第二回 遭恶报少年以死谢罪,念亲情兄长矢志填海
Translation: Haunted badly by karma, the teenager chooses death as redemption; Cherishing bond in family, the brother fills ocean with rocks.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
In this fanfic, every canon character is humanized, including the Vipers. They are still snake-like, but with less traits. (Thinking about Voldmort or Orochimaru). I use traditional units of time and length, and those used in the first two chapters are: shichen-2 hours; li-500 meters; chi-1/3 meter; zhang-10/3 meters.
In the last chapter we've mentioned that Tamama was reborn in the nine hundred eighty-third year of the Empire Calendar. But to determine his exact birthday was a tricky task. And you will know the reason soon...
Splash, splash...
The waves washed against the rocks, making loud noise with each impact. Little by little, the currents lost their strength. And after the tide ebbed, the sea revealed countless broken planks here and there, which could be vaguely recognized as the wreckage of a fishing-boat. It was like a huge monster spitting bones of its prey.
Patter, patter...
Two individuals approached the shore, stepping on the wet sand, passing by protruding planks and laths. The leading one was a boy with emerald hairs and eyes. He was at most 10 years old, but from the expression on his face and his seemingly casual choice of words, everyone would admit that his knowledge, decisiveness and charisma was on a par with an adult 20 years of his senior. He had the potential needed for a leader, sans the efforts.
"Master Keroro, it's dangerous out there. I think we should go back now, or the lord will be worried-" "One minute," Keroro waved at his servant, "I need to ascertain something."
Keroro was the promising son of Chentang Pass Chief General. Young as he was, he had already gained the respect of his father's subordinates. Someone bet that he could succeed his father before reaching sixteen. After all, he was such a prodigy.
Creak, flop,creak, flop...
One by one, Keroro checked on those broken planks. Each of them looked normal as a result of marine accident, but this is the eeriest part. Because there had been exactly zero serious marine accident for seven years. The storms did arise now and then, but they never did any damage, thanks to Goddess Mazu.
According to legends, there was a mysterious girl who had super powers who showed up seven years ago. Every time a ship was caught in a storm, she would appear out of nowhere and help the crew out. And after getting them to safety, she would disappear in the same way before anyone noticed. No one got to see her appearance, neither did anyone know her name. They called her Goddess Mazu and built a small temple for her to express their gratitude.
She was much more helpful than you could imagine, because the storms there were not simply natural disasters, but often created by the Viper clan. They were snake-like creatures living in the East Sea. People didn't remember when they came at first, since they'd occupied the sea for hundreds of years. Only pieces of old legends indicated that the kind and merciful Dragon clan might have lived there before, but there was no evidence.
Anyway, for hundreds of years, human beings had lived under the heel of Vipers. They could wield power of the sea somehow, and they took advantage of that ability a little too well. Once in a while, they attacked freighters for all kinds of goods. Very few crew could survive the attack. And that's not even the worst case. If being irritated, they were capable of summoning tsunami- their definition of irritation just make things even worse.
During the years when Mazu was active, they were getting quieter and quieter. Some optimists suggested that Vipers were learning from good examples thus stopping doing evil. But Keroro knew deep inside that they were in fact waiting for the opportunity to strike. So there came the "accident" last night.
The storm last night was way more fierce than previous ones, and a witness claimed that he had seen green lighting in the distance. A couple died in the accident, and after putting the pieces together, Keroro was fairly sure that another victim was probably Goddess Mazu herself. Knowing that the dead woman had been pregnant broke his heart further.
"That bastard of a crazy snake man!" Keroro hissed under his breath. Angry and impatient, he didn't notice his wrong usage of singular noun. Instead, he spotted something floating on the sea. It looked like...a big egg in a wooden basin? What the heck?
Keroro rubbed his eyes, surprised to see an egg and a basin once again. He wade through the shallow water, picked up that egg, and, out of curiosity, knocked on the shell.
Then there was light.
When Keroro's eyesight recovered, he saw no eggs, but a little boy, who had navy hairs and onyx eyes, looked around three years old. The child viewed his surroundings with sparkling eyes, then hugged Keroro delightedly.
"Mom, mom, dear mom!"
