Author's note: Sorry for the ridiculously, ridiculously long wait. Since I last updated, I got into medical school, graduated from college, went on a 2-month vacation to China, started medical school and survived my first semester there. Expect more delays for future chapters since this semester's classes seem a lot harder than last semester's, and I'm doing a lot more volunteer work.

Note: italics indicate thoughts.

A Twist on an Epic
Chapter Three

The fight, if you can even call it that, ended in the blink of an eye.

Kurama didn't have time to materialize his weapon and Sanzo never even bothered to take out his gun. Between Goku's Nyoi-bou, Gojyo's shakujou and Hakkai's chi attacks, the demons never stood a chance.

Upon seeing this utter defeat, the leader of the pack made a run for it.

Needless to say, Kurama was ready for such an attempt to escape. He placed his hand on the earth and sent out a bit of his youki. The plants in the area responded instantly and blocked the youkai's route. Vines formed around the leader's legs and arms, quickly immobilizing him. By the time Kurama was done with him, only his head was free from the plants.

"What luck!" Hakkai exclaimed with a smile.

"My thoughts exactly," Kurama replied. Though you could look a little less happy after virtually slaughtering a group of youkai, he added in his mind. "Let's see if we can get a few answers out of him?"

The captured demon was still trying to get out of his leafy prison when Kurama and the others approached him.

"I'd give up if I were you," said the youko, "The more you squirm, the tighter the plants will constrict around you."

"Kill me," the youkai said.

"No can do," Kurama answered, "You see, there's a few questions we'd like to ask you."

Instead of saying anything, the youkai spit at Kurama's feet. "I'm not saying a damn thing so you might as well just kill me now."

For a brief second, Kurama's eyes flickered from green to gold. "There are ways to make you talk."

The youkai had the foresight to whimper a little before the redhead descended upon him.

x x x

"How long has it been?" Goku asked as he stared intently at an interesting Makai creature. It looked kind of like a rabbit except that its ears were pointed and bent slightly downwards.

"About an hour or so, I'd say," Gojyo answered. He'd lost interest on the "rabbit" long ago, deciding rather to sit down and rest. "At least the screaming has stopped. I wonder if the poor bastard finally died. What do you think, Sanzo?"

Sanzo, sitting across from Gojyo and smoking one his Marlboros, grunted in annoyance. "I don't care either way, as long as this wasn't a colossal waste of time."

"How come Hakkai stayed with Kurama?" With the "rabbit" gone, Goku turned his attention back to the remaining members of his group.

"Because that guy secretly likes torturing people," the kappa replied nonchalantly.

"Is that an opinion or fact?" an icy voice inquired from the darkness.

If not for Sanzo's iron self-restraint, he would've jumped at Hakkai's sudden emergence from the trees. Goku and Gojyo had no such self-restraint and thus ended up several feet in the air. Kurama reappeared just in time to see the two of them land in somewhat embarrassing ways.

"Geez, Hakkai!" the two of them yelled out.

Kurama chuckled a bit at their reactions. Hakkai simply put on his usual "innocent" smile.

"So, is he dead?" Sanzo asked bluntly.

"Yeah, I put him out of his miseries," the youko answered, "though Hakkai was willing to continue."

He really is a bit of a sadist, the thought passed through Sanzo's mind. "Well, did you find out anything?"

"Bad news," Kurama sighed, "He refused to divulge any information whatsoever, even under the extreme torture." He spared a glance at Hakkai. Some really extreme torture, he mentally added. "But that's not the bad news. It's my belief – and Hakkai concurs – that he was under some sort of control or spell."

"What makes you say that?" Gojyo asked.

"Every time Kurama or I asked him about his mission, he would start to speak but then abruptly stop," Hakkai replied, "It wasn't that he didn't want to talk, but that he was incapable of talking. A spell, mind control, some sort of brainwashing. Regardless of what it is, we are dealing with a great amount of power."

"So what do we do now?" asked Goku. He didn't care so much about the results and what they implied; he just wanted to get going and actually do something. Frankly speaking, he was bored.

"Well, this does alter my plan a bit," Kurama said, "but not the destination."

As they continued on their way towards Yusuke's castle, the youko explained that since they now could no longer rely on gathering information from captured demons on the search, they must search for the lost sutras themselves. And no one had more literature on human artifacts than Raizen, Yusuke's predecessor, did.

Raizen took a surprising amount of interest in humans, even before his romance in the Ningenkai. It was merely curiosity at the beginning but after that fateful night, his fascination grew. He started to gather and collect information on them, paying particular attention on spiritual and magical aspects of the human world. In the library at the castle, there are documents from every religion, culture and era.

