Disclaimer: this is not my universe, they're not my characters, and I'm sorry this took so long…here we go!

III: Devices

Kanzeon Bosatsu was in a very bad mood. She had known what was going to happen with Goku the moment he had been allowed to return to the surface; after all, Li Touten was sadistic enough a bastard to send the kid down there and not warn him of what would happen if he stayed too long without permission. She had tried to warn him herself, but the kid was stubborn, particularly when it came to the health of her reincarnated nephew. She had not, however, expected the results to be so severe, and she had also not expected the contact ban that had effectively kept her from being able to see the saru at all once he had returned to Tenkai. All of this only served to stoke the flames of rage that had been smoldering within her ever since that bastard had revealed how far his deceit truly lay.

She was still in charge of keeping an eye on the other three, so she had been watching as the kid wasted away at an unnatural rate, and as the others worried themselves sick trying to figure out what was going on. She knew that Li Touten had been watching too, waiting for just the right moment to use the searing pain that was his rightful means of punishment as master of a wayward charge. All of this knowledge was useless to her however. Her hands were tied and she could not interfere with Touten's affairs, but she wouldn't allow that restriction to keep her ignorant. She was after all "the one who sees and hears all."

She sat now contemplating the latest observations she had made. Two weeks had passed in the mortal plane since Goku had returned to Tenkai, and since that time, Li Touten had been preparing him for war. The kid had not even recovered from his time in the world before he was forced to undergo tests meant to gauge his skill in battle and his ability to control his own strength. He proved to be a more than competent fighter, but it became quickly obvious that he was sorely lacking in control of his newly awakened power. To remedy this deficiency, Touten had set the kid into a cruelly rigorous training regiment meant to obtain results quickly with no regard to physical consequences. She watched the "training techniques" Touten employed in horror. Li Touten called it training; it looked a hell of a lot more painful and dangerous than any training that Kanzeon had ever seen. But despite the negligible ethics involved, the desired results were being attained, and the bodhisattva was more than a little disturbed by the awakening power in the child. If not handled with exquisite care, he was still very much capable of becoming a force of destruction that not even the heavens could contain.

"Li, you dumbass." She murmured to herself, "you have no clue the viper you are creating and placing in your own bed." Goku, whether the kid had known it or not, already had a long standing hatred of the kami. His current situation was likely pushing the boundaries of loathing to heretofore unknown levels, and when that loathing was finally able to lash out, she didn't even want to imagine the resulting catastrophe that would ensue. She knew without a doubt that it was indeed a matter of "when" and not "if"; the only question was how deep his hatred would bleed before he was released. If things continued as they were, the kid would surely lose his mind, and when he was able to lash out, he would destroy Touten and everything else along with him. So Kanzeon knew that it was her responsibility to ensure that Goku was able to maintain some sense of self until she was able to set her plans into action.

Sighing, she sent a thought to one of the numerous lotus blossoms floating on the surface of her pond and set it drifting away. Almost every pond or fountain in Tenkai was connected somehow, and there was a pond in Nataku's chambers at Touten's estate. The blossom would find its way to Goku. He would get the message she had sent, and hopefully, it would be enough to keep him focused for the time being. She knew that there wasn't much time to delay. Plots were underway and she would need to work quickly if she wanted to keep the situation within her reach.

o—o—o—o

There was no point to tears. He'd cried when he was first taken back and locked in the darkness. He'd cried when he realized how fully trapped in Li Touten's plans he really was. He cried because tears were the only thing that he could call his own anymore, but there was no point. They didn't help. They didn't fend off the pain or the fatigue. They didn't change the fact that he was daily pushed to the limits of all physical and mental endurance until he snapped, as his master wanted, and released a power that he wasn't even aware he had. They didn't change the fact that even though he was being forced to gain control of these new abilities, it was becoming harder and harder to step back from that edge of blind desperate rage that allowed the spikes in his power. They didn't change the fact that there was no escaping Touten's control of his life. Even thinking negative thoughts about his master brought stabs of pain to his head, which meant that his head was in perpetual pain because the only thoughts in his mind were plans for vengeance against Li Touten. But one can only endure so much pain, and over time, his mind would simply stop thinking in order to escape. In the beginning, he had cried over such things, but he soon understood that there was no point to tears. Tears held no power here.

