: Perfect World :
Gensomaden Saiyuki
Disclaimer: I don't own Gensomaden Saiyuki, which rightfully belongs to Minekura Kazuya.
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: mentioned Homura/Goku
Warnings: AU-ish, angst, language, violence
Notes: Constructive criticism and feedback is appreciated.
And yes, we're actually very close to the end. About 5-6 chapters after this one...
Chapter Thirty-Two
Pentagram.
Goku wasn't sure why the word was the first thing he thought upon returning to consciousness. Nor did he know why a strong sense of dread pressed down on his lungs when he thought it. The sensation was frightening, even if it wasn't a physical force. He gasped, trying desperately to feed his body what he distantly knew it wasn't starving for.
Behind his eyelids, there was darkness. That could be terrifying enough, because empty voids tended to make him remember the cave. But this time, he somehow knew that opening his eyes would throw him into a world much worse than that.
Even without seeing, he could feel his wrists and ankles were all but immobile. With a cold flash he realized this was one similarity to the strange dream he had had weeks ago. A slight twitch of his fingers told him enough; he wasn't chained down, didn't even have the shackles he had been bound with in the nightmare. That was one difference.
Help...
Panic seared through him. The situation was akin to déjà vu, only not. This wasn't his dream, but it felt so much like it. Only the overwhelming sense of fear, danger, and betrayal matched exactly. Fear because of his immobility, danger because of the immense power pulsating around him, and betrayal because...
Homura.
Sanzo!
He opened his eyes, and immediately wished he hadn't. Goku winced as bright light stabbed into his eyes, sending a violent jolt of a headache through his skull. A soft groan escaped his throat; which, he discovered, felt strangely parched. He tried swallowing, but had difficulty.
A shadow fell over him. Goku winced again; he could tell by smell alone who was hovering above him. Still, he had to see to be sure-- or so he told himself. He forced his eyes open, and this time the light was obscured by a man's body.
Bi-colored eyes stared down, strangely piercing yet blank. Intense, but lacking a strong emotion. The sight made Goku both ache and want to scream.
"Ho... mura..."
Whether or not his raspy voice reached the man's ears, he couldn't tell. When the god spoke, he didn't directly reply to the call. "Pity," was all he said. His voice was dark and soft, almost like velvet.
Goku sucked in a deep breath. To his relief, he managed to do so without choking. At least he didn't seem dehydrated. He wondered how long he had been unconscious. It didn't feel like more than a few seconds, but a quick, painful glance around told him it had to have been longer. They were in the room with the pentagram; the one Shien had refused to let him enter once before. The one he hadn't been "ready" for.
Apparently, now he was ready. Goku didn't want to be.
"Homura," he tried again. This time his voice came out stronger; the man had to have heard.
Shaking his head, Homura crouched down beside him. He said nothing, staring at Goku without seeming to see him, his sharp eyes focusing and blurring at random. As though he were constantly being pulled into deep thought.
Goku began to shake. His teeth rattled for a moment, and he clenched his jaw to solve the problem. When he trusted himself to speak, he finally did. "Homura... don't."
Not a "don't" to not create his world; not a plea for the man to let him go; it was nothing of the sort. Goku hurt, his whole body hurt with a depth that went to his marrow, sucking at his soul like a leech. He wanted to hate Homura so badly for tricking him, for using loopholes to drag the boy this far, for deceiving him with words and touches and caresses...
And yet, despite the bitter melancholy trying to settle into his blood, Goku couldn't help but think, Don't hurt us any further.
But then, it was probably too late for them. They, as a team, as a pair, as one, had died the moment Goku refused to help. Perhaps they had never even existed-- and that thought hurt worst of all.
Homura said nothing to indicate he understood. Instead, he reached out in an almost tender fashion. His fingers traced over the coronet encircling the brunette's head. Despite the fact his limiter was nothing but a piece of metal, Goku could have sworn he had felt a ghost of his lover's touch then.
No, his former lover. He clenched his teeth to keep from screaming out. Pure, tearing, emotional agony.
"It is a pity," Homura murmured, flattening his palm against the boy's diadem. "And extremely unfortunate that you woke in time for this."
Goku seethed. "Homu--"
Without waiting for him to finish even his name, the god gave a violent shove. The force was enough to take the brunette's head off, but since that didn't appear to be Homura's intent, all it did was pull his coronet free. The circular object rolled; Goku could tell by the dim noise he heard over the shrieking in his ears. Screams heightened, and he suddenly knew he was the one doing it, because his throat felt sore and raw.
