Gensomaden Saiyuki Fan Fiction ❯ Tainted Love ❯ Chapter Twelve ( Chapter 12 )

CHAPTER TWELVE

Sanzo barely breathed throughout the couple's narrative. They had talked so long that he hadn't noticed that time had flown by and that it was already afternoon. He had long suspected that this was what happened to Gojyo, but to hear it from those who had actually witnessed it? He felt very ill. It was a miracle to say the least that the half-breed had survived it and somehow managed to move on. Like Gojyo, he could not find it in him to be angry with Takeo. True, he had been one of his abusers, but he was the only one to have shown him compassion. Despite the loss of innocent lives that night, Sanzo believed that that despicable town deserved its horrific end.

But one thing continued to bother him.

"This…being…that you saw," the monk began. "Are you saying that it was Gojyo?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure," Takeo replied with a confused shake of his head. "Things just happened so fast. It was all flames, burning bodies…"

"But there were two figures at the window of that burning bar," put in Karin with certainty. "One was definitely Jinnei. I couldn't make out the features of the other because of the fire, but he was just standing there, his whole body ablaze, but he doesn't seem to be affected by the flames. However, I heard Jinnei call him 'Sha Gojyo', no doubt about it."

Sanzo thought long and hard. Unlike Hakkai and Goku, Gojyo hasn't shown any unique abilities. The summoning of the jakujou out of thin air was a very simple spell, akin to a parlor trick. What the couple just described to him was simply unbelievable.

"By the way, what happened to your other friend?" Karin's voice interrupted his thoughts. "The one whom Gojyo loved."

Sanzo let out a weary sigh. "We were forced to abandon him back at that old mansion a few miles from here. The spirits of Jinnei and his cohorts are controlling him by means of a doll Hakkai had asked your local toy maker to make for him."

Karin frowned at that. "Toy maker, you say? But we don't have a toy maker in this town."

"That's impossible! The four of us have been inside that shop. There were dolls on all the shelves and…"

"But did you actually get to meet this toy maker?" Takeo quietly asked. He nodded thoughtfully, a frown creasing his brow. "I think I understand now. When Gojyo fell in love with Hakkai, it activated that accursed tattoo that Jinnei had marked on his left shoulder. Jinnei was a blood magician. That tattoo, with their blood mixed in the ink, served as the anchor for their spirits. There, they lay sleeping, until Gojyo gave his heart to Hakkai. Something must have stopped them from possessing his body completely. Because they could no longer use the tattoo as refuge, Jinnei used Hakkai to make that doll as a temporary body. The toyshop…it was all just an elaborate illusion. I have no doubt that those freak snowstorms you guys had experienced was conjured up by Jinnei. Let me guess. It was Hakkai who suggested to you that you seek shelter in that mansion, right? Because the toy maker said so?"

Sanzo's jaw dropped, stunned that they were manipulated so easily by Jinnei.

"That mansion belonged to Jinnei," Takeo confirmed. "That's where he performed all his blood rituals. He needed Hakkai to be there so he can work the spells that would allow him to totally seize control of his body, and then bind Gojyo to him for all eternity."

"But I do agree with you that maybe something has been thwarting his plans," the monk affirmed. "That doll went missing for a few days, and I think that Gojyo had something to do with its disappearance. Whatever it was that he did to that doll, it wasn't permanent. It was that doll and those ghouls that raped him. And now they have Hakkai, and he isn't actually thinking rationally at the moment. He's angry with Gojyo for not telling him the truth. He even found it hard to believe that Gojyo had been gang-raped."

"Probably Jinnei has been working on his mind, feeding him with lies." Takeo breathed in deeply. "Unfortunately, Jinnei is using those dark thoughts and emotions to control him."

"The big problem is," Sanzo began, "how can we save Hakkai?"

