Kim Possible: Fruition

(A/N: I'm moving quickly, but it's best to get as many of these up as possible before I lose my motivation or hit writers block. Since this story is done, there will probably be two chapters up today.)

Voices of the Gods

Hirotaka meditated, trying to block out the world around him. He wasn't aware of footsteps approaching from behind. All at once there was a hand on his shoulder and he shot up like a bullet, spinning. He would have laid the unknown assailant flat, except that 'unknown assailant' happened to be Sensei. The old man dodged, just barely dodged, eyes wide in surprise. Hirotaka gasped and exclaimed, "Sensei!"

"You have been holding back on your abilities," Sensei remarked, still surprised at the speed at which the reaction had come.

"Many of us have," Hirotaka confessed, bowing to his master who bowed back. "Why is it you have come to me, Sensei?"

"I want you look once more into the Book of Fate," Sensei replied.

Hirotaka paled. "But Sensei…" he began.

"Hirotaka, you must," Sensei stated. Hirotaka bowed his head lowly and followed his master, feet dragging.

KP

They stood before the book. Hirotaka carefully approached then paused. "What prevents you, young man?" Sensei asked.

"I… I do not wish to hear the whispers again," Hirotaka answered.

"I see…" Sensei came. He walked up to the book and placed his hand upon it gently. After a moment he said, "Did you know that there are only a handful of people in history who have ever heard this book speak?"

"No, Master Sensei, I did not," Hirotaka replied, looking up at the old man.

"Some were great men, others were not. Just common folk who'd stumbled upon it," Sensei said. Hirotaka was silent, gazing loathingly at the book. "I was one of the common," Sensei stated.

Hirotaka's eyes widened and he looked at Sensei. "You too have heard the whispers?" Hirotaka asked.

"I hear them still, and always will, as you will," Sensei replied, bowing modestly. Looking back up at the boy, he said, "You do not know what they are."

"A curse," Hirotaka answered.

"A privilege," Sensei corrected.

"In what way?" Hirotaka challenged.

"The voices you hear, child, are the voices of the gods," Sensei stated.

"The gods, the gods, always the gods! Curse the gods and spirits! I care nothing for the voices of immortals or deities! Curse them all for what they have done to my family, for the fates they have put upon my sisters, for the fate they have forced upon me! If I could, I would destroy them! Even now it takes my all not to throw the accursed manuscript into the flames!" Hirotaka shouted, losing himself completely at the words. He seized the book and threw it to the ground, ordering, "Leave me be, you malevolent creatures! I disown you all! Leave me be! I want nothing to do with you. Any of you!"

"Hirotaka!" Sensei sharply said, forcing the boy down from his anger.

Hirotaka scowled but closed his eyes tightly, willing with all his strength for his anger to leave him. Finally his shoulders sagged and he fell to his knees with a sob, fear and helplessness overtaking him. "I will not look into it," he finally managed to say.

KP

Sensei waited a long moment in silence. The young man needed to calm down, needed to collect himself. When the boy seemed to still, though tears still shone in his eyes, Sensei approached and knelt in front of him. "Look at me, Hirotaka," Sensei gently ordered. Hirotaka didn't want to, but reluctantly he obeyed. "Fate can change. And even if it does not, those who bravely face their destinies do not go unrewarded."

"I do not want to face my destiny. I am afraid of it, Sensei," Hirotaka answered. "Yet I cannot watch my sisters suffer."

"If you do die, it will not be in vain," Sensei stated.

"When I die," Hirotaka corrected.

"Destiny sometimes changes at the moment you least expect," Sensei said. "You have no powers like Stoppable-San and Monkey Fist. You are not born of gods like Hana. You are just a man, yet they whispered, to you. Of the handful that have ever heard the voices, only two in history have been unrelated to the deities, or have had no powers to boast of as I do. You and Toshimiru. The immortals approve of you, Hirotaka, and have come to pity you. Otherwise you would not have heard their words. And perhaps they yet have something grand planned for you before you must give up your life for those whom you love so deeply."

"I am not interested in their plans for me. I want to live," Hirotaka answered.

"We all want to live. But all men must pass on. As the moon rises and falls, so do we all. And I very much wonder why you do not want to fight your destiny when your every word denounces and laments your fate?" Sensei said. "Men have fought and changed their fates before."

"You know the answer, Master Sensei. Because my fate is nothing to the fates of my sisters," he answered. "And I want to fight destiny, so, so, badly. But to do so… It will mean my sisters' lives. I will not fight to save my own when it will mean theirs."

"Look into the book," Sensei said.

KP

Hirotaka felt like cursing at him, but he refrained and simply gave up. He wasn't leaving this room until he did. Disgustedly he looked at the book then went to it, opening its pages. He shivered as immediately the voices began whispering. He felt like sobbing but didn't have the energy. He opened his eyes, shining with tears that would never fall, and he saw the hands reaching towards him. Oh part of him wished they would kill him and get it done with. They shot out and seized his throat. He cried out in pain, his hands instinctively going to the monstrous ones holding his neck, but he didn't fight back as they lifted him into the air. He scowled viciously as the whispers became louder. He spotted Sensei, ready to jump in at any time should he think something was going wrong. Hirotaka shook his head as the threats and warnings and laments became louder and louder, filling his mind so he could hear nothing else.

"Let go!" he furiously ordered, finally losing it. He drew out a ninja star and cut the hands violently. They dropped him instantly. He fell to the ground and gaped at the hands. Images were being conjured between the palms, flitting by so quickly he could hardly comprehend them. Were those flashes from his past and his future? He watched in fear. Everything was dark, so, so, dark. It was showing suffering and pain and mourning and danger. But all at once he felt a sudden moment of peace and light. Just as quickly it vanished and the hands retreated into the book.

KP

Shakily Hirotaka rose and went to the tome. He closed it softly and looked helplessly at Sensei. "Nothing has changed," he declared.

"Hasn't it?" Sensei asked.

Hirotaka cringed then said, "There was a moment of peace and happiness and goodness, but it faded immediately."

"Then there is still a possibility for you," Sensei declared.

"No, Sensei, there isn't. Do not give me false hopes, for if I feed on them, when the time comes that I must die, I will not be able to go through with it because part of me will think there is hope. It will be a lie, and Yori and Hana will suffer for it," Hirotaka stated. Quickly the young man left.

Sensei watched after him. "Is there no hope, child? Young Hirotaka, there are those of the deities who have come to love you. If only you would open your heart to them. Your own hard heartedness will end your life, not the fate you see in the pages," Sensei softly murmured, though Hirotaka was already gone. Sensei turned back to the book and approached it. Picking up the tome, he placed it back on its pedestal.