His diadem clattered to the floor. His head threatened to split open. Then the last thing Goku could sense before his vision blackened was a demonic rage pouring forth from a crevice long-hidden and long-forgotten.
------
He must have been climbing a tower, because here the stairs wound around a cylinder wall that seemed to rise endlessly. Sanzo was glad he didn't have the patience for inanity, otherwise he would have tried counting the stairs on his way up, and long ago he would have lost count and grown even more irritated than he already was. A small blessing, perhaps, but it was something.
It wasn't long before he realized the echo of footsteps he heard wasn't singular. There were another pair of feet ascending the steps. The person behind him didn't falter, as Hakkai still did on occasion; nor did he walk with a certain arrogance Sanzo was slowly, surely, and regrettably getting used to. There was assuredness, but with a different kind of conceit.
He briefly considered greeting the visitor, and then promptly told himself to forget about it. Fortunately, his tag-along guest spoke first.
"When I'm finished with him, you'll be next."
Sanzo scoffed. He wished he had brought his cigarettes, but told himself that would have to wait until later. Right now, he needed to be completely focused on retrieving his scriptures-- and the brat.
He said, "That should be my line."
"Well, it's not." The prince's voice sounded terse; unusually so. Sanzo supposed it had something to do with their missing party member; what exactly, he didn't know, and didn't want to know. From the corner of his eye, the priest caught a glimpse of red against the drab backdrop. This wasn't like Gojyo's crimson hair-- this was red, with an almost orange tint.
Sanzo's attention returned to what was in front of him. Still nothing but stone and candles in their little niches.
"Your sutra really belongs to my master," he stated.
Kougaiji answered the comment bluntly. "I don't care. I have my own reasons for needing it and yours."
Sanzo would have replied, but a sudden shriek ripped through the air. Startled, both men looked up, though there was nothing above them but ceiling. Without having to say anything, they quickened their pace. They were close. Perhaps just a few more flights...
Another scream sounded. This time, though it surprisingly sounded very different from the possessor's normal tone, Sanzo knew it was Homura.
------
Harsh breathing filled his ears, echoing in his mind even louder than the agonized shrieks spilling forth from the creature at his feet. His vision was fuzzy at the edges, blurring his peripheral vision, but Homura found himself too fixated on the writhing energy above his head to care. He noticed, couldn't ignore the uncomfortable tightness in his lungs, but the sight before him was far more important. This was what he had been working so hard for.
The sheer amount of energy surging through the air, caressing every vein, every nerve... it filled him with a heady sense of power. Power, he knew, he would have to be careful to control. The pentagram was helping to the job, at least; it was centering Son Goku's energy, helping to channel it into the necessary area. With the powers of the sutra, the magic of the pentagram, and the vastly growing strength pouring from the demonic body all working in synch, the new world would be formed.
Or rather, the gateway to the new world. That was what Homura so desperately needed, and soon. He knew time was running out. He could feel it in the way his ribs ached with every breath he took.
With his gaze fixated on the gathering energy, he almost missed the slight movement from his lower peripheral vision. Homura turned his attention away, back down to the floor. What he saw stole the breath he was still trying to suck in.
Golden eyes stared at the ceiling, half-lidded as though drowsy. The screams had long sense ceased spilling forth from the creature's mouth; when, Homura couldn't guess. He hadn't been paying attention. But now Seiten Taisei was suddenly calm, almost tranquilized, as his clawed hands reached dreamily for the bright light above him. Reaching out to the new world?
No.
Homura tilted his head back, and then he could see what he hadn't noticed before. From a different point of view, when he attempted to see it from the demon's perspective, the light looked more like a smaller, colder, but still fiercely present sun.
I could never be his sun.
Strange. When he thought back on it, he'd had several intentions when he had gone to free Son Goku from the cave. There was the obvious, in which he needed the boy to create the new world. Only Seiten Taisei could generate enough power to do so-- especially since he was the spirit of the earth; thus, only his essense could create this new world. And that was why once the new world was complete, the old world would disappear. Homura didn't know how, but nor did he care. It wasn't of his concern.
However, his apathy toward the old world didn't extend to every last being. Two people had been important enough for him to want to bring with him-- and now, three. Or perhaps, formerly three. He didn't know what to do with the boy now. He didn't want to think about it.
