14Weasel-chan: I am back once again! I apologize for another year of waiting! I really don't know what happened for me to just stop writing but it did and I'm very sorry about that. I'm here again though!
Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
As always, Saiyuki Gaiden belongs Kazuya Minekura.
Chapter 17 - A Confession
Cherry blossoms whirled in the still air; the only other sound was the torches that lit the dark sky as the sun began to creep out of the horizon. Heaven was quiet, the palace still recovering from what transpired a few hours before. Every guard was gathered in front of the Western Army barracks, waiting for word to start the invasion. In front of the mass of guards sat the one man who wanted the rebels brought down more than anyone.
Everyone was on edge, only waiting for the right order to be said. A set of footsteps rung in the tense silence as it came to Li Touten. "Sir, the preparations have been made," the servant informed. Li Touten hummed in response, closing his eyes in thought.
Now, the final night yields to dawn…
Li Touten stood up from his seat, took a step forward and yelled, "Attack!". His order spurred the hundreds of guards to charge to the barracks, tearing down everything in their path. The door was soon knocked down, windows were broken to pieces, and the walls were climbed over by the braver ones. The building was over run in minutes.
"Do not let a single one of those traitors get away!" Li Touten shouted as he walked to the broken-down doorway. "There's only six of those rats! They can only move so far!"
"Li Touten-sama!" a guard called out. "We've pretty much got all the rooms clear, but we haven't been able to discover the rebels."
Li Touten scoffed at the news, "I see. No matter. Release the fire arrows." The archers sent a volley of fire arrows at the building, the flames slowly consuming the barracks. Li Touten watched with delight as his plan played out. "GO! They are all unclean! Even if you kill them, you're still following the will of Heaven!"
"Yes sir!" the guards responded as they continued to storm the building.
"That's it," the power-hungry god grinned. "Kill them. Kill them all!"
Deeper inside the barracks, a group of guards were still checking each room for the rebels. They ran through the halls, ignoring the smoke that was slowly entering the hallway. One guard suddenly stopped when he spotted something unusual. "Hey," he alerted the rest of the troop. He then pointed to the boarded-up door to Tenpou's office.
"Heh, useless resistance," another guard sneered. They quickly made work of the hindrance and slammed the door open. "Come on out traitors!"
The guards were confused when they were met with two unexpected items. A training dummy with a lab coat and a stuffed animal stared back at them. The guards glanced around the room, baffled by what they found. "What are those things doing here?" a guard asked the obvious question.
"I don't know but let's check this room and continue searching," the next guard responded as he took a step forward. "Li Tout-!"
A huge explosion destroyed the room the next second, rubble flying everywhere. Li Touten heard the commotion and sent more guards to investigate but he already had a feeling what happened. He needed to come up with a better plan if he wanted to capture the rebels before they made it to the World Below.
Below in an underground passageway, the six rebels and their hostage were walking in silence until the faint sound of the explosion rattled the ceiling. Kenren glanced behind him as the noise settled before returning to his attention to Goujun in front of him. Amaya, who was behind the general next to her sibling, let out a soft sigh. "There it goes," she broke the quiet air, hoping to gain someone's attention to distract her nervous mind.
"Quite a lot going on up there," Tenpou acknowledged, turning to face the front once again after checking that they were not followed just yet. "The men outside will be a little shorthanded now."
"Yeah, thanks to your idea," Kenren added, keeping his eyes on their hostage in front of him. "Where exactly did you find that stuff?"
Tenpou chuckled before saying, "They were just lying around, just in case~."
"That's reassuring," Amaya grimaced.
"Tenpou, is it really alright?" Konzen's voice interrupted the banter. He received a questioning stare from his old friend which told him to clarify. "Your precious books and your art collection were in that room."
"I don't mind," Tenpou reassured with an easy smile. "They were just empty images. 'All that possesses form eventually breaks.' That's another saying down there."
Konzen looks down, reflecting on his friend's words. He felt guilty about what happened to the Marshal's belongings. Maybe if they didn't know each other, then he would still have all those things. He glanced back at his friend, to see if there was any anger or annoyance but all he saw was concentration on the task at hand. To take Goku to the World Below. Konzen felt his guilt lift a little at that expression. He even looked at the two officers in front of him and saw the same thing. No anger or annoyance, just pure focus on getting them to where they will be safe.
Konzen felt a small bump on his arm, causing him to look down. He saw Goku staring intensely in front of him with a worried pout. He reached for the boy's head and ruffled his hair and said, "It's alright. Don't look like that." Goku's expression lightened at the reassurance but still held a little worry.
