Saiyuki: Reborn

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Chapter 19


Goku walked slowly down the street, eyes flashing behind his
sunglasses. There were plenty of people still about, even in the
gathering evening, though he was already growing anxious. He could
hear the others talking softly behind him--Lan sounded like he was
complaining about his leather jacket again. //We\'re getting close,
though. I can almost smell him....//

Lan plucked at the collar of his coat, finally leaving it alone. \"I
still can not believe you all talked me into this get-up,\" he
murmured, taking in the low, tight-fitting jeans and body-hugging
green top.

\"It suits you,\" Jin laughed, slinging an arm over his shoulders. \"And
you look good. So calm down and keep an eye out, okay? You gotta be
in top shape. Right, Huyen?\"

\"Yeah,\" Huyen replied vaguely. He was only a step behind Goku, his
eyes sweeping the streets for any sign or indication of their prey.
It was strange, feeling the weight of a handgun pressed against his
back. He hadn\'t done anything like this for a long time, and it was
making him a little jumpy. Not only for himself, but for Jin as
well. //It was quiet like this, just before Jin was....//

Lan sighed, giving up. Seeing that Huyen and Goku were remaining so
serious, he exchanged a helpless look with Jin before sobering as
well.

They walked a bit further, heading deeper into the less populated
regions of that side of the city, and Goku became jumpy with
nervousness. He could smell him now.

When they came upon the demon, it was suddenly--they turned a corner,
and he was sitting on a balcony on the second floor across the
street. Goku froze when their gazes met.

Ahn-Shi in his human form was not much to look at. He was old--
ancient, really--and his magic didn\'t hold as well as it used to. His
skin was pale and harsh in appearance, his ears long and drooping,
his eyes a dull black. His hair was thinning as well, leaving a long
forehead and a pointed nose.

\"So.\" Ahn-Shi\'s voice was low and harsh, like old stones falling, as
he pushed to his feet and viewed the group. \"At last.\"

\"Goku.\" Huyen grabbed the boy\'s arm, though he didn\'t expect his
words to be heard or obeyed. \"Wait. Please.\"

Goku gently pushed Huyen back, though he didn\'t try to attack the
other. //He can\'t fight me,// he realized, gauging the other demon.

Lan stepped closer, setting a hand on Huyen\'s shoulder to reassure
him. \"You know who we are, sir?\" he asked politely. \"Do you then know
why we are here?\"

\"Indeed.\" Ahn-Shi folded his hands on the balcony rail, his dark eyes
fixing on Huyen. \"And so does he.\"

Huyen glared back at him, but he was struck suddenly by a throbbing
pain at the back of his skull. He managed only a thin whimper as it
overwhelmed him; he dropped to his knees, gripping his head as his
pulse began to hammer in his ears. //I…I know him....//

\"Huyen!\" Jin crouched next to the boy, raising his gun though he
didn\'t yet fire. \"Who the fuck are you?\"

\"If you kill me,\" the demon warned, \"you will never free him.\"

Goku had been about to spring but froze with his knees bent, eyes
flashing. \"You stop it,\" he hissed warningly. \"You stop it right now,
or I\'ll tear you apart.\"

\"Goku....\" Lan dropped down next to Huyen as well, trying to erect
some kind of barrier around his friend. //Huyen...damnit!//

\"Stop it!\" Goku shouted, shuddering angrily.

\"You want him to remember, do you?\" Anh-Shi murmured, unmoved despite
the boy\'s cries and Goku\'s threats. \"You want him to remember his
life as Genjo Sanzo? The beautiful priest? His painful death?\"

Huyen shook his head desperately--he could see it all suddenly, a
blur of burning red--of splashed blood and splintered bone amidst
faces he\'d long forgotten. \"Lord Koumyou….\"

\"Or the young boy of the temple, Unhei?\" Ahn-Shi continued, his gaze
flickering to Lan. \"Who watched the tragic death of his only
companion, Renwan? Or the babe, Yuiren, who I devoured before he
reached his first year, same as Xu-rin and Shao. The street rat Ping
who I granted several years to--the rich boy Quan-jing. And of course…
lovely Huyen.\"

\"Shut up!\" Goku nearly roared as he leapt, the single jump carrying
him easily onto the balcony. Though he was perfectly ready to crack
the old demon\'s head open, he managed to hold himself in enough to
only slam the man against the wall. \"You fucking bastard,\" he spat,
enraged. \"You let him go now, you hear me? You fucking stop it or
I\'ll rip you open and eat *you*, you son of a bitch!\"

Ahn-Shi regarded him calmly despite the demon\'s rage, tilting his
head back. \"Kill me if you want,\" he said evenly. \"I\'m old--I can\'t
stop you. But unless you know how to break a curse carried on for
centuries, you\'ll never retrieve the missing part of his soul.\" He
lifted a closest, st, slowly uncurling his fingers.

