A Peculiar Shangri-la in England
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Summary: Through an accidental incantation of both Sharak and Sanzo's respective sutras, the Sanzo party gets transported into a world far different from their own. Enter a pompous, little boy with an eyepatch on his right eye, who seemed to take an interest with Sanzo's ability to expel demons to ashes, much to the chagrin of the boy's suspecting butler—who happened to be a demon himself.
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A/N: The poems that Taruchie recited in this chapter are poems from the original Journey to the West—in Chapter 1, and in Chapter 7, respectively. Also, since Saiyuki readers have yet to see what Kumari Taruchie's history is, much more about what her eye color is—though she did hint that she is a relative of Tenkai Sanzo—I decided to go with violet, as those were the same eyes that Tenkai Sanzo had.
Another thing, characters with violet eyes in Saiyuki seem to have exceptional divine powers of some sort. Sharak has violet eyes, too, but our beloved Genjo Sanzo is a special case. But of course—we all know that.
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Goku woke up to the sound of pelting rain, and turned over to where he found Sanzo with his brows tightly knotted in his sleep.
On instinct, Goku scooted over to the blond, and curled up against him under the covers—all the while, he looked at him inquisitively, and noticed the knots on his brows diminishing bit by bit. Smiling at the sight, he nuzzled his head under Sanzo's chin and sighed happily, and frowned when he heard a knock on the door, along with the muffled sound of two people talking from the other side.
Not Hakkai or Gojyo, Goku thought—and he gently nudged Sanzo awake, as much as he hated to do it. It was never a good thing for Sanzo to see and hear the rain.
The throaty grumble and the narrowed glower sent his way made Goku grin.
"Mornin', Sanzo. Well, not really. But still."
Sanzo sluggishly sat up, and tutted at the sight of torrential rain from the windows. He rubbed the heel of his palm to his closed eye and swore. "Time?" he groaned out, and Goku sat up and looked at the grandfather clock by the door.
"Six, it seems. Are you feeling okay?"
"Hn."
They got out of bed, and Goku idly looked around the room as he undressed. Pretty room with pretty decorations, he thought. It was the gaudiest place he had ever been to. It was a different level of gaudy than the one in Keiun. He wanted to touch some of the decorations that piqued his interest, but avoided it. What if he broke one and Sebastian got mad?
He paused in his musings as Sanzo quietly struggled with putting on his gloves and singlet. Hakkai might have healed most of Sanzo's shallowest wounds from Kougaiji's last attack, but it would take more time for Sanzo to fully recover. Those burns under his right arm were probably waiting for Sanzo to rip out a scream in pain—Sanzo's just gotten used to swallowing his painful screams.
Also, Sanzo really needed to change those bandages on his arms.
"Here, I'll help—"
"No need."
The door opened, and in came the bumbling maid from yesterday. Upon seeing them, however, her face turned red and squeaked something that they couldn't understand. She covered her foggy eyeglasses while looking at a half-dressed, half-bandaged Sanzo and a half-naked Goku, and slammed the door as quickly as she came.
"What was that about?" Goku asked, blinking at the door. All the while, he had started undoing the bandages on Sanzo's arm despite Sanzo's unspoken protests of glares.
"Dunno. Don't care. I need my smokes."
The door opened again, and the still flushed maid held up a sign and a pen, written in perfect Chinese, and above it, a string of letters that Goku could barely comprehend.
'Would you like to go down for breakfast once you are ready? I, Maylene, will lead the way. Please encircle your answer,' it read. Below it were two options, a yes and a no.
"Goku."
Goku beamed at Sanzo, and went over to Maylene, and encircled, 'Yes' and furiously nodded.
Maylene heaved at the sight of Goku's tanned and toned body up close, and her nose bled there and then.
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Breakfast with people who you couldn't comprehend was an uncomfortable experience. You'd need a medium—in this case, there were two of them at most, the third one was mostly silent—and a lot of uncomfortable introductions and vague backstories.
Lau, however, seemed to be quite fine doing all the translating. All the while, spewing lame puns and palindromes as he chattered the table away. Sebastian, out of the corner of Goku's eye, seemed to be translating what Lau was saying to Ciel.
Hakkai had politely laughed for his three, unresponsive companions, while Hakuryuu munched on a biscuit beside Hakkai's saucer. At one point, Hakkai had remarked about how Sebastian was able to study 273 dialects of Chinese in one night, to which Sebastian had replied with much satisfaction, stating that—
"It was my young master's wish, therefore I only did what I could do. Such a small feat is something that a Phantomhive servant should do. Besides, since I have not the slightest idea of your dialect from yesterday, I went ahead and studied them all, and I am quite pleased my endeavors have come into fruition."
