The Soul Within
By: Tazzy
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything that you recognize.
Author’s Notes: See this? *holds up time lines and Saiyuki Reloaded before crumpling in a ball and throwing away* I’ve got my own idea and it doesn’t include these. Well, maybe the Trinity Blood time line, but the details are mine.

The Merciful and Compassionate Goddess, Kanzeon Bosatsu, sighed as se watched the events of the world below in hir pool. A war had broken out, one that had touched every corner of the globe, and humanity was barely holding its own against a deadly foe. The Asian continent had already been removed from the war due to some well placed bombs that not only decimated the landscape and populous, but made it difficult to travel the terrain, almost guaranteeing that nature would creep back in to reclaim it as an untamed wilderness while the youkai and humans desperately tried rebuilding their homes.

‘Good thing I actually listened to Cassandra,’ se mused, hir thoughts briefly turning to where the five Sanzos had been evacuated to and placed under heavy guard. They would be needed to restore hope and faith to the population, no matter what their birth. Kanzeon frowned at the chaos and destruction the battles were causing, and se realized that if this continued, then humanity would lose, upsetting the balance further.

That would not do.

Turning, se left hir room and made hir way to a nearly forgotten door before slipping inside to gaze at the small figure sitting on the throne, motionless. War Prince Nataku stared at nothing, his blue eyes empty and his silver hair falling around his shoulders. He hadn’t moved since he healed from that fateful and painful day, and se had tried everything to get a response out of the young child-like god but to no avail. But now, Fate was forcing hir hand.

“Congratulations, Nataku, you’ve managed to disassociate yourself from everything and everyone,” Kanzeon said, bending down to stare into empty eyes. “But the way you chose isn’t towards Nirvana, and you’ve actually fallen from the Wheel. That’s truly a pity because you are needed again. This time, it’s not Heaven who needs you, but the world.”

Cupping his young face in hir hands, se placed a gentle kiss on his brow before Nataku dissolved into a riot of lights that condensed into a glowing ball, nestled in hir hands. “It’s time for you to step back on the Wheel, War Prince Nataku. Always remember that you are never alone.”

With that, Kanzeon vanished, taking the soul with her.

Snarling, the blond man scooped up a valuable vase that had been a tribute from some underling and heaved it into a wall, shattering it. Known as the Contra Mundi by many and Cain Nightlord by only a select few, he was head of the Rosen Kruenz Order, a select group who wanted to conquer the world and remake it in their own image. But Cain’s latest plan to further that goal had been stopped by Father Abel Nightroad of the Vatican’s AX Department.

“Damn his soul to Hell!” he snarled, throwing an antique table aside as he continued destroying the room, venting his fury on anything he could get his hands on. His agent had only needed five more minutes, and the world would have been plunged into another war between the Terrans and the Methuselahs. Then once all the governments had crumbled, his Rosen Kruenz Order would have swept in and cleaned up the pieces, taking over in a simple move, and allowing him to rule undisputed.

But his thrice-cursed brother had managed to stop him *again* and had brought their little sister, Seth Nightlord, out of hiding to help stop Cain.

“There has to be a way to set my plans in motion so that they can’t interfere and stop me,” he growled, blue eyes flashing as he spun around for something more to throw, when his gaze fell on the world map, hanging on one wall.

It showed the new European countries and the Methuselah Empire, but what drew his attention was the large blank area marked simply as the Desolate Lands. No one really knew what was happening there because the few brave souls who had ventured in had reported back that it was wilderness before vanishing forever.

Cain started to smile. It would take some time, but he could slip around the Empire with Isaak and a few other minions without alerting Seth, and then he could build up an unstoppable army and look for a power that neither the humans nor the vampires would be able to counter. He would be able to crush the world whenever he wished, and no one would be able to stop him.

Smoothing his blond hair into place, Cain left his room to seek out those he would require for this trip.

Kanzeon frowned as se watched the Rosen Kruenz party join forces with the Corrupt Sanzo, Ni Jianyi, and Gyokumen, the dead Ox-King’s mistress, before starting to expand the youkai ranks with vampires. As good as hir nephew and his companions were in battle, they were slightly outmatched when it came to vampires.

“Looks like I need to recruit some help for Konzen,” se muttered, twirling a black curl around hir finger as se smirked. “I can hear the swearing already.”