Keroro flinched, nearly dropping the boy. "No no no! I'm not your mom!" Hearing that, the child was on the verge of tears, which made Keroro feel really bad about himself. "Grrr...Why me? I'm egregious at dealing with kids...OK, how about we...Hey, don't cry, please!" Let's get down to thinking. One of the victims was a pregnant woman and this child came from the sea, so maybe he's her son? Right, it makes sense... No! Not at all! Even if he was given birth on the ship before the attack, his age doesn't fit, not to mention the egg... That's enough. I give up. I will just pretend he's their son. Smiling at the Boy Who Lived, Keroro said softly. "I'm not your mother, but I can be your big brother. Now shall we go home?" The boy looked up. In place of tears, there was the beginning of a smile.
Keroro relaxed and muttered to himself. "Dad will surely lecture me for deciding by myself... Hey, you need a name. Since my name is Keroro, your name will be..." He looked into the distance, and suddenly got an idea.
"Tamama. Your name is Tamama."
Seven years had past since Tamama was adopted. He had grown into a healthy and strong boy. As time goes by, he displayed two special talents. The first was his combat skills in multiple aspects- he could defeat an armed elite soldier with bare fists. But the more remarkable talent was his secret attack, Tamama Impact, as he called it. He had scared a few servants in Chief General Mansion the first time he showed it, and later there were gossips saying he was an evil yao. But no one dared to speak it aloud, unless they wanted to meet Chief General Keroro's fury.
Speaking of Keroro, he had succeeded his father two years before. His father had had a stoke, and decided to retire after his recovery, considering himself too old for this job. He went to a faraway island along with Keroro's mother. It's said that they lived happily there.
Keroro was literally wordless at his unreasonable and irresponsible parents. He had no choice but to shoulder the responsibilities. There were some objections to Keroro's young age. But generally Keroro was still the best possible candidate. So they eventually agreed.
Seven-year-old Tamama adored his big brother. His brother was not only his brother, but also his idol, his hero, his god. He liked to accompany his brother when he was working; he would treat his brother's words as oracle, even if they sometimes made little sense; he would kick anyone's ass if they dare to doubt Keroro's ability. His brother was SO great.
What he thought first and foremost, though, was that his brother was solely HIS. Never would him allow anyone or anything stand between them. Not woman, not man, not wooden gunpla either! Well, he might be a little obsessive, but as long as Keroro didn't mind, Tamama could do what he liked freely. It's not like a child's love for his brother would do any harm.
-assuming he's not the yandere type.
Which might or might not be the reason why Tamama felt so frustrated now.
In brief, Tamama was a bit irritated that Keroro had no time to accompany him, because Keroro was burdened with extra work recently, which was mainly preparation for increased merchant shipping in case Viper chose this busy season to attack, which was related to change of wind combined with weather, which in turn had something to do with the monsoon and ocean currents. After seeing the "logic", Tamama decided that it was the ocean that was to blame. So that he sneaked out the mansion and headed for the seashore. It's time for some "revenge".
It was a beach he often went to practice his Tamama Impact, or merely do some shouting and punching as abreaction. It was a place meant to be personal. No one knew its whereabouts other than himself. Not those insolent soldiers, not those disrespectful servants, not even his beloved brother. He had for some reason feared that Keroro would think less of him if knowing this secret.
Tamama stood on the sand facing the sea, inhaled deeply, put his arms behind him at an angle of forty-five degrees, spread his feet thirty-five degrees apart each, leaned back at an angle of seventeen degrees. Then he thought about the disgusted look those guards in the mansion had given him. Rage filled him with energy, he was holding it back with great efforts. "Tamama Impact!"
A bright yellow energy beam shot out from his mouth, going straight forward. The recoil threw him off his balance, and his shoes sank into the wet sand. He had put such a good deal of energy into this attack that its heat alone scalded the surface of sea it touched, and its force lifted more water. Vapor rose high and condense into mist. As the impact came to a sudden stop, it left behind clear wake over four chi in diameter and two zhang in length, into which the heated water quickly swarmed.
Tamama supported himself with both hands on his knees, panting heavily, wiped away the sweat on his forehead. He had overdone it, again, which made the attack as costing as usual. He'd never have any idea why or how he had that special talent, but he liked it anyway. Normally he would repeat the process several times until he was exhausted, then he would go home, pretending nothing had happened. Strangely enough, he found exhaustion itself was refreshing in its own way, and he enjoyed it a lot.
