Gensomaden Saiyuki Fan Fiction ❯ Metamorphosis ❯ CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Martyr ( Chapter 17 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Martyr

        Among the residents of Hyakugan Maoh's castle, she was simply known as "Obasan." She was one of those insignificant youkai who had no other purpose but to serve her masters, something which suited her just fine. If she had been of higher rank, her big, dissenting mouth could have gotten her killed. All she could do was serve and clean in silence, while her eyes and ears caught every atrocity her cruel masters were planning to commit.

        Just like now.

        As she removed the bed sheets stained with blood and other body fluids, she caught snippets of the conversation between the youkai lord and his son.

        "You're smitten with him..."

        "...such a pretty face..."

        "Too bad he's a man. I would want..."

        The clicking of mahjong tiles.

        "Why should you let the matter of his gender stop you, Chichiue, especially when we possess the power to work miracles?"

        Obasan's jaw hardened at what she heard. Damn you both! It shames me that I belong to the same race as you! It would be a great service to us all if someone were to put you out of your misery!

        Not wanting to hear anymore of their twisted discussion, she gathered the bed sheets. As she was about to leave, she heard the youkai lord call out her name.

        "Obasan, same as always, please see to the needs of my pretty flower. I'm afraid my son and I were too rough on him last night."

        You're always too rough on the boy, she thought in anger.

        Although she wanted to rail at the evil lord and his son, Obasan nodded curtly and hurried outside the chamber. Going down several steep flights of stairs, she handed the soiled bed sheets to a passing chambermaid. She went straight to the kitchen where a tray of food was waiting for her. Picking it up, she then headed down to the dungeons. Except for one, all the cells were empty. None of the youkai lord's prisoners lived long enough for an extended stay. As for its sole occupant, she wished the master had given him better accommodations, considering the fact that for a month and a half, he had been unwillingly warming the beds of the lord and his fiendish son. Nearing the cell, she saw that a basin of warm water, soap, towels and fresh clothes were carefully laid out on a small table.

        "Konnichiwa, Obasan."

        And there it was. That charming smile that could light up even this dark, squalid dungeon. So out of place, knowing the kind of suffering and humiliation this boy was going through.

        "Konnichiwa, Gonou-kun!" she greeted in turn, as she unlocked the door and entered the cell. "I hope you'll like what I brought you today."

        "I'm sure I will," the boy reassured her. "Being on the road for so long, you learn not to be too picky."

        This was another reason why Obasan found it a delight to visit this young man. She enjoyed listening to the stories of his travels with his three rambunctious companions, even if they were too fantastic to be believed. From what she knew of Cho Gonou, he was a mere school teacher, not an adventurer. Still, she could not help but believe. The unwavering gaze of those jade green eyes told her that he was speaking the truth.

        Laying the tray beside him, Obasan watched as trembling hands took the teacup.

        Taking a sip of the warm drink, the young man said in relief, "Arigato gozaimasu."

        While the boy ate, Obasan proceeded to cleanse his body, carefully peeling off the dried blood that caked his pale skin and washing away the other traces of his defilement.

        "Obasan," the young man began, an embarrassed blush on his cheeks. "I'm not a child anymore. I can wash myself."

        She frowned at the sight of the bruises and dark handprints on his legs and thighs. "Onegai. Let me take care of you."

        At that answer, the boy fell silent, chewing his food slowly.

        Seeing those bruises marring the youth's beauty, anger prompted Obasan to ask the question that has been on her mind since she first met him. "How can you still smile after all the terrible things they do to you?"

        The young man's answer was not what she expected. "This is just a test. Perhaps even an expiation for my sins. In the world where I came from, it was Kanan who was taken by Hyakugan Maoh. This is even the very same cell that she was kept in. Here, I have taken her place...as punishment for not being there to save her. And I accept this punishment willingly." Again, there was that charming smile. "As for your question, despite everything that is being done to me, smiling still comes easily for me, because I know that this trial will have an end and, more so, if I pass this test, I can save someone whom I care deeply for."