"If you want to know what I think…" Karin interrupted, raising her finger to the bedroom above. "If you really want to save your friend from Jinnei's clutches, it's only that poor young man up there who can do it."

~~~~~

Upstairs, Goku was sharing Sanzo's shock after hearing the half-breed's tale. That, and deep sorrow. The terrible hardships that Gojyo went through caused tears to stream down his face.

Even Gojyo was weeping. Sniffling, he said, "I've asked myself many times that night what I've done to invite that attack. Was it the way I dressed, the way I danced? Was my very appearance screaming out to everyone that I was a whore? Was I begging to be raped?"

"No! Absolutely not!" Goku spoke up vehemently. "You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time! You were their victim! What they did to you was more than wrong! And that damned town…" The boy gritted his teeth in fury. "You may mourn for those so-called 'innocents' who were lost there, but I feel they got what they deserved for not helping you that time. I would've done the same thing that you did and put that blasted place to the torch!"

Goku embraced the redhead tightly. "I told you you could cry on my shoulder, Gojyo. Please accept."

Gojyo merely nodded as he wept into the boy's shoulder, while Goku rubbed his back soothingly.

"I never knew Hakkai could be such a fool," Goku said bitterly. "How could he not see how much you've suffered? I swear I'll deck him when I see him again."

"That wasn't Hakkai," Gojyo mumbled in his shoulder.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

The half-breed eased out of the boy's embrace. "Don't worry, Goku. I'll bring the real Hakkai back, so that he could take care of you…when I'm gone."

"What're you talking about?" Goku demanded. To his greater shock, Gojyo got up from the bed, wincing at the pain in his healing bottom. Goku quickly stood up and blocked the redhead's way. "What do you think you're doing? If you think I'm just going to let you waltz out of this room, you're wrong! Gojyo, you're injured! For heaven's sake, please get back into bed!"

"But don't you see, Goku? I'm the only one who can save Hakkai." A mischievous smile went up Gojyo's lips, making the boy even more suspicious. "Oh, before I go, I promised you a surprise, didn't I? You're going to love this!"

Goku was pushed down on the bed, but he remained alert and ready in case the half-breed decided to bolt. But as Gojyo revealed his 'surprise', Goku's eyes slowly widened, his jaw dropping in awe. Reflected in his stunned golden orbs were tongues of flame.

~~~~~

"No! Absolutely not!" Sanzo stood from his seat, slamming his hands on the table. "I will not put Gojyo into any more danger! He's been through enough!"

"Sanzo-sama, you yourself admitted to us that you've never dealt with a blood magician before," Karin pointedly reminded him. "How can you even hope to defeat Jinnei?"

"There's also something you need to know," Takeo interjected. "Most of the spells that I've seen Jinnei work are victim-specific. No one can remove the curse, except for the accursed one himself, and that means Gojyo."

"But even if the spell is removed, what's going to stop Jinnei and his fellow ghouls from going after Gojyo again?" the monk argued. "Spirits have greater freedom to wander this mortal plane. What's to stop him from placing another curse on Gojyo? Damn it! If there's only a way to destroy evil spirits…" He paused all of a sudden, sniffing the air. With a frown, he asked, "Do you smell smoke?"

"SANZO! SANZO!"

They were all jolted by those frantic cries coming from upstairs. Sure enough, Goku came running down, his face ghastly pale.

"Goku! What is it?" the monk asked worriedly.

Rather than answer that question, the breathless boy first turned to Takeo and said, "I'm sorry for the cruel things I said to you earlier. I didn't know."

"Goku, you can apologize later," Sanzo growled in exasperation. "Now tell us what's wrong?"

"It's Gojyo! First, he…changed. And now, he's gone!"

"And you just let him go? Curses, saru! You're useless!" the monk exclaimed as he hurried up the stairs.

"If you've only seen him…what he changed into, I doubt it if even you could've stopped him!" Goku called out defensively behind him.

To everyone's surprise, wisps of smoke were coming out from the cracks of the door. As they ran inside, Takeo and Karin quickly stomped out the smoldering ashes on a spot on the floor while Goku doused the burning curtains with water from the basin. Sanzo's eyes, however, were riveted to the window…and at the glass that had melted down.

"It's Gojyo," Takeo told the boy. "He did this, didn't he?"

Goku could only nod, still stunned by what he had witnessed.

"Where did he go?" Sanzo gripped the startled boy's shoulders, giving him a little shake. "Did he tell you where he was going?"

In reply, Goku pointed outside the window…and at the red glowing speck flying through the darkening sky in a northeasterly direction.

"I know where he's headed," Takeo said in a hushed voice. "He's going back to where it all began…that town. I'll give you a map showing the shortcut."