Konzen then glanced in front of him at his secretary who was watching Goku. "Don't worry Yuki. We'll make it out of this," he assured the woman with a small smile. Yuki bowed her head in a silent agreement, her own small smile showing on her face. They will make it out of here for Goku. That was all on their mind.
The four traitors had timed their retreat from Tenpou's quarters to coincide with the dawn attack and descended to an underground passage used only by a small section of the Western Army. Their aim was to sneak into the Emperor's palace while the army was away at the barracks.
The group's path was met with a door, Tenpou opening it to let the smell of old books hit them. Goku's gold eyes looked everywhere he could see. He has never seen a place like this before. A room full of nothing but books, dust, and centuries of knowledge.
"What is this place?" Goku asked as his eyes continued to wander around the room.
"The Imperial Palace's library," Tenpou replied, shutting the door behind him.
"I never imagined the basement of your building was connected to a place like this," Konzen commented in mild astonishment.
"Convenient, isn't it? When the army is called to assembly, I can get to the palace right away," Tenpou informed his friends. The group nodded in agreement to what the Marshal said until his next sentence. "I can also borrow all the books I want using the passageway!"
"You can't call it borrowing when you never bring them back," Kenren berated his friend with an annoyed glare.
"General~ Do not expose me to our friends," Tenpou said in a playful fashion.
"Everybody knows of your hoarding habit," Kenren reminded.
Amaya watched her two superiors with a scowl, shaking her head as she grumbled, "Idiots." Her sibling had to hold in her laugh when she heard the Admiral.
Their stated purpose was exile Down Below. There's only one route between Heaven and the lower world. It's used by our army and lies in the lowest level of the cellars under the palace where you go through a Dimension Gate.
"Alright, we'll be saying goodbye to you here," Kenren said nonchalantly.
"What are you going to do?" Goujun questioned, watching everyone with calculating eyes.
"Sorry but you get to wait here until they come rescue you," the general responded in a carefree tone. "Don't hate us more than you already do."
"I apologize for dragging you into this. We had to make sure that there wasn't any sign you were involved in our plot as our Commanding Officer," Tenpou explained with a serious face. He knew his supervisor
There was a momentary pause between the officers, no other words that needed to be spoken. Amaya gave a slight bow and said, "Thanks for your trouble." The officers began to walk away from their superior with the small family, feeling as if this will be the last that they will see the pale captain. They were surprised when they heard Goujun say one last order.
"In that case, report properly."
The three officers did not hesitate as they sharply turned on their left foot to salute their commander, all three with a determined look. "Field Marshal Tenpou, Heavenly Western Army First Platoon," the tactician formally addressed himself.
"General Kenren of the same Platoon."
"Admiral Amaya of the Heavenly Western Army First Platoon."
"The three of us hereby resign from our current positions. We also defect from our Platoon and theretofore all assigned missions," Tenpou stated to the Sea Dragon.
Goujun observed the three officers with a conflicted stare, his mind in a disarray of words. He could only watch the group of rebels walk away to their destination, wherever it may be.
At that moment, there was no order I should have given them.
I merely wondered what is this freedom that compels them to go to such lengths.
No, what was this lack of freedom that which possesses physical form does not merely break.
Perhaps it exists specifically to bear the burden of such a fate.
That is what their retreating forms seem to say.
As the group walked through the small maze of the Imperial Palace's library, a pair of red eyes were lost in thought. She kept watch of surroundings but could not focus. Her mind was fixated on the piece of paper she was fiddling with in her pocket. The admiral found her gaze lingering on the womanizing general in front of her. She knew she had to give the paper to him soon or else it would be too late.
Amaya gathered her remaining courage and reached for his coat, giving it a slight tug to make him stop. Almost immediately she was met with a questioning stare. "Amaya?" Kenren asked. "What's wrong?"
Amaya froze for a moment, her nerves leaving her once again. She didn't think this through properly. The group of rebels were now all looking at them in confusion, wondering why the two stopped. Tenpou was the only one who had a hidden smirk as the admiral looked anywhere besides the people in the row of books.
Amaya finally met the marshal's eyes, giving him a pleading look. Tenpou read her loud and clear. "We'll meet you two at the exit. Please do not take too long," he said in joking seriousness. Kenren watched as his friend gathered the small family and headed to the exit, Amaya looking down at her feet to try to calm her nerves. She waited a few moments to look up at that taller man, immediately blushing at the realization that he has been staring at her.