        Obasan shook her head in confusion. "You are not from this world, you say?"
This time, the youth started from the very beginning -- about Kanan, his sister and lover whom he had lost and found, only to be lost again to the evil of the youkai lord. He told her about the friends he had met because of that tragedy. The difficult mission that they were entrusted with by the Goddess of Mercy, which led to their long travels. He ended it with the story of their forced separation from their leader, the monk, whose salvation lay in their passing the mysterious tests of the Goddess.

        "If this be a test as you say," Obasan commented, "it is too harsh. If you ask me, you and your friends have suffered long enough."

        But the young man said, "Who are we to question the will of the gods in Heaven? As I see it now, we are simply pawns in their grand schemes."

        "Are you so ready to accept it as that? From the stories you have told me, you and your friends have chosen to live a life that is not beholden to anyone, including the gods. Have you forgotten the monk's teaching?"

        "If you meet Buddha on the road, kill him. If you meet the father on the road, kill him. Do not allow yourself to be captivated by anyone. Just live as yourself in the way you are." The youth quickly added, "No, I have not forgotten. But I don't think we have a choice this time. Saving Sanzo is more important than our own personal interests."

        Obasan, however, smiled at that last. "Are you all not after your own personal interests? By your own admission, and that of your two other friends, you all care deeply for the monk."

        The young man laughed wryly. "You sound a lot like Sanzo."

        "I am very concerned about you," Obasan admitted. "There is only so much suffering that one can take." She remembered what the youkai lord and his son were planning to do. "You don't know what the masters are capable of doing. I fear for you."

        "If it is to save Sanzo, I will endure anything."

        Obasan was saddened by that answer, but at the same time, she could not help but admire his determination and loyalty.

        However, the trial that he was about to face... If only she had the courage to help him...

        As if reading her mind, the young man reassured, "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

        Nodding, Obasan smiled wanly and placed the used basin back on the table, as she gathered up the tray.

        Before leaving, she told him, I can see you are a brave young man, Gonou-kun, but you do not have to put up a front for me. If things get too unbearable, I am here to share your tears with you."

        That warm smile tugged at Obasan's heart. "I will be eternally grateful for the kindness you have shown me. Oh, and please do not call me 'Gonou' anymore. I am called 'Hakkai' now. That is the name I use."

        "As you wish." Obasan bowed to the gallant youth. "Be strong...Hakkai-kun."

---

        When that night, and eleven more nights, passed with only the usual, but still loathsome, bedchamber activities, Obasan was ready to breathe a sigh of relief. Perhaps her evil masters were not going to push through with their fiendish scheme after all.

        But on the evening of the thirteenth day, as Obasan was lighting the torches along the tower staircases, a low moan echoed through the dark, dank air. This was followed by an anguished cry that nearly caused her to drop the candlestick she was holding. As quickly as she could, Obasan went up the staircase, going to the master's chamber. With every step closer to her goal, she could feel her heart breaking, hearing those pleas.

        "What are you doing? Onegai! Don't do this to me!"

        When she reached the chamber at last, she saw that the door was open a crack. Cautiously, Obasan peeked through the crack, only to be shocked by the terrible sight within.

        Of Hakkai tied to the bed. So much blood spilling between his spread legs.

        Chin Issou laying down the sharp knife he had used to cut the poor youth. His clawed hand holding what looked like a shiny white block with the symbol for 'Birth' etched on it, which he brutally thrust in between Hakkai's legs, instantly drawing an agonized scream from those pale lips.

        Of Hyakugan Maoh assuming his true form of a monstrous centipede, wrapping Hakkai in his coils. From within that hideous body, something protruded, poised at the battered region of the young man's form and...

        Obasan did not stay any longer. Before the screaming resumed again, she fled down the stairs. Tears of guilt streamed down her face at her inability to save the youth from his tormentors.

        It was before daybreak when Obasan was summoned by the demon lord to his chamber. In the presence of her evil master and his son, she found it difficult to concentrate on their commands, nauseated as she was by the sight of that blood-drenched bed.