"Yes, thanks." Sanzo tugged Goku's arm as they went downstairs to get Hakuryu ready. "Goku, I want you to tell me exactly what you saw."

~~~~~

Hakkai lay curled up in a dark corner of his mind, his head literally being torn apart by the warring emotions of bitter disappointment and guilt.

"If only you'd told me the truth!" His hand tightened into a fist.

The voice that had been tormenting him for the past few days whispered insidiously, "He kept secrets from you in the past. Why should he be truthful to you now, after he had acted like a shameless slut? You said it yourself. He was asking for it. And I have to tell you, he loved it so much that he was begging for more!"

The rational voice of his conscience stomped down hard on the anger that was threatening to surface. "But does keeping a terrible secret warrant such a harsh punishment? Did it please you to see him suffering, even when he had begged for forgiveness?"

A vision of Gojyo on his knees, tears in his eyes, saying, "I love you, Hakkai", appeared before him.

"Nooo…" he groaned, clapping his hands over his ears.

"If he lied twice, he could do it again and again," his tormentor argued. "If he had lain with seven men, who's going to stop him from seeking pleasure from others? Certainly not you! That monkey boy had been right about him from the very beginning! He is nothing but a whore!"

"ENOUGH WITH YOUR LIES!"

Hakkai slowly opened his eyes to behold a half-naked Gojyo walking determinedly through the snow, heading towards him. Since he was still in a dreamlike state, he did not notice the ice melting under the half-breed's bare feet, clouds of steam rising with every step.

Seeing that handsome face that had caused him so much pain, Hakkai felt all reason desert him and anger flared up inside his heart.

~~~~~

Gojyo immediately saw Hakkai standing at the opposite rim of the blast crater, that hateful doll in his arms. Both glared at him with sheer hatred and malevolence.

Stopping at the crater's edge, he shouted, "Jinnei! I've come to settle the score between us once and for all! But leave Hakkai out of this!"

Jinnei replied through Hakkai's lips, "Are you a fool that you don't see the pain that you inflicted upon him with your lie? He needs me to heal him!"

"You? Heal him? You've deepened the wound inside his heart with even more of your lies!"

"He hates you, Gojyo! He hates you from the bottom of his heart!"

"Then let me hear it from him! Let me speak to Hakkai!"

Cruel laughter. "Now why should I do that? But then again, why not? So you could finally realize that you belong to no one else but me."

Gojyo knew that Jinnei relinquished control of Hakkai's body by the way his green eyes showed signs of growing alertness. However, when those jade orbs focused on him, there was that flare of hurt within. The redhead was disheartened by that reaction.

"Gojyo…" Hakkai breathed out his name.

"Are you still angry with me, Hakkai?"

At first, Hakkai couldn't reply. Turning away, he again muttered those cruel words that had become like a mantra to him. "You should've told me the truth!"

Gojyo let out a defeated sigh. "I know, and I am paying for that sin – my one and only sin. For five years, I've carried the shame of that night with me, and for all the wrong reasons. I believed myself to be a slut, that I waved a flagrant invitation to be raped. But looking back, what shamed me was that I hadn't been able to do anything to defend my honor. I didn't fight them hard enough. It would've been best to have died that night fighting than live on to deal with its aftermath.

"But do you know what shamed me the most? It's that, even after what happened to me, I still continued to pray to the gods to give me someone who would love me. Can you just imagine me, a broken and tainted man, begging to be loved? But the fickle gods answered my prayers this time. One rainy night, while I was walking home, I stumbled upon a dying young man in the forest, and my life was never the same again."

At that last, Hakkai finally looked up to see red teardrops falling from Gojyo's eyes. He first thought it was blood, but seeing those tears glowing, he was stunned, realizing that the half-breed was crying tears of molten lava.

"Forgive me for lying to you, Hakkai," Gojyo sobbed. "I became selfish. I…I didn't want to lose you. But I realize it now. After my stepmother, Jien, and you, I don't deserve to be loved…because in the end, I will only break the hearts of those I love. However, Hakkai, never doubt that I do love you with all my heart, even if you no longer feel the same about me. And it's because of this love that I will free your soul from the prison in which Jinnei had imprisoned it…even if it costs me my life."

~~~~~

At that moment, Hakuryu screeched to a halt, and Sanzo and Goku jumped down just in time to witness a most startling transformation.

A brilliant red aura surrounded Gojyo, igniting his body like a torch. His red hair lengthened up to his waist. From the roots to the tips, fire crawled through each strand, transforming his crimson tresses into wildly waving flames. Tongues of flame licked out of his eyes. Fiery wings unfurled from his back, spreading wide to reveal tiny flames of various shades of red in place of feathers. Raising his clawed hand palm up, the half-breed sent a pillar of flame shooting up the heavens.

With a snarl, Gojyo pointed at the evil doll and the five dark wraiths that surrounded his lover.

"I'm coming for you, Jinnei!"

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