"So, you got me alone. How can I help you darling?" Kenren asked in his usual teasing tone but his expression said he was holding back.
Amaya took a deep breath before wanting to speak. She needed to be serious or else this will come off as a joke. This was anything but that and she wanted the man in front of her to see that. "Kenren, what are you going to do when we get to the mortal world?" she inquired instead.
The question surprised the general, half expecting an accusation of something he did, but this was more welcoming. "Obviously to find you and the others," he replied.
Amaya shook her head, "No. I mean after that. After you find us."
Kenren had to think about his response for a second. He never really had time to dwell on what comes after they made it to the World Below. He knew for the most part that he needed to find Amaya. That's all that mattered to him, but he wouldn't say that right now.
"I'll be honest with you sweetheart, I haven't thought that far ahead just yet," Kenren admitted with a sheepish smile. "My mind has been focused on getting us out of this situation, safely." Kenren almost regretted his words when he saw the woman's face drop a little bit. He noticed she took a step back, almost like she was giving up on her advance.
"Amaya," he heard himself say. The woman looked at him, surprised that he called out to her. He was also surprised to hear him say her name, but he knew he had to say something before she walked away. Now, he was a little bit stumped to say anything. Finally, he thought of something.
"When we get to the mortal world, lets go fishing together," Kenren blurted out, almost in a hurry. "We can also do whatever you'd like! How about going to a village and buying a lot of stuff? Or just travelling until we get tired? Or we can also…?" Kenren trailed off as he heard the woman laugh. He watched her, almost caught in a trance.
Amaya stopped her laughter to give the general an amused smile, "I think that's the first time I've seen you so nervous."
Kenren had to fight back his blush but still felt it on his cheeks. "Yeah, well, I guess there's a first time for everything," he grumbled under his breath. "So, what do you say? Will you join me?"
"I would love to join you Kenren," Amaya said with a small smile. "Can I add something to help you until you find us Down Below?"
"Sure princess."
Amaya took out the folded piece of paper in her pocket, "Hold out your hands." The general did as he was told, and the woman handed the paper to him but held onto it as she stared intensely into red eyes. "This is only for you when you reach the mortal world. You can only read it once you get there. No peeking, no cheating, no letting someone else read it to you, none of that. Do you understand general?"
"And what if I disobey admiral?" Kenren teased.
"I don't think you would want anyone else to know what is on that paper," Amaya countered with smug look.
"Another mystery I will have to find out from you. I'm beginning to think you enjoy tormenting me," Kenren said as he put the paper in his pocket. "Alright, now I have something to look forward to once we get done with helping Goku."
"Help Goku and then enjoy ourselves," Amaya listed off their checklist. "Sounds simple enough."
"Let's get going then! I want to read my love letter from my admiral ASAP!" Kenren ushered as he grabbed the woman's shoulders to guide her towards the exit.
"L-Love letter?!" the woman stuttered in surprise. Did he already figure it out?
Before she could seek more answers, their group of friends came into view which made her suppress any questions she had ready. Yuki was the first one to spot them and noticed how red her sister's cheeks were. She wanted to embarrass her sibling even more but somehow felt this was not the right time. Tenpou thought otherwise.
"Took you two long enough to stop making out like teenagers," the Field Marshal taunted the soldiers. "We were about to leave you behind if we waited any longer."
Amaya's face looked like it was about to explode from how red she was turning. She tried to say anything, but all her words were caught in her throat. All she could do was stumble on a few words but even then, they just came out as odd sounds.
Kenren found the whole thing cute, trying to keep in his laughter at the bumbling woman next to him. "We had to exchange a few words friend. Sorry for the inconvenience," he told the group with a grin.
"Was it a pleasant conversation?" Yuki asked, honestly curious about the interaction. She wanted to know what made her sibling into a flustered state.
Kenren chuckled before he replied, "More than you can imagine sweetheart."
"Ten-chan, what's 'make out'?" Goku suddenly asked out of the blue.
Yuki gasped at the question, trying desperately to avoid it but found no solution. She didn't have to do much because the annoyed blonde next to her felt his patience run out. Konzen went up to the child and hit his head, yelling, "Don't ask ridiculous questions!"
Goku yelped in pain, "Ouch! It was a simple question Konzen! Why did you hit me?!"
"Focus on getting out of here before asking stupid questions!"
"Konzen, please stop yelling," Yuki suggested but was secretly happy that they didn't have to answer that kind of question.
"Yes, we need to start making our way to the Dimension Gate before we lose our progress," Tenpou announced. "Now, let's start our advance."