He exhaled another three impacts, this time focusing on the range rather than power. As a result, the beams were thinner than before, bending downward, and had a red tinge on account of lower heat. This variation of his technique was relatively easy to control, and he began to play with it, aiming at various spots on the surface of the sea. Every blast and shock wave made him laugh heartily. He was so involved in his own game that he had forgotten there was a whole clan of Viper living underwater not far away.
They lived in the underwater city, and had been put up with endless shocks for nearly a shichen. A member with lower status among them was sent to inspect the source, and if possible, "deal with" it the old-fashioned way, namely killing the whatever-thing-that-is-too-noisy-to-live. The said Viper, called Viper-YC, was accustomed to this job. Despite of the boredom in searching, the fruit was usually rewarding. Will this one be as delicious as the last one? Recalling that succulent taste, Viper-YC licked his lip unintentionally. I'm expecting it already. Goddess bless me, let this one be a juicy child.
He dreamed hopefully, but didn't expect to be face-first hit by a beam as soon as he surfaced. It was not fatal, but hurt like hell. Viper-YC's skin blistered severely, and his hair became an scorched afro. He was furious, he wanted nothing but to beat the attacker up- whoever that attacker was. He took a step, stilled, and looked down. What he saw at the bottom of his submersible diving chamber was a puddle, whose water level was slowly rising. He panicked.
Note that even if the Viper clan lived underwater AND could manipulate water, they themselves weren't aquatic without the help of technology. The underwater city called "The Crystal Palace" was water-proof, and their personal transportation involved the use of force field. That kind of advanced technology, obviously, wasn't their own work. Anyone with a brief knowing of local legends would guess it's from the mysterious Dragon clan, but no one should talk about that. There were more anecdotes worth considering, but we will leave the topic for later.
So to speak, the force field was water-proof, but not energy-proof. In other words, it's penetrated by Tamama Impact. That is to say, Viper-YC was certainly doomed if he didn't act quickly.
The attacker was still there playing with his beam AS IF he was a SEVEN-YEAR-OLD boy, yet Viper-YC couldn't care less about him. He pulled the joystick to the maximum. "MECHA-Viper, four speed downward!"
Tamama didn't stop his game, not knowing what kind of grim scenario he had drawn himself into.
Viper-Tri checked the surroundings and his arm cannon for one last time, then opened the protective shield of his diving chamber, prepared to attack the "three-headed-six-armed monster" at the first sight. His heart was beating faster and faster. I can't lose! Or how can I inherit the throne instead of my two elder brothers? I have to be more outstanding!
Viper-Tri tried his best to regain his courage, but the scene of Viper-YC blistered, nearly-drowned and scared kept jumping out. The victim had described the monster as the most terrifying thing in the world, having three heads and six arms, inhaling and exhaling fire...Viper-YC was avoiding looking at him in the eye when telling his unfortunate confront to others for some reason. Maybe he was too scared. Viper-Tri swallowed as he imagined the picture of that monster...Stop it! Just kill it ruthlessly like a real snakeman!
He step out with trembling legs, pointing the arm cannon in every direction he turned to. No monster. He relaxed a little. There's no monster, just a-
"Ahhhhh-" Viper-Tri screamed frantically, firing the cannon a couple of times with eyes closed. And then he blinked, realizing what he had seen wasn't the monster, but a little boy, a human, who was also surprised by his sudden attack.
What the hell? Viper-Tri asked himself, but came up with no reasonable answer. The danger of that monster is still there. Maybe that human kid know something?
Clearing his throat, he pretended he had never made a fool of himself earlier. "Hey brat there! Happen to see a hydra-headed monster? I'm kinda hunting it. Spit that out and I might spare your filthy life." Viper-Tri raised his head as high as he could, making sure he was looking down at this human.
To his amazement, the boy didn't show any sign of being terrified. On the contrary, he sized Viper-Tri up with disdain, folded his arms and stated in monotone, which sounded hilarious because of his childlike voice. "Have you got any manners? I've met servants who are more civil than you. If you keep speaking like that you-" "You'd better watch your words, you f***ing moron! It's me, the third prince of Viper clan who is speaking to you scum. Don't test my patience!" Who on earth does he think he is? Wait, why do I feel like I have heard of him sometime?
