: Perfect World :
Gensomaden Saiyuki
Disclaimer: I don't own Gensomaden Saiyuki, which rightfully belongs to Minekura Kazuya.
Rating: R
Pairings: mentioned Homura/Goku
Warnings: AU-ish, angst, language, blood, violence, some gore
Notes: This is, quite possibly, the bloodiest chapter I have. So if you're squeamish about blood and pain... or any sort of metal being used as a weapon... you have been warned.
Thanks for the reviews! Constructive criticism and feedback is appreciated.
Chapter Twenty-Two
A root sloping up from the ground caused him to trip. Goku fell to the dirt with a loud curse, rolling over on his side as pain flared in his face. He clenched his eyes shut, making sure to wipe his hands quickly on his jeans before bringing them up to wipe the soil off his cheeks. His nose was throbbing; he figured he must have landed face-first.
Just great. Running his tongue over his lips to check for blood, Goku found dirt instead and spent the next minute gagging and spitting it out.
His mood definitely was not improving. Muttering nonsensical things to himself, Goku finally picked himself off the ground. As he dusted his clothes with one hand he used the other to rub his sore nose. There was a wetness trickling from it, and dabbing the area with his finger proved it to be blood. Unfortunately, he had nothing but the clothes on his back. Goku sighed, using the hem of his shirt to wipe the blood. At least the fabric was black, so the blood wouldn't show up well.
Goku tried to remember the last time he had been so miserable. The only thing he could compare it to was his time in the cave, and that had been a different type of misery. That had been the kind swallowing his soul, making him feel alone and small in the world. This type was more of the angry breed, making him with he had someone to beat up.
His anger toward Homura had ebbed a little, but now he was also annoyed with Sanzo. He had been positive he had caught the man in a good mood, so why had he driven him off so suddenly like that? It made no sense to him.
Goku seriously wanted to hurt something. Glancing down at the pink skin of his knuckles, he decided against it. His hands weren't quite finished mending from the abuse he had unleashed on them days ago; the redness was a sign of it finally healing. The cuts and scrapes were for the most part gone.
Damn it, he thought. Finally satisfied that he was as dirt-free as he could get at the moment, he continued walking. Ever since his argument with Homura he felt as though things were only getting worse and worse. They had fought verbally to the point Homura finally threatened to hurt him if he didn't leave (Threatened to kill me is more like it! Goku thought angrily), and after that Goku had decided he was so fed up he wanted to get away. Again.
Which had led him to Sanzo. Again. Sighing, Goku rubbed the back of his head in annoyance. Homura had said he was in love with Konzen- well, not in so many words, but he had still implied it. While Goku could admittedly see where the casual person could get that impression, he couldn't believe that Homura was so convinced about it.
And what was that stuff about me liking him for a long time? Goku huffed. It wasn't as though he'd known Konzen- Sanzo- whatever his name was- that long. They had technically only met four times, and once had been during battle. Another had been when Goku was looking for that dragon's owner (Coincidence? He wasn't positive about that) and the last two... the last two he had admittedly sought Konzen out himself.
But that didn't mean he was in love with him. He barely knew the man. Goku was attracted to him, but it wasn't a sexual or romantic tugging. It was emotional, yes, some strong rope of emotion that was dragging him steadily toward the irate priest... but it had nothing to do with love.
If anything, it was because Konzen was so brilliant. Despite his cold attitude Goku felt a strange sense of warmth, almost as though he were sunbathing whenever he was in the man's presence.
Konzen was his Sun.
Even after only two serious conversations with him, Goku was certain. When he was near Konzen he didn't feel alone, didn't feel abandoned. He felt as though he had found a sort of lifelong companion- a companion. Not a partner. He wanted Homura to be his lifelong partner.
Homura didn't even seem to want him. Goku's anger flared again, and he kicked at a rock in his path.
Seconds later, he tripped again. This time he managed to land on his hands, scraping his palms but saving his nose from further injury. Rapidly growing irritated, Goku stood and looked for the cause of his fall.
There was nothing but dirt and grass beneath him. Frowning, Goku crouched down, pushing some of the green blades aside. There was nothing; no rocks big enough to cause him to stumble, no tree roots- nothing. He knew he hadn't tripped over himself, otherwise he would have felt at least a dull pain when he had fallen. Only his hands and knees were sore.
Goku started forward. He fell a third time.
What the hell? He didn't stand up this time, just pushing himself to his knees as he wiped at his mouth furiously, the gritty feel of dirt between his teeth. He did his best to spit it out, but couldn't get rid of it entirely.
A soft voice made him start. "I expected better of you."