Laughing, Kanzeon vanished to retrieve the one person who would be able to help hir nephew complete his quest.

It was a typical day in the Vatican. Clergy bustled around the momentous buildings, going about their business as the sun warned the sprawling ground, quiet voices mixing with the occasional snatch of laughter and birds singing pleasantly. In the main audience chamber, His Holiness, Pope Alessandro XVII, sat on his throne-like chair, almost swamped by his white Robes of State as he clutched his staff like it was the only thing keeping him from bolting from the room. Below him, seated in a lesser chair, was his half sister, Cardinal Catarina Sforza, head of the Department of Foreign Affairs, while their mutual half brother, Cardinal Francesco di Medici paced before them both, bellowing again.

Only through long practice and years of similar meetings kept Catarina from showing any emotion as she listened to her equal shout, his voice echoing through the large chamber to ensure everyone could hear him. Her head was starting to ache and part of her had to wonder if Francesco was going to loose his voice this time while a larger part wished he would just stop bellowing for Alessandro’s sake. Her heart ached for the teenaged pope who flinched each and every time Francesco turned towards him, voice still raised. She wished there was something she could do to inspire confidence in the gentle teenager, but each time she tried, Francesco was there with his bellowing demands to undo her gentle lessons.

Today’s subject that had started the bellowing sermon almost a half hour ago was the message they had received from Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Augusta Vradica of the True Human Empire wishing to open channels to discus a peace treaty and trade agreement with various human nations. A representative of the Germanic Kingdoms and one from Albion stood in the room with bored expressions on their faces as they listened to Francesco recite the reasons why the Methuselahs were not to be trusted.

“Oh, shut up already,” drawled a husky female voice, breaking through the tirade, and Catarina’s eyes were drawn to the back of the room where an unfamiliar person stood, illuminated by a beam of sunlight. The soft chiming of tiny bells filled the stunned silence as the person strolled down the red carpet that ran the length of the room, and Catarina was able to start picking out details about the person.

Long black hair tumbled around slender shoulders in thick curls from the high ponytail it was pulled up into, and a lush female figure was encased in a white toga so sheer that Catarina had to wonder why the person even bothered wearing it. But it was the very obviously male organ between the person’s legs that made Catarina slightly curious about the stranger. A large golden sun was hanging from a harness made of thick chains between the voluptuous breasts and golden bangles encased delicate wrists while small gold chains decorated with tiny bells wrapped around slender ankles.

Catarina rose from her chair and placed herself between the stranger and her younger brother who was blushing bright red from embarrassment at the pure sensuality and sexuality the stranger seemed to radiate. She took a breath to ask the person what their business was and how they managed to get past the guards that surely would have stopped them when Francesco found his voice again.

“Heretic! How dare you enter these Sacred Grounds dressed like that!” he bellowed, his eyes popping out of his head as he stared at the stranger. “Guards! Escort this woman out of His Holiness’ presence and find the person responsible for her being here!”

The possible woman ignored Francesco as she sashayed up past Catarina to lean over and pinch Alessandro’s red cheek. “Aren’t you a cutie? You remind me of my nephew before he grew up." She released Alessandro’s cheek and signed as she straightened back up. “Then he got all grumpy until I gave him a monkey.”

“Who are you and what is your business with His Holiness?” Catarina asked, moving to stand behind the stranger. She wanted to stand between her brother and this strange woman again to protect him from any danger, but the woman was too close to him.

“I’m here to keep a balance, Blondie,” drawled the woman, turning to face Catarina who deliberately ran her grey eyes over the stranger.

“Balance,” she mused as if tasting the word on her tongue. “Shall I assume that is your one appropriate trait?”

That got a full throated laugh out of the woman. “Among other things,” she said, her red lips stretching into a smirk. “I could get to like you.”

“I’m flattered,” Catarina replied in a droll tone.

“Hussy! Jezebel! Pontifar’s Wife!” shrieked Francesco, pointing at the stranger. “Painted woman!”

That got a snort and slender arms folded across the generous chest. “I’m not a woman. Now hush child while the adults talk.”

Unable to help herself, Catarina looked down at the male organ quite visible before returning her gaze to slate blue eyes. “I would say that’s obvious.”