The boy clenched his fists and hissed. "All right. Although I wish I could beat some sense into your head, I'm well-educated, and my brother told me not to get in trouble with others all the time. I, apologize, to, you. And I've been alone here until you arrived, so no monster witnessed. Satisfied? Now leave me alone!"
It was not until then did Viper-Tri finally recalled the boy's name. Tamama, the younger brother of Keroro, said to possess special abilities, as well as excellent combat skills. All the information led to one single conclusion, that Tamama was the "monster", or that Viper-YC had made up the "monster" based on Tamama. Next time I will let him pay for making up things like that. I was acting like a d***ing fool because of the lie! But come to think about it, I can use this chance to prove my ability by defeating him. Um...
"I know you, boy." Viper-Tri grinned slightly. "The b***ard picked up from piles of trash seven years ago. The son of a b***h who has the dirty blood of yao. Oh, I do pity you..." He put a hand on his forehead, as if feeling genuinely sad, at the same time enjoying the angry look on Tamama's face. Go on. Amuse me. Let me have some fun.
He kept on provoking. "And why did the General brought you in from the very beginning? You are filthy, and will endanger his own political status. You are naughty, and can cause unexpected trouble for him. So the most possible reason is that he is insane. That's why-"
"Shut up!" Tamama delivered a blow at his jaw, sending him flying back and landing heavily. Looking at Viper-Tri with shrunken pupils. His voice turned low. "This serves as a warning. Dare you ever insult my big brother again, I will silence you right here!"
How can it be possible? Even if he is famous for... no! The brat had merely taken me by surprise. That's it! And stop playing the mind game, end this one as soon as possible! Rising on his feet, Viper-Tri glared at Tamama, and raised the arm cannon. "I feel disgusted to breath the same air with you as***le. So die now! I bet your idiotic brother will find you of more use when you are dead!" He switched the cannon to maximum power input, and fired it towards Tamama.
Boom!
Viper-Tri watched as the cloud of dust cleared away. Finally. I will tell others I slew the monster who wounded Viper-YC seriously. And then Father will be proud of me. Brothers will admire or even fear me. And, and...
Tamama was nowhere to be seen.
His blood chilled.
Perhaps...he was blasted into dust? Yes, that's the reason! That's the truth! That's-
"I've warned you once." The young yet freezing voice emerged. And it suddenly occurred to Viper-Tri that Tamama had not get a scratch from the very first blind blasts.
I'm so f**ked up this time-
Tamama sank his fist into the enemy's gut, and then crushed his prized arm cannon with elbow and knee, broke his rib cage with some casual strike... when he exhausted and collapsed on all fours at last, the Viper had long lost his heartbeat. It was at that time that Tamama truly realized what he had done.
He had killed a Viper.
In the most gruesome way.
Continued punching even after he died.
Whose clan member would no doubt seek revenge.
There's nothing he could do to undo all the sins he had committed.
What if running away? No! He decided against it. That will put his brother in titanic danger.
Or defeat anyone who wanted to revenge? It's not a choice. He could deal with one Viper. Not one clan of Viper.
It seemed like whatever he did, however hard he tried, some disaster that can ruin his life will happen anyway. So he just faced reality.
Keroro was the only one who noticed Tamama's change in behavior.
Compared with his former self. Tamama was much quieter, and spoke more politely with everyone else, even smiling to those insults. He had lost appetite recently. It's appetite out of all things! It almost looked like Tamama had grown up in a day, which was good news. But Keroro couldn't help but have that disturbing gut feeling, Keroro knew for sure that Tamama was hiding something from him. But every time he asked, Tamama would dodge the question. So Keroro waited.
Only three days had past and there came Keroro's birthday. Tamama was so considerate as to cooked noodles for Keroro by himself. Even though the noodle was in fact too sweet to his taste, Keroro could appreciate Tamama's good intention. But the biggest surprise came when he saw his collections.
The wooden gunplas were all polished with the finest oil, he could tell. The gloss, the texture, the feel... "That's -" Keroro waved his hand here and there, trying to make a point. "-Perfect!" From what he knew, gloss oil of this rank is nearly impossible to obtain, because one of the necessary ingredients is monopolized by Viper only -It's said that they use the ingredient as some fuel of weapon. But how can Tamama put his hand on any of those weapons? He must have found some substitute cleverly.