Goku lay bruised and battered in his lush surroundings. The luxury around him was an added jab to his already crappy life; a mockery of his status in this court. It implied a kindness that he did not actually enjoy, and returning to the chilly silk sheets, too-strong perfumes, and annoyingly long robes after endless hours of "training" that threatened to break his mind and body was just another blow to his crumbing will. It would be so much easier just to let it all go. The Creature still stalked at the edge of his consciousness, sometimes gifting him with images of what it could do to Li Touten and all the kami in Tenkai. They had allowed this to happen after all. They would all suffer for his pain. But Goku knew that it wouldn't stop there. The Creature reveled in destruction, and once it was done with Tenkai, it would seek prey in the world below, and all would end.

So he waited. His world was now made up of pain and waiting. He waited for the pain to stop only to wait for it to start again. He waited for the moments when hope would spark in him, whispering words of escape or rescue. He waited for hope to die. There was no telling how much time passed. It was always day in this place, the light gentle and diffused. But it was not the bright, sometimes harsh light of the sun, and that too had become a torment.

He didn't know what had drawn him to the small pond in the rooms that he now occupied; rooms that had once belonged to Nataku. Whatever had happened to Nataku, the friend that had been betrayed and betrayed him in ignorance? He had never found out. But the pond was before him and he sat heavily on its lip. He had managed to set and heal the compound fracture in his leg, but the ache would take a bit of time to fade and he didn't feel like dealing with the pain at the moment.

The water murmured tales of freedom, and he suddenly felt the need to experience the freedom it spoke of. It had been so long since he'd been able to play in a river or splash in a stream. Just for a moment, he needed to remember the flavor of that freedom. If he could get just one taste, he knew that it would be enough to help him remember all that he was when he was himself. Just one small taste. He reached out longingly for the surface of the water dancing as it was with lily pads and lotus blooms. But there was the pain.

A growing ache settled at the space between his temples and he fell to the ground clutching his chest as the pain burned its way through his nerves. He was left kneeling at the base of the pond, useless tears threatening to fall yet again. After a time that didn't exist, he rested his hand on the lip of the small wall that held the water back to lever himself up, and was shocked as something cool, clean and somehow familiar washed through him. He looked down to find a lotus bloom innocently nestling against his fingers. The air in the room seemed to change, and he felt like he was waking up after one of the snowy days that he'd always hated to see that the snow was starting to melt. There was a moment of warmth, but then the blossom drifted on. The feeling faded, but Goku thought that there was a strange tickle somewhere at the back of his brain; an almost-but-not-quite whisper.

'Wake-up bakazaru. The game's not over yet.'

o—o—o—o

So the damn faithless monk had finally snapped out of it. Gojyo knew that he had no business criticizing someone else for being in a funk after his own adventures in asshole land, but while Sanzo had always been damned pissy, he'd at least usually been able to keep his head. Leave it to the saru to be the one thing that finally got the illustrious Sanzo-sama flustered. Gojyo had been sure that after the kid had vanished again, it would be the same bullshit all over, but to both his and Hakkai's shock, the monk had risen the next morning bright and early with his game face firmly in place. It was a look that had been missing for a while.

"We're leaving." He'd said. "The saru can catch up."

Hell, even the damned jeep's jaw was on the floor. Things got closer to normal after that, though. Of course traveling was way too quiet with the idiot ape gone, and it was a strange filling for Gojyo to have a full meal without needing to fight for it, but the only black cloud floating over the group was the one formed from his and Sanzo's cigarette smoke, and even that had thinned considerably.

It was hard to say how, but Sanzo had figured that if they made it to their final destination, they would find Goku, and it was hard to say why, but they all knew that it was true. Reaching Gyumao's Palace would put an end to this shit in more than one way, and with that hope and that confidence, they were finally able to get back to business.

It had been about a month after they had last seen Goku when said shit hit the fan. The day was really nice, cool breeze, warm sun, birds chirping; the works. It had been a very long time since anyone had tried to kill them, and Gojyo was bored to tears. He had been staring off into space ('cause what eles was there to do) when he noticed a strange silhouette off in the distance.

"What the hell?" He questioned, sitting forward to try and get a better look. It didn't take long for the silhouette to work itself out, in fact, it actually began to multiply as Hakkai pulled Jeep to a stop. "Well shit." Gojyo muttered, calling in his weapon and jumping out of the jeep. The three companions stared in growing apprehension as several large flying dragons approached them from the West. There was only one person who they had seen utilize flying dragons, and last Gojyo remembered, they hadn't left the Youkai Prince on very good terms.

"It seems that Kougaiji has finally gotten serious." Hakkai commented, his most brittle smile masking his face.

"No." Sanzo said looking harder to the western horizon. "This isn't an attack." His brows were knit in concentration, and Gojyo's brain finally started to engage. The dragons were definitely not flying in an attack formation. As he looked to the horizon, he saw that there were several figures walking and staggering along the road. As the dragons came closer, he could see that some held children riding with older youkai, and others were bearing injured. The realization sank in like a rock to the bottom of an icy lake.

