Chapter two: New Beginnings
"And call me... Japetus." With that, the teal fellow turned and started down a path leading north.
Gohan was hesitant to follow them. Instead, he opted to take in his surroundings. What was most noticeable was that the soil below his feet was a soft blue, the sky above a pastel pink. There was no wildlife, the only beings Gohan could sense on the planet were himself and Japetus. Though, Japetus had life energy completely different from what he was used to. It was almost godlike, he supposed. The planet itself seemed safe, like nothing there could hurt him.
Gohan jogged up to Japetus, still cautious of the other.
"Will you tell me why I'm here?" He asked. Gohan matched his pace with the alien's, well, he assumed the blue being was an alien, and watched him closely.
"You are an important piece in the grand scheme of things." Sharp eyes glanced at Gohan, though not in a threatening manner.
"I have been assigned to you, as your guardian."
The half saiyan blanked. Guardian? He already had a ton of those. None of them were as strong as Japetus, but they were still his guardians. He sighed, there was no way he could go back to them until this strange being was done with him.
"Why aren't there any other people on this planet? And uh.. I don't think I should be able to breathe in this atmosphere."
One of Japetus' eyes twitched. The boy asked too many questions.
"This is my own planet. Inhabitants come and go as they please. You can breathe because I allow you to."
Gohan flinched. He wondered how long he would have to stay in Japetus' care. He could see a large building in the distance that looked almost like an old castle. Upon reaching it, Gohan stared in awe.
The building itself was a pale beige, as if it were made from the earth's stones. The walls were covered with ivy, and beyond the walls was a large, unkempt garden.
"Your room is on the top floor. Any one is fine, as long as you remember how to get there." Japetus said, gesturing to a large staircase in the centre. Gohan nodded in understanding, before wandering around the courtyard garden. Various flowers grew in bunches, though the rose garden near the back caught his eye. It looked as if a tunnel had been carved through the thick swaths of roses, leading to some mysterious spot inside. Japetus had long since left the boy to do whatever important thing he would need to do. Gohan crawled inside, and was delighted to find a large clearing inside the nest of roses. He stood up, unable to touch the ceiling of the clearing. Inside was a long bench, and a statue of a woman. She was dressed in a long robe, a hood covering the top of her head. Her face had long since been perfect, as half of it had broken away with time. Gohan shivered, the statue reminding him of his mother. He sat on the bench, tears welling in his eyes. He might never be able to see her again. First she had lost his dad, and now him. Gohan didn't want to think about how upset Chi-chi would be when she saw her Gohan had gone missing. The half saiyan would remember the location of this statue for future reference, so just maybe it could bring his mother to him. The boy blinked rapidly, now was not the time for crying. He left the rose sanctuary, and headed into the courtyard again. Quickly he ascended up the stairs, and chose the room nearest the rose garden. The interior was simple enough. A wooden bookshelf stood beside the window, a clean twin size bed on the wall perpendicular. Gohan gasped when he looked inside the small closet. All of his favourite books, a family picture and some clean clothes lay inside. The clothes, however, were not his. The boy briefly wondered how all of those things had ended up there, and then remembered the powers of Japetus. He had probably went back to grab them or something.
As the Son boy had nothing else to do, he decided to inspect the odd clothes that were laid out in the closet. He laid out onto his bed the white gi, and red sash that was to go with it. The boots given to him were a deep black, with little to no details on them. Stripping of the clothes he was previously wearing, Gohan wasn't surprised that this new outfit was a perfect fit. He walked out of the room, sizing himself up. Down in the courtyard below, he could see Japetus setting up a small table. The half saiyan yawned quietly. It was only now that Gohan remembered he had been kidnapped in the middle of the night. Would Japetus mind if he slept instead of eating? Probably not. The teal stranger didn't seem to care for much of anything. Gohan plodded back to his room, sleeping as soon as he was lying down.
It must've been a few hours later when Gohan had awoken from his sleep. The same dream had occurred, but this time there was no saving warmth. He shuddered, his body still ice cold. Quickly he slipped out of bed and walked into the courtyard. Not being in his own house had briefly surprised him, until he remembered the events of last night. When he arrived, Japetus appeared to be meditating in the centre of the field. He had a worried look on his face, and Gohan could tell he was actually communicating with someone. The young boy sat at the place set out for him, and did not disturb his guardian. He stared at the plate in front of him. On it was a single sandwich, and a small cupcake. Even though his place had been set hours ago, the tea in his cup was still steaming. Something was up with this Japetus guy, and he would question it later. His thoughts got taken over by how good that sandwich was, and how Japetus knew the BLT was his favourite. In typical saiyan fashion, he scarfed the thing down in a matter of seconds. The cupcake was next to go, and Gohan had almost forgotten to take the wrapper off of it. Somehow the small lunch had managed to fill Gohan up, which shocked him. As if on cue, Japetus approached the young half saiyan. He chuckled when he saw the curious look on Gohan's face.
"I can see you found the clothes that I have chosen for you." Japetus saw the eager look on Gohan's face, and knew what was to come next.
" Ask your questions, young one." Any hint of worry that Gohan had sensed before had vanished.
"I was wondering about how you know so much about me, and how that food made me full."
"I'm afraid you will find out how I know so much in due time. The food, however, I am able to inform you about." Japetus smiled again when Gohan let out a frustrated sigh.
"On your home planet, you have Senzu beans. Well, in our realm all food is like that. To be honest, I'm not sure how the whole process works. If you ever meet another inhabitant of this planet or its neighbours, you can ask them."
Guardian and saiyan stood in the middle of the courtyard, the lunch table long since cleared away. Japetus was holding a curious staff, wooden with a large orb floating over the top.
"Now, I can reveal the true purpose of you coming to this planet." Japetus said, a tone of importance seeping through his words.
"In the future, there will be a battle-" Gohan cut him off with a laugh.
"Well of course there's gonna be a battle. The