"So tell me, Tamama, what's the substitute? By the way, thank you for your surprise gift! I can't love it any more!"
Tamama said nothing but smiled in a cute way. It's the smile he had put on for the three days. The FAKE smile.
Keroro sighed. Maybe he was too protective. Tamama could as well hit puberty at this age... Seven years' old hitting puberty was unheard of... but not everyone born from an egg. Anything is possible.
Just when he wanted to say something stupid to enlighten his younger brother, the emergency started to reveal itself.
"Viper! Viper is coming! Everyone find a shelter!" The distant sound echoed in Tamama's head, hurting him more than anything.
Why?! Why today in particular? Do you have to choose this day to take revenge? To ruin my brother's birthday! IhateyouIhateyouIhateyou-
Tamama curled into a ball, pressing onto his head painfully. He felt Keroro pattering his shoulder. "What's up? You can already tell me about everything. We are brothers. So it means we should share everything together, right? Tell me. I promise I won't be angry at you. Is this settled?"
Tamama wanted to cry, to forget about everything and just cry. But he could not afford that. Tears are a waste of time. He calmed himself, turned to face Keroro. "I will tell you everything-"
"-I took the fuel of his arm cannon before leaving, hoping to at least get you a decent birthday gift before things turn worse. I didn't expect they would come today. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry..." Tamama was on the verge of tears. Brother will hate me. But that's good. So he won't be sad when I die. He thought bitterly.
Keroro nodded. "I see." He stated in a matter-of-fact tone.
Tamama stiffened. "Why don't you get mad at me after I've done horrible things? I deserve the scold." To be honest, he might even feel better if Keroro rebuke him.
Keroro shook his head with a faint smile. "How can I get angry? It's hardly your fault. All you did was justifiable defense. I won't let them accuse you of wrongdoings you are not responsible for. I'll negotiate with those crazy snakemen. And if it doesn't work..." His voice trailed off. "I won't allow you to be alone." With that he walked out to meet the Vipers.
Tamama watched Keroro's back. He knew Keroro couldn't simply talk him out of this. He knew he had to do the hard choice. He ran to follow his big brother.
When Tamama rushed out of the room, the first thing he noticed was black clouds, covering the sky, leaving no gap for the sunlight to penetrate. The next thing shocked him immobilized. huge waves rose from the sea, held up high by some unknown force, creating an atmosphere of tension. If Tamama was anyone less, he might have found it hard to breath.
And at the top of the thirty-meter-high wave stood dozens of Vipers. They all had the same furious face, and the fury was aimed at Tamama himself.
"You murderer! Finally got the gut to come out? " The leading one shouted.
Tamama was going to protest when Keroro stood out, shielding Tamama with his own body. "Your honored, I feel gravely sorry about the misfortune of your clan member. But I'm afraid that there may be some misunderstanding between us. We shouldn't disregard the probability that the issue turned out to be a mere coincidence. Thus I'd appreciate it if we can come to a compromise for now, and the outcome will benefit both sides." Vipers didn't interrupt this time. Did that mean there was a gleam of hope?
Then the Vipers burst into laughter. "Galagalagala. You are talking the greatest nonsense! No one could get away with murdering a Viper!" He let out a sadistic smirk, stared at Tamama. "Let us inform you of your heinous crime."
"You killed my son's girlfriend's uncle's friend's cousin!" A Viper exclaimed angrily .
"You killed my sister-in-law's neighbor's servant's mother's elder brother! " Another Viper shouted.
Then, one by one, dozens of Viper accused Tamama of having killed someone related to them.
Keroro sweated, turned to Tamama and whispered. "How many Viper on earth have you killed? "
Tamama stared at those Viper, looking shocked, replying without paying attention. "Just one."
Keroro sighed, and continued to listen nevertheless.
"...acquaintance's father's..."
Finally it came to an end. The Viper spoke first, who seemed to be the king, concluded. "For this reason, I want your life for killing my son. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Fair enough?"
"No way!" Keroro's attitude was firm. "He was only seven years old. It's inhumane to condemn him to death!"
