Disclaimer(s) - I don't own Saiyuki or ANY of the Saiyuki Characters nor am I affiliated and therefore I am not making any profit from this story whatsoever. Saiyuki and its characters belong solely to Kazuya Minekura and all other respective creators/owners. I am just a fan. A BIG fan. A HUGE fan. A... well, you get the idea. I don't own anything but the 4 girls' characters in the story.

Gojyo's arm felt warm around Trysts waist, and she greatly appreciated his help in navigating the stairs, since they seemed to be avoiding her feet on purpose. As they giggled and hiccupped their way back to Tryst's room, Gojyo couldn't help feeling slightly… guilty. He was just as drunk as she, but he had been this drunk before and managed to turn women away. So wasn't this really taking advantage of her? He wasn't sure – and to be honest with himself he didn't really care. Right now, he had the muse of all things that inspired him in his arms, and he wasn't about to let go. Not now… not ever.

They eventually reached her door, after 1 wrong turn, and one collision into a badly positioned fern. Turning the knob to her door, the one she was going to share with Daja, she stumbled inside and flicked on the light. She hiccupped as she considered this – it seemed strange that anywhere in this time span would have electricity, but then… it was kinda strange to have demons, cars, credit cards and guns too…

Stumbling forward, her knees hit the edge of the bed, and she collapsed in an undignified heap on the bed. However, as her hand had been tightly gripping Gojyo's arm, as she fell, she had taken him with her, and he landed on top of her with a great huff, the wind knocked out of him. They laughed together; almost hysterically such was their condition. Goya propped himself up on his elbows, looking down upon her face, his crimson eyes lidded as his laughter slowed, leaving only a soft smile in its wake. Tryst looked back at him, her features smooth, her cheeks pink from the liquor, but her eyes gradually turning a startling diamond clear, with a tinge of red. Goya watched them, fascinated – but his attention was soon drawn to her lips – softly tempting him with a glimpse of her teeth beyond. Raising a glance to her, as though staking his claim rather than asking permission, he slowly closed his eyes and lowered himself to her waiting kiss.

Tryst felt herself lose her breath at his move. She was absolutely sure that he was a wonderful kisser – however there was a difference between stolen kisses at inappropriate times, to actually having him focus his whole attention on her, having his whole being intent on one thing only. She was overwhelmed. Opening her mouth to allow him access, she felt is tongue slide gently in, and she sucked on it gently, causing him to groan, and press his hips against her. She panicked at this, but the alcohol was helping loosen her fears, and her inhibitions. She knew that she trusted him, but it was just her body needed a bit more convincing – and he was certainly doing his best to assure it.

Leaving her lips, his mouth travelled south, lightly biting her neck, leaving small, fading love bites across her skin. He nipped and tasted, licked softly and bit even softer. He knew he could relish her – he had all night – and he intended to use every bit of it. Her hands were on either side of her head, and she clenched them as he found each and every inch of her skin, and caressed it lovingly. Tryst had never felt such attention in her life. She gasped as he gently slipped a hand under her shirt and helped her remove it over her head. He sat back and admired his handiwork – gulping heavily at the now half naked muse, panting and sweating in front of him, her face flushed and her lips swollen from his kisses. He felt himself shaking, and held his hands up to his now blurry vision. They visibly trembled. Goya wondered what was making his gut clench so hard – and then he realised... he was afraid. He had not had a time when he had truly shared his heart and his body with a woman. In fact, the hanyou had only ever shared his body. His heart was sealed behind the iron fortress of his past. But this girl – this girl was storming his fortress – and he felt himself betray that protection by opening the front door.

Tryst opened her eyes fully, and looked up at the half demon in confusion. He seemed to be frozen – staring at her as if he had never seen a naked female before. She tasted the emotions in the air, and jerked in shock – fear? Why? She lifted herself off the bed to a kneeling position, as he sat back on his haunches. Raising a hand to his cheek, she smiled into his wide eyes, and whispered to him – and to herself.

"Goya… you know… I'm scared too. But, I'd prefer to be scared with you, than with anyone else." He blinked and his trembling decreased as she continued, "And I know you don't open your heart to many people, neither do I," she smirked in sadness, "But – If you open your heart to me, I promise I won't be the one to break it." Tears formed in her eyes as she spoke, and Goya finally understood. Without another word, Tryst slowly raised herself to his face, and placed a soft kiss upon his lips, a single tear trailing down her face, and mingling with their combined breath. It was soon joined by another, and another, as Goya finally felt his walls crumble, as he allowed her into his heart.

