Saiyuki: Through the Looking Glass
Chapter 1:

The walls were stained with dried blood.

Different blood from different youkai who had united their minds, souls and bodies towards the defense of their king. Primitive politics fused together with a grim sort of innocence found only in lower creatures. A vain battle, but nevertheless bravely fought. Not that he wanted to be contemplating messy skirmishes at this moment. That was for the strategy table and his study, not here.

Regardless of his weak resolution, a part of his mind was bemusing itself with gruesome thoughts.

Now those youkai were now...truly...unified. Altogether now as a river of hair and blood upon the castle grounds. Beautiful...that is...to a more morbid eye, but Tenpou did not have a morbid eye. None of this was beautiful, even if it was necessary. He looked at it all with distaste.

He hated the red. It made him think of mortality, which (he believed) all gods feared. Then it made him think of losing battles, which was something all soldiers feared. Then it made him think of losing friends...which was something Goku greatly feared. Of course, being a god, Tenpou was beyond that. Should have been beyond that. But if he were truly honest with himself, could never be beyond that.

Then it made him think of losing himself, as selfish as it was to turn these musings towards his own privileged lot. Tenpou smiled, if not a little morosely. "Sell fish?" Goku would say. He didn't know the meaning of the word, nor did he need to. 'Sell fless' was more fitting for the forbidden child. But Tenpou couldn't be like that, as much as he felt he should be.

There was too much at risk. The field marshal's arms were already occupied in performing a huge balancing act with "heaven's fate"- the outcome of which he was still unsure- and he wasn't really willing to unburden anybody else for the sake of generosity. Too much at stake and too much to lose. The higher up you are, the harder you fall and Tenpou was high enough to know that gambling recklessly with his own fate was unwise. If he was ever going to die, it wasn't going to be a cheap ticket for anybody.

Can I hold that for you? A dangerous question.

It meant involvement with someone else and involvement with someone else complicated the web and jolted the equilibrium of the situation in someone else's favor.

Hence, the reason he slept with Kenren.

Tenpou smiled to himself again, this time a little devilishly. First of all it was fun. Can't rule that out completely. But second of all, Kenren never asked questions. Not anymore, at least. And not since they'd started having sex because the General, sensible man that he is, had figured out that if he wanted to keep having sex, then the topic of political motives would have to be shut up tight in some dark corner of his lust-driven, alcohol tinged head. You know the drill, soldier.

Then there was Konzen, whose tendency not to pry was dissipating every day he saw Goku mope over the inability to see Nataku. "What's wrong with Nataku, Konzen? Konzen...Konzen! What's happening? And who's that mean old man always with him? Why would Nataku rather spend his time with him than me? And why did That nasty old guy hit Ten-chan?"

That last one was a slip-up. Poor kid. Couldn't keep a secret even his lunch depended on it.

Anyway, Konzen got riled up, gave Tenpou the third degree, futile as it was, then went straight to Tentei. Straight to the Jade Emperor himself to clear his friend's names, to apologize for them- though his sincerity was a bit strained- and to get the ex-general reinstated. Maybe Goku was getting to him. High marks for selflessness there. And this was Konzen for goodness' sake...

Konzen-I-don't-care-to-do-anybody-favors-because-you're-all-dust-beneath-my-golden-sandals-Douji.

Literally, with the 'holier than thou' attitude radiating from him like sunlight.

Albeit the price for all his kindness was an explanation, reported by Tenpou himself in its abridged, revised, edited, censored and summarized version; which came down to one simple, non-self-explanatory conclusion: All's bad in the holy land. Better start praying.

Who the hell am I gonna pray to? Konzen growled, but it was enough to keep him at bay.

But any thoughts of Konzen were quickly pushed away by the grim sensation of stepping in a puddle of still unsolidified blood, staining the edges of his black army boots with acrid crimson. Tenpou swallowed the bile that rose in his throat and kicked any loose drops off his foot, disgusting, then presumed surveying the ghastly empty interior of Gyuumao's castle.

Two pairs of footsteps echoed throughout the main hall. Kenren was right behind him. Silent for once, but with his finger ready at the trigger.

"I don't like it." said Kenren, checking the barrel for the eighth time.

"What's there to like?"

Nothing. But that, if anything, was self explanatory. "What the hell are you lookin' for anyway? We're not fucking ghostbusters, you know."

"I never said we were looking for ghosts, General," replied Tenpou, trying to pad up the edge in his voice but wavering. "I distinctly remember telling you that we were going down 'to look.' But if you're scared..."

"Cut the crap. All I'm goin' to say is that I had better get good compensation for being made to work off duty."

Tenpou decided to play along. "I'll talk to Goujin about giving you a short vacation in a century or two. Not now though. Busy times."

"Idiot." That wasn't the type of compensation he had been asking for. "Well, since you were the one who dragged me down here, you have to give the compensation, not Goujin." He shuddered at the thought.

"Now that you put it that way," the field marshal replied. "I'll give you a..."

He paused.

Kenren pushed him to continue, a little hopefulness in his voice. "A..."