The Viper laughed again. "We are not you puny human beings, so we don't need to be humane. Let us kill him, and we will let go everything else generously. And if not... how about we summon a tsunami and flood Chentang Pass city? Well, that would be fun."
Something clipped in the back of Tamama's mind, urging him to prevent the flood at all costs, as if that's the significance of his life. "Will you keep your words? Promise you will not bother others anymore after my death, and I will pay you with my life." His voice was shaking with fright, yet conveying powerful message.
The Viper nodded. "That's a deal. You die and we will spare others."
Keroro looked at Tamama unbelievably. "What? No! Don't do that! You can't die at such a young age! There must be other ways. I don't want to lose you again!" A tiny part of his consciousness was wondering why he said "again". He turned to the Vipers and begged. "Please take me! Take me instead! He was too young to be punished for his fault. I'm his brother who had not taught him the right thing to do. I'm the one responsible, so take me!"
The Viper said coldly. "No. We want nothing but revenge. And your life is useless. Two choices, either Tamama dies, or everyone living in Chentang Pass die."
Tamama was weeping. "No, big brother. Don't risk your life for me. If I don't die, they will cause a havoc. That's the last thing we wanted to see. Can you forgive me for everything I've ever done that make you unhappy? All those pranks and accidents. I'm sorry for them. And thank you for adopting me, for giving me a family, for bringing me up, for teaching me lessons. I'm sorry that I don't have time to repay you for all your kindness. Maybe in next lifetime..."
Before Keroro could react, Tamama grabbed Keroro's sword, step forward and unsheathed it. What happened next was almost in slow motion.
Tamama stared at the blade for a brief moment-
Keroro realized what was going on-
Tamama lifted the sword up-
Keroro desperately tried to stop him-
Tamama cut his own throat with the sword.
Keroro felt like the world around him became silent as Tamama fell down. The blood-stained sword left Tamama's hand and landed with no sound. Keroro was in time to catch Tamama's body before he fell on the ground, but he could do nothing to stop the cut from bleeding. Tamama struggled to open his eyes. His mouth moved to say something, but with his throat cut open he could only make sounds like "Ho-hai-hi". His eyes lost focus, and his lips curled into a content smile. The smile froze forever.
"Tamama!" Keroro called his name, but no one answered. He held the lifeless body of his brother tight, shedding tears quietly.
Above the two brothers, black clouds rolled away and the sun came out, shining brightly. The Vipers had kept their words and retreated. Others in the mansion came out from their shelters, relieved that there was no danger. At the same time, the words about Tamama's sacrifice spread among them. In a sense, he had died protecting those who had ignored or even bullied him when he was alive, though that was not his priority in mind.
Tamama had died causing a flood last time, and died preventing one this time.
The karma.
The fate could be extremely cruel at times.
But no one in the mansion knew about that. They mourned over the hero Tamama in regret and sympathy, repenting of all those sins they had committed.
Tamama's funeral was held three days later.
During the funeral, Keroro declared his resignation, passing the position to his aide. The aide refused the offer out of respect, but since Keroro kept dwelling on the past and had no interest in working, the aide had to temporally take his place, waiting for him to gather himself together.
Frankly speaking, Keroro didn't want to take the responsibilities any longer. He didn't have the strength. He was tired. He wanted some rest.
He wandered aimlessly around every day, lost in his own thoughts, distancing himself from others. He had no idea how long it would take for him to recover, or whether it would happen or not. Perhaps three years would be adequate.
Time flies, but it didn't cure anything on Keroro's case. On the first anniversary of Tamama's death, Keroro went to the Mazu temple alone to hold a small ceremony in memory of his poor brother, following the local custom.
After the ceremony, he stepped out of the temple, and heard a loud chirp.
Looking up, he saw a bird, whose form resembles a crow with a patterned head, white beak, green eyes and red feet. The Jingwei bird.
The bird looked at him in curiosity, then it flew away with a twig carried in its mouth, heading for the sea.
Keroro knew about the bird. It came into being about eight years ago, not long after the mysterious girl ceased to exist. Legend went that she metamorphosed into the bird after her death. But what did it carry that twig for?
He observed it for a few days, having nothing else to get himself occupied. It turned out that Jingwei regularly carried twigs and stones from the Western Mountains to fill up the Eastern Sea for whatever reason.