        "I have placed my lovely prize inside the guest suite," Hyakugan Maoh said. "Because of his delicate constitution, he only deserves the best accommodations and care." He pointed a clawed finger at her. "I entrust his care to you, old woman."

        Chin Issou threw a small flask, which she barely caught in her hands. "Make sure that he takes no more than five drops every morning and night. That amount would be enough to ensure that he won't hurt himself and especially..." A fiendish grin and a shrug. "Well, you know."

        Obasan bowed to her masters and immediately left the chamber before she could give in to the urge to tear their throats out. She all but ran to the guest suite,  fearful as she was for the young man's welfare.

        Opening the door, Obasan was again greeted by a heart-wrenching smile from the figure lying on the bed.

        Running to his side, she asked in grave concern, "Hakkai-kun, daijoubu desu ka? Tell me, child. How are you feeling?" Laying her hand on his brow, she found that the youth was burning up with fever.

        "Actually," Hakkai began weakly, his green eyes dulled by the effects of the drug that Chin Issou had earlier given him, "I don't feel anything at all. Just...numb...and very sleepy."

        "Yes, that's a good idea," Obasan declared, trying to sound cheerful. "You must get some rest."

        Hakkai sighed as he pressed his cheek to the old woman's hand. "Hai." Yawning, he remarked, "This is a nice room. A lot better than the dungeon." A mischievous grin curled up the corners of his lips. "Since I'm playing 'mistress' to Hyakugan Maoh and his son, the least they can do is give me a better room."

        "How could you still smile and joke like this?" Obasan blurted out. "After what they..." She stopped herself before she could finish what she was going to say.

        "It's nothing that they haven't done to me before. I'll be fine. I only need a little rest."

        Obasan stared aghast at the sleepy young man. "Hakkai-kun...don't you remember..."

        "Remember..." A shake of his head. "I had a bad dream while they were... No, I don't want to remember." Hakkai's voice grew softer and softer as he drifted off into a drug-induced sleep. "Because if I remember...I know I'm going to cry...or fly into a rage."

        When the young man was sound asleep, Obasan cradled his head on her lap. Her gnarled hand reached down between his legs and easily found the spot where they had mutilated him. Deep within that opening, she knew lay the thing that was to serve as the anchor for Hyakugan Maoh's accursed seed -- a mahjong tile.

        A tear fell from her eye, dropping just below Hakkai's left eye. As that lone tear trickled a path down that pale cheek, to Obasan, it seemed as if the youth was crying.

        "I don't want to remember," Hakkai had told her. "Because if I remember, I know I'm going to cry, or fly into a rage."

        Obasan embraced the young man tightly as her body shook with her sobs. "Then, let me weep in your place, Hakkai-kun," she whispered, "until you are able to cry and rage against the Fates that have brought you to this hell."

---

        Three months passed since that terrible night, and it relieved Obasan that her masters had chosen to leave her ward unmolested. But she knew the reason for this distance. All the old woman could do was pray that her fears would be unfounded.

        Unfortunately, it was not to be.

        Obasan had gone to Chin Issou to get more of that mind-numbing potion, unaware that the effects of the draught that the youth had taken earlier had worn off during her absence.

        As she was returning to the guest suite, what immediately caught Obasan's sharp hearing were the sounds of pitiful retching. The minute she opened the door, she was frozen in place by a horrific scream.

        Dressed only in a loose white shirt, Hakkai was kneeling in a pool of his own vomit. His left hand was turning white at the way he gripped the hem of his shirt, yanking it down between his thighs. His shaking right hand was raised to her. But what shocked Obasan was the sight of those furious tears that poured from his jade eyes.

        "What did you do to me?" Hakkai's voice was slowly rising to a hysterical shriek. "What the hell did you do to me?"

        Obasan nearly jumped out of her skin when Hyakugan Maoh spoke up behind her. "You did well, my son," he praised Chin Issou, who was grinning beside him. "Looks like you're going to have a little brother."