"A hug." replied Tenpou with simple decision.

"A...hug." Kenren was incredulous.

"Or is that too intimate?"

"A hug."

"What did you think I'd give you?"

Fine, if the marshal wanted to play the damn innocent, he could very well do it. Kenren had threats. Very good threats.

"I..." the raven-haired general stated with obstinate resolution, wishing the loudness of his voice (and the provocativeness of the thought) would banish that eerie gut feeling he was getting from this place . "WILL get something VERY, VERY GOOD from you TONIGHT because I ain't prancing around in youkai guts for NOTHING. And you had better promise me something VERY, VERY GOOD or else I'll take you right here and now...on the damn FLOOR and I won't give a damn if the whole western army came in looking for us and found me screwing you senseless. You'll like it so much you won't even see the cadavers when I'm through."

"Well, if you put it that way, I guess I'll have to..." but his voice faded when he caught sight of a faint glow coming from a far off room. It disappeared. "One moment, please." And he quickened his pace to a slow jog until he reached the decrepit door which housed the "mysterious glowing thing." Farther behind him, he heard Kenren cursing as he smacked his own face with consternation.

"Dammit Tenpou!"

"Don't worry, General." he called over his shoulder. "You'll receive fair rewards for your efforts."

Kenren grinned and vowed to make sure that Tenpou lived up to his word. 'Rewards' not 'reward.' Tonight...will be a very very fine night indeed. Taking the time to make short celebration of this little victory, he lit a cigarette and posted himself outside the door, gun ready, while Tenpou foraged inside. "Hurry up Tenpou, this place is really too fucking creepy. I'm gonna have nightmares."

"Didn't I say that I'd help you deal with that?" he heard the voice mix with sounds of wooden boxes being open and shut, open and shut.

Drawers opened and shut, opened and shut.

Shelves being moved. "You're telling me now, and I'm gonna remember it." Books being opened... "And don't tell me you came here looking for books, dammit!"...and shut.

But Tenpou didn't answer. After two minutes of random treasure hunting, he found the rumored relic. Supposedly something that one of the demon king's spies stole from heaven years ago.

So much for border security.

From beneath a silken cloth, he found a mirror, and upon exposing its pristine surface, he nearly stumbled back from shock. The reflection he saw was not of himself...or it may have been...or might have not...

His same hair, only shorter. His same face, only kinder. His same ears, only with cuffs. His same eyes, only...with a monocle? His same lips, but instead of the grim line of abject horror Tenpou knew he wore, his reflection simply...smiled.

It followed his movements...just like any obedient reflection, but the eyes he saw were not obedient eyes.

"Oi, Tenpou, what's takin so long?"

He didn't hear Kenren's voice, only a little hum ticking the back of his mind, saying...

"A pity isn't it? That this isn't hell..." Tenpou whispered the words to himself.

Then behind his reflection, in the mirror, was a shadow. A specter, hazy and shifting. Tenpou glanced over his shoulder, but there was nothing. He looked back at the mirror. Definitely...something. So he approached the glassy surface, touched its coldness and looked deeper. Into his own strange eyes, but also into that shadow which seemed to move and take shape until his reflection wavered, melted, split like lava prying through the earth's cracks, only to meet the coldest day of winter. There were claws now...teeth so sharp that he could taste the blood they drew from his tongue...

"Tenpou? You okay?"

Again, he didn't hear it.

Suddenly something roared in his ears: wild, vicious and unrestrained. Tenpou tried to stagger back, but found that he couldn't move. His hand was paralyzed, locked palm to palm with that of his mirror image which seemed to oscillate before him...from youkai to that other form. From gentle to malicious, delirous and ripping at the seams.

He felt pain rushing through his abdomen like a claw being dug into him, felt the rain when he was nowhere near water. It drove him half mad and he cried out, tried to, but no sound emerged from his throat. Rain, hisses, and growls. Grim innocence and the smell of blood. Pouring rain and pouring blood. He hated it and hungered for it, pounding rain and blood pounding through his ears. Then...

Soft rain, a soft bed, and a voice. "Did you want to die?"

I don't want to die...it was his last thought.

The mirror shattered. Now a broken piece of nothing with a bullet hole.

***

Five-hundred years later, on a road heading west...

The jeep screeched to a halt, its driver leaning forward over the wheel, his skin growing pale and his eyes dimming with extreme fatigue.

"Oi, Hakkai!" Sanzo's harsh tone woke him up.

"Sorry...Sanzo." Hakkai apologized sheepishly. "I guess I'm just tired, that's all...but I'm fine now. Really. The next town shouldn't be more than ten min-"

"Just shut up and drive. The faster we get there, the better." He paused, then added in a softer tone, "Sleep later, not now. I'm not in the mood to be road kill."

"I understand." And so Hakkai continued driving.

Then...in the midst of an ever so rare and ever so awkward silence that permeated the air, he heard a voice.

"You okay?"...and it echoed.

"I'm fine, Gojyo, really."

The halfbreed lifted a slender brow. "But I didn't even say anything..."