Disclaimer: Nope no owning of Saiyuki for me…darned the luck, darn

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Introducing:

Saiyuki- The Demons Within

Chapter Four: One Hell of a Bad Time

When he awoke, Sanzo was angry. He was laying spread eagle inside of a circle that was carved into the black stone floor. The monk sat up and looked around with a glower. This was a cave, a very hot cave that smelled strongly of sulfur. The first things that the sharp violet eyes noticed were the torches that were burning with surreal dark purple flames. That is when he saw Gojyo. The demi-god was hanging above a bed of red-hot coals. His hands were tied together by a strip of leather that was attached to a chain descending from the ceiling. However, what disgusted Sanzo was the fact that Gojyo had been stripped of his clothes. The demi-god was unconscious still or at least was faking it well. Sanzo was not sure which, in fact, he did not really care. The point was that he knew where Gojyo was.

His eyes roamed the room for more information. Sanzo saw that across from him was Gokuu clad only in his shirt and pants. Thick iron manacles were clasped about his neck, wrists, and ankles. The earth youkai was curled up in the floor looking piteous. Ears drooped; he was staring at Sanzo like a child afraid of admonishment.

"Hah-chee!"

Sanzo almost felt as though he were staring through the bars of the mountain again, "Gokuu?"

A sneeze answered him at first then chains rattles as Gokuu moved as far from the wall and close to Sanzo as he could. He was stopped several feet from the monk, "Sanzo…Hakkai…Hakkai's not here." His voice sounded small.

Sanzo frowned at the red seeming walls and the black stone floor. What kind of twisted sick place was this? Where had they taken Hakkai? In that matter, who the hell was in charge of this? He looked back to Gokuu, "Where are we?"

"I don't know. But many people have died here." Gokuu was looking about with a wary harried expression. It was borderline fearful.

"Oi, bohzu. Enjoying the view?" Gojyo's voice came. When Sanzo looked his direction, he winked. Pain, however, was evident on his mocking face.

"Nothing of interest to view." Sanzo replied with a bored disinterested expression, "Nothing worth it anyway."

"Hey!" Gojyo looked offended, "You're just jealous because I'm manlier than you."

"Ch." Sanzo ignored him. If Gojyo had enough energy to joke, then he was going to be all right.

His attention turned to the task at hand, escape. He pointed a finger to the edge of the circle encasing him only to receive a nasty shock. He sat down trying to think. This was probably a ward of some kind. Sweat soon formed at his brow from the sheer heat of the cave and he began wishing that he had one of their canteens. The stink of blood filled his nose. As if an after thought, his mind registered that Gokuu was in fact, covered head to toe in smudges of blood. It was smeared as though he had tried to wipe it off. Sanzo turned back to the youkai.

"Are you hurt?"

"It's not mine." He sneezed.

"Yeah, back at camp, the saru here snapped and went all crazy. He tore that Chin Issou bastard apart literally." Gojyo spoke almost proudly, and then when he noticed that Gokuu was not watching him, he mouthed a message to Sanzo. 'He tried to eat Issou.'

Sanzo's stomach tightened at the thought. What in the world was wrong with his monkey? Gokuu moved rattling his chains. He backed up a bit then sat down in a heap of metal and curled up. Tired gold eyes closed and Sanzo frowned to see how sick he looked. Pale was not a natural shade for the youkai.

"I guess we wait then." Gojyo sighed, "I wonder how long our hosts are going to make us wait in this heat. They should give us a fan or something. This is down right rude."

"Hn." Sanzo plopped down to sit Indian style with his legs crossed. He reached into his robes and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He noticed without surprise that his gun was missing. Lighting the cigarette, he took a deep drag.

"That's not fair, bohzo!"

Sanzo opened one eye, "Its karma."

"Worldly cold hearted monk! How could you smoke right in front of me like that?"

"Urasei, dirty unclothed kappa." Sanzo took another deep drag. When he was done, Sanzo flicked the finished cigarette into the circle's edge. It disintegrated.

Gokuu lifted his head from the ground. He appeared to be listening for a moment, "Someone's coming."

As predicted, a few minuets later, Azreth entered the room. He shook his head piteously in Sanzo's direction, "Genjo, I thought surely that you would have put up quite a bit more fight than you did. It was terribly disappointing. Nothing like your reputation at all."

"What do you want?" Sanzo crossed his arms annoyed.

"Ah, but that secret should not be revealed too soon. Ruins things you see. Perhaps, we should just see how it all comes together shall we?" Azreth looked as if he suddenly remembered something but Sanzo could tell that the reaction was quite over exaggerated, "Oh, but we do need one thing."