Despite that, his mind couldn't help but wander back to the day he first freed Goku from his seemingly eternal confinement. Yes, he had gone to retrieve the power because of his impatience... but also, he had to admit he had been wondering if it had been possible to be the most important being in Son Goku's life. Perhaps, he had thought, if he freed him, if he took him from the life of aching loneliness, then the boy would have looked to him in awe and wonder. In a way he had; but it hadn't been the total devotion and fierce, deep-set love those golden eyes had always turned on Konzen Douji. Even as years passed, that particular love had never seeped into his lover's eyes.
Then again, Homura himself had never been able to set aside Rinrei's memory long enough to fully give Goku what he had craved so much. If he had been able to... if he had done so... maybe...
Homura blinked. The atmosphere had changed, becoming lighter and heavier at the same time. A sinking feeling pressed down on his gut, and for a few vicious seconds all he could see was a pair of glimmering golden eyes.
Any other time, the predatory creature before him would have been sneering. Smugness would have filled him to the core, emanating from him in sightless, palpitating waves. The room would have dimmed, seemed unimportant in comparison to the amazing being standing so leisurely in the middle of the room.
Seiten Taisei held himself as casually as usual. But there was a twitch in his elegantly clawed fingers that betrayed his fury. His catlike eyes were narrowed, but not in animalistic superiority. His upper lip was curled slightly in the beginnings of an angry snarl, and then the sound spilled out. Homura realized faintly that his surroundings hadn't just dimmed. They had ceased to exist at all.
There was only this demon, and his righteous fury.
It was hardly the first time Homura had felt like prey. The heavens had made good use of his helplessness, taking advantage of his forbidden heritage to use him as their plaything. Bondage, torture, verbal abuse, emotional flagellation; nothing was beneath the gods he so despised and hated to share the same blood of. (Though, fairly, he tried not to fault his mother. Naturally, her acts of sin had been what had created his taboo existence, but she had never intentionally done anything to harm him.)
Still, when Seiten Taisei glared at him with unmatched hurt and anger, Homura realized he had never been more of a target than he was at that moment. He had played the victim in the heavens' hands before, but now, even with his strength and intellect and better judgment, he was even more helpless than he had ever been before.
The demon moved, but not with the confident laziness Homura had seen before. In the heavens, Seiten had been as arrogant as any small child with the bigger and better toys. Just weeks ago, when maiming Sumi, the creature had displayed similar haughtiness in his actions. Now, however, what the man saw in Seiten Taisei's movements was far from playful in any fashion.
While half mesmerized by the creature's movements, Homura still retained enough sense to bring up his arms in a defensive stance. But against Seiten, very little could be done in the way of defense. As a harsh reminder, the demon used his claws to rip the man's arms open even as he tackled him down.
The force of the impact sent them both tumbling to the floor. Homura cried out as his head struck the floor with a jolting force, sending stars sparkling across his vision. So dazed was he after the hit, he couldn't feel the pain that should have been burning his arm. Strangely, the wetness of blood was there.
Blinking to clear his vision, Homura dimly heard the creature atop him snarling. When he could focus again, the first thing he saw were brilliant golden eyes clouded with hatred.
Or perhaps it wasn't any form of animosity at all.
The demon hissed, his eyes narrowing to slits. Malevolence sparked in his stare, as though he were thinking of which way to disembowel Homura most painfully. Something which, the god realized, he was thankful for, because it gave him the precious few seconds he needed to retaliate. Even in the face of Death, he only had one thought in mind: I must see the new world.
Grateful he wasn't feeling his torn arm, Homura slid his hands beneath the boy, barely feeling the bones of Seiten's ribcage before he gave a hard shove. Startled, the heretic toppled off-- or rather, flew, because as he soared in the air for a brief moment in time, the demon somehow managed to turn his lack of balance into something graceful, arching his back and flipping so he landed on one foot and his knee.
A malicious form of breathing, flowing poetry, the man recalled. He had thought the same thing when Seiten Taisei had torn into Sumi.
Homura sat up, his lungs seeming to constrict with even that simple movement. His arm was beginning to throb dully; the reality of his injury wouldn't settle in just yet. Soon, though... soon it would, and by then he would either be dead or within the new world. And to get there, he would probably have to kill his lover.
The double doors across the room opened. The sound seemed loud enough, because it turned Seiten Taisei's gaze from his current prey toward his unsuspecting victims.
Two figures stood in the doorway, both expressing surprise at the familiar yet strange being before them. The blonde in particular seemed stunned, his face giving way to his thoughts more than he probably realized.