Huyen gasped as he was suddenly released, and he collapsed forward
onto his hands. \"Go...ku...\" He couldn\'t remember the images that had
flashed so briefly through his br onl only that it left him feeling
cold and nauseous.

Goku could barely breathe, and he refused to release his hold for
even a moment. He could vaguely hear Huyen in the background, along
with a few voices from street pedestrians that where hurrying away
from Jin\'s revealed gun. //I\'m going to kill you either way,// he
told the other silently, jaw clenching. \"I\'ve got plenty of time,\" he
hissed darkly. \"You take whatever spell you got on him off *now*.\"

\"I could do that,\" Ahn-Shi replied, \"and let you watch him go mad.
I\'ve suppressed over a thousand years worth of his memory, half a
dozen different lives. And he still doesn\'t know why.\"

\"Goku….\" Huyen reached out blindly and caught Lan\'s sleeve. \"Help me
up,\" he hissed. \"I have to see him--I have to know why.\"

Lan immediately pulled the boy upright, sliding an arm around his
waist. \"Goku!\" he called up, urging both Huyen and Jin across the
street. \"Goku, just bring him down here.\" //Let us deal with
him.// \"Jin.\" He faced the other urgently. \"Take the guy from Goku
before he does something stupid.\"

Goku growled softly, but decided to do as the other said. \"Anything
funny,\" he said lowly, \"and I will kill you, curse or not.\" He easily
hefted the old demon over the railing, dropping down to land beside
his friends.

Jin started forward immediately, a little startled at first by how
rattled the demon looked by that short fall. //He really is old--
ancient, even. Why would he live this long....// He wasn\'t sure he\'d
be able to keep Goku off the creature but he lifted his gun, aiming
at the demon\'s chest to at least assure his friend it wasn\'t getting
away. \"So let\'s hear it. Why are you after Huyen?\"

Ahn-Shi coughed weakly. \"My name is Ahn-Shi,\" he replied, his eyes
sharpening on fourfour of them. \"And I wouldn\'t expect you to
remember me. That\'s….\" His expression twisted in wrath. \"That\'s why
I\'m here, after all.\"

Goku did back off a bit, letting go of the other\'s collar hesitantly.
He knew he would be able to catch the bastard if he tried to get
away. He sent a brief, concerned look at his lover, but his focus was
too set to linger. //Lan will take care of him.//

Lan frowned suddenly, taking another look at Ahn-Shi\'s dark
eyes. //Didn\'t...Sanzo once mention...?// \"You\'re the turtle demon,\"
he spoke up, arm tense around Huyen\'s waist. \"You were....\"

Ahn-Shi\'s gaze swung to him, his eyes sharpening. \"The turtle demon
your precious Sanzo sealed away when the world was mad,\" he said
sharply, his voice coming with a sudden fervor. \"Who laid, dormant
and alone, for a century after he broke a promise by forgetting I
ever existed.\"

//Ahn-Shi....// The demon\'s gaze fastened on Huyen, and he faltered a
little as a sudden image was branded on his mind--a memory,
accompanied not by pain or vague mist, but a real memory. A woman\'s
tears, a spell--the long journey that consumed all and erased that
small encounter from his mind.

\"Ahn-Shi...\" Huyen lifted his head, his voice low. \"Your lover begged
me to spare your life, so we...sealed you away...\" //And never
returned.// A shudder went through him.

Goku straightened--that...did sound fiar,iar, and he sent a fresh
glare at the other demon. \"That\'s what this is all about?\" he asked
angrily. \"That\'s why you\'re hurting him?\" He moved to grab the man
again, but Jin was in his way, and he only stomped in anger. \"That\'s
why you sealed him up? You fucking--I can\'t believe it!\" Turning
sharply, Goku punched the brick wall beside him, the stone cracking
and crumbling beneath his fist.