Laughter rang out again from the stranger. “Amazing what some people refuse to see, isn’t it? Shall we be about my business then?”

Catarina quietly motioned for the guards to escort the nearly foaming Francesco to his quarters as she turned to the messengers. “We will continue our discussion once Cardinal di Medici has recovered,” she announced with a slight nod of respect to both of them. The messengers bowed back before leaving and Catarina faced the stranger once more to find that she had turned Francesco’s throne-like chair around and was casually sprawling in it, long legs thrown over the arm. “We have not been formally introduced. This is His Holiness, Pope Alessandro XVII, and I am Cardinal Catarina Sforza.”

The other simply smiled and waved for Catarina to resume her seat after she had turned it to face the woman. “Kanzeon Bosatsu, Goddess of Mercy and Compassion.”

Se smiled when the child pope squeaked again, his soft gray eyes large as he stared firmly at hir face. “Why are you here?”

Unable to help hirself, se reached out and brushed his brown bangs out of his face. “Someone’s decided to upset the balance in what you call the Desolate Lands, and I need help to put it right.”

“But can’t you just snap your fingers and it’s fixed?” Alessandro asked, his voice so naively innocent that se was once more reminded of Konzen when he had been little and asking questions like that. Se still didn’t know what had happened to turn hir bright nephew into an Ice Princess, and se had a feeling se never would.

“It doesn’t work that way, kiddo,” se apologized with a small smile, shifting to curl hir legs next to hir as se leaned an elbow on the arm of hir borrowed chair. “The gods, even your Jehova, can only do so much to help their followers, but the rest is up to you mortals.” Se winked at Alessandro, getting a deeper blush from the boy. “I’m just bending the rules a bit.”

“How can His Holiness and the Vatican help you?” asked the pretty cardinal, and Kanzeon smirked as se turned hir attention away from the young boy.

“A new player has barged his way into a game that’s been going on for a while,” se stated with a casual wave of a hand. “And frankly, I’m annoyed that this Cain Nightlord and his Rosen Kruenz Order crashed the party.”

Sforza growled, her eyes flashing as she leaned forward in her chair. “What do you need? I can have agents ready in a matter of minutes and the Iron Maiden prepped to go in about half an hour.”

Se held up a hand to stop the flow of offers from the blonde. “I only need Father Abel Nightroad.”

That brought Sforza up short, and she blinked surprised grey eyes at the goddess. “Are you sure you won’t need more agents?”

“More would only get in the way,” Kanzeon assured the pretty cardinal, and Sforza nodded before turning slightly away to touch her ear and hold a quiet conversation.

A few seconds later, Sforza’s hand dropped from her ear and she turned back to kanzeon, a curious expression on her face. “How much do you know about Father Nightroad?”

Another laugh slipped out of hir. This was definitely an amusing visit if nothing else. “Enough that I’m very excited to meet him.”

Sforza rose to her feet with Alessandro scrambling to his, apparently unwilling to be left alone. “We should move this discussion to some place more private. If you would be kind enough to follow us to His Holiness’ office...”

Rising to hir feet in a single graceful movement that had made more than one naga jealous, Kanzeon motioned for them to proceed hir before casually dropping an arm around Alessandro’s shoulders. The boy jumped before calming enough to walk down the hallway to an ornate office, and he quickly slid behind the large desk, looking very much like a child playing at being a grown up, reminding hir of Nataku, who wanted to be so much more than the killing doll his father forced him to be.

Sforza stood at the corner of the large desk just as their was a polite knock on the door before Father Abel Nightroad slipped in, quietly shutting the door behind him. Kanzeon let hir eyes drift over him as se took in his appearance for the first time. Long silver hair was caught up in a ponytail with a black ribbon while tired blue eyes peered out at the world from behind rimless glasses. But the soul se could feel beating with his heart was the same one she had thrown back onto the Wheel of Life, Death, and Rebirth.

War Prince Nataku was looking fine, if a bit tired emotionally, but se thought he had never been more of a sight for sore eyes.

Nataku - no, Father Abel, se corrected hirself, not wanting to slip this early into the game - opened his mouth to greet the others when his gaze fell on Kanzeon, and his eyes grew large behind his glasses as he started at hir in shock. “Sweet Merciful Goddess.”