"It's a retreat." Gojyo breathed, and hopped back into the Jeep as Hakkai began gunning the engine. They drove quickly to meet the shabby group of youkai, and the group stopped walking to wait for them. The dragons had landed and Kougaiji stood waiting for them, heavily leaning on Dokugakuji when they arrived. Yaone and Lirin were close-by and Hakkai immediately moved to check the Prince's condition. It was a mark of how tired they all were that no one protested as Hakkai took Kougaiji into his care.

"What the hell happened?" Gojyo asked his brother, taking in all of the tired wary faces around them. He didn't like the weird nagging feeling that he was getting at the back of his mind.

"It's all over," Doku answered. "We're all that's left, the ones who were loyal to Kou are all that made it out. There were hundreds, but this…" Doku swayed on his feet as he gestured to the fifty-odd youkai scattered around them. Gojyo grabbed the older youkai and held him steady. He really didn't like where he thought this was heading. "He killed them all." Doku continued, and Gojyo could tell how freaked out his brother was. "It was a complete massacre."

"Who?" Gojyo pressed while dreading that he already new the answer. The response came from Kougaiji, his voice a weak, pain-filled rasp issuing from the dirt road where he lay.

"Goku."

o—o—o—o

He would not give in. This ass-wipe thought that he could break him, but Goku would not give him the pleasure of hearing him beg or seeing him fall apart ever again. He had already given too much to Li Touten. He'd been caught in a very weak and vulnerable state before, but the past several weeks and particularly this past assignment finally brought him back to his senses. What the hell? This guy wanted him to be his lap dog? Right. Sanzo would dance a jig while making out with Gojyo before that happened. He knew that he would not always be completely successful in his resistance, but he would resist…he could resist. He knew that now with complete certainty, and though painful didn't even begin to describe the consequences, Goku knew that he could worm his way around Touten's orders if he had to. He had just learned this the hard way.

He'd been ordered to go West and stop the experiments going on with Gyumao. Take no prisoners and leave no witnesses. Those had been his orders. He had been sent down to kill everything associated with the experiment, and he had been just about ready to follow that order, until he arrived at the palace of a youkai female named Gyokumen and discovered that the situation was far more complicated than he had first figured. There were other people living at the palace, other youkai. There was an entire community of people there, some working with the experiment, some who had become experiments themselves, but others who were just living their lives.

Kougaiji and his crew were also there.

He had been ordered to kill everyone, but there were innocents there. He had no reason to kill the innocent. Hell, he had no real reason to kill anyone but those directly responsible for the whole minus wave mess, but he had his orders and to refuse was not something he thought he could really handle doing. So he followed his orders. He located the labs where the experiments were taking place with ease and unleashed his power on everyone and everything there. The beast was awakened a bit in those moments as blood and power flowed freely, but Goku was still in control…mostly.

He had been getting ready to turn away from the labs and head out to the other sections of the place when he had been met with resistance from Kou and the others. He had no desire to hurt them, but his body was acting a bit on its own…so maybe he had less control that he thought he did. There were frightened youkai beating a hasty retreat behind the youkai prince and those who stood with him, and there was part of Goku that wanted to lash out…to destroy them for attempting to stop him from following orders. Thankfully, most of him was still lucid enough to kick the shit out of that part of him and rein in the power that was ready to strike out and destroy. It had cost him a great deal just to do that, and he thought that his body would be torn apart from the inside by his resistance, but he was still alive, and he was still himself, so there was still hope.

"Get out of here!" Kougaiji and the others had stared at him strangely for a second at that. He could only imaging what he had looked and sounded like fighting himself and speaking through his own screams, and it probably didn't help that he had buried a fist in the stone wall in order to keep himself focused. "Go now." He ground out again "Before I kill you all."

"I cannot allow you to pass beyond this chamber." Through the haze of pain and bloodlust, Goku could recognize Kougaiji's voice. He couldn't understand why the prince was still resisting, the experiment was over. Was he really so committed to all that was happening here? "This is where my mother rests," he continued. "I will not allow you to destroy her even if it means my own life."

It was then that Goku noticed the figure emerging from shadows, trapped in a column, frozen in eternal grace. So that was it. All this time, Kougaiji had been defending his mother. There was still enough of his mind left to idly wonder how the woman was tied into everything else, but in the next moment he realized that he had attacked Kougaiji and had him pinned by the throat to the chamber wall.