And Hakkai was quite surprised and amazed by this butler, and bowed in return. "I, as a former teacher, had to study a few, but not to the extent you have made. It's truly remarkable! Really, it had inconvenienced you to study our—language, well, all of our dialects! I deeply apologize."
"No, please. Studying the guests' language is something that I, a humble servant, should do. Also, I find it quite—amusing—to finally understand what Master Lau is saying. His puns are finally making sense. Now, if only I could teach them to the young master—"
Ciel called Sebastian, and said something to the butler. Meanwhile, Sanzo took out a cigarette and lighter and lit the stick. Ciel, who had noticed it, discreetly pointed to the device and said something to Sebastian.
"Reverend Sanzo," Sebastian started, looking at Sanzo with a flicker of amusement, "my young master wishes to know where you got that little compact flame."
All four of the men looked at each other, then at the lighter. Confused, Goku piped up instead, "It's a lighter. What of it?"
"A lighter?" Sebastian asked, puzzled, "Is that kind normal in China?"
Gojyo blinked, and opened his mouth, "Hey, hey—seriously, are you for real? Of course, it's—ow! What?" Gojyo yowled, and soothed his kicked shin, mouth turned to a plaintive scoff at a politely smiling Hakkai.
"Yes it is, Mr. Sebastian. It is quite normal in China. But isn't it normal here?" Hakkai blinked, and looked around, noting the few oil lamps hanging on some parts of the walls. "I see that there are oil lamps, though."
Sebastian nodded, his smile faltering the slightest. "Oil lamps and matches are normal here, yes. But that thing," he pointed to Sanzo's lighter, "is not. It is quite a puzzling device. Perhaps—could I take a closer look at it?"
Shrugging and huffing, Sanzo passed it to Goku, who, in turn, stood up and handed it to Sebastian, and quickly returned to his seat beside the priest.
Hakkai craned his head over to where Sanzo sat while Goku munched on his raspberry pie. "Sanzo, don't you think that this place is...?"
He puffed his cigarette and looked at the end of of the table where Sebastian and the boy inspected the lighter as though it were the most fascinating thing they have ever seen. He noted Sebastian flicking the sparkwheel, and went a bit wide-eyed at the sight of the small flame. "We're definitely in a completely different world," Sanzo muttered gruffly.
Hakkai nodded, and turned to Lau, "Um, Mr. Lau, could you tell us the date today? And by date, I mean the complete date."
"Hm? Oh, it's September 14, 1889."
Hakkai and the other three looked at Lau in muted surprise. It took them a while to recover before Gojyo leaned over to Hakkai, and Goku frantically tugged on Sanzo's sleeve—and they exploded in a hushed and panicked flurry of words among themselves, so much that Sebastian had a hard time understanding. And the butler looked at Lau.
Lau shrugged, "I don't know. I just said the date like Mr. Cho asked."
Hakkai looked around the table, and Lau noted the lone bead of sweat that dripped from the man's brow. "Um, if I may, well, how should I say this...? Sanzo?"
The priest gave Hakkai a glare of disapproval, and huffed as he crossed his arms. Furrowing his brows, even Sanzo himself couldn't comprehend the words he had said.
"It seems we've gone back in time. We—...we came from the future."
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"Hey, why is it silent here?" Sharak looked around, and found none of the monks standing near the gates of the Temple of the Shadowed Sun. She turned to Hassan, who shrugged, and she scratched her head. "Ah, maybe she is—oh, there you are. Hello, Taruchie," she said, going over to the small, half-demon standing behind a pillar, and she knelt in front of her.
The young-looking prophetess nodded to Sharak, and recited one of the many poems that she had memorized to heart.
"'All things are born from the Three positives;
The magic stone was quick with the essence of sun and moon.
An egg was turned into a monkey to complete the Great Way;
He was lent a name so that the elixir would be complete.
Looking inside he perceives nothing because it has no form,
Outside he uses his intelligence to create visible things.
Men have always been like this:
Those who are called kings and sages do just as they wish.'"
Her eyes, which have been blank when she had recited the poem, returned to their normal, violet shade, and regarded Sharak with mild interest. "Good day again, young lady. Are you not feeling well?"
