Saiyuki Fan Fiction ❯ One Level Down Songfic ❯ One Level Down Songfic ( Chapter 1 )

Authors Note: I don't own Saiyuki and make no claims on it. If I did, there'd be a whole hell of a lot of kinky shit going down. The song used is One Level Down by Rotersand. All rights to the song remain with their creator(s).

 

One Level Down Songfic

 

 

Awoke and found myself

Lying on a wooden floor

Thought this had come to an end

I won't be shattered anymore

But the floor slipped to the walls

And had me crashing down again

 

 

I awoke and found myself lying on a wooden floor. I blinked repeatedly to try and bring things into focus and still didn't recognize anything. Where the hell was I? Where were Doku and Yaone? What the hell happened, and why did I feel like I'd gone toe-to-toe with a god and barely managed to make it out alive? Wherever I was, it was deathly quiet. I could hear the rushing of my own blood in my ears. Everything on me hurt. I had the suspicion that I'd done something incredibly stupid and likely deserved the pain I was in. I tried to remember what I'd done to deserve this agony, but my mind was a blank.

 

Maybe that was a blessing.

 

I dismissed that idea almost as soon as I thought it. Those not wanting to remember their pasts were destined to repeat them. Whatever it was I'd done to get myself into this state; I wanted to remember so I never did it again. I struggled to sit up, panting heavily from just the simple movement. I could feel something warm that was likely blood slide across my skin in several places. That was not a good sign, and now that I was aware that I was bleeding, the coppery scent of blood was almost over-powering in my nose.

 

I'm not sure if it was the act of moving or the fact that I was struggling so hard to remember that triggered the bits and pieces of memory that teased me. When everything did suddenly jump into clarity for me, I groaned softly. I had gone toe-to-toe with a god. Or at least someone close enough to not quibble over the semantics of it.

 

I thought that this foolishness had come to an end. I'd made the decision to stop chasing after pipe dreams and only work toward attainable goals after my last humiliating defeat. What made me think that what I'd attempted was even possible? How had it even remotely seemed like a good idea? A crystal clear memory popped into my head and a growl escaped my lips.

 

Nii.

 

Obviously, I was an idiot. I knew better than to trust or take anything that quasi-scientist had to say at face value. I clenched my jaw and set my resolve. He'd tried to use me. Again. Nobody used me. Nobody. I doubted whatever his plan involved was for the purpose of gaining the sutra. No, he probably saw it as an amusement. If I had managed to capture the sutra I'm positive it would have been an unexpected bonus to him. Quite possibly my foolishness was simply a way to field test one of his inventions. I made a personal promise to myself then and there. One I intended to keep at all costs.

 

I won't be shattered anymore.

 

Not emotionally and never again mentally. I'd do whatever I needed to keep that from happening. It wasn't going to be allowed. Not by Nii. Not by the Sanzo party. Most certainly not by my step-mother. I was better than this. I was a demon-fucking-prince, and no one was going to break me to their will.

 

I dug my claws into the wall intending to haul myself to my feet, find that slimy bastard, Nii, and introduce him to the business end of my temper with the help of a little demon magic. I didn't like violence for the sake of violence, although in Nii's case, I'd make an exception. But the floor slipped to the walls and had me crashing down again. The room spun around me with stomach churning speed and I gave in very ungracefully to unconsciousness. The last thing I heard was a door banging open and a vaguely familiar voice swearing.

 

 

One level down, another round,

One battle lost, when will I reach the final ground?

One level down, what have I found?

Time and again I'm lying shattered on the ground

 

 

I felt swift movement and heard voices speaking medical jargon, spouted off in a rapid fire manner. I struggled to open my eyes against an incredible lethargy and only managed to crack them to the barest slits. Bright lights flashed over my head and where I was hit me with stunning force. The urge to move was overwhelming. I knew that if I didn't do something, I'd be in the worst possible trouble I'd ever been in my whole life. Fear settled like a cold lump in my guts when no matter how I screamed and thrashed inside my head, nothing happened to reflect that with my body.

 

“His injuries are quite extensive.”

 

Nii. I wanted to curl my lips back in a snarl, and mentally cursed when I was denied even that small movement.

 

“Does that mean you can't fix him?”

 

Doku. Sweet relief flooded me. He'd watch out for me until I could move again. He wouldn't let Nii have me. He couldn't.

 

“I didn't say that, did I? Of course I can fix him. You'll have to give him over into my complete care. I may be months repairing him, so expect to be without his highness for quite some time.”

 

What? No! It was Nii and his damned invention that got me into this mess in the first place. I put everything I had into getting up from the gurney I was likely lying on. Not so much as a muscle twitched.

 

“Whatever it takes. Fix him. Give my prince back to me whole again.”

 

Betrayal hit me hard and I screamed inside my head, not a sound escaping past my frozen lips. I heard familiar footsteps walking away and knew that nothing good was about to happen. I didn't doubt Nii would fix my broken body. What worried me was what else he might decide to “fix” while he had me captive. Was my recent resolve not to be shattered again going to be broken already? I prayed with everything I had that it wasn't. We'd already played this game once before and it wasn't something I'd enjoyed. I'd also warned Nii never to do that to me again or I'd kill him. Did he think I forgot my promise?

 

“One level down and time for another round, Kougaiji. I know you can hear me; that you're awake in there. That's what makes this so damn good. We're going to have so much fun together. Well, maybe not together exactly. I'm going to have fun and that's really all that matters, right?”