And that gave Keroro the inspiration.
Human beings couldn't defeat Vipers, and it's likely that they would never be able to. But what if they fill up the East Sea with stones and earth? Surely it would take years. Hundreds of years, or even thousands. But at least it's possible to achieve. So he determined that he would do the deed.
It was a crazy idea, even Keroro himself was aware of the fact. But he could be incredibly stubborn when he set his mind to something. After a month, he poured the first basket of earth into the East Sea.
People pitied him, believing that he had finally lost his sanity after so much pressure. But day after day, some of them were moved, and came to help Keroro sometimes, claiming that they'd do something so foolish only to get a workout. The younger ones were generally more enthusiastic about it.
Two years of digging and filling had past. And that was when a stranger came to Chentang Pass.
She was a tanned, bleached-blonde teenager, wearing a plain ruqun, who introduced herself as Asami. She seemed to be curious about Keroro's action. After watching him for days, she questioned him.
"What's the meaning for you ordinary people to move the mountain and fill the ocean? The sea is too broad and deep for you to fill it. You will die before you achieve anything. You could say, until your death?" Asami said to Keroro with a concerning look.
Keroro sighed heavily and replied. "You are right about one thing that I will die. But I am going to have my descendants. So long as the generation and the faith passes on, and the sea doesn't grow, why can't we make it?" Keroro's eyes shone with determination.
The girl who called herself Asami was wordless. Her heartbeat got faster. She gazed at Keroro with admiration. "If you say so, I- I'm willing to help you." She blushed and looked away.
Obviously Keroro failed to get the hidden meaning, but interpreting her confession of love in the most innocent way. "I'm grateful for any help offered. You know what? I'm not good at physical work. It would make a lot of difference when more people join me. Thank you!"
She giggled, taking out a handkerchief from her ruqun. "You are sweating, let me wipe the sweat for you, will you?"
Keroro was a bit taken aback by this sudden act of kindness, and didn't reply immediately. When he tried to form some words to ease the awkwardness, he heard a familiar voice shouting from the distance-
"That woman, get AWAY from MY brother!"
Must be my illusion. Asami's kindness may have triggered my memory of him. Keroro thought bitterly-
The powerful attack followed exploded not far beside him proved him utterly wrong. Its shock wave blew Asami and him away, and he saw the one he'd missed every day and night for three years in mid-air.
His dearest brother, Tamama.
Tamama was standing on a strange plate-like flying machine, approaching at full speed. He came to Keroro's aid as soon as it landed on the ground, while Keroro stared at his revived brother in disbelief.
"You are back." Keroro stated breathless.
"I'm back." Tamama smiled.
Keroro felt unreal and dizzy. "Am I in dream?"
"Unlikely" was Tamama's answer.
"But how?" Keroro's voice chocked with emotion. "I saw-" He remember that scene too well. The blood, the wound, the glassy eyes... That scene was what had haunted his dream for years.
"It's a long story. But now let's deal with something else." He stood akimbo, facing the girl. "You don't get close to my brother, understand?"
She chuckled knowingly. "All right. Point taken. I will leave you two alone. You could say, a two-person world?"
Keroro, at the same time, was looking at Tamama carefully. He didn't change much, save for an energetic and confident aura radiating from his whole body.
"It's time for explanation." Tamama thought for a while. "Gee, why can't I recall the details? Hum, let's begin with this question: do you know about the reincarnation thing?"
It took half a shichen for Tamama to tell Keroro about his last life as Gonggong. Keroro listened with interest, commenting now and then ("Seriously? Flood again?" "That must hurts.") Then the topic came to this lifetime.
"I'm neither human nor yao, but the last descendant of Dragon. That's why the Viper clan attacked my parents that night. They feared we would seize back the Crystal Palace and those technology in it. I was born as an egg on the ship right before the attack, so my mother was weak then and wasn't able to fight. I survived because the Goddess Mazu came in time. Koyuki was her real name. Mother asked her to rescue me, and put me in a wooden basin. Koyuki was able to send me away, but she didn't escape from the Vipers... Fortunately, she reincarnated as a princess only after one year, unlike us who were preserved unconscious for thousands of years."