        "Or a little sister," Chin Issou put in. "Either way, the child is going to be as pretty as its mother...or should I say its father."

        "You have taken enough liberties with my body!" cried Hakkai, reaching for the poker behind him. "I would rather die than carry this bakemono inside me!"

        Snatching the poker, he was about to plunge the sharp tip into his belly, but Hyakugan Maoh stepped forward and yanked the bar out of his hand. The ringing slap that he was about to inflict upon the young man was received instead by Obasan, who leaped to her ward's defense.

        "No, my lord!" she gasped out, though her head was reeling from the blow. "The child..."

        The youkai lord looked at the woman for a long moment. "You are right," he acceded grudgingly. "Obasan, make certain that he doesn't do anything to harm himself or the child. I will have guards posted at the door." Grinning at Hakkai, he said, "We shall have a feast two weeks from today to celebrate. I expect you to be at my side, so make yourself pretty for me then."

        Granting the young man a caress on the cheek, Hyakugan Maoh strode outside the suite, his son following behind him.

        When they were gone, Obasan turned with great hesitation toward her ward, raising a trembling hand to him. "Hakkai-kun..."

        "DON'T TOUCH ME!"

        The old woman jerked her hand back, fingers stinging from Hakkai's fierce blow.

        "You knew they were going to do this, but you didn't tell me," he muttered accusingly, his whole body shaking with rage. "I thought you were my friend!"

        "I am your friend! Please believe me!" Obasan cried beggingly. "But I couldn't..."

        Hakkai clapped his hands over his ears. "I don't want to hear another word!" For a moment, silence. Then, he lowered his hands on his lap, clenching them into tight fists. "Damn you! Damn you all! If only I had a weapon, even a small knife, I will kill you all, and I will destroy this loathsome creature that you have placed inside me! If only I had a dagger..."

        Obasan felt her heart breaking at those furious cries. Indeed, she had betrayed him most heinously. She knew there was no forgiveness for her inaction to stop the atrocity that was committed upon him.

        A soft sigh issued from the young man. As she looked at him once more, Hakkai's whole body seemed to sag from the weight of his burden. His green eyes, once filled with life and good cheer despite the hardships, was a total blank, his inner light snuffed out.

        Obasan cautiously approached her poor ward, but there was no response from him. Falling to her knees, she embraced Hakkai tightly, her tears streaming down her face.

        "Everything will be fine, Hakkai-kun," Obasan whispered in his ear reassuringly. "I promise you that. I swear I will make my amends to you when the time comes."

        But the young man remained silent. To the old woman, her ward was nothing more than a corpse.

        Two weeks passed after that. On the night of the feast, Obasan was walking through the torch-lit hallways, heading one last time to the guest suite. Behind her, she could hear the buzz of animated conversation and raucous laughter of the revelers in the Great Hall.

        Laugh all you can, Obasan smiled knowingly. You won't have anything to laugh about before this night is through.

        She gave a quick nod to the two guards, who permitted her to enter.

        Inside the chamber, Hakkai was seated before the mirror, freshly bathed and groomed, and dressed in fine garments befitting the catamite of a youkai lord. Same as the days past, her entrance drew no reaction from the young man, his green eyes blank, his lips sealed. As though his mind had completely shut down as a result of the atrocity that was inflicted upon him.

        Obasan, however, will not be deceived. She knew that Hakkai was simply waiting for the right opportunity. And she was going to give it to him.

        The old woman pulled out the thing that she kept tucked inside her boot and slid it over the table top until it touched the youth's hand.

        An expectant smile formed on her lips as Hakkai's fingers closed around the sun-carved hilt of the double-edged golden dagger.

        "Let your vengeance come swift and true, Hakkai-kun," Obasan whispered, tears pouring down her cheeks, as the young man turned to face her, his handsome features transformed into a mask of rage. "I am so sorry for failing you."

        In a few minutes, the bloodied form of Cho Hakkai was walking through the dimly-lit hallway, leaving behind the dead bodies of two youkai guards and an old woman, on a rendezvous with a destiny that can never be changed.