"Leave now and I'll do my best to stay way from this part. Stay, and I will rip each of you apart, limb by limb and happily bathe in your blood." The beast had surfaced. Goku watched in fascination as Kougaiji came to the realization that Goku could and would carry out the threat, and as he looked back to the other youkai still escaping, families and children fleeing in terror, a decision was made in his eyes. He looked back at Goku, and he must have seen something there that allowed him some peace. He gave a slight nod, and Goku was able to release the prince with little to no struggle with himself. Kougaiji then began issuing orders even as his friends rushed forward to support him.

Kougaiji got his people out, and as Goku left the chamber, he brought down half of the palace to block his way back. He really hadn't wanted to hurt any of those people. Making rubble out of the vacated parts of the palace had been enough to calm the screaming agony that was a living breathing thing within Goku at that point, but when it was all over, the experiment had been stopped and the minus wave that had made all of the youkai insane was theoretically nullified. There were no prisoners, but many witnesses had walked away, and for this Goku knew he would be punished.

It was really pretty strange when he thought about it. He had actually finally managed to end the journey west that had started this mad adventure with the others, and it was all because this asshole who wanted to claim Goku as his property had decided so. Yet even though all the original mission goals had been met, it wasn't enough. Lame. It was finished now, but Sanzo and the others probably didn't even know it yet. He would love to see the look on Gojyo's face when they arrived at Gyumao's place to find the heap of rubble he'd left behind. He almost smiled at that thought, but there was a sudden intensifying of the pain in his body and for a moment he could think of nothing else.

Damn it all to hell! Kougaiji owed him big for this. HUGE. Next time he saw the demon prince, the guy'd better have a very large platter of every one of his favorite foods ready. He convulsed as he felt a tickling of Li Touten's pleasure at his suffering slither across his senses. That had been another rude surprise. There was some connection between the two that allowed Touten to read Goku's emotions and vice versa. The jerk could also force feed Goku feelings if he wanted to and he took great pleasure playing that card. It was enough to turn Goku's stomach. But he wasn't thinking about that right now. He wasn't thinking about the fire coursing through his veins with every pulse of his heart, he wasn't thinking about his straining muscles, his head splitting apart, and the blood in his throat where he had screamed it raw. Much better to consider all the great things that he would eat as soon as he was out of this place. The journey west was over, so Sanzo and the others would probably be heading home soon. He'd have to hurry if he didn't want to be left behind. Hakkai would probably cook sukiyaki if he asked nicely enough. He just had to get back. Just had to get back.

o—o—o—o

Kanzeon had been watching when it happened. Goku's screams echoed through Li Touten's estate, carrying through the corridors and across the ponds and fountains. As servants turned down their faces and went about their business, she was still watching, and so she was the one who saw.

A twitch.

Kannon (the other name for Kanzeon Bosatsu) literally means "watchful listening," which could be loosely translated as "the one who sees and hears all."

AN:

Okay, okay…you can put down the pitch forks already. I'm sorry. Yes…it's been like 6 months since I last updated, and this is totally not enough story to make up for that ridiculous lapse in time, but what can I say? School is a time vampire, and work…well, work consumes the soul. I've been reticent in my duties, and I apologize.

Time is not the only thing that has kept me away from this story tho. I've found that somewhere in the developing process, I forgot a step, and that has really been a set back. In this story I have been attempting to examine some things and set a bit more serious a tone, but I was beginning to feel like I was turning this story into a massive angstfest…and while I'm as much a fan of angst as the next fangirl…there does come a point when enough becomes too much and then all you have is unrecognizable characters and a whole lot of drama. I realized that I'd not spent nearly enough time figuring out characterizations and what I was actually working towards. After a great deal of contemplation on feedback that I was receiving, I attempted to do some revisiting of character representation.

Another change that has been made in my writing is in reference to Kanzeon Bosatsu. In the past I used (as many others use) the combined gender term "hir" as a pronoun to describe the dual sexed nature of this particular deity, but upon further contemplation, I've decided that based on appearance and behaviour, Minekura's Kannon has taken on a female identity and I will from this point on address her as such.

I've got prolly another chapter left and then like…an epilogue…maybe, but we are nearing the end. Hopefully it'll be less than six months before you guys get to find out what happens, or if you're absolutely desperate to find out the basic layout of what will happen in the end, shoot me an email, and I'll tell you…hey, that's only fair, ne? But I promise, I do plan to finish. Don't give up on me yet!

Huge thanks to Kryscylla for ideas and support despite my sporadic presence in the cyber realm, and also to Syrah whole eloquent words were the final prodding rod to help me finally get this out. Also, to all who review, you rock! Your feedback totally helps me shape the story and work out the problems in it. You guys ROCK!

-finem