\"I returned to him all that I have suffered!\" Ahn-Shi replied
heatedly. \"I awoke a century later to find Xuhen and her family long
since dead, our entire world changed. If the great Genjo Sanzo would
forget our humble lives, let him forget it all--may all of you feel
my despair!\"

\"Cut the crap,\" Jin snarled, shoving the barrel of his gun up under
Ahn-Shi\'s jaw. \"You\'ve done enough. Let him go!\"

\"You….\" The demon snorted. \"I spared your life, did I not? Nourished
you when you were all but dead. My anger is not for you. But for the
boy...\" He trembled. \"...and Goku, the demon, who has suffered as my
beautiful Xuhen must have suffered, my revenge is almost complete.\"

Goku punched the wall again, barely keeping himself from doing the
same to the old demon\'s frail body. //No stupid fucking human knows
what I\'ve suffered-//- \"It wasn\'t our fault,\" he hissed, glaring
without seeing at the wall. \"Too much happened, and…*fuck*!\" He spun
back around. \"We spared your fucking life, and saved her from being
killed by *you*! All this is too much!\"

\"It will never be enough!\" Ahn-Shi screamed. His claws flashed,
faster than any of them thought the old demon capable of, forcing the
gun out from under his chin and aiming it instead toward Goku. His
thin finger closed around Jin\'s and the trigger, squeezing off
several shots before casting Jin aside.

\"Goku!\" Huyen could only watch as Goku took on the the bullets in his
shoulder. But even as he was drawing his own gun he gasped at the
sight of their enemy. Ahn-Shi was crouched on the ground, fabric
ripping away from his body as dark, stone-like flesh stretched into a
shell over his back.

Goku hit the wall, startled by the abrupt attack. He grasped at the
wound, but already the pain was past him. \"Get back!\" he shouted,
reaching out to pull Jin back and try to force the trio away from the
transforming demon. \"Lan, get them out of here!\"Lan Lan stumbled as he tried to catch Jin and keep Huyen from approaching
Ahn-Shi. //Shit--this can\'t be happening.// He tugged at the
pair. \"Come on--we can\'t fight this!\"

\"Goku--\" Huyen clenched his jaw, trying to watch what was happening
behind them even as Lan urged him away. He gaped; Ahn-Shi had already
tripled in size and was still growing, his body protected by the
wide, black shell, a tail growing out from under him into a
bludgeoning club. //He…really is a demon….//

\"If you all wish to be together so desperately,\" Ahn-Shi growled as
he turned on the trio, \"I\'ll send you all to the netherworld for sure
this time.\"

It only took a thought to summon his staff, even though it had been
many, many years since Goku had had need of it. He shouted at Lan
again to get them all away as he moved between them and the
demon. \"You wanna fight so bad, pops, you fight me!\" he shouted,
ignoring the burning in his shoulder. \"You want to try waiting, try a
fucking millennium! Try being sealed for half that!\" His eyes gleamed
as he crouched low, preparing to spring. \"You shit, I\'m probably
older than you!\"

Lan was afraid he wouldn\'t be able to hold both Huyen and Jin when a
jeep suddenly stopped at their side. //Thank gods--Hakkuryuu.// He
urged the other towards the car. \"Get in,\" he ordered. \"We have to
move before they start fighting.\"

\"I\'m not leaving him!\" Huyen protested, even as he soon found both
men trying to restrain him. \"Let me go! He\'s hurt--I\'m not running
away!\"

Ahn-Shi returned Goku\'s cries with cruel indifference. \"At least you
had the hope of your lover returning to you,\" he scowled. \"But not
for much longer.\" Despite his growing size he rose suddenly-- he
spun, smashing his tail into the building he had occupied earlier.
The force of the blow sent a shudder through its foundation, and
seemingly all at once the structure began to crumble.

Lan finally shoved Huyen forcefully into the jeep, barely getting in
himself before Hakkuryuu sped away to avoid the falling rocks. Once
they were further down the street Lan urged the dragon to stop and
turn.

It was a terrifying scene. Ahn-Shi was swinging his tail with
deceptive slowness, slamming into buildings with the force of a
wreaking ball. For a terrifying moment he couldn\'t see Goku, but the
boy sprang from the dust in a savage attack. //He can\'t do anything
against that shell,// he thought desperately, helplessly watching as
the tiny demon was repelled by Ahn-Shi\'s protective
skin. //He...won\'t be able to beat him....//

//Damnit. Damnit!// Huyen leaned over the open side of the jeep,
watching the battle taking place. //If only I remembered. If only I
knew what to do! Goku....//

Ahn-Shi turned, and Huyen\'s gaze caught suddenly on a patch of dark
amidst shiny, gem-like flesh. //When we first met Ahn-Shi, we
fought,// he remembered suddenly, it being the only memory he could
hold with any clarity. //I shot him--it should have killed him
immediately, but he was strong. It left a hole in his….//

\"That\'s it.\" Huyen\'s hand tightened around the handle of his
gun. \"There\'s a hole in the armor.\" All of a sudden he leapt out of
the jeep, slipping out of Jin\'s hold as he ran flat out back towards
the battle.