Growling, Goku got to his feet, turning even as he opened his mouth. "Look, I am not in the mood-" He cut himself short, staring at the stranger behind him in a mixture of surprise and disbelief. It wasn't the ethereal clothing; in Konran Tower there were several gods who had come down to join Homura's "cause" so Goku was used to their odd sense of dress. Neither was it the chakra on this stranger's forehead, nor their appearance; Goku had been half expecting Homura to give him another "training" lesson via one or more of his gods. After the first surprise he had told himself to expect more things like that.
It was the fact that it wasn't a god Homura had sent, but a goddess.
She was turned toward him, her eyes closed and eerily reminding him of Shien. Her expression was equally solemn, but her appearance was that of a woman in her early twenties. Unlike the gods Goku had fought before her, she held no weapons.
Her lips curved into a mocking smirk, making her grave appearance immediately dissipate. "I'm sure you're surprised."
"A little," Goku said, relieved to find he hadn't forgotten how to speak. "No offense, lady, but who are you?"
"None taken," she replied. "Though I believe it was Lord Homura who taught you to give your name first."
Goku narrowed his eyes. She was right, but that didn't give her the prerogative to tell him that. Besides, he was still angry at Homura and didn't want to be reminded of him.
Unfortunately, almost everything reminded him of Homura.
"Though you shouldn't bother," she continued just as he opened his mouth to reluctantly give his name. "I know who you are."
Impatient, Goku began, "Then why-"
"My name is Sumi" she interrupted, making him even more annoyed. "And my orders are to kill you."
That wasn't news to him. Grumbling, Goku held a hand out, summoning Nyoibou. "All right, all right. Let's just make this quick." Normally he would welcome any sort of challenge, but his bad mood had already turned him off the idea. On one hand, he could probably take some anger out in a fight. On the other... well, Goku had never fought a woman. He wasn't sure how tough to go on her... or how light. Homura had never said-
Goku shook his head violently. It was time to forget things like that. He was going to fight as he always did, regardless of what Homura had or had not taught him.
With that in mind Goku lunged forward, swinging his staff as a loud cry erupted from his chest. To his surprise the goddess didn't move to avoid the attack; it caught her square in the gut, sending her flying back. The ease in which he'd gone through her defenses made Goku pull back at the last moment; his attack didn't stab through her, but it would likely leave a nasty bruise.
Though the blow clearly hurt, Sumi picked herself up again. This time when she looked at Goku her eyes were open- and what he saw sent chills down his spine. She had no irises, no pupils. Her eyes were completely white, as though they had rolled toward the back of her head. It was disconcerting.
She placed a hand on her stomach, grimacing slightly when she did so. "Your strength is commendable," she admitted. "More than I had expected."
In attempt to shake the chills she had given him, Goku scoffed. "Yeah, yeah... you guys are all the same. You praise me, say I was more or less than you expected, then I kick your ass. Let's just skip to the ass-kicking, because I really am not in the mood, lady."
A smirk touched Sumi's lips. "I am beginning to think I am more than a decent challenge for you, boy."
Bristling at the unwanted nickname, Goku said hotly, "My name isn't 'boy.' "
"And mine isn't 'lady,' " she pointed out calmly. "Shall we continue"
Woman or not, Goku decided he didn't like her at all. Then again, ever since he'd discovered his attraction to Homura women in general had seemed less appealing.
Violently shaking his head to rid himself of that thought yet again, Goku attacked. This time the goddess dodged, though it was a very narrow miss. The force of Goku's swing was so powerful that when the blunt end of his staff grazed a portion of her ethereal clothing, it tore. It was part of the sheer covering, so it didn't do much damage to the outfit as a whole.
In avoiding his blow she teetered, seeming as though she were going to fall. Then, to his amazement, Sumi put a hand out, letting gravity do its work. She propelled herself with that hand, pushing back and landing a few yards away on her feet.
So she was an acrobat. Goku grudgingly admitted that made up for her lack of speed and strength, in a way. He knew he couldn't perform a stunt like that, not without hurting himself and certainly not without some luck. Acrobatics was one thing he hoped to get a better grasp of in the future, but when he had first begun fighting he hadn't seen it as an immediately important skill to learn.
Homura must have remembered his saying that. Perhaps that was one reason why he had sent Sumi; she had one advantage over him. But then again, it was only the one. Goku was positive he could win this fight.
When he looked at Sumi again she was smirking. That combined with her all-white eyes only served to creep him out- and piss him off for letting her get to him like that. Tightening his grip on the staff, Goku darted forward with another battle cry.
In mid-launch he felt a sudden sharp sting spread across his torso. Taken by surprise, he fell off-balance and hit the dirt. That tore an agonized shriek from him. Quickly rolling over to his side, Goku chanced a look down and saw that something had torn his shirt open. He was bleeding, and some dirt had been pushed into the shallow but still painful cut. Swearing violently, he used the lower half of his now-ripped shirt to clean the wound the best he could. It still stung badly. He had to bite his tongue to choke back other cries.
