The Strength of Crimson

Chapter 7

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"Goku, you said you smelled blood." Sanzo said, his voice low, looking down at his young follower.

Goku sniffed, then nodded. "Yeah, an' a lot of it."

"Can you tell what's happened?"

"Nope. But there are two people, covered in blood, coming this way."

"Right." Sanzo checked the ammo in his gun, then looked down at Goku. "If we have to. . ."

"We fight!" The young man grinned up at Sanzo, noyi-bo appearing in his hand. The two figures slowly grew as they approached the gathering. Goku gasped lightly as he saw Gojyo and Hakkai. Both the youkai were drenched in blood, Hakkai leaning heavily on Gojyo, his face pale under the blood caked on it. Gojyo was watching Hakkai, a worried look on his face, his crimson hair knotted and tangled with blood. "Hakkai! Gojyo!"

"Heya monkey." Gojyo replied with a tired smile.

"I see you took care of the threat." Sanzo replied, his voice dry.

"We did." Hakkai pulled from Gojyo's arms, straightening up.

"'Kai..."

"I'm fine now, Gojyo. Don't worry about me."

"Right."

"Yo-you're supposed to be dead!" The leader of the town cried, pointing a hand at the two men.

Hakkai's eyes narrowed suddenly. "'Supposed to be dead,' are we? I think I have this figured out. After the other night, you found a youkai band and paid them to attack your town. The payment? The lives of the Sanzo party, all who could be found in your town, two of which were in your prison."

"N-no! It's not true."

"You damn bastard." Gojyo snarled, stepping forward. "You don't care about lives."

"Human lives, yes, youkai like you, like those creatures," he motioned in the general direction of the graves of the Hanyou children, "have no lives, no souls."

Gojyo started to respond, but Hakkai's hand on his shoulder stopped him. He looked back at his friend, drawing a sharp breath when he saw him. Hakkai had his usual grin on his lips, but it was less of a friendly smile and more of a sneer, his green eyes chips of ice above the twisted smile.

"Let me handle him, Gojyo."

"He's all yours."

"Sir, I will warn you, taste your words before you speak them to make sure they are palatable."

"I will not speak with a soulless being, a monster."

"You say that we youkai have no souls. I will tell you have met more humans with "youkai" traits and youkai with "human" traits than I have humans with "human" traits and youkai with "youkai" traits. You cannot judge a person just by what race he is. Gojyo, a hanyou, is the kindest soul I've ever met. Goku, a full blooded youkai, has a bigger heart than most humans. These so called "monsters" you mention are not only friends of mine, but saviors of this wretched soul standing before you. On the point of youkai being monsters, I will admit I myself am a monster, a cruel creature, but not all youkai are. You should spend a day with Goku. He is. . . 'one who can see the ephemeral' and being this, he has more happiness than anyone I have met."

"Hmph. Youkai are cruel creatures, holding no pity in their hearts."

"You can't go on that alone." Sanzo suddenly spoke up. "I'm a cruel creature who holds no pity in my heart. I've killed both youkai and humans without even flinching. Get in my way and I kill you. I'm not afraid to leave my comrades behind. I let them fight their own battles, no matter how wounded they may be. I may not have killed many humans, but it is not below me to take the life of a human. I was taught by my master not to discriminate between demons and humans."

Hakkai glanced over at Sanzo, who was currently loading and reloading his gun with a dispatched air. "Sanzo?"

"And did I mention I'm a human? Born and bred, true blood, not mixed blood, not changed blood, just pure human. According to you, this makes me better than the youkai. But you must not know about the Sanzos. I am only the second human to hold this," he held up the maten scripture, "the Maten Tenjo, the Darkness sutra. Traditionally, this is held by a youkai. The previous youkai bearer of this scripture was a close friend of my master. When he died, he gave the sutra to my master, who passed it to me when he was murdered. There is only one demon I hate, and that is the one who cruelly murdered my master before me."

"I still believe they are evil, soulless beings."

"Tell me, sir, have you ever heard the saying 'even the smallest worm has a soul'?" Hakkai replied, stepping forward again. "What it means is that no matter what you are, you have a soul. This soul is to be cherished, held dear, held close to you. If someone tries to take it from you, you are to do your best to defend it. It does not matter who you are, what race you are, what blood is currently pounding though your veins, you have a soul. And this soul is to be held on until you finally reach the end of your life and pass into the next one."