 

I heard machinery hum into life and felt a different kind of movement. Dread settled in the pit of my stomach. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that we were headed into the depths of the castle. The place where Nii did his most perverse experiments. I mentally clenched my fists and stiffened my spine. One battle was lost. That didn't mean the war was forfeit as well. I was going to hold firm to my resolve if it killed me. I did wonder though when I'd reach the final battle ground and be able to exact my revenge on Nii for not only his past transgressions, but for the things he was about to force on me in my helpless state. At some point he'd have to let me go. It was the when of that moment that had me mentally shuddering in dread.

 

The things I endured under Nii's “tender” care could never be described in adequate detail without risking a person's sanity. For nearly every depraved, perverted thing he did to me, I was fully aware. I was never sure if he miscalculated the doses of whatever drugs he was giving me or if he was doing it on purpose to further torment me. With a man such as Nii, it could easily go either way.

 

I was one level down from completely losing my grip on sanity when things… changed, and my understanding of what was going on hit me with a clarity I'd never experienced before. I wondered if what I'd found was the truth or just another way of Nii screwing with my head. If it wasn't him mentally tormenting me, was this really the entire purpose behind everything Nii did. Was it truly that simple?

 

Through everything that Nii did to me while my body healed, time and again I'd felt like I was lying shattered on the ground after whatever mental, physical or emotional pain he'd put me through. At the time, I'd felt like I never be able to pull myself together again. Instead, I recognized that I'd been made stronger through repeated breaking. It hadn't been a pleasant experience, but then again, nothing in my experience with Nii was ever a pleasurable time. While I was thankful for the new resolve I had, Nii was still going to be made to pay for what he'd done. You couldn't do those things to a demon prince and not expect some kind of retribution. Then again, with the new insight I had to Nii's mind, I was positive he was counting on exactly that and I was more than happy to oblige him.

 

 

Where did I fail, did I go wrong?

There is no crime I could confess

I just keep tossing floor to floor -

This must be purgatory's taste

And as I fall I'm crying out "I do surrender

I know there is no end; no soil will ever keep me safe”

 

 

The second I was free from the tank I'd been kept in and was able to stand unaided, I moved into action. The first strike knocked the stuffed rabbit from Nii's arms. He didn't need the added advantage of any sutra in this battle between us even if I was almost positive he wouldn't have used them. The second strike was blocked with a skill I would have thought impossible for a human in the time before I'd come to know Nii so intimately through our months of tortured interactions.

 

Hands and feet flew. Hard blows whistled past, barely missing a crippling strike. Nii grinned at me, pure pleasure on his face when he saw that I wasn't holding back and really did intend to kill him. His efforts doubled, but I could see in his eyes that this was what his latest round of experiments was all about. Nii wanted one simple thing, and for reasons known only to him, he'd determined I was the one to give it to him.

 

“Ahh, where did I fail? Where did I go wrong? I could've sworn I'd played with your mind enough to weed out all this murderous rage towards me.”

 

I said nothing and kept up with my flurry of attacks. We both knew that was a lie. He'd encouraged my desire for his death to suit his purposes, and while that held more than a hint of allowing him to use me, in this instance, I didn't mind in the least. Nii nodded slightly, and a satisfied smile twitched up the corners of his mouth. It was the first time I'd ever seen him genuinely smile and it threw me for a split second. That tiny lapse was all it took for Nii to land a brutal punch to my ribs, sending me staggering back.

 

“There is no crime I could confess to. I've felt justified in everything I've done. Of course, not everybody shares the same opinion, you included,” he smirked, trying to goad me into reacting.

 

This was no game we played. The stakes were impossibly high, not only for me but for all I held dear. I understood that now. I managed to catch Nii by the loose tie he wore and tossed him from floor to floor, never letting up in the beating I was giving him. After all, he'd engineered this entire confrontation, and for once I was willing to play along to the very end. Nii leaned against a file cabinet, blood flowing from the many cuts I'd given him. Very shortly, he'd reap the labours of what he'd subjected me to. He licked his lips and grinned.

 

“This must be purgatory's taste. I've long held that I'm being punished for something I did in a previous life. Possibly things I've done in this life as well. I think I've had enough. Shall we finish it? I have people to see and things to apologize for.”

 

My fist slammed into his jaw and as he fell, he proved once again that not everything with him was either simple or straight forward. He cried out with the one possible thing that would make me hold back from that final, killing blow. He never did know when to shut his mouth.

 

“I do surrender, Kougaiji. I know there is no end for me; no soil will ever keep me safe, but this is the price of my actions. Will you do the world a favour and put me out of its misery?”

 

I smirked and backed off. “Do you a favour, you mean. I don't think so. I think it'll be much more fun to enjoy your suffering. Fun for me at least. My thanks for getting me back into one piece, for clarifying what my real goals are, and for the insight into your soul. I know the way, so I'll show myself out.”

 

I turned on my heel, and marched out of the room. I heard soft chuckles start before they turned into full blown laughter with more than a hint of madness to them. A shiver danced up my spine, and I wondered for a few precious seconds if I'd just made the error of a life time by not killing Nii when it was not only what he wanted, but what he deserved. My doubts were put to rest when the laughter dissolved into quiet weeping, a name I'd never heard before falling from Nii's lips in a despairing litany.

 

No, leaving Nii alive when he wanted to die but, lacked the courage to end his life was far more fitting. Let him sink one level down from the deepest pits of hell in his anguish. After all, who was I to interfere with the workings of karmic payback that Nii was obviously suffering? To hear the utter loss in Nii's voice as he repeated that name over and over between abject apologies, I felt that some of the payback he owed me for what he'd done had been balanced between us. The remainder that was my due… I bared my teeth in a menacing grin that sent a nearby servant scuttling away in terror.

 

After my educational time with Nii, I was sure something appropriate would come to me.