Click

Moments passed that seemed like hours to the desperate child. Finally Goku's eyes snapped open in broken realization. He brought the gun down and let it lay in his lap. He might've guessed that Sanzo wouldn't have left Goku with a loaded gun in such circumstances. Even so, Goku himself didn't know how far his regeneration abilities could be pushed. He felt his lip tremble. His thoughts were racing. He was all alone. There was no more Sanzo-ikkou. Seitan Taisei had made sure of that. Trying to calm his wheeling thoughts, Goku took a deep breath, idly clutching the now useless banishing gun as if it were his only link to this world. Still breathing deeply, Goku tried to gather together all of the pieces of what lay around him; searching for answers he so desperately needed. Hakuryuu perched himself beside the scared child, eyes showing nothing but sympathy.

"I remember a fight…" Goku began, his words targeting no one in particular. "They ambushed us… before we woke up this morning…" His voice was as calm as he could manage under the present circumstances. "It…happened so fast…" He felt a knot form in his throat. "Water…" he murmured hoarsely, noticing how the sun sparkled ironically off of the riverwater in front of him. "They were coming out of the river…pulled me in…couldn't see or hear…" The child bit his lip. "They got my…power limiter…" Goku tried to choke back the tears that were leaking into his voice. "If I'd been more alert…If I hadn't been so stupid!" He paused. Hakuryuu nudged his elbow. Goku pet the dragon with a trembling hand, his voice breaking as he spoke. "Hakuryuu… what the hell am I supposed to do….?"

Do I have to do this all on my own now?

It was one second. Everything was destroyed in an insignificant second. Hakuryuu gave the boy another nudge, causing Goku to look back down at the dragon. Silence.

"…I guess there's only one thing I can do…"

"Nee… Do either of you have any clue as to why we were sent for?" Three men walked drudgingly down a white marble hallway, none of them smiling, none of them even giving the slightest impression that their presence amongst one another was anything but obligatory. The first was a bewildered young man with shoulder-length black hair and glasses.

"Oh who the fuck cares, so long as it's short and to the point. I'm too busy for these constant interruptions." The second, blonde, practically radiated with antagonism and pessimism, making it seem as if anyone who dared keep his company did so at the risk of his own well-being.

"Yeah. It's real time-consuming being a hag." The third was a crude young man who had the amazing ability to keep a casual demeanor no matter how indignant those around him might find it. (I believe earthlings refer to this as "laidback".)

"Keep talking like that if you want to lose your tongue." He also had a habit of… "playing".. with people. Nasty habits die hard, so luckily, there was a buffer.

"Gentlemen, please…" murmured the first man. The other two took this as the end of round one.

Kanzeon Bosatsu sat in her "office" fiddling with a small red poppy that lay on her desk. Jiroushin walked into the room and before he could so much as utter a sound, the goddess spoke up.

"Isn't it beautiful, Jiroushin?" the goddess mused. "So innocent and beautiful, capable of easing any pain of any kind, and yet, in an instant…" she paused, letting a petal fall to the desk, "...it can kill you." Jiroushin just stared at the goddess of mercy. Yes, sometimes (actually, pretty much all the time…) she could be a little….offbeat, but once in a while, he had to admit, she was just plain creepy.

"Um…My lady…?" he stammered nervously, not able to find anything else to say. The goddess looked up, the usual sparkle in her eye.

"Ah yes. Send them in," she directed with a slight wave of her hand. Jiroushin shakily nodded and bowed, then stepped out of the room briefly, returning behind three men. One with glasses, one with an invisible aura of hostility, and one with seemingly better things to do. Kanzeon bit back a laugh at the look of utter shock still apparent on Jiroushin's face. "Jiroushin, I trust you've met my nephew, Konzen Douji?" Jiroushin tried to stammer something in response, but really… What could he say? The blonde man raised one eyebrow but other than that, made no effort to reply. "Konzen Douji, Tenpou Gensui, and Kenren Taishou. I have a little project for the three of you…"

Ok, I was planning on making this longer, but didn't want to postpone the update any further. --;;; Just letting people know, I'm not letting the fic die or anything. However, I won't be able to do too much more with this fic before I finish Reload, so that's why it'll be a lil slow at first. ;; Thanks a bunch! bow