"'Kai. . ." Gojyo whispered, slightly stunned.

"However, if you still wish to believe that humans are superior to youkai, I will be more than happy to spar with you. Whoever wins the sparring match must be the strongest, according to your logic. The winner has a soul, the loser has none." Hakkai shrugged lightly, slipping easily into a light fighting stance, watching the leader of the town, a small ball of chi growing in his hands.

"N-no, it's all right." The town leader raised his hands, staring at Hakkai with wide eyes.

"All right then." Hakkai backed down, the chi ball dying. His body suddenly went limp, as if his very skeleton had been ripped out. He sagged backwards, crumpling to the ground. Gojyo lunged forward, catching him before he hit the ground. "Th-thank you, Gojyo."

"Sure." Gojyo slung one of Hakkai's arms around his shoulder, holding him up. "Ya okay, man?"

"I'll be fine. I've just used up too much energy."

"Ya sure?"

"I'm sure. Between killing the youkai, healing you and healing myself, I ran out of energy."

"Great. Let's get you back to the hotel before you die or something."

"That sounds nice."

Gojyo helped Hakkai walk off, leaving Sanzo and Goku behind. Sanzo turned his attention to the leader of the town. "We're staying for a while apparently."

"Ye-yes sir."

"If you try anything stupid, I'll kill you." Sanzo snarled, loading a bullet into the chamber of his gun.

"I understand."

"Good." Sanzo spun on his heel, glancing at Goku. "Come on, Goku. Let's go."

"Uh... coming!" Goku turned, running after Sanzo. "Sanzo?"

"What?"

"Did you mean what you said back there? I mean about not hesitation' to kill a human an' not havin' pity an' all that?"

Sanzo looked down at Goku, frowning lightly at the young man. "I meant every word I said. I never say anything I don't mean."

"Oh."

"Come on, Goku. We'd better go check on Hakkai."

"Okay." Goku chased after Sanzo again, staying quiet and withdrawn.

Sanzo frowned when he realized the young man was being too quiet. He looked over his shoulder at Goku, who was staring at the ground while he walked, his golden eyes hidden from sight. "Goku, just because I meant every word I said does not mean that I will recklessly kill humans. The humans that I have killed have each deserved it. Do you understand?"

Goku's head shot up and he stared at Sanzo, eyes widening. "But. . ."

"The first human I killed was trying to kill me." Sanzo stepped forward, putting a hand on Goku's head, feeling the cold metal of the diadem under his palm. He pushed Goku's head back slightly, looking the young man in the face. "I do not kill recklessly. I do not kill needlessly. I only kill if it is kill or be killed, understand?"

Goku stayed silent for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah. Hey Sanzo?"

"What?"

"Can I get some meat buns? I'm starving!"

"Stupid monkey." Sanzo growled. "Come on. I'm sure we can get something at the inn."

"All right!" Goku raced off, leaving Sanzo alone.

The blond priest sighed, the yanked a cigarette from the pack in his pocket, flicking a lighter to the end. He blew a trail of white smoke towards the sky, leaning his head back. "Who in this world truly has a soul? Does anyone?"

He sighed to himself again, heading in the direction of the inn, his hands in his pockets, cigarette dangling from his lips, smoke curling into the sky. As he walked, he looked around him at the town. The few townspeople that were out gave him wary glances, pulling back, moving away from him. He snorted, blowing smoke in a thin trail, making one of the women walking past him give him a disapproving glance, pulling her child closer to him. Feh. He finished his cigarette and pulled out his pack, taking the last cigarette from the box. "Damn."

He turned into one of the stores on the corner, walking up to the counter. "Marlboro Red. Three boxes."

"Yes sir." The young woman behind the counter said softly, turning to collect them.