Sharak's lips curled upwards, her scars wrinkling against her cheeks, "I am in a bit of a predicament, Taruchie. You see, yesterday, Genjo's party and I have encountered a hoard of demons, and with my foolishness in not scanning my area while we were being attacked, I used the sutra without knowing that Genjo also used his and—"
"'Misty heavenly incense filled the room;
A chaos of heavenly petals and flowers.
Great is the splendour of the jade city and golden gates,
Priceless the strange treasures and rare jewels.
Two by two, coeval with Heaven,
Pair by pair, outliving ten thousand kalpas:
Even if land and sea changed places
They would not be astonished or alarmed.'"
Taruchie closed her eyes, and she twirled the prayer wheel in her hand, its lone pendulum twirling around the cylinder with the engraved prayer, "They are currently under a different heaven and earth, one that is far and yet not as peaceful as we are under now. The one with the Maten scripture, and his companions, are as of now, safe."
Sharak felt her shoulders sag in relief, and sighed as she bowed to the seer, "Thank you, Taruchie. That's all I needed to hear." She regarded the small woman with a smile, and then—
"Could you tell me how to get them back here? I have a feeling Genjo is likely suffering on a different level than his current physical state. After the fiasco with the Three Aspects, I don't think he'll just sit still."
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Sanzo sighed for the umpteenth time since he had eaten lunch. In the garden of the Phantomhive, Goku squealed and ran about, trailing after a black cat that Sebastian had claimed he secretly owned. Sanzo huffed his fourteenth cigarette and leaned against the wall. He had left the dining room earlier, opting to throw the curious questions back to Hakkai, and Goku, being Goku, followed him as soon as he finished eating his pie.
After knowing that they were currently in a different timeline and country, Sanzo's bones itched and his mind clawed him from inside out to find a way back to India and get it over with.
Hell, maybe he could even wring the neck of that kid who had thrown them into 'unemployment' once they returned.
He smirked at the thought.
"Hey, Goku. We're going out," he called out to the brunet, who had now caught the feline in his hold. "And get that thing away from me."
Goku pouted and released the cat, patting it one last time before going over to the priest with a wide grin at the thought of finally going somewhere, but frowned upon seeing the clouded look on Sanzo's face. "Where are we going? Sanzo, we can't go anywhere. I thought you said yesterday that we have to stick together?"
"That was when we didn't know shit about this place," he huffed, crossing his arms.
"But how can we talk to people—"
"We will walk around and observe, not ask strangers." Sanzo stubbed his cigarette and checked his pack, "Do they sell cigarettes around this place, I wonder."
"Maybe this is the perfect time for you to start quitting?"
"Bah. Like hell I'll do that as long as you're with me."
"Geh. What's that supposed to mean?" Sanzo walked away from the confused brunet, and he tried getting his attention by yelling. Running over to the blond, he stopped when he saw the dining hall where Hakkai and Gojyo were, the two of them still talking to Sebastian and Lau. Goku rapped on the glass pane until the table's occupants looked at him, and he pointed at Sanzo, then to himself, and gestured his outstretched palm, and motioned his index and middle finger across it, and pointed to himself once again, and grinned.
Hakkai bowed to Sebastian and went over to Goku, who was now yelling on the other side.
"We're going for a walk! Well, Sanzo wants to take a walk, so I'm going with him! Hey, Hakkai, can you hear me?" He quickly glanced at Sanzo's retreating back, then at Hakkai, who was now writing something on a paper from his pocket. The green-eyed demon then flattened out the paper on the window.
'Be safe, okay? Do you want Mr. Lau or Ms. Lan Mao to go with you?' Hakkai wrote.
Goku blinked and turned to Sanzo, "Hey, Sanzo! Do you want Lau or Lan Mao to go with us?"
Sanzo paused in his tracks, and flipped his left middle finger overhead, and started walking again.
Goku grinned and turned to Hakkai, and shook his head.
Hakkai scribbled on the paper once more and held it up. 'All right. Be back before sundown. And don't go too far,' he wrote.
Goku nodded, and jogged over to Sanzo, beaming.
Hakkai returned to his seat and tucked the paper and pen back to his pocket. "I deeply apologize, but our leader is really high-strung." To this, Sebastian chuckled and shrugged, and took the empty plates from the table.