"A brain."

Azreth laughed, "Not so, good try. We need your participation in a little game."

"I don't play games with psychopaths." Sanzo pulled out another cigarette in a sign of boredom.

"Oh, but you are quite harsh." Azreth smiled.

"Where is Hakkai?" Azreth looked to see Gokuu glaring at him.

Azreth looked almost delighted, "So you do speak what a clever little creature. How is that cold anyway? You don't look so well."

"Where is Hakkai?" Gokuu growled angrily. He did not feel in the mood to be patronized by this man. Getting no answer, Gokuu lunged forward at the demon. The chains ground forcefully against each other under the strain. The links twisted, begging to break but miraculously held strong.

"My, my. Such strength. No wonder you're causing us so much trouble." Azreth looked down at him as one considering a pedigree dog.

"Urasei, baka-saru!" Sanzo's voice snapped out as Gokuu opened his mouth to say something. He did not want Azreth's attention on Gokuu. His glare to the slightly confused look Gokuu sent him conveyed all that needed to be said. He frowned and Gokuu back down to sit once more. Azreth chuckled as if some inner joke amused him.

"I bet you are curious as to your missing companion as well, Genjo." Azreth turned an idle gaze at the monk, "If you play the game, I'll even let you take one of your little companions with you. Think of it as a bonus."

"I can't hear the words of insane people." Sanzo continued to smoke.

"What's your obsession with our worldly monk anyway?" Gojyo demanded.

"Urasei!" Sanzo glared at the demi-god. His mind yelled at the two idiots to stop attracting attention to their selves.

Azreth smiled again, "We can do this the hard way or the fun way."

Sanzo's vulgar reply was enough to put Gojyo to shame but it only made Azreth smile more.

"So be it." Azreth snapped his fingers.

The world as Sanzo knew it was returned to blessed darkness. He awoke, he found that he had bee stripped to the waist and was now hanging from the ceiling quite as Gojyo had been. He tried to struggle but gravity was as much his enemy as the tight bonds were. After a few moments of trying in vain to get free, Sanzo stopped and just hung there annoyed. He was beginning to get bored when he faintly heard the sounds of someone screaming. It was emanating from the wall on his right. He listened for a moment and realized that the sounds were Gojyo's. He must be getting tortured in the next room. Then there was a different scream. He could barely hear it. Sanzo turned his ear toward the back wall so that he could listen better. It sounded again. Too deep to be Gokuu, was it Hakkai? Sanzo turned his glare to the left as the door opened and two people walked in. One was Azreth. The creature with him was a massive deformed demon holding a whip.

"Awake already Genjo? Your friends are singing quite beautifully I do say." Azreth grinned.

"Drop dead." Sanzo had a look of passing disinterest on his face, "No matter what you do, they won't die."

"Oh, then they'll be a lot of fun. Here in Hell, torture is free, but we really must get you to agree to play our game. It's that free will that you humans have that gets in the way of things." Azreth looked cheerful.

"Go screw yourself."

Azreth gave a nod to his companion. The malformed demon raised the whip and snapped it across Sanzo's back. The whip leather snapped hard across his back leaving a long burning welt. Sanzo bit back a scream. They would get no such satisfaction out of him.

"Every time you aren't sociable, that's five lashes, then for every consecutive transgression we add that new five to your total." Azreth's smile beamed brightly, "Understand?"

"Fuck off."

Getting its cue, the demon gave Sanzo five strong lashes. Sanzo clenched his teeth to not make a sound. Azreth leaned closer to Sanzo's face, "Well? How about now?" Sanzo glared at the demon silently only to watch Azreth's smile broaden, "That's ten, next is fifteen."

Ten more times the whip landed blazing. This time, Sanzo felt a wetness running down his back. His mind was reeling with pain. He did not hear what Azreth said this time but he told the demon just where and what he could do with his stupid game and whip. The whip struck fifteen more times. After that, the whole thing became a blur in his pained mind. He could neither hear what the demon said nor remember the answers that he came up with. The pain filled his every moment. It was as if every nerve ending in his back was on fire. Vaguely, through his muddled mind, Sanzo thought he heard or at least imagined someone screaming for him. Screaming his name then…crying? He could hear someone crying. Sanzo's mind blanked as soon as the pain stopped again for a while.