"Thanks." Sanzo took the boxes the clerk gave him, passing the young woman his credit card. She took it, completed the transaction and handed it back to him. He nodded, shoving it in his pocket, then headed out, opening one of the boxes, taking out a cigarette, sticking it in his mouth, lighting it. He sighed out a breath of smoke, pushing the rest of the boxes into the pockets hidden in his sleeves. He continued to the inn, pausing outside the door of the inn, his hand on the knob, glancing over at the line of graves that stood dark against the ground. He frowned, then pulled open the door to the inn, walking up to the room he was sharing with Hakkai. Hakkai was laying in bed, dressed in clean clothes, his eyes shut, sleeping lightly, his hair still damp. Sanzo shut the door with a slightly louder bang than necessary, waking him. The young healer sat up slowly as the priest came in, a wincing smile crossing his face.

"Hello Sanzo."

"How are you doing, Hakkai?"

"I'm getting better."

"Can you walk?"

"With help, yes." Hakkai stared at Sanzo. "Why?"

Sanzo pulled on his robes, draping his sutra around his shoulders. "Because."

"You're not going to tell me, are you?"

"No." Sanzo grabbed his pack slinging it over one shoulder, then he frowned, grabbing Hakkai's pack as well.

"Fine." Hakkai slowly stood, stumbling to the doorway. "Are we leaving after we do whatever it is you are wishing to do?"

Sanzo sighed, walking forward, grabbing one of Hakkai's arms, slinging it around his shoulders. "God. You're going to kill yourself."

"I shall try not to." Hakkai chuckled, his green eyes sparkling. "And you have not answered my question."

"Yes. We're leaving after this."

Sanzo helped Hakkai down the hallway, leading him to Goku and Gojyo's room, pounding on the door. "Gojyo! Goku! Get your shit and get out here. We're leaving."

Gojyo appeared, rubbing a towel through his crimson locks. "What?"

"We're leaving. Where's the monkey?"

Gojyo shrugged, looking over his shoulder to where Goku was laying face down on the bed, watching TV. "Hey monkey. Your owner's here."

"Shut up, kappa." Goku rolled over, looking at Sanzo and Hakkai. "What's up?"

"Get over here. We have something we have to do."

"I'm coming." Goku stood, walking towards Sanzo. "What is it?"

"Just move your ass."

"Whatever."

Goku frowned as Sanzo led them out to where Hakuryuu was waiting for them. The young man loaded his bag into the jeep, then let out a grunt as Sanzo dropped two more bags on him. "Sanzo!"

"Put these in there as well."

Gojyo added his bag to the pile that Goku was holding, then headed to Hakkai's side, taking the young healer from the priest. "I can take care of him."

"I am sorry I am such a burden to you."

"Shut up." Sanzo growled lightly. "Follow me."

Gojyo glanced over at Hakkai as Sanzo started towards the graves where the hanyou children were buried. "What do you think he's doing?"

"I do not know." Hakkai replied softly.

Gojyo went silent, following Sanzo to the graves. Several minutes later, the four of them were standing in front of the graves. Sanzo sighed, dropping into a cross-legged position. He pulled the lotus crown out of his sleeve, settling it on his head.

"I thought you didn't say sutras for the dead." Gojyo said softly, helping Hakkai to sit down.

"I don't."

"Then. . ."

"Shut up." Sanzo folded his hands, starting to speak.

As he spoke, all went silent, as they had nearly four years ago when they had first seen the true Genjo Sanzo, the 31st priest of China.

The words the young priest spoke wove through the warm afternoon, binding the air together, tying the four travelers in this one moment in time. A few villagers stopped, pausing in their daily lives to hear what the priest was saying. The words of the sutra were spoken in a clear voice that rang through the day with an air of power, but also the air of benevolancy, a sympathy of sorts for the souls lost so young. Not only was it a prayer, not only did it hold sympathy for the children, but it was an understanding of the pain that these children suffered. Sanzo's voice was soft, gentle, resounding in the air with a power that remained long after the words had faded.

That day, the true power of a soul was seen, through the actions of a monster, a half-breed, a changeling and a human, four souls thrown together on an endless journey.

~Fin.

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A/N: Woah. Long time, no update. Sorry! o_O I've been really busy.

So anyway, this is the last chapter of The Strength of Crimson.

I have to say, it's my favourite chapter of this story. It also has to be one of my overall favourite chapters that I've written. ^_^

There are paragraphs that I wrote in this that I'm quite proud of, even after reading them over and over again.

So... I hope you enjoy this final chapter. Thank you for reading!

Thank you to: betcchi and mimi.

Special thanks to mimi who has stuck with me since the beginning!