"I once used Raizen's library to do a history report," the redhead added, "You would not believe the amount of information he has compiled. I'm sure we can find some information on the sutras there."

x x x

From afar, Yusuke's castle looked like a group of odd rock formations. But as the Sanzo-ikkou walked closer and closer to their destination, they noticed the little details which indicated that these pillars were not carved by nature. Kurama led the group towards the tallest pillar in the group, where they saw a black-haired young man and a bald man standing on the steps waiting for them.

"Kurama! I thought I felt your ki a while ago."

"Yusuke," the redhead answered, "It's been a while, hasn't it?" He turned to face the bald, monk-like figure. "Good to see you, as well, Hokushin-san."

"Kurama-san," Hokushin greeted him with a nod.

"So Kurama," the raven-haired man said, "who are these people that you've brought with you?"

"These are some old friends of mine, back from my youko days."

"I'm surprised you were capable of making friends back then," Yusuke joked.

After the introductions and pleasantries were done, Kurama quickly settled down to business. "Yusuke, as much as I'd like to say this was just a friendly visit, it's not," he explained, "We need to use the library in your castle, the one that Raizen collected." The youko then proceeded to give a quick rundown of their current situation.

"I don't know what you'll find in there but you're welcome to look," Yusuke answered, "I can take you guys there now."

The raven-haired young man led the group into the castle and down a series of winding, cavernous corridors that were carved directly out of the surrounding rock. After what seemed like forever, he stopped in front of a set of giant stone doors. He pushed them open with ease and walked inside through into the room.

To say the room was huge would have been an understatement. There were enough books contained inside to be able to fill all of the world's libraries many times over. Even Sanzo's normally impassive face showed a bit of shock at the sheer size of the library.

"Well, here we are," Yusuke said, declaring the obvious, "I'd help you guys with whatever you're looking for, but Hokushin likes to nag to me about "responsibilities"." He couldn't help but make a face of disgust when he said it. "Plus, I've always hated libraries so I doubt I'd be of much help."

"How will ever find anything in here?" Gojyo was the first to ask the obvious questions. "Where do we even start?"

"Don't worry. I've used this library before in the past," Kurama replied, "I have an idea of what I'm looking for, and where to find it. I just need all your help to piece together the information." He turned to Yusuke and bowed slightly, "Thanks, Yusuke. We can take it from here."

Yusuke said a brief farewell and left to attend to his duties as a ruler.

Kurama returned his attention to the massive amount of books in front of him. "Why don't we get started?" he declared, already walking towards the particular section he suspected would give him some answers.

Due to their scholarly traits, Sanzo and Hakkai were assigned to help Kurama with his research. And because Gojyo and especially Goku would have been of no help with reading old obscure history of the Three Worlds, they were enlisted to perform manual labor. They were to find and carry books from the numerous shelves, with Kurama's careful directions, to their workspace. With this simple but efficient system set into place, the five of them settled down for a long and tedious day of sifting through paper and ink.

A little more than three hours later, Kurama finally found the book he had alluded to at the beginning. Goku found it nestled between a giant hardcover about the history of Chang'an and another about the influence of Buddhism in ancient China.

"So what is so important about this book?" Gojyo asked, scanning the title: The Spread of Buddhism in the East.

"I had read this book once when I came for a brief visit," Kurama explained, "And from what I know about Sanzo and your journey to retrieve the scriptures, something in this book stood out to me." He pointed to a specific section on the page that he had opened the book to and said, "Read this passage and see if anything seems interesting to you."

Sanzo reached over for the book and brought it closer to himself and Hakkai. Both poured over the indicated passage for a minute or so before simultaneously looking back at Kurama with slightly surprised eyes.

"Doesn't it seem a little suspicious to you?" Kurama asked.

"What's it say? What's it say?" Goku whined, reaching for the book but was gently denied access when Kurama reclaimed the book.

"This book details how Buddhism spread from Indian to other parts of Asia," the youko began, "And one of the prominent figures mentioned in here is someone named Kukai, or Kobou-Daishi. He studied Buddhism in China and brought back to Japan many Buddhist scriptures to help spread its teachings."

"Well, what's so important about this Kukai guy?" Gojyo questioned.

"He studied at Xi Ming," Sanzo answered.

The two remaining members immediately understood. Xi Ming, or better to known to them as Keiun, was more or less Sanzo's temple. It was where Sanzo and Goku stayed before the journey and it was where they all returned to after it.

It was also the place that last held the sutras before they disappeared.

Comments: Xi Ming Temple (in Chang'an) is where the real-life Sanzo translated the scriptures he brought back from India. I'm pretty sure Xi Ming does translate into Keiun in Japanese. If it doesn't, pretend it does. =P

I'm sorry to say but the next update will probably be really late in coming. And I feel like I'm sucking a lot more with the writing/plot/everything in general.