What in the world had done that? He raised his eyes to Sumi, a low, murderous growl rising in his throat.
Not seeming phased, she said, "Having problems?"
"Like hell I am," Goku spat. He started to charge a second time, but once again felt the familiar sting. This time it was in his leg and he fell over, thankfully with the cut in the air and not toward the ground. Hissing, Goku clutched at the wound, giving the goddess a bewildered, angry look. What is she doing he screamed inwardly.
"Good," she replied, smiling deviously. "Then we can continue." This time Goku saw her flick her wrist before he experienced the pain again. As usual he didn't know which way it was coming from, nor which direction to dodge, so he kept still and grit his teeth when she made another shallow, stinging cut. This one was across his cheek, and to his horror was a little deeper than the others. Blood gushed freely, and Goku hurriedly tried to stave the flow.
What was this woman doing?
It must have been the lighting the fourth time around. When Sumi's wrist flickered again, Goku caught a quick gleam from the corner of his eye. On instinct he dove forward, and this time no additional stings came.
However, his dive cost him more than staying still would have. Goku tripped over the mysterious force again, this time hard enough to knock the wind out of him. The sudden loss of air made him want to scream, but for a moment he couldn't remember how to breathe. His scream was inward. He felt the blood drain from his face; the cut on his cheek flowed less eagerly.
"Lord Homura may have trained you well for battle," Sumi was saying. "But Lord Shien did not do as well in tactical instruction- either that or you are a hopeless idiot."
Her remark suddenly helped Goku find the breath to snarl. Furious, he picked himself up, retrieving his fallen weapon. "You'll be thinking differently after I kill you."
At that she arched an eyebrow. "Wasn't it you who said I was acting like a typical enemy? It seems desperation makes you pathetic."
The insult made Goku's cheeks flush again. His brow drawn, he let out an outraged scream and moved forward. Sumi's expression didn't change; she raised both hands in a dramatic gesture, suddenly flinging them out. This time multiple cuts knocked Goku backwards again. He would have been stunned if it hadn't been for the sudden deep cut in his back; he didn't land completely on the ground, instead partially suspended in the air. Eyes widening, Goku's vocal cords suddenly clamped shut. He couldn't scream, but the pain was excruciating.
His arms moved faster than he could think, hands planting themselves in the ground as he pushed himself up and away from whatever had sliced into him. His skin suddenly hypersensitive due to all the injuries inflicted on him, Goku looked over his shoulder. There was a thin line of dripping blood six inches off the ground.
No, he realized. Not a mere line.
Wire.
"You've discovered it too late," Sumi said in front of him. Shuddering, Goku forced himself to his feet, glaring hateful daggers at the woman. She met his anger with conceit. "By now I have rigged wires all over the area. You'll have a difficult time finding them in this dim lighting- and, as you can see, falling can be quite dangerous." A bloodthirsty grin touched her lips. "If I had pulled on that wire, it could have gone right through you."
She wasn't joking. When he had fallen the wire had given a little under his weight, which meant it hadn't been pulled taut. It had been fairly lax, so as not to cause him serious harm unless she wanted. This was a serious situation, and Goku finally noticed that he was at a severe disadvantage.
Like hell I'll let that stop me! Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Goku found no blood. Still, he tasted it on his tongue, so he spat it out before narrowing his eyes at the goddess. His best bet was long range combat. While he didn't have the most effective tool for that, Nyoibou would still be adequate enough.
He changed his stance, pushing his left foot out in front of him before falling into a half-crouch. Aiming the staff at Sumi's face, he yelled, "Longer, Nyoibou!"
Obeying its wielder, the staff abruptly shot out toward Sumi's face. Goku was sure she wouldn't be able to dodge it without taking some damage, so even if she used her wires she would not be able to stop the attack.
Or at least, it should have been that way. To Goku's horror, all she did was twitch a finger and then his Nyoibou suddenly fell to pieces. The extension from his left palm outward had been cut to multiple fragments.
That told him how much wire she had out, and it was far from good. Making a frustrated noise, Goku let go of his weapon. At his silent will it faded from sight. On theory he should have been able to summon Nyoibou back in one piece, but past experimentations told him it would take at least half a day for it to mend itself from any damage. How it "healed" itself Goku wasn't sure, but he thought it might have something to do with it being a celestial weapon.
Some good it had done him. It couldn't even stand up to wire.
As though sensing his thought, Sumi lifted her hands. Brief patches of sunlight made the wire wound around her fingers glimmer. Calmly, she said, "You may have a heavenly weapon, but so do I. You forget; I am a goddess."
Admittedly, Goku had forgotten. Now he had to find another way to defeat her. He was not about to let himself lose- not here, not to her, and not at this point in time. There was too much he had to do, too much he had to say... too many people he wanted to yell at, and yet only one he also wanted to cling to without ever letting go.