The morning entered cold and dreary, the light barely enough to wake those who had beds by the windows. Awakening on her left hand side, Daja stirred, and opened her eyes slowly, allowing the drizzling sight of rain on the window wake her up fully. She flexed her fingers, and felt an answering flex on her right hand. Smiling gently, she looked down to where a long tanned arm had wound itself over her waist and intertwined with her fingers above the cover.

Without disconnecting their hands, she turned onto her other side, looking straight onto the sleeping face of Hakkai, his body curled protectively around her. She breathed carefully, knowing he was a light sleeper, as she studied his face. His hair was still a bit damp – he had worked up quite a sweat the night before. She flashed back to that vision of him, sweat dampened hair swaying rhythmically as he… She smiled at the memory – her body still aching slightly from his passion the night before. But it was worth it. More than worth it.

Daja stretched her legs, loving the feel of soft cotton on her naked skin, in doing so, she inadvertently brushed by Hakkai's bare leg, waking him instantly. His eyes opened quickly, focusing on her impish face as she tried not to giggle. He smiled at her, and in a soft voice whispered, "Ohaiyo." Daja smiled, and Hakkai's eyes lit up, his work out last night obviously not affecting him as he quickly sat up, and offered to get her breakfast in bed. Daja smiled and nodded, loving the sight of him getting dressed. It was definitely a treat she'd have to enjoy again some time. Sitting up against the headboard, she pulled the sheet up to give her some modicum of modesty. Hakkai finished putting on his last item of clothing, and walked to the door, leaning in to give her soft lingering kiss on his way out the door. She nipped him sharply on the lip, and he grinned truly, his eyes saying more than his actions. Closing the distance between him and the door, his eyes still back on Daja, he swung it open, only to be hit firmly on the chest.

Staggering back slightly, he whipped around in confusion, eyes meeting Goku's, his hand was raised to bang on the door. It seemed he had hit him instead. Hakkai, took a moment to pull himself together, and smiled politely as he moved to block the door, so as Daja would be saved the embarrassment of being found in such a compromising position. Goku acted as if nothing had happened, a worried look in his golden eyes. He shifted from foot to foot nervously, and strangest of all, he had his Nyoibo in hand. Hakkai raised an eyebrow, and was instantly on alert.

"What is it, Goku?" He asked, voice soft and dangerous.

"Bella's GONE!" He yelled.

"WHAT?" Daja cried, running to the door with only a sheet around her.

Goku goggled.

Sanzo had woken to a loud banging, followed by an earth shattering crash. Of course… that could just be the effects of his hangover. Sitting up, still fully dressed, he glared at the intruder who had broken down his door.

Suki.

The small girl prowled the room like a feral cat, her eyes taking in everything, from the damaged furniture, to the fist sized hole in the wall. She ran to the window, and flung it open, allowing a cold blast of rain into the room. Sanzo yelled out "OI! What do you think you're -" He wasn't able to finish his sentence, as the tip of Suki's bladed glaive came to rest at the monk's throat. He glared at her, furiously holding back the urge to swallow, which would force his throat to slice deeper against the blade point. Suki bared her teeth and snarled wetly, her gaze completely feral. "What did you DO?" She screamed at him, voice cracking in anger.

Sanzo focused entirely on the girl, his hand slowly reaching for his gun as he ignored the hell-sent headache he had. "I don't know what you're talking about." He replied groggily, trying to sound disinterested. His fingers brushed the handle of the banishing gun. Yes! Suki saw the motion and snarled again, her foot flexing out and trapping the monk's hand against the bed. He grunted at the pressure and relaxed, knowing if he tried anything too serious, she would surely hurt – if not kill him.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about! Isabella! Where is she? What did you do?" Her voice had risen in pitch, the tenuous hold she had on her anger seemed to be the only thing holding her back from physically assaulting him. His headache threatened to split his head in two, "I didn't do anything!" He shouted back, frustrated and pissed off at her behaviour. Suddenly, hands were wrapping around Suki's arms, soft voices were talking to her softly, drawing her away from him. Sanzo glanced up at the scantily Daja and Tryst, both of whom were trying to calm the young muse. Suki gradually allowed herself to be drawn away, as the girls murmured to her. Questioning her, trying to find out what had happened.