Laughing, Kanzeon reached out and ruffled his bangs as se had a thousand times in his previous life. “Glad to see you too, kiddo.”

“Father Nightroad, it has been brought to our attention that the Contra Mundi has turned his attention to the Desolate Lands,” began Sforza, evoking a low growl from Abel as his attention switched to her. “Your assistance has been requested to help stop him and any of his followers. Permanently.”

He closed his eyes briefly as if trying to shove his emotional exhaustion away, and he straightened before opening his eyes. “This will be a long term assignment then?” he asked, and he sighed softly when Sforza nodded. “May I borrow Sister Kate’s transmitter for a few minutes?”

“Of course,” agreed Sforza without hesitation, her hand rising to her ear again, and Kanzeon wondered what was going on when a small blonde woman in a white habit appeared in the office, her holographic image shimmering in the air.

Oh, this was going to be interesting.

Abel watched as Sister Kate appeared in the office, his face emotionless, but his gut churned with a chaotic mix of emotions. There was fury at Cain, old and familiar that urged him to rip the murderous traitor apart with his bare hands before decorating the landscape with his entrails while the weary acceptance that always came with another mission settled across his shoulders even though he had barely recovered from the last mission he had been on. Yet, each time his eyes fell on the lush hermaphrodite that stood there in sheer silk and gold jewelry with a smirk on hir ruby lips, there was a feeling of familiarness, as if he was suppose to know hir.

“Yes, Your Excellency?” inquired Sister Kate, her holographic image flickering slightly as she stood there. “How may I be of assistance?”

“Father Nightroad requires the use of your transmitter,” Catarina announced, gesturing to Abel and Sister Kate turned to look at him, an expectant look on her face.

Reaching up, Abel removed his glasses and smiled at the young nun. “I apologize for any discomfort you might experience,” he said before straightening and fixing her with a piercing stare. “Commander Abel Nightroad of the United Aerospace Force, Red Mars Project, identification code UNASF 984R MOC 666 02AK, open communications to satellite Hermes.”

Sister Kate blinked in confusion as Alessandro stared at Abel as if he had never seen the silver haired man before, and the blonde nun let out a startled yelp before her image wavered and was replaced with an image of Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Augusta Vradica, evoking startled gasps from both Catarina and Alessandro as Abel smiled at his sister in spirit. “Hello, Seth.”

The small ruler grinned, her green eyes dancing. “Hi, Abel. Where do you need me to hide the bodies?”

“It's nothing like that, bratling,” he teased before a serious expression slid across his face, erasing all humor. “Cain's been spotted in the Desolate Lands, and my help's being asked for. I don't know how long I'll be gone so I wanted to ask a favor from you.”

“Anything, brother. You know that,” Seth replied, her voice earnest as she leaned forward slightly on her throne, and a warm feeling enveloped Abel, one he hadn't felt in ages.

“I want you to bring Lilith home,” he stated, his blue eyes meeting her green ones. The had talked about this on the station before Abel had left with Lilith's body, and Seth had made Abel promise to allow her to entomb their mother if anything was to happen to Abel. He truly didn't want to ask this of Seth, but with so much of the Desolate Lands uncharted, it was questionable if he would ever return even if he should defeat Cain and his minions.

Seth closed her eyes for a few seconds, and she took a deep breath before speaking again. “I will send Mira to collect our mother,” she said in a soft voice before opening her eyes to meet Abel's gaze, her emerald eyes flashing brightly. “Bring the bastard's head back on a pike and we'll throw a week long party.”

“Be careful, little sister.” Abel reached out his hand as if to place it against the edge of the hologram like it was a window.

She reached out as well, mirroring his gesture as their palms almost touched, and he could almost swear he could feel the heat of her skin on his. “You're never alone, big brother.”

With that, she vanished as the transmition was terminated, and Abel slipped his glasses back on as Sister Kate reappeared, a slightly disoriented look on her face. “Thank you for the assistance, Sister Kate. If you will excuse me, I need to pack for this assignment.” He glanced at the hermaphrodite and smiled slightly at hir. “It won't take me long since I haven't unpacked from the last mission.” He bowed briefly to Alessandro and Catarina before he withdrew from the office.

