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Prologe: Rules and Order
Monkeybarrel: Part the First
Flemmings: Part the Second
Dunwich: Part the Third
Xsmoonshine: Part the Fourth
Incandescens: Part the Fifth
Part the Sixth
"Alrigh', so explain to me again how this works." Kenren rested his elbows on the bar and tried to massage the drunkenness out through his temples. This had all seemed so easy to understand when the mission had consisted of Go And Get The Monkey. Kenren thought of himself as smarter than most soldiers, but this tangent Tempou'd just veered off on...it was a lot more complicated than, say, battlefield theory, for instance. He said as much to Tempou, adding ruefully that the effects of alcohol in what was it - liminal time? literal time? linear time? - were markedly more pronounced than they were in Heaven.
"Linear," Tempou said, smiling. "Although I suppose," he amended, loosing philosophical streamers of tobacco smoke from his nostrils, "one could argue that time Down Here is all three."
"Yeah, fine." Kenren waved one hand vaguely through the air before dropping it around the comforting presence of the tumbler. Ice tinkled softly against the glass, awash in its sea of cola and whiskey. "So wha's this about being a shame?"
"Only that time in Heaven not being linear," Tempou continued as if Kenren were sober enough to understand, "the fact that we Celestials witness the events Down Here in a linear order is merely for convenience's sake. We could actually choose to come Down and witness any event at any time whenever we felt like it, provided we knew that event was to occur. Except this event."
"And why's tha'?" Kenren asked dutifully, glaring balefully at the tumbler all the while. This is your fault, he accused it silently.
"Because it is the nature of the universe that when consciousness falsely perceives itself as a static ego, then it cannot exist outside of itself, or double to itself. So as long as I falsely perceive the world in terms of Tempou Gensui and everything that is Not Tempou Gensui, I'll never be able come down and watch myself making history, because I'm already here."
Kenren was a Celestial, and tried every now and then to be a conscientious one. He was vaguely aware of the Precepts, and the path to satori, and by extension the topics Tempou was referencing with such abandon. He tried, for a moment, to bend his mind around them now. But he was first and foremost a pragmatist.
"So what would happen if you did try to come down to look? If there were two of you here at once?"
"Well, the records aren't clear on that. Either very bad things, or it's impossible and could never happen in the first place, or at least be sustained for very long."
"Oh, well tha' settles it. Want an'ther drink?"
Tempou's amused smile swam into view in the mirror across the bar. "I don't see why not, Taishou," he said, untangling Kenren's fingers from his glass and bringing the drink to his lips.
Tempou raised Kenren's glass to his lips and took another sip of the cloyingly sweet beverage. The General, for his part, had retired to the comfort of the bartop, head cradled in his hands. At least Gokuu still appeared to be well under the influence of the tranquilizers. They really should be heading back Up There, from whence to execute whatever next step Kanzeon Bosatsu had in store, but...
But the bar did stock his brand of cigarettes. And he didn't really relish the idea of dragging a sleeping Gokuu, and then a sleeping Taishou back up to Heaven. He had the sneaking suspicion that if he were to take the General back first that Gokuu would be long gone by the time he got back, and the bar's kitchens emptied to boot.
And he if he took Gokuu first? A sudden, vivid image of a drunken Kenren swerving through the village streets in another hotwired vehicle, intent on driving the thing back through the Gate into Heaven..? Well, that sort of thing had a tendancy to dampen people's faith in the Celestial faster than eight or even ten years of unanswered prayer.
"Gokuu!"
Tempou started at the joyous exclamation, which had come not from Kenren, but from somewhere across the bar.
"Gokuu, we found you!"
Oh no you don't, Tempou thought as he turned to face the speakers - Red Hair and Monocle from earlier - hand already reaching beneath his lab coat for the tranquilizer pistol.
The world outside was black. The rocks inside were grey and lifeless, which suited Her just fine. She stared moodily at them, the radiance reflecting from the thousand chips of imbedded minerals not blinding Her in the slightest. If anything, the cheerfulness of it all blackened Her mood considerably.
She was the most exalted of them all, and yet they had the audacity to treat Her like this, like a common... Common... Commoner. Layering insult upon insult and then remonstrating with Her for 'sulking.' Well, She thought, I'm sure they feel sorry about that now. I'll bet they're very sorry they treated Me so poorly.
She stared down at Her perfect white hands, folded primly in Her lap atop layers and layers of the finest embroidered silk kimono. It had been bad enough the first time, when Her Brother had so blatantly desecrated Her possessions and disrespected Her position. At least then some people had felt sorry for Her, she sniffed. Now, no one had even come looking for Her, thanks to those people in the other Heaven. These days, more people turned to them than Her, or anyone Her family, but especially Her. Nobody cared about Her anymore. She wondered now if anyone ever really had.
The last time they'd finally sent someone to dance for Her, although, She reflected darkly, they still hadn't apologised. Well, it was too late now. Even if they sent twenty dancing Kami, fifty dancing Kami...even if they apologised with their foreheads to the ground and tears streaming from their eyes, She wouldn't listen. Let that show them.
A small, surreptitious movement caught at the corner of Her vision, rousing Her from Her fantasies of avengement. She turned and stared at the boulder She'd rolled across the entrance to the cave, which was now rocking furiously back and forth, muffled noises of irritation issuing from without.
