pou laughed, probably more than he should have, but it felt nice and rather silly to be outwitted by a human. Scratch that, it was amazingly ridiculous to be outwitted by Konzen, out of all people!

At that moment, he laughed at everything...That the incredibly dense bureaucrat would be an enlightened priest. That the highest ranking general of the Western Army would be a backwater gambler. That the messiest, most powerful marshal that had ever existed would be housewife obsessed with cleanliness... That his ownmander would be his pet...

"Kyuuuu!"

...friend.

At that moment, he laughed at fate because fate had a wonderful sense of humor that restored his spirits somewhat; for it meant that heaven's time woulde as well. That it would transform into something halfway decent.

Sanzo snorted, "Baka." then went as if to return to where the battle was. He didn't hear the soft beating of wings that loomed overhead, or maybe he thought it was Hakuuryuu because when he heard Tenpou shout out his name, he didn't know what was happening until strong hands pushed him sharply to the side and the god was blown clear across the ice.

"Agh! Damn." Tenpou cursed before attempting to pick himself up. Everything hurt and he only ended up falling again on the ice, the gravity of his condition revealed by the blood he smeared across the shimmering surface. It was so cold...the weight of the weather bringing his very thoughts to a standstill, tempting him to simply close his eyes...

Perhaps he would have done it too, if he hadn't heard the ice crack beneath him.

"Tenpou! Don't move!" Sanzo ordered. He squinted his eyes and looked for her.

There was a pond right outside Tenpou's study; one that was always so still that it was a delicate and perfect mirror of the heaven's flawless sky. He remembered journeying to Under Heaven, simply to get four or five fish to stick in there so that the water would always move, so that it wouldn't be such a perfect mirror of death. Now here he was, on the brink of death, splayed out and frozen, and feeling as feeble as a fish out of water- yet being out of the water would not be a problem for very long, judging on how fast the ice was cracking under his weight. Like breaking glass, it had a nice melody.

A rose scented breeze tickled his skining from behind. Above the breeze, he could hear flapping in the darkness. Curious, he thought, why the sweet attention? Then he remembered what sweet attention was from a witch like this one. He was being seasoned up to be eaten. Stricken by paralysis, Tenpou couldn't even conjure up the energy to scream when she dove in his direction.

What a horrible way to die, he repeated to himself pitifully until a gun pierced the ice inches from his body. Sanzo fired again, this time near his feet. Again and again and again...and the cracks in the ice spread...and there was a splash of water as Tenpou fell through...

The god didn't remember much after that, simply a voice that shook the waters, surrounding him in gold light. The dying cry of the witch...and a hand that reached in and grabbed his own...an incantation filtering through the surface and to his ears...and then he heard nothing.

****

"Tenpou!" he heard Gojyo calling him. "Where the hell are you?"

"Mmmmh..." It was so hot that the possibility hit him that he may have gone to hell, that not even the pretty gold light could save him from the inevitable. Oh. It was one of those, Tenpou contemplated, his eyes remaining closed- one of those effective modes of sub-Under-Heaven torture wherein the victim can still hear the living voice of his lover, friend or whatnot...

"Tenpou!"

...and so adding to the torment, the victim is drenched head to toe in the most disagreeable substance in his eyes...In Tenpou's case: blood, still a bit warm and sticky...which leads to the victim thinking thoughts he never thought before: I really need to shower. It was silly, because there were no showers in hell.

Nevertheless, one cannot crawl up from the depths of purgatory without opening one's eyes and seeing it for oneself. So Tenpou opened his eyes and found that hell looked exactly like heaven except that hell had the stereotypical flames.

...then again, he *could* be in heaven, in his own home which was now transforming into ash as he contemplated absurdities.

...and he should get up, run out, and see what more havoc his doppleganger hadmitted.

...or what good he had done- and judging from the scarcely identifiable corpses of Kenren's regiment, Hakkai had taken care of things his way and not Tenpou's way and he'd be dammed if nobody figured out the difference already. Regardless, his counterpart deserved a 'thank you' for taking pains to burn the evidence- and a good 'fuck you' for setting himself down to burn with it.

...and he could run and escape.

...and he would, if he could only move.

Kenren found the marshal lying in the midst of gutted bodies. It was a sickening sight that made him want to wretch, but he suppressed the feeling and the alarms going off in his head telling him that Tenpou was one of the gutted. He laid so still.

