worried for his well being, and he repaid them by being cold?

      "I am sorry," Kougaji spoke, turning his back to them. "This is something that I must do, no matter the risk of self-endangerment.  I'll figure out how to open the capsule; if it is anything like the fiends I summon, it may not be difficult."

      Yaone shifted close to him, daring to put a hand on his arm. "My Lord Kougaji, you're not going to do this completely on your own..?"

      Silence followed; the youkai prince's intent shone clear.

      "Kou, let us go with you," Dokugakuji pleaded. He had vowed never to let harm befall Kougaji for as long as he served him and already once failed. "Who'll help you if the capsule's creature refuses to obey you?"

      Kougaji sighed, closing his eyes. "There are just some threats I'll have to be willing to face.  If I take you both with me, then who is going to watch after Ririn? I refuse to place her in that situation."

      "Then I'll stay," Dokugakuji volunteered. "Yaone should go with you- if you were to get hurt, she'd be able to heal you."

      The apothecary shook her head, causing the long triple ponytail to sway. "Lady Ririn is my responsibility when Lord Kougaji is not present, and you are the stronger fighter.  I can't carry him away if something were to happen!"

      "I am going alone," Kougaji insisted, though inside something stirred and gave way.  He was truly touched that these two would so readily place themselves in peril for his sake.

      "Kou…" Dokugakuji sighed, brows furrowed.

      With a heavy sigh, Kougaji caved. This was exactly what he hoped would not happen.  However, he supposed some comfort would be found in having one of them along for the ride.

      "Fine, but only one of you may go with me. Figure it out amongst yourselves, but do not let anything on to Ririn…at all, do you understand?  This is too dangerous a business for her to meddle in." 

      Yaone shared a secret smile with Dokugakuji and they both nodded, relieved that Kougaji relented.

      "Yes Lord Kougaji."

      The prince nodded in return. "Good. I'll need two days at most to pinpoint the location and to gather any information I can find.  Decide by tomorrow morning who is going with me- I'll need your help with a bit of…trickery."

      No more questions were asked and the guardians left the room, leaving Kougaji alone in the dark…