She rose to Her feet and stood glowering at it, shaking from head to foot. How dare they! Did they think they could just barge in here and demand that She come out?? She'd been robbed, and no one cared! No one! And now they were here, coming to collect Her as if She were an errant child?
For it was most certainly one of them. Only a Kami or demon of considerable power could possibly hope to move a boulder so large. Fine. Let it, whoever it was. She would show it just what Her fury felt like.
A final desperate grunt echoed along the ceiling of the cave, and then the boulder rolled to one side, baring the entrance to the world outside. A cool breeze came questing through the opening, but it did so alone. Neither Kami nor demon accompanied it to claim responsibility for this outrage.
She stood for several moments, shimmering with fury, before realising with a shock that the culprit was already in the cave, and had been there for some time. She'd been expecting something big.
The small...creature...who'd unrolled the boulder plopped onto the stone floor of the cave and fixed her with a stare of mingled disappointment and condemnation, fine brows drawn tight over large golden eyes.
"You're not Konzen!" it accused.
Sanzou had spotted Gokuu, but it was Gojyo and Hakkai who got to him first, almost knocking the wind out of him as they swept him into a group embrace.
"Gokuu!" Sanzou exclaimed. "We were so worried, we thought they'd got you!"
"Gokuu, you're safe!" Hakkai added.
Gojyo opened his mouth to say something and stilled, eyes on the door. "They're here," he gasped, blood draining from his face.
Gokuu's eyes made to follow Gojyo's, but his gaze was arrested midway. A fearsome looking man in a dirty white labcoat had risen from the bar, murder written on his features and a gun clenched in one hand. Gokuu was not the most perceptive of individuals, but he was a conman, he knew disguises, and he certainly knew Not Human when it was staring him in the face. So he did the only sensible thing to do, given the circumstances.
"Youkai!" he hollered. "Run!" and then tripped over the thick rubber cord which lead to the generator out back.
She was very pretty, Gokuu thought. Her skin was so white it glowed. But she looked so sad. It made him sad too. He wished there was something he could do.
"What are you?" she sniffed down her small powdered nose.
He stared at the golden weave of her kimono. "I'm lonely," he answered, then scratched the back of one ear with his foot.
The lady gave a small, startled gasp of laughter, eyes crinkling in amusement. But it was gone as soon as it had come, and then she just looked sad again.
Well, he was sad too. Gokuu wondered if she had any food she could eat. Food always made him feel better. Well, usually. Not now. He missed Konzen too much to eat. But that was okay, because he didn't mind giving her his food now because he wasn't hungry 'cause he missed Konzen.
"Um..." he said, uncertain how to approach this strange creature in front of him. She fixed him with a disconsolate, watery gaze. "Do you want something to eat?" he asked.
Her eyes widened when she saw what was in his hand.
Three things happened as Hakkai entered the bar.
A chorus of delighted voices raucously proclaimed how happy they were to find Gokuu here, and safe. Hakkai was certain he'd heard them before, but he couldn't quite place them, and besides, if Gokuu was here, that was all that mattered.
As he turned to say as much to Gojyo, someone screamed "Youkai!" someone else "They're coming for us!" and the lights went out, plunging the room into bedlam. Women shrieked, tables were upended, and the panicked crowd began trampling itself in its desperation to reach the door.
And then he heard Gojyo's voice coming from the direction of the bar, belligerent and demanding to know what the hell was going on.
It was pitch black and chaos ruled, and in conditions like these Hakkai wasn't above using a few well-placed ki blasts to facilitate matters.
He made it to Gojyo's side by memory and sensation alone. He didn't need sight for this - he'd know Gojyo's voice, the aura of his ki, anywhere.
"Gojyo," he panted, stomach still aching from sudden contact with a badly-placed elbow. "Are you all right? And how did you get over here?"
"I'm fine," Gojyo snapped, with just a little too much edge, Hakkai thought, now more than slightly irritated himself. Gojyo's breath carried enough alcoholic fumes to fell a mid-sized youkai at several paces.
"How did you manage to drink so much?" he asked, putting irritation aside for the moment.
"You tell me, nimwit," Gojyo answered. "And who the fuck is Gojyo?"
This isn't making any sense at all, Hakkai thought. The chaos around them was beginning to subside, as the bar's patrons had for the most part made it outside or been knocked unconscious in the process. Patience, Hakkai thought. Patience and logic.
He flailed slightly in the dark, found a shoulder, then gripped the other one. "Gojyo," he said, willing calmness into his words, "What is going on?"
"Who the hell are you?" Gojyou shot back. "Get your hands off me."
Has he been kicked in the head? Hakkai thought vaguely. Or have I? None of this was making any sense.
Then the lights came back on, and Hakkai got a good look at Gojyo.
Sanzou stubbed his toe on another invisible boulder, stumbled and cursed the name of every Aspect of the Buddha that came to mind. Damn black made it impossible to see where the hell he was going. At least he given up on wearing sandals.
Of course, Gokuu would pick weather like this to go hiking. He'd gone to every bar in that cursed little shithole of a village before finding a man who'd seen Gokuu wandering in the direction of the mountain shrine. And then he'd unearthed four other people who'd seen Gokuu heading this way. So up after him it was, in the pitch-fucking-black.
Damn the monkey for making him walk up a mountain to rescue him, not once but twice. When I find him this time, Sanzou thought grimly, wiping his brow on a limp silk sleeve, I am going to slug him.
Twice.
At least twice.
And so I hand the torch to ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
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