Chapter 1

Vision

The small room had finally gone quiet, nothing but the wind outside could be heard, but someone still lay awake, his thoughts wandering over and over.

As he sat up and started reloading his Banishing Gun, Sanzo couldn't brush off a mysterious feeling deep inside his mind, like something missing, or something was wrong.

'It's been half a year now,' he thought to himself as he examined each bullet before placing in the holster of the small gun. 'Only half a year and we're not one damn step closer to killing that bastard Kougaiji!'

He turned around to the dresser and grabbed a cigarette from the packet, then took a long drag before throwing it out the window in frustration.

"What's this hatred coming from?" he wondered to himself quietly as he gazed out at the starry sky, but started feeling drowsy after a few minutes.

Even though he rarely slept, he let his head sink into the fluffy pillow, falling asleep as soon as his head fell completely into the pillow.

(Dream Sequence)

Darkness embraced him like a dark, thick blanket that he couldn't shake off, and the silence choked him as if it was a deadly poison. But then he heard three faint whispers calling his name in the distance, the voices sounding familiar.

'Who's there?' Sanzo called out, and then shielded his eyes from the bright light that surrounded him, and then after another minute or so, Sanzo removed his hand to see the three floating heads of the gods before him, he instantly bowed before them.

'Ah Genjo Sanzo, I see you're well,' the woman god on the left said, smiling at him.

'How is your mission progressing?' the man in the middle asked.

'Not so well my Lord,' Sanzo replied quietly, looking up at the three gods above him.

'We have come to you Genjo Sanzo, because a change in destiny is at hand,' the old man began, taking a deep breath the continued. 'It is time for another companion to join you in your journey to the West. She will help you fulfill your quest. Look down below you.'

Sanzo looked down beneath him and a picture of a young girl appeared instantly.

The girl looked like she was up to his shoulder in height, waist length chocolate brown hair, dark crystal eyes, pointed ears visible beneath her hair, she was wearing outfit that almost similar to his but instead her black skirt had a slit from the knee down, black flat shoes that laced around the leg, and a white kimono style shirt with the sleeves cut in half on the sides, and also three power limiters were worn tightly around her neck.

'Her name is Kakera, a mysterious girl with many abilities and traits, some that you might find familiar. Find her soon and don't let her do anything she won't regret. She is important to the future of all, Sanzo!'

Sanzo bowed respectfully and slowly stood up as the image of the Kakera disappeared.

'I understand your request, I shall find my new companion and fulfill my mission,' he told them calmly, but started to feel himself being drawn back to reality.

'Go now Genjo Sanzo and Godspeed to you!' the three gods said, and Sanzo watched the three gods fade further into the darkness; their last words only a soft whisper. 'Fate will bring her to you.'

Sanzo woke up with a start to see that the room had grown colder from leaving the window open. He looked to see if anyone was awake, but the others were fast asleep, except that Hakkai wasn't present among them.

"Must've gone for another walk," he reminded himself, shutting the window and went back to reloading his gun like before. When he had finished, Hakkai had silently entered the room. He walked over to his bed next to Sanzo's, but saw that something was troubling him.

"Rough night I assume?" Hakkai asked curiously, waiting patiently for the priest to answer him.

"Not entirely, it's nothing important," Sanzo answered, setting the gun on the windowsill then sighed deeply.

"I'll say nothing more, goodnight then," Hakkai whispered, then turned on his side and fell asleep.

For the remaining night hours, Sanzo replayed the vision over and over again in his mind, but still didn't understand why he and the others needed another companion, especially a woman.

'Great, another person to baby-sit,' he told his wandering mind, suddenly feeling drowsy again. Without a second thought, he plopped his head back onto the pillow again and was out like a light in no time.

"Why did we leave so early guys? I'm hungry and tired!" Goku complained loudly, his stomach letting out another loud growl.

"Quit complaining or we'll just leave you right here and now!" Gojyo snarled at him, whacking him with his shakujo staff as usual.

"What was that for, dumb elf?"

"I'm so damn tired of your complaining, THAT'S WHY!"

A gunshot was heard from the front, and Gojyo and Goku went silent, knowing Sanzo was angry over them arguing again.

"One more word out of both you and I'll make sure you eat nothing but lead till the next town!" the priest warned the two demons in back, so all went quiet after a while.

"You're more uptight then usual, what's bothering you?" Hakkai asked, smiling at his companion next to him.

Sanzo sighed in frustration, knowing Hakkai wasn't going stop worrying. He put away his gun and lit another cigarette before explaining, the rush of nicotine calming down his fuming senses.

"The gods came to me last night, and told me that we need to find another companion," he started through clenched teeth. "Her name is Kakera, a human with strange demon abilities. She can fight like us, but she's important to our mission. We have to find her within the next few days; otherwise we won't get a step closer to killing Kougaiji and his demon team."

'Killing Kougaiji? What's up with him?' Goku wondered. 'Where's this hatred coming from?'