Several minutes later, Abel was shoving the last box of silver bullets into the old pack he had found stuffed in the bottom of his wardrobe, crushing the black robes that were folded in the bottom, and he paused to look around the room that he had claimed for the past several years. The small room was plain stone with a bed, desk, chair, and wardrobe that doubled as a weapons locker, but there was nothing at all that indicated that someone had ever lived there. No trinkets and nicknacks fought for space with pictures on the desk, no personal items covered the walls, and the blanket on the bed was the one that came with the room. It was almost depressing to realize that once he left, there would be no sign that he had ever been there.

'But this isn't my home,' he mused, a faint frown on his face as he turned back to his packing. 'I don't know where it is, but this wasn't it.'

“Yo, Father Four-Eyes,” greeted a friendly voice from the door, and Abel glanced over his shoulder to find Father Leon de Garcia leaning on the frame with a small smirk on his face. “There's a rumor racing around about a shapely lady wearing only gold jewelry and a smile getting past the guards to see the Pope.”

Tying the bedroll to the pack, Abel smiled and shouldered it as he brushed past the Spaniard. “That's not true. Se's also wearing a gauzy tunic.”

That got a hearty laugh out of Leon as the two priests walked down the hallway, their shoulders occasionally brushing as they moved. Dark eyes glanced over the dark pack that was stuffed full. “So, how long are you going to be gone this time?”

“I don't know if I will return,” confessed Abel, not meeting Leon's eyes. Out of everyone at the AX, Leon was the closest to a true friend that Abel had. Catarina may have given him a purpose in life again, but Leon was the one to show him how to enjoy his life. For that alone, the Spaniard deserved the truth about Abel's absence. “I'm going to the Desolate Lands to stop the Rosen Kruenz Order, even if it's the last thing I do.”

A gentle hand on his arm stopped him, and Abel turned to find Leon staring at him with a strange expression. “Don't get yourself killed out there. I expect you to come back and tell me everything that happened as I try to drink you under the table.”

“I will try but I can't promise,” Abel sighed, closing his eyes briefly as he gathered his resolve. Why couldn't Leon see that it hurt to leave like this, not knowing if he was ever going to see his friends again while the dirt and blood from the last mission still stained his skin?

Suddenly, warm lips covered his as a strong hand gripped the back of his head, preventing him from moving away. Abel's eyes flew to find Leon's eyes closed as he continued kissing the silver haired man, and a startled gasp slipped out of Abel before the dark haired priest broke the kiss, his eyes burning with a fierce light.

“Take my love as a weapon against the darkness, beautiful one,” Leon murmured in Spanish as he slipped something heavy on Abel's wrist before turning to walk down the hallway away from the stunned priest. “See you when you get back, Abel Nightroad.”

Abel stared after Leon, one hand coming up to touch his tingling lips as the Spaniard vanished around a corner, and part of him wondered why Leon had never mentioned that he felt that way towards Abel while another part was moaning at the lost opportunities. A weight on his wrist reminded him of the object the Spaniard had slipped on his arm, and he looked down to find a thick silver cuff, keen eyes picking out the nearly invisible zigzag design on the surface while a small button was neatly hidden along the edge. Abel knew pressing the button would cause the silver teeth to spring out, forming the deadly points of the throwing disk, and a small smile crossed his face. It was a weapon Leon was most proficient with, other than the grenade launcher, and by presenting Abel with this disk, Leon was verifying that the silver haired priest had a weapon against vampires when his bullets ran out.

'And they will run out,' Abel sighed as he mentally prepared to once more jump willingly into the fight against the Rosen Kruenz Order, and he squared his shoulders as continued to His Holiness' office where his strange guide to Cain waited.

The door opened to admit Abel a second time, and Kanzeon smiled at the sight of the full pack clutched in one hand, the bedroll tied neatly to the top, and the determined look in his blue eyes despite the weariness that was in his gaze.

“Catarina, it was a true pleasure knowing you,” Abel stated, a soft smile on his face before he bowed to the boy pope. “Your Holiness, believe in yourself because you are stronger than you think, and Francesco fears that strength.” Reaching out, he placed a card, two long silvered earclips, and a pair of rimless glasses on the desk before pushing them over to Sforza, who was staring at him with tears starting to build in her grey eyes. “Should I return, I will reclaim these, but until that time, keep them safe for me.”

Kanzeon slipped hir arm through his and grinned up at him. “Ready to go?”