\"Huyen!\" Lan cursed, desperately pulling at the car\'s wheel to turn
them around. \"Damnit Huyen, don\'t!\"

Goku landed on a building, but it too was soon shaken down by the
other demon\'s strength. He could vaguely hear the sounds of sirens,
and it woke him slightly--he\'d nearly forgotten that they were in a
real city, that there were police and such things here. //Fuck,
they\'ll just get in the way.// He leapt to a new building, already
breathing hard from the battle. //Damnit, I can\'t even get close--
there has to be something! If only I could fucking remember what
Sanzo did....//

\"Little fool,\" Ahn-Shi growled, turning to face his opponent once
more. \"Kill me already! If I caused you so much pain then finish me!\"

With the buildings toppling all around them Ahn-Shi didn\'t hear the
sound of the gun going off--it wasn\'t until he felt something tear
into his flesh, spilling warm blood, that he turned his attention to
the street. It…was the boy, gun brandished and bright eyes sharp,
just like Sanzo had looked all those centuries ago….

Huyen fell back, breathing hard after his run. //I hit it. Goku, if
you can just--// But already Ahn-Shi was bellowing in rage, bearing
down on him. He raised his gun, firing at the demon\'s eyes, but they
only ricocheted off its face. \"Goku--\"

//What the--?// He paused in his escape, turning at the sound of a
gun. //Shit!// \"Huyen!\"

Goku could tell he would be too late--he could already see it, even
as he shouted uselessly. The demon lowered his head, and he could
only watch helplessly as Huyen was tossed into the air *\"Huyen~!\"*

Lan leapt from the car. He wasn\'t sure where the strength came from,
but he managed to get high enough to catch the boy midair. He landed
on his back with a gasp, cradling Huyen\'s smaller, unmoving body
against his chest. \"Hu--\" He paused, coughing. //Shit.// \"Huyen?
Huyen!\"

Jin dropped beside them, firing off a round of his own at Ahn-Shi\'s
face to force him back. \"He\'s unconscious,\" Jin reported, cringing at
the thin trail of blood seeping through Huyen\'s hair. \"Just take him
and go already, before Goku….\"

Goku dropped down beside them, standing over Huyen with wide eyes.
When Lan tried to speak--to reassure him--Goku only knelt down to
brush his lover\'s cheek. //Huyen...I\'m sorry.// He shivered
faintly. //I...it wasn\'t enough. But don\'t worry; I\'ll take care of
it.//

He turned to Lan and Jin, regarding them both with serious eyes. \"Get
out of here,\" he murmured, hearing the demon coming towards
them. \"Take him and go, far as you can.\" He rose to his feet,
banishing his Nyoibou. \"Just...take care of him.\"

\"Goku, what--\"

\"Just go!\" he interrupted the doctor, stepping away. \"I\'ll handle
him.\"

\"Be careful,\" Jin warned, placing himself between Lan and the
oncoming demon. \"Come on--at least he\'s quiet now.\" He hefted Huyen
roughly over his shoulder as he pulled Lan back towards the
jeep. \"Come on!\"

Goku watched a moment, making sure they were piling into the jeep
before facing Ahn-Shi again. \"You want me to kill you, right?\" he
asked softly, not caring if the demon heard him or not. \"That\'s what
this really is about--you want to die.\" He took a slow, deep
breath. \"All right then. We can go together.\"

Reaching up, Goku took a firm hold of his cornet. The energy from the
metal prickled his hand, but he didn\'t let it go. //Huyen...I\'m
sorry. If I do this…you won\'t be able to remember. I hope you can be
happy with Lan and Jin.// He concentrated hard on his lover\'s face--
he wanted it to be the last thought he had, the last image behind his
closed eyelids. With a final deep breath, Goku removed his headband,
slowly letting it drop to the pavement where it crumbled into dust.

-----------------

*Author\'s Note*
The story about the turtle is from the real Journey to the West.
Sanzo and Co. met a really old turtle on the trip, and he promised it
that he would ask the gods in India how long the turtle would live.
Silly that he was, Sanzo forgot to ask, and when the group passed
that way again and met the turtle, the old fella was rather peeved
and threw the monk in a lake. *heehee* Zi and I took a few
liberties, but ah well. >^.^<

--Shuukitty--