"Tenp-" he broke off in a fit of cough and got down on his knees to crawl. The entire place was a labyrinth of fire. In the air, ravenous heat prowled and feasted on his lungs. The suicidal bastard, fucking suicidal bastard always doing things alone, always thinking he was alone enough to do suicidal things like this and too dense to know there were always people following him to make sure he was never alone and that he never went alone. Tenpou's fingers moved. He groaned, then stilled.

Blood was smeared all across his face, but Kenren didn't care and kissed him anyway.

The marshal moaned weakly, his head lolling back. &quote on now." Kenren said encouragingly as he gently lifted Tenpou from the carnage. "Anything happens to you, Konzen's gonna have my ass."

"To kick to hell, of course." a voice growled from behind. "Not for anything else." There, Kanzeon's nephew stood, his mouth covered. "Now let's get out of this shithole! You've been in here too long."

"Konzeeeeeeen!" Goku called from down the hall.

"Baka! I told you to stay outside." The blonde registered the scene before him. Goku didn't have to see this. Hell, not even *he* wanted to be around to see this, but he just *had* to go with his idiotic impulses. Messy, golden strands falling about his waist, and amethyst eyes radiating cold fury- even the encroaching flames seemed to make a conscientious effort to avoid him.

"But Konzen..."

"Stay there!" and then to Kenren. "Let's go."

Cautiously, the four made their way to the main entrance, only to be stopped by Goujun who stood there so calmly that he seemed oblivious to the blood, fire, and heat. His critical eyes slowly looked over his wounded marshal- blood soaked with blood not his own. He would be convicted, and Goujun would lose his most effective subordinate.

"Not that way." the dragon king said bluntly before taking the lead and bringing them to the side entrance where a silent pool reflected the bitterness of the entire inferno. "Lay him down there and get him clean, then take him out the back."

"Gettin' your claws dirty?" Kenren remarked.

"Remember your place, Taishou."

"My apologies."

And with that, Goujun left, but not before throwing one of his extra uniforms at Tenpou's feet. There's going to be a lot of paperwork involving this incident. Best get started.

Tenpou finally came to in the midst of all the washing, re-clothing, and general pampering.

"What...what happened?"

Unceremoniously, Konzen dumped a bucketful of water on top of his head.

"Keep saying that and you'll have your position longer."

"No, really, what happened?" he sputtered water.

"You're playing stupid, that's what." the blonde said, the calmness in his voice taking the edge from his words. "Just say it. You started the fire, didn't you?"

"I didn't." Well it was true.

"Of course he didn't." Kenren said, grinning and slinging his arm around the marshal. "He was with me the entire time."

Konzen gracefully arched a brow. "Doing *what* may I ask? I will not allow anything so inappropriate to reach Tentei."

"Scouting."

"Down below." added Tenpou with his own secret smile.

"Konzen, what do I do with this?" Goku held up Tenpou's bloodied uniform.

"Toss it into the fire."

A crash shook the ground as the main pillars fell, causing the roof to collapse. This was heaven's first fire, and they all knew that many more woulde: hotter and wilder giving way to many a new dawn just as it was doing now. The sunrise was fresh this day.

"Ten-chan, this was in the pocket."

"Oh? Give it here."

Tenpou unfolded the rumpled piece of paper- something that Hakkai had ripped from one of his books. Poetry?

It said:

Saeva Indignatio and the labourer's hire,

The strength that gives our blood and state magnanimity of

its own desire;

Everything that is not God consumed with intellectual fire.

****

When upon waking, Hakkai saw the fire, he thought nothing, except: 'Perhaps I should leave before the roof collapses.' But there was no roof. There were no walls. There was rain.

His second thought, this time voiced: "Hell's a lot more simple that I'd have expected."

"Well excuse me for giving you a simple life." a voice said behind him where he lay.

Hakkai smiled, then turned to face the half-breed. "Gojyo." Nagging husband.

"Hakkai."

The green tent stretched over them, the fire revealing five slumbering shadows. In the corner, Goku snored softly with an asional mumbling about food. "Gyoza...yes...oh... and can I have mu shi also...ow...not enough food...Sanzo." To the other side, Sanzo was...Hakkai noted with amusement...pretending to sleep.

"So you found your way."

"Don't I always?"

"We won't be leaving till tomorrow."

"Mh."

"It started raining right after you..."

"So?"

"It's weird."

"Not really."

"Why?"

"Heaven is simply trying to put out a fire it can't reach."

Gojyo laughed and ruffled his hair, pulling him close for a c

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