Azreth stared contemplatively at the unconscious monk, "A grand total of one hundred and forty six lashes and not a single scream. An intensely strong will for a mere human. Perhaps there is something special about you." Azreth took Sanzo's chin and propped the unconscious face up examining it. Hearing a half-rasped growl, he turned toward the stonewall behind him. It was broken in a few places showing hints of the dark adjacent room. He could hear ragged sobbing breath that seethed with rage. The screaming had stopped not very long ago but it was most likely due to a raw bloody throat. The scratching had stopped as well but he assumed that it was because Sanzo was no longer being hurt. He smirked.

"I suppose he did not feel the need to scream after all you did enough for the both of you." He laughed as he heard the raspy growl again, "Don't worry, he'll live. Just sit back and enjoy the show."

Azreth heard a few forced sounds of an attempted reply but no true words were sounded. Dropping Sanzo's face, he turned toward the door. There was nothing more that he could do here, perhaps they were still torturing the demi-god. He absolutely loved to watch the flesh being flayed off of a live being. Perhaps they would set hot coals upon the fresh skin layer as well. He chuckled to himself and left.

When Sanzo came to, he felt very weak and his back was numb with a dull undertone of pain. He was barely able to keep his eyes half open. Everything was quiet now. Looking down, he saw blood on the floor. His mind relayed the past events to him alerting him to the fact that the blood was his. He heard a soft barely audible noise that resembled a sniffle coming from the wall before him. Sanzo stared at the wall until his eyes focused on one of the larger holes. After his vision adjusted to the darkness, he could make out a shape crouched on the floor.

"Who's there?" Sanzo snapped out already on the offensive from pain and irritation.

"S…s…" A hissing sound replied, "S--z--." Sanzo saw the form move slowly. He squinted trying to figure out what was going on when he realized that it was reaching out an arm toward him. There was a rattling of metal.

"Gokuu?" Sanzo squinted harder.

"S--z--"

The sound hissed out again but Sanzo could feel the annoying voice in the back of his mind. The chain clinked again and he could see the hand stretching, reaching out for him. Every so often, he could have sworn that he saw a brief shine of water in the darkness.

"S--"

Sanzo heard a thump and a metallic clanging as the youkai collapsed.

"Gokuu!"

The voice in his mind was silent. Sanzo tried once more to free himself when he saw the door open again. Azreth appeared.

"Feeling well, Genjo?"

"Like shit."

"That's nice." Azreth looked amused, "Not to worry, we healed your back up every so often. It wouldn't due to give you a lasting injury. Oh, and it is such a pity that your pet has already exhausted himself. The way he tore at those chains trying to break free and save you was quite touching. In fact, I do believe that he managed to pull one arm free from the wall. Rather amazing I must say. All that screaming on your behalf though, such a waste. He sings a bit too loud for my ears. However did you train him so well?"

"I didn't idiot came that way."

"Speaking of your companions, they are very fun to play with. The demi-god has only lost the first few layers of skin so far. It wouldn't due to torture him to death when it's much more fun to torture the living. Pain should be a lasting thing. Don't you agree? Setting a coal on his tongue was quite interesting. Flesh bubbled rather nicely, I should say. He, however, sings very well." Azreth appeared to be thinking, "The other one, hmm…I do wonder how he is."

"Cut the crap." Sanzo was trying his best to remain bored and annoyed but the mere words coming from Azreth's mouth added more kindling to the fire of his hate for the demon.

"I would if you would play our game."

"Go die."

"Hmm…you are a tough one that is for sure. Torture didn't work so I suppose that we'll have to actually kill someone now." The demon pulled a mock sad face, "No fun in that. I suppose I'll kill the Taisei. He's out of our control anyway. Can't even get within arms reach of him. We'll just start the collecting over again. Shame, that took some time."

"Collecting?" Something clicked in the back of Sanzo's mind, "So that's why he keeps going mad. You're using him to gather the seven sins. Why?"

"Oh, so you figured that much did you. Not to worry, however, it won't matter when he's dead or perhaps I'll kill the dark haired one instead." Azreth seemed to ponder over it.

Sanzo glared. The bastard was really starting to tick him off. The look in that damn demon's eye…he really was going to kill one of them. It was no bluff. Sanzo gnashed his teeth and bit down on his pride.

"Fine, asshole. I'll play your damn game."

Azreth clapped his hands together pleased, "Good, let's begin shall we?"

"I am taking one of them with me."

"Clever again that you remembered what I said." Azreth smiled sharply, "I'll let you pick for yourself. Don't worry; we'll take good care of the other two."