"It is all right, Master Hakkai. The reverend must be agitated from being held back from your important task. I understand the feeling," he smiled—
—and Hakkai felt relieved upon not being barraged with questions after Sanzo's declaration earlier. He knew that it would be a short matter of time before Sanzo would unleash all his unsaid anger to the heavens, and Hakkai wouldn't be surprised if he'd see the priest shooting off bullet after bullet to the sky while frothing at the mouth with curses out of frustration.
"Well, yes. He is—agitated, to say the least. You see, one of the most important things to him have been taken away to Houtou Castle, and I don't think he'll just idly sit by. I mean no harm, this is a really peaceful place compared to the world we live in, but—"
"This is really not our world, you know?" Gojyo intercepted, completing Hakkai's sentence with a crooked smile.
Sebastian smiled, and nodded, "I understand how you feel. However, Reverend Sanzo and Master Goku have yet to grasp at least the basic English, I'm afraid they might run into unnecessary problems if they go too far."
Gojyo laughed, and dismissively waved his hand, "Language barrier or not, nothing can stop our High-and-Mighty Monk and his Monkey if they have their heads wrapped around something. 'Sides, the guy could use some fresh air. The monk's been recently burned to crisp, you see."
"Now, now, Gojyo. Don't rub salt on Sanzo's wounds," Hakkai chided with a laugh. "I could heal him slowly, in a few weeks at most. The damages done to his body were critical, and it will take some time before most of his deepest wounds could recover, and only then could I reach out to the tissue and heal him properly."
"Pardon me for interrupting, Master Hakkai," Sebastian said, placing the plates on the trolley, "but are you, perhaps, a doctor?"
"Well, of sorts, yes. Though not in the traditional sense," Hakkai scratched his head, bashful.
The butler slowly nodded, his lips parting just the slightest at the discovery. "I see. This is the first time I've encountered a—" Sebastian stopped himself, and glanced at Lau, who was doting over Lan Mao with a spoonful of honey. "—a being, that can heal others. That is something that I cannot do."
Hakkai blinked, and glanced at Gojyo. This morning, Goku had relayed to them about Sebastian's exchange with their monkey the night before, and after being reassured that they wouldn't be harmed under the manor's care, Hakkai saw no reason to hide it from the butler. "Is that so?"
Sebastian then smiled, and placed his right hand over his chest, "Yes. Though I can restore material things exactly to its former shape and form, I cannot, for the life of me, heal human wounds."
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"Tsk..!"
"Ah, Sanzo, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Stop worrying."
Sanzo held his right upper arm as they walked down the strange streets of London. Beside him, Goku had his hand hovering behind Sanzo's left arm as they walked, in case the blond would stumble and faint again.
They have been walking for two hours now, but they would still take some time before they would get used to the sights of women looking like they were mantled, upside-down teacups and the men looking like plywoods with ruffles around their necks, but Goku would always get used to the sight and smell of food. His stomach grumbled as they walked and passed by bakeries and confectionaries and teahouses, but made no complaint. He just couldn't, not when Sanzo looked completely at a loss of what to do.
Also, he doubted that the Anex card would work in this era where people didn't even know about pet dragons or lighters. It was really odd.
"Do you want to take a rest?" Goku asked, his tone mirroring the complete worry beneath his golden eyes. He noticed the priest was paler than this morning, and he wondered if it was about the rain earlier, but he sensed no open hostility from Sanzo, which was good.
Maybe Sanzo was hungry, too?
"...No."
Goku took that pause as a yes.
So he grabbed onto Sanzo's sleeve—ignoring Sanzo's glares and grumbles—and led him away from the crowd bumping into them. From time to time, Goku checked on Sanzo's right arm if he were accidentally brushing and bumping it against the passersby, and inwardly sighed in relief when Sanzo had most of his right arm cradling over his torso as they walked. Good. Hakkai wasn't with them right now, and he didn't know where he could get spare salve if Sanzo's wounds might open up.
Once far from the congested street, Goku guided Sanzo by the elbow, and they observed the change of scenery.
It was a bit different from the street they had crossed just now, colorful and lively and filled with people. This street looked like it had seen better days, with its tattered covers on the busted windows, hole-filled streamers hanging overhead, and lots of wary eyes from the people hiding in the corners of the buildings. A slum area, from the looks of it.
It was sight that Goku, for once, was familiar with—and he was not in the mood to deal with it now, not with him sensing Sanzo on the brink of losing his feral temper.
"Hey, Sanzo. I think we should go back. We strayed too far."