Sanzo didn't care what had happened! In his opinion the girl had finally shown her true colours – he knew he shouldn't have trusted them, and here was the proof! Pulling his gun from the covers, he swung up and aimed at Suki's forehead, finger firmly on the trigger.

"Sanzo." The quiet voice belonged to Goku, who stood off to the side of the door, in front of a shocked Hakkai and Goya. "Sanzo… Suki had a dream... she had a vision that Bella..." He paused, as if he was confused. He took a step closer, looking into those violet eyes, searching for the truth, "…She had a vision that Bella was in a fight, here… and that afterwards – that she was knocked out and taken… By Kougaiji." His voice quavered a bit as he continued, "She thought she saw… You fighting with Bella. She thinks it's your fault that she was weakened enough to be kidnapped." His voice begged him to say it wasn't so. But what could he do? He had no proof to suggest otherwise. He had argued with the muse, shouted at her, fought with her, kissed her…

Oh god…

What had he done?

Walking up to Suki, he pushed the two girls away, and raised a hand back, slapping her loudly, rather than hard across the cheek. Daja and Goya gasped, Tryst, Hakkai and Goku looked furious, as they each made sounds of anger. Sanzo merely grabbed the smaller girl around her upper arms and crouched down to stare into her face. She glared back at him, furious eyes brimful of tears. He held her tightly, not allowing her to look away as he spoke to her. "Your sister is the muse of strength. I doubt something as small as a tiff with a mortal would weaken her enough for a demon to take her. Use your head, muse! Was she really that easy to overwhelm?" He shook her slightly. Suki huffed in ager and leaned in close to him, whispering words in his ear that had him go stiff in shock, "It wasn't your little tiff that had her weakened, priest – it was that you weakened her heart with your petty excuses for leaving her after you kissed her. And I won't forgive you for that."

Out loud she called out to the group, startling everyone with her change of facade` - gone was the spritely young woman who enjoyed fun, laughter and frivolousness. In her place was a young leader, strong and ready to take on the world to get back her sister. Goku gulped visibly – not sure what to think about this new development.

"Everyone, if we want to catch them before they disappear completely, we need to get on the road NOW. It won't be too hard to follow her, she left us a clue." Suki pointed to the window, where the rain continued to fall.

"What, rain?" Goya asked, unbelievingly. Suki glared at him, "No, as a matter of fact I meant THAT." Suki pointed again, then walked over to the window, and picked up the almost invisible clear crystal psi that had fallen on the sill. "Bella may not have realised that she dropped it – but this one has a twin, and I'm sure it will lead us to it. Not to mention these things have an affinity to Bella's power now, as soon as she uses it again, we will be able to follow it right to her." Her voice was calm and strong.

"Suki… how do you know all this?" Daja asked, her eyes soft and upset. Tryst seemed to be in a state of shock.

"Because I saw it in my dreams," The younger girls replied, "I saw us in the cars using this thing like a compass, but pointing towards Bella instead of north. And there's one more thing," She took a deep breath, and continued with the hardest part of her dream siphoning. "Bella powers are growing rapidly, and as such her latent talent is awakening. If we don't find her soon – we could lose her… and all of Shangrila." Sanzo snorted in derision. The girl was being overly dramatic. What on earth could an unconscious muse do to destroy an entire world?

Tryst and Daja looked at Suki in confusion, but she merely shook her head and motioned that she would tell them after. They nodded in agreement and headed for the door. "Well, if that's everything, then we better get going – I'm not gonna allow some demon boy to take my friends at will." Tryst muttered, heading out the door, quickly followed by a still speechless Goya. "C'mon Hakkai, I think we can leave them now – this is a lot to take in." Daja said quietly, tears in her eyes. Hakkai merely nodded and placed an arm around her as they headed back to the room. Goku seemed calmer, his face drawn, as if in pain. When Suki, still holding the Psi, brushed past him to go back to her room, he flinched and didn't turn to follow. She didn't wait for him.

Stepping up to Sanzo, who was staring out the window with a blank look on his face, the monkey stared, hurt. His keen hearing had caught every word. "Did you really kiss her Sanzo?" His voice was small, "And then leave her hurt?" The monk couldn't reply to his small charge – he wasn't sure he could lie to him.

The rain continued to fall.

Bella didn't dream as she was taken across the country. She had fallen into a black hole, and was not entirely sure she knew how to get out. Sometimes she heard voices, calling to her in the dark. But she didn't recognise them, and she wasn't about to head towards something unknown when she couldn't see or hear or taste. She wasn't even sure how long she had been in the black hole – time seemed irrelevant. But she DID know she was down deep. She could feel the pressure building just beyond her ears, as though she were in deep water.