The silver haired man nodded, and se transported them both to a deserted stretch of road that was only a few hours drive from the next town which was hir nephew's next stop on his journey west. Se glanced around with a satisfied smirk as se sent out a mental call to Hakuryuu to hurry up, and se glanced at Abel to find him looking around in confusion.

“I don't mean to question your decision, but what am I doing here instead of in a town or even where Cain is?” he asked, and se smiled gently at him even as se realized that he was still talking in Italian. Reaching up, se cupped his face in hir hands and placed a gentle kiss on his brow, transferring the knowledge of the local language to him as well as replacing the cobalt diamond he wore as Nataku. It was only a faint shadow on his skin but as his memories of his time in Heaven returned, so would the mark.

“You're going to meet the group you're to travel with,” Kanzeon stated, straightening the collar of his robe before reaching up and slipping the black ribbon out of his hair, letting it cascade around his shoulders like a silver waterfall. It had always been a shame that Nataku had always worn his hair pinned up as was the fashion in Heaven since he had such lovely silver hair, and se was glad to see that Abel had the same shade.

He opened his mouth, and se grinned at him, holding up a gold card between two fingers. “This is for you, to pay for your part of the trip. Since I asked you along, it seems only fair to pay your way.” Se ruffled his bangs as se heard the sound of the jeep approaching, and se turned to smirk at the four sitting in the vehicle.

Genjo Sanzo snorted as he glared at them, a lit cigarette held between two fingers, and se felt Abel fidget slightly next to hir. “What do you want?”

“I've brought you some help because a new player's barged into the game,” Kanzeon stated, slapping Abel on the back hard enough that he stumbled forward a step. “He's going to be traveling with you and helping you on your journey.”

“Don't want him. Take him back,” growled Sanzo, taking another puff on his cigarette even as his violet eyes narrowed suspiciously. He jerked his cigarette at the other three in the jeep. “Bad enough I'm saddled with this three.”

Gojya snorted, lighting a cigarette of his own before blowing the smoke towards the blond. “We love you too, Sanzo,” he drawled only to yelp when a large paper fan was swung at his head by Sanzo, and Kanzeon laughed before vanishing in a sparkle of light, heading back to Heaven to enjoy watching hir favorite nephew and his group of friends.

Sanzo stared at the man that the Old Hag had saddled him with – as if the three bastards in the jeep with him weren't bad enough – and part of him wondered if the man would even be good in a fight or if he'd be the first to fall to a youkai's claws. Concealed in a long black robe of some kind with silver hair flowing down around his hips, the man gave Sanzo the impression of being thin and delicate, and Sanzo had to wonder how this person would be able to help them when he looked like a stiff breeze could blow him over at any time.

“I apologize for barging in on you like this,” the man said, his voice gentle as he smiled at them, the expression reminding Sanzo of Hakkai's usual mask. “I am Father Abel Nightroad, a traveling priest from the Vatican.”

Growling, Sanzo jerked a thumb towards the back seat where Goku and Gojya were sitting. “Get in,” he ordered, and Nightroad easily scrambled into the empty spot between Gojya and Goku, his pack on the floor between his feet as he pulled long limbs inward so as not to crowd the perverted kappa or the stupid monkey any more than they already were. Sanzo didn't invite Nightroad into the jeep simply because Kanzeon Bosatsu ordered him to take the silver haired priest with him but because it was easier to get questions out of someone when they weren't expecting to be attacked in the middle of the wilderness.

Besides, there was an inn in the next town with a hot bath and separate rooms for all of them, and Sanzo wanted to enjoy it as much as he could before dragging answers out of the priest in the back seat. With his gun if needed.

When they arrived in the town, it was easy to find an inn with four rooms free, which was changed to five after Nightroad laid a second credit card on the counter, and the bath was commandeered for the next few hours.

As they all started for their rooms, Sanzo grabbed Nightroad's arm and glared at the other three who nodded before following Sanzo up to one of the rooms. He didn’t care whose because he wanted answers and he wanted them *now* damn it. Nightroad was stuttering out questions as Sanzo dragged him along the hallway, almost stumbling over his own feet. Sanzo wasn’t going to be delayed, and he dug his fingers into the black cloth as he hauled the taller man into the closest room, nearly throwing him on the bed as they stormed into the room.