Sanzo looked around, his fingers itching to get his gun should they be attacked. He had to remind himself that these people were humans—not corpses wanting them dead, not demons, not halves, not demons wearing limiters, but full, fragile humans—but if they were assaulted in any way, maybe he could get away with a plea for self-defense.
They turned around, and started walking back, when Goku stopped with wide eyes.
"Wait, Sanzo."
"Hm? What is it?"
"I can smell it."
"Smell what?"
Goku's jaw tensed, and his eyes roamed on the dilapidated houses, fists clenching in frustration upon not sensing where the smell was. Sanzo then felt around for the gun in his robes. If there was another demon than Sebastian in this place, one that would harm them or maybe even take the sutra, then—!
Goku took another whiff and turned around, and grinned. "There!" he pointed, and grabbed at Sanzo's left hand, dragging the protesting and cursing man all the way down the end of the street, to where a small crowd of children and teenagers huddled in a line.
"I smelled fresh bread," Goku beamed at a suddenly angry-looking Sanzo.
The blond scoffed, looked at the stupidly grinning kids lining up from a distance, then back at the stupidly smiling monkey. "You—you fucking dragged me all the way here for food?!"
Goku's blinding grin widened at the blond, and he laughed. "Well, you need to take a break from walking and you look very pale right now, so I thought maybe we could use some food. Besides, this bread I smell is different from the ones Sebastian made yesterday and this morning. Plus, look. They're all lining up, it must be that good."
Sanzo's anger simmered at Goku's words and that stupid smile, and he sighed, gliding his tongue in between his gnashing teeth to soothe them. "Well, knowing that there's food is one thing, but how will you get one when you don't know what to say?"
Goku pouted, eyes looking away in thought for a moment, and he suddenly grinned and waved his hands about. "I've got an idea!" He turned around and walked away, only to return to Sanzo, and stood blankly. He pointed at a wall where some crates were stacked in front of it, and wordlessly grabbed Sanzo by the hand and led him to one of the crates, gently pressing Sanzo's weight down to the wooden box. "You sit there for a bit," and he wandered off to the line of children and teenagers with the same, stupid grin.
Sighing, Sanzo muttered to himself about being treated like a child by the child, and wiped off the small simper that almost made to his lips. He observed the tall, worn-down buildings and the tatter-clothed people that were littered in a line. At the back of the line stood Goku, all smiles and bright eyes as he idly bounced on his heels, waiting for his turn with impatience. Sanzo could tell that Goku was ignoring the odd stares sent to his spiked cape. Sanzo huffed.
Where had his stupid monkey gone?
He paused in thought, and wondered, indeed, when Goku had started to mature bit by bit, on his own pace.
When Sanzo had stood and left the breakfast table earlier, he had heard Goku mutter to Hakkai on his way out—
'I'll take care of Sanzo today. Hakkai should rest for now.'
—and those words made Sanzo mull over what happened during the days that he was unconscious. Had his little monkey really matured that much over the course of four days?
He watched as Goku's grin widened, his golden eyes set on the stand as he took his turn. He held up four fingers, and pointed to where Sanzo sat. The man giving out the bread nodded, and turned to Sanzo—
—and the man yelled and pointed at Sanzo. He plopped the bread back on the plate, and promptly fell to his feet and prostrated to Sanzo. From beside him, another man, who had taken notice of his companion's sudden gesture, glanced at the blond, and the man gasped, dropped the bread on the plate, and also fell to prostrate to Sanzo.
All the while, Goku blinked as he chewed on one of the breads—with curry filling, he hummed in muffled glee—and went over to Sanzo.
"What's up with them?" Goku asked as he eyed them with curiosity, handing two breads to the priest. Sanzo shrugged and took the proffered food and ate it, and tasted a plethora of flavors in his mouth.
"Dunno," he shook his head, swallowing the mouthful of the bread, "we should head back before everything turns to shit—"
Suddenly, the two men who gave the breads went over to Sanzo and Goku, and one of them began to cry and rub his palms in earnest, and spoke in a language that, for once, Sanzo understood.
"Tibetans? Or, no," Sanzo asked, his brow raising at the clothes of the two men, noting the oversized scarves and the unmistakable sherwani that he hadn't seen the people in Tibet wear.
One of the men, a dark purple-haired young man, pointed at Sanzo's shoulder—on the sutra, to be exact.
"A bhiksu!"
Sanzo raised an eyebrow—his only gesture that he acknowledged the fact upon being called as such.