Sanzo thought for a moment. Gojyo, despite the sever torture, could take care of himself. As a demi-god, his recovery time was quicker than the others so he was out of the question. Besides, Sanzo was sure that prolonged time spent alone with Gojyo without Hakkai around would end in the death of said kappa. Especially with Gojyo's mouth running. Break his jaw maybe… That narrowed it down to Hakkai and Gokuu. He had no idea what was happening to Hakkai, what his torture was. It made him worry somewhere on the inside, like knowing that there is a secret that everyone knows but no one is telling you. Out of the three of them, Hakkai was the most levelheaded and quiet. He could probably make more sense out of this shitty situation that Sanzo could. The only problem with this logic was Gokuu.

No matter how old or seemingly pulled together the earth youkai was, he was easy to hurt. Sanzo himself had noticed times where the cool façade of the Seiten Taisei leaked out emotional outbursts. Trying so hard to be two people at once had put strain on his mental defenses. Physical wounds the youkai could shake off like nothing but emotional trauma was a different matter. It was the worst of punishments and the gods knew this best. Watching Konzen be decapitated, being imprisoned for five hundred years, then watching Sanzo die let marks too deep to heal. Sanzo had some of those himself. Even now with the intelligence of the Seiten Taisei, Sanzo could see the pain behind the heretical eyes. Besides, it pissed him off that they were using his monkey for their diabolical plan without asking first. Stupid saru was the only one who was incapable of taking care of himself. Sanzo sighed, he was setting himself up for a headache he just knew it.

"I'll take the damn monkey." Sanzo said finally. When he got his hands back on his Smith and Wesson, somebody was going to pay.

"Good then. I hope you have fun. I know I will." Azreth snapped his fingers and Sanzo disappeared, "Show me why the Master chose you, Genjo Sanzo Hoshi."

Sanzo blinked only to find himself somewhere completely different. He glared steely violet eyes at his surroundings. This whole every time he closed his eyes being somewhere else thing was getting old. He was standing at the end of a long hallway that was made of walls of cold gray stone. The walls reached up going seemingly forever into the clouded gray sky. Pale green moss grew along the surface of the light gray stones. A dark musky smell hovered in the warm air. It reminded Sanzo of a graveyard, a sickeningly warm graveyard. He turned hearing a sudden noise to see Gokuu lying on the ground beside the wall. It had been a cough. Sanzo walked up to him

He nudged Gokuu with his foot, "Oi, saru."

Gokuu made a slight breathy noise that could have been a groan if it had had more sound in it. As Sanzo knelt, the earth youkai broke out into a fit of quiet coughs but slowly opened his eyes. Sanzo sighed, "Sit up."

Wide eyes blinked at him for a moment then Sanzo almost fell backwards as Gokuu bolted up at him. Gokuu grabbed Sanzo in a tight hug only to get hit in the head with the fan.

"Let go you damn monkey!" Sanzo pried the youkai off, "Stand up since there's nothing wrong with your legs." Sanzo stood himself then took Gokuu's shoulder and pulled him over to one of the torches that lined the walls, "Don't move." He took the youkai's chin and lifted his face toward the light tilting it at an angle, "Open your mouth." Gokuu obediently did as Sanzo asked. Using the light from the torch, Sanzo examined the damaged throat. He made a sigh of disapproval then dropped Gokuu's chin.

He leaned against the wall and took out a cigarette, "You idiot. I never gave you permission to ruin that damn throat for me. I can handle my own shit just fine without you interfering. At least I don't have to listen to your annoying voice anymore."

"S--z--"

"Stop trying to use it, you'll only make it worse." Sanzo took a deep drag of the cigarette. Today was a shitty day, "Can't you make yourself useful and do something like what you did when we met up with Gojyo." He gave Gokuu an annoyed look.

Gokuu plopped down cross-legged as he had before and closed his eyes in concentration. There was a slight rumble in the distance but nothing happened. He got to his feet and shook his head then tried to say something. Sanzo whacked him over the head with his fan of death.

"I said stop trying to use your damn throat!" Sanzo flicked the cigarette butt away, "I thought as much anyway. This whole place is probably warded. Come on then. If you stand there looking dumb, you'll get left behind."

End Chapter Four

Next time on The Travel Channel

Four guys going West, don't know when they'll get there.

Will they survive the elements?

Will they survive each other?

And when will Jeep run out of gas?

Find out next time.

Chapter Five: Bloodbath with Gluttony

In which, Hakkai returns to the story. Where has he been and what's been going on with him.

Sanzo and Gokuu travel on looking for a way out of the maze and the others.

Gokuu tears Gluttony limb from bloody limb and attempts to have a feast.

And last but way not least:

Kougaiji and company join the fight.