“Now really, I don’t see why you have to treat me in such a manner,” huffed Nightroad in a whiny voice that was putting Sanzo’s teeth on edge as the silver haired man straightened his robes, brushing out imagined wrinkles. “I mean, I am here to help you, and yet you are treating me like some common hoodlum...”

“Shut. The. Fuck. Up!” snarled Sanzo, his gun out and cocked between startled blue eyes as the door was quietly closed behind Hakkai. “I’m going to ask questions and you’re going to answer them. No babbling. No whining. Your voice gets on my nerves.”

The silver haired man shrugged, a simple roll of his shoulders before there was suddenly a gun pointed in Sanzo’s face. Sanzo blinked, surprised. He hadn’t seen the other man move. There had been the shrug and then there was a gun in Sanzo’s face, held in a rock steady hand.

“I am not sure about the custom’s here, but where I come from, it is considered quite rude to haul someone around like a sack of flour before pointing a gun in their face and making demands of them,” remarked Nightroad, his voice no longer whiny but with a dark deadliness that promised violence and death if Sanzo pushed him too far.

There was a suspicious snicker from behind Sanzo. “Sanzo’s always like that,” drawled Gojya, and Sanzo could almost see the redhead smirking. “You get use to Grumpy here.”

Without blinking, Sanzo swung his gun around to point it at Gojya. “When I want your opinion, I’ll give it to you.”

“I am more than willing to answer what questions you have as long as it is in a civilized manner,” continued Nightroad, his gun remaining trained on Sanzo as if to discourage the blond from pointing the Banishing Gun at him or taking a pot shot at the silver haired stranger. Sanzo wanted to laugh at the thought because there had been worse pointed at him by people more deadly looking than Nightroad. “I’m not normally this rude, but I’m tired, hungry and still have blood and dirt from my last mission on me. A mission I had returned from just moments before I was whisked here.”

“Why were you brought here?” asked Hakkai, giving voice to the first of many questions that were swirling through Sanzo’s brain. “I confess our journey has been troublesome with the various youkai attacks but not enough to warrant a fifth person.”

Nightroad lowered his gun as he pulled the small cape around his shoulders back to reveal a holster nestled under his left arm. “You have a new opponent now. One I am quite familiar with,” he began, slipping the gun into the holster with a practiced ease that bespoke of years of formality with the gun. “Before you were only attacked by youkai, but it probably won’t be long before vampires swell their ranks for the attacks.”

“What are vampires?” Goku asked,

“Vampires are beings that are superior to humans while requiring their blood to survive,” Nightroad explained. “Their strength, reflexes, and senses are heightened to those of a human’s, and they enjoy playing with their prey. They have their weaknesses, however. They are vulnerable to sunlight which badly burns them, and silver is a poison to them. Destroy either their brains or their hearts and they will die. Just cutting one in half, however, means that it will live to torment you another night.”

“So why you?” drawled Gojya. “Why couldn’t the Kanzeon just pop in, tell us about these things, or even let us find out about them on our own like we’ve usually had to do?”

“What makes you so fucking special that you were picked?” Sanzo demanded, finally putting away the Banishing Gun to fond his arms across his chest. Despite the speed and deadliness that Nightroad had shown in handling his gun, there didn’t seem to be anything special about him.

Nightroad smiled slightly at them, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I have been trained to fight vampires, and for whatever reason, the Kanzeon asked for me by name. Now, if you will excuse me, I’m tired, dirty, and very hungry.”

With that, he pushed past them with his pack in his hand and quietly shut the door behind him, leaving the four travelers alone to stare after him. Sanzo’s eyes narrowed as he continued staring at the closed door. Nightroad was lying about something, he just knew it, but what it was exactly was hard to tell. He had told the truth about these ‘vampires’, that was obvious enough, but there was more to the story about why he had been picked by the Old Hag.

“Is something bothering you, Sanzo?” inquired Hakkai, his voice cutting through the blond’s thoughts.

That got a glare and a snort. “This whole trip is bothering me,” he grumbled before following Nightroad out the door. Turning to head to his own room, Sanzo glared down the hall towards the rest of their rooms.

Why did he have the nagging feeling that he was suppose to know Nightroad when he’d never set eyes on the man before in his life?

TBC...