I can't lose, he told himself firmly. Not until I settle things with Homura.
It was weird, he thought absently beneath that determination, how inane one's thoughts could be in the face of defeat or death. He had a sinking feeling that in this case, defeat led to death. He couldn't allow that.
"Though there is something else about you I must admire," Sumi suddenly said, seeming thoughtful. She even tapped her chin lightly for emphasis. "Your pain tolerance is very high."
Goku flinched, cursing her for mentioning that. It wasn't so much that his tolerance was high as it was that he had the ability to shove the idea of pain into the back of his mind. It was a self-taught technique, something he had found useful in battle. The less he thought about his injuries, the better he could fight- though in some cases it had gotten him in trouble, like the time Konzen had shot his hand.
Now that she had reminded him of the condition of his body Goku suddenly felt weaker. He wanted to shout curses at her, but all he could do was make a strangled noise and fall to his knees. The multiple slices all over his body flared to life, and he had to bite his tongue to force back a scream.
There was a sound similar to a whip snapping - training with Shien had gotten him very familiar with the noise - and suddenly his entire left arm felt as though it were on pins and needles. Goku gave a sharp, startled cry when it was jerked off the ground. Blood spurted from the limb; Sumi had somehow wrapped wires around his arm and was moving it as though he were a puppet. A living, breathing puppet, whose very resistance to its master caused pain and a lot of blood loss. His clothes hung in tatters off his frame, undeniable proof of the master's abuse.
"Weak," he heard her murmur. "Too weak to fulfill Lord Homura's dreams... and all because he chooses to limit his power."
Limit... my power? His thought was cut short as she gave another vicious tug, tearing second scream from him. The wire was cutting deeper into his arm, the blood gushing out so rapidly every inch of his skin seemed to be bathed in thick crimson. The stench of copper was so strong it made Goku gag. He felt heady, trembling from blood loss at the same time his ears pounded with sudden intensity. There was an acute presence in the back of his mind- no, an acute awakening. It was like a beast had finally risen from hibernation and was clawing at the back of his mind, demanding to be let out.
Was that what he was "limiting?" If so, how was he supposed to let it out? Goku whimpered, moving to stand to help loosen the biting hold on his arm. The movement proved to be yet another mistake; Sumi flipped her hand, and when Goku rose to his feet another wire pressed down on his shoulder. He shrieked and quickly crouched down again to keep the cut from going deeper, though moving down meant the wire bit into his arm more fiercely.
His vision began to swim, things blurring before his eyes. It was almost like crying, only without the accompanied sting and hot wetness. Head pounding, feeling heavy with the weight of the imaginary "beast" within him, a small whimper worked its way from Goku's throat as he nearly fell forward.
Sumi gave another tug.
This time Goku couldn't scream, couldn't, because the agony and rawness of wire scraping across his bones was too horrible to voice, even wordlessly. His throat stuck, eyes widening to the point his irises were nearly lost in twin oblivions of white.
Gods, it hurt. It hurt, and it made him so furious. He couldn't think of Sumi as a woman anymore, nor a goddess. In his mind she was a bitch that deserved to die. And he was going to kill her no matter what it took.
Sumi didn't seem about ready to allow this. While the wires on his arm loosened that didn't fall loose, as though she were going to keep them ready to snip his arm to pieces any moment. He remembered how she had done it with his staff and knew a simple, vicious tug on his arm would be enough to do the same to him.
Then suddenly Goku found his other hand jerking into the air. He gurgled a protest, unable to make any other sound, even when he felt wires wrap around each finger individually. She pulled them taut, and Goku bit his lip. For the first time he could remember, he was genuinely afraid- and had a good idea how this battle was about to end up.
"I'll rip you to pieces," Sumi said, an expression of the utmost calm on her features. "Starting with your fingers. Fingers that have touched Lord Homura in ways they shouldn't have. Fingers that don't deserve to graze the floor he walks upon, much less his body."
Goku would have flushed with a mixture of anger and embarrassment if he'd had any blood left to. As it was he could only clench his eyes shut. He found his wire-cut arm shook horribly, but he could still move it. And he did- slowly.
The wires pinched his fingers. Slowly the skin broke, and fresh blood dribbled down Goku's hand. He cringed, hearing small, animalistic sounds of agony. It took him a few moments to realize they were his. Something cold brushed against the nape of his neck, and then Goku felt a thin, strangling pressure all around his throat. He gasped, the air drawn in ragged and thin. He could taste blood rising from his throat as she slowly began to strangle him.
The wire embedded in his smallest finger met bone.
With a sudden, vicious cry, Goku put his hand to the bronze coronet. His arm throbbed with pain, and Sumi was already tightening the wires on it again. But he had hoped for that, and the tug did what his weakened muscles could not have done.
The limiter slid free.