Suddenly, light lanced through her world, a great shaft of it that pierced her and lifted her back to the top of the hole, she felt herself fit back into her body, her muscles screaming out in a thousand promises of pain to come.

"Big Brother! She's awake!" a loud voice cried out just beside her ear. There was an answering shout, and a short argument followed by a chewing sound. Frowning as she opened her eyes, Bella's vision cleared, to focus on the sharp features of the Demon Prince standing over her. Growling, she tried to get up, but found her muscles were refusing to do more than flex. Exhausted from her meagre effort, the blonde muse merely stilled, and waited. She could escape when she wanted to – she just couldn't allow him to get so close again next time – and do… whatever it was he had done to her to make her this weak.

"Hello, Isabella." His voice ran over her, scaring her in its intensity, she turned her head and refused to look at him. Kougaiji smiled and knelt down, one hand going to her forehead to brush back her fringe. Bella whirled back and snapped, her teeth mere millimetres from his fingers. Kougaiji grinned, and used his other hand to grab her by the neck and hold her down, ignoring her harsh breathing and cry of "No!" as he succeeded in getting her hair off her face. He gazed down upon her, his features softening. Bella clenched her eyes shut, as she begged to be invisible.

"Whoa! Look! The same thing happened to her face!" The loud voice spoke again, and Bella opened her eyes to see, "Lirin?" She asked, shocked – then angry at her shock. Well, duh – of course she would be here – she gave herself a mental facepalm. Kougaiji broke from his scrutiny of Bella and turned to his younger sister, "I know, Lirin – and that is one of the things Isabella is going to tell us. How exactly, did the muse of strength get so badly scarred?" He turned his gaze back to her, yes boring into her as he demanded an answer. Bella would be damned before she'd give it to him.

"Why the hell have you got me?" She rasped, then coughed dryly, her throat parched. Kougaiji put an arm behind her and helped her into a sitting position, then reached for a water flask at his side, and gently allowed her to take a sip. Bella swallowed greedily, then leant back into his arm and waited, knowing that until she knew more about the situation, and where she was, there was no real point in escaping. She tried to hold herself upright, not wanting to seem dependant on the Prince's help, however as she did so, she felt a rising panic from her shirt touching her bare back.

Where was her psi? She could feel one – but where was the other? She knew she had it on her when she fought Kou… had he taken it while she was unconscious? Whipping her head around, she searched the immediate vicinity for it, knowing it was futile. Her panic dimmed, and was replaced by remorse. She had been stupid – and now she had lost one of her weapons. How idiotic. She pounded herself mercilessly, knowing that if she had been a bit more cautious, a bit more on guard, none of this would have happened.

But none of that would help her now.

"Because I need your help." Kougaiji's voice broke through her planning, and she looked at him with a raised brow and a disbelieving look on her face. "You need my help?" She said, her voice saying she obviously didn't believe him. Inside, her mind moved rapidly, wondering what benefit a muse of strength could be to a prince – perhaps she needed him to decipher his stepmother's lies? Or perhaps to fight the lady? Did he need her as a symbol or something? Pfft – he should have taken Tryst in that case, she was far more likely to Tempt people to his cause.

The Prince scowled, "Because we've helped each other before, and now is time to return that favour you owe me! I want you to stage a battle with me, and destroy this." He placed his hand around the red crystal at his neck, anger visible in the way his fist trembled. Bella looked at him in shock, she could tell he wasn't lying – but what did that mean? She had never met him in person before? Had she? "What on earth are you talking about? I've never met you before!" She cried, panicking at the sudden memories that began flashing through her mind. Memories of him... memories of them.

Kougaiji snorted derisively, "Don't tell me that you have already forgotten? It's only been 500 years." He sounded frustrated, "You truly don't remember?" His eyes changed, and she saw sadness in them, chained by centuries of loneliness. Bella breathed heavily, her stomach clenching as she fought the memories fighting to return to her. Heaving, she fell forward, throwing up the meagre contents of her belly. She groaned in pain, holding herself up on her tied hands, which were now covered in her own vomit.

She saw it all.

The past. The memories her she had fought so hard to contain. The truth about her previous incarnation. The heresy. The death.

Bella realised… not all was as it seemed in Shangrila…

…Or heaven.

End chapter 20