Keroro stopped him. "That's a lot to take in, please give me some time." After a little while, he brought force a question. "It doesn't make sense. If you regained your memory of the last lifetime, how can you know the events after that? And the things before your birth?"
"That's related to the reason why I was revived. I've got to know many things in the three days, which is three years in this world. I couldn't come back earlier because there was a one-miracle-only-in-a-ten-year-time-span term. By the way, my body is reconstructed with the help of some magical lotus and I was presented with that hovercraft. Too bad I can't recall the details at all. There must be someone who had informed me of those things but-" He frowned. "I should have memorized that someone. It's like part of my memory was erased..."
Keroro didn't want to push further on that question. "What's that hovercraft exactly? I've never seen anything like it."
"Oh, speaking of it, I call it my Wind Fire Wheels!" Tamama exclaimed in delight.
"But why the extra 's'? It's just one single black hovercraft."
"I like this name better! Because it sounds awesome!"
Keroro gave up on that. "Then... can I try it? It must be wonderful to fly."
"Why not?" Tamama went to operate the hovercraft, but changed his mind half way. "If you want to fly, there is another way." His body began to glow, and in the blink of an eye he transformed into a dark blue dragon, coiling on the ground.
"Come here, and I will take you up." Keroro heard the voice in his mind, and didn't waste any time to climb on his back.
"What's your next plan? To get yourself revenged or something else?" Keroro asked when they were floating above the sea, overlooking the waves.
"No. I'm tired of revenging. That's a endless vicious circle with no benefits. But one single attack won't count, right?" He fired a powerful Tamama Impact in a seemingly random direction, which "happened" to hit the Crystal Palace in the end.
Keroro laughed carefreely. "What about we travel around together? Just two of us. I may have one more year to spend with you. Shall we?"
"Yes!" Tamama cheered. He could speak in Dragon form. It's just that he found telepathy cool. He hummed in bouncy tones.
The real purpose behind our trip is for me to taste all the delicious foods out there/Take a bite of every dish across the continent/I didn't want to tell you this, because I was afraid you might hate me and leave me behind/Wonton Noodle, Spicy Dips, Lamb Shashlik, Chinese Stuffed Sesame Scones,/Quietly and secretly, I asked the chef to pack my orders for take-out~
The Crystal Palace was seriously damaged by that single blow, and they swore they would revenge (again. Yes, that's what they live for.). They hired a famous scientist and inventor, firstly for repairing the palace, and secondly for starting a war.
They planned not-so-secretly for one year, and a seventeen-year-old poet and strategist came to this region.
"Though I've decided never concerning myself with politics anymore, it doesn't seem like I have an alternative." Mutsumi said to himself.
To know the following occurrences, please listen to next chapter.
A/N: First, let me apologize for this long delay. I didn't do well in Gaokao and failed to attend my favorite college, ending up in BUAA. I've planned this chapter out long before but didn't write it down. But I got some inspiration yesterday and decided to write this, even if the mid-term examination is only four days away. (It seems that I have the tendency to write fanfics before important exams.) Again, sorry for any spelling and grammar mistakes.
This chapter is mainly based on the story of Nezha. Not the original version, but an 1979 animated Chinese film called Prince Nezha's Triumph Against Dragon King. Too long to be put here, but a subtitled version can be found on YouTube if you search "Nezha riots the sea". Other stories used are the Goddess Mazu, The Foolish Old Man Removing the Mountains and Jingwei Tries to Fill the Sea. You can have a look and try looking for the similarities.
Because of the background and theme, the protagonists have to be much more virtuous than in canon. I wrote the characters OOC deliberately, especially Keroro. But you can also regard Keroro as That Keroro mentioned in the canon a few times, who was very capable unlike the Keroro we know.
There are also some shout-outs to some works I like: Harry Potter, Three Body Problem-Dark Forest, A Chinese Odyssey, Little Tadpoles Looking for Mama, and A Millennial Menu of China, a song written by H.K.君 and sung by Luo Tianyi. The lyrics above are translated by yangxu on Youtube. It's not so well-known that the voice actress of Luo Tianyi, shanxin, had been Tamama's voice actress in Chinese dub.
By the way, do you know what Tamama was trying to say in his "last words"? Let's just say "I love you" reads "wo ai ni" in Chinese.
Until next time!