Then Konzen tore his eyes away from the heretical being, glaring at the injured man to the side. "What the hell did you do?"
A wry smirk tugged at Homura's lips. With more composure than he felt, he said, "I have opened the door."
More might have been said, but the child of the earth chose that moment to attack.
------
The glimpse Sanzo caught was brief, but to him he seemed to have all the time he needed to study and criticize this new being. He looked like Goku. He had the same unruly hair, though it was dozens of centimeters longer, spilling down his back. Even from the distance he was at, Sanzo could still make out the eyes. Glittering, piercing, overflowing with rage, pure molten gold.
This, he knew, was the creature the Sanbutsushin had ordered him to take west. Seiten Taisei Son Goku.
As though the creature sensed him thinking the name, he sprang. Sanzo stumbled to the right in attempt to avoid the oncoming tackle, but he wasn't the intended target in the first place. In a blur he could barely see, the boy launched past him and crashed straight into Kougaiji.
The demon prince had also attempted to dodge, but hadn't quite been fast enough. His body twisted in a way that made Sanzo think he had been hit in the shoulder, and then the two demons tumbled to the ground. An angry curse erupted from the fiery-haired one, and with a violet kick he sent Goku flying back.
Sanzo was stunned when, as though defying the laws of gravity, the boy arched, soaring for a couple impossible seconds, and then landed with feline grace on the tiled floor. The creature's gaze lifted, his teeth baring a feral smile. Wordlessly, he was promising death.
Their eyes met. For an instant, Sanzo thought he was going to be the next target, and he tensed in immediate defense. He was both surprised and not so to see the creature whirl away, ignoring his new prey for his first victim. Homura had gotten back on his feet; he seemed calm and in control, only the sight of his bloodied arm and pained expression staining the image of cool collection.
The priest dimly heard Kougaiji regaining his footing as well. However, his dignity was probably another story.
A low sound made the hairs on the back of Sanzo's neck rise. As it grew progressively louder, he realized the creature was snarling, his hackles rising like an angry beast's. Then, as fast as he had attacked the demon prince, Seiten Taisei Son Goku lunged for Homura.
The god's reaction was too fast for Sanzo to make out. Whatever took place in the next two seconds, the priest could only speculate. It ended with Homura somehow on the floor, gritting his teeth over a cry he couldn't fully contain as the demon's claws tore down his shoulder. Blood spurted from the wounds. Strangely, all Sanzo could think was that it was probably hot, like water from a fresh, steaming bath.
Even from that distance, he could make out the sadistic pleasure on the brat's face. He wanted to shoot it clear off. Not for Homura's sake; Sanzo couldn't care less. Simply because it annoyed him.
Sanzo blinked, and suddenly the demon-child was airborne again. His gaze flitted briefly back toward the war god, and then was caught by something else lying on the tiled floor. Something far more important.
The Seiten and Maten scriptures.
The blonde felt his heart still for the briefest of moments. He began to move forward, forgetting that there was a fight going on, that getting in the midst of it could prove to be deadly. Luckily, he remembered long enough to hesitate-- and that was probably what saved his life. Because Kougaiji had noticed seconds before he had, and was already a considerable distance closer.
And, as Seiten Taisei rolled onto his hands and knees, he was also right between the two already fighting.
A loud shriek of rage split the air. Despite the warning, there was still little the demon prince could have done to avoid -- or even defend himself against -- the attack. He hit the ground, his head smacking the floor with a sickening crack. Blood was spilling again, and Kougaiji was screaming in anger and agony.
Sanzo thought, That could have been me. He stayed where he was. From what one glance told him, Homura had decided to do the same thing.
Keeping his voice just low enough so as not to be too easily heard over the brawling, he said cynically, "I hope you're satisfied."
He could feel the god's smug gaze on him. The other man's tone was very matter-of-fact. "I knew you would come."
"Psychic, are we?"
"I prefer 'omniscient.' "
Sanzo opened his mouth to retort, and would have gone through with it, had a sudden surge of... something suddenly pressed down on the room. The weight of it was heavy, almost crushing, and it vanished almost as quickly as it had come. On the floor, golden eyes peered up quickly; the boy had felt it as well.
But more importantly, Homura's expression had changed. Subtly, but noticeably, his demeanor had become more subdued. Sanzo had the feeling that if he had gone and said what he had been about to earlier, the god wouldn't have paid it any heed.
Something drastic had just happened. And most likely, it was not in Homura's favor.