Goku, however, bristled and clenched his fist, teeth grinding around a half-eaten curry bun. "'id 'e ju't 'all you a beggar?!" He struck his chest as he suddenly choked, and swallowed all of the bread and pointed his finger at the purple-haired man, "Hey, you! Did you just call Sanzo a beggar?"
"Goku," Sanzo drawled with a suppressed sigh, "he called me a monk. A bhikku—in this case, bhiksu—is supposed to mean, 'beggar'. It's what I used to do."
A look of confusion, wide-eyed astonishment and a wide-mouthed disbelief flashed on Goku's face as he held up his palm to the blond, "Y-you mean you actually were a fricking beggar?!"
The silent glare of telling Goku to drop the topic made the brunet gape his mouth at the revelation.
"The way of monkhood is not really all that classy, you know. Tch. Why am I even telling you this?" He snarled, and his face twisted in ire at the memories of him begging for alms under the rain when he was a novice. Goku didn't need to know that, and so Sanzo directed his anger at the two men who were looking at him with sparkling eyes of fascination like he was some china doll on display.
"You. What do you want?" Sanzo spoke slowly, his voice dripping with menace. He knew Bangla and Tibetan, at least—he made sure to learn what was written on his sutra, after all. In this case, these men seemed to speak Bangla.
"Ah. A Bengali man! Hello, Great Bhiksu!" said the chirpy man with the dark purple hair. "We were just finishing our last batch of breads for today. Does it fit to your liking? I haven't seen Buddhist monks around since I arrived in England. You are the first, Great Bhiksu." And he held his hands together and bowed. "Namaste."
Sanzo opened his mouth to speak, when Goku tugged on his sleeve and pointed at the smiling men.
"Sanzo, what is he saying? Crude rock garden? He's calling you a beggar again."
"He said I'm a Buddhist monk," Sanzo curtly replied, and he switched his tongue to Bangla in front of the men. "I'm not a Bengali, but do you know the fastest way to get to India?"
One of them, the man who had prostrated and bawled in front of him, sniffled and wiped his eyes. "Ah, Bhikshuk. Namaste," he bowed with his hands pressed together. This particular man with the odd, white hair seemed to speak Hindi. "The way from here in England to India will take more than a month."
"Is there any particular business you have to attend to, Bhiksu?" the purple-haired man asked. "A wedding, perhaps?"
Sanzo scoffed a laugh, "A wedding? We're mostly going to a funeral—" He paused, and felt his heart stop for a moment. Earlier, he found out about being in the wrong era. What if—
"Excuse me," Sanzo started with a barely hidden growl, feeling his breath getting labored and his palms sweating at the thought, "but do you know about the Minus Wave?"
At this, the odd-haired men looked at each other, and their faces mirrored in confusion at Sanzo's words.
"Minus Wave? What's that?" said the two in unison.
Sanzo suddenly felt his blood pressure drop—
—and the world around him started to spin.
No way.
No. Fucking. Way.
Sanzo tried to focus on anything, anything at all, to keep him grounded from all the insanity he had been hearing since he got to this goddamned London—wherever the hell this place was. Be level-headed, be level-headed, he told himself—but to no avail.
He felt his burns and his entire body acting up again from all his suppressed rage.
Fuck everything.
This goddamned mission. Kougaiji and his shitpile of demons. The shitty gods. The ungrateful Three Aspects. Taruchie's hogwash of a prophecy. That fucking kid from the sky that stole their original mission from them. This fucking shithole that they fell into—!
Everything around Sanzo shifted to a world of black, and before he fell to unconsciousness, Sanzo felt his body being pulled into Goku's arms, and heard that eternally relentless voice calling out to him in a frightened yell.
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A/N: You know the hardest thing about this fic? The fact that merging these two fandoms together is like writing a melting pot of different languages, and having to write them all down in English. There's mainly Japanese (the way the Saiyuki cast's names are pronounced, for obvious reasons), the Qieyun dialect from Chang'an, Tibetan (the Saiyuki boys should know a bit of Tibetan if they're going to travel there, right?), Bengali (Bangla), Hindi, Wu (from Shanghai, where Lau is from), and English—all merged into one this fic. I didn't know that writing this fic would be this difficult! :o -sweats- But I think it's a pretty interesting one, with all of these languages melding together and all of them trying to understand each other without the frustration and the possible notion of being misinterpreted.
So yes, thank you to those who read this fic and find it interesting, especially the anon readers who are actively commenting every time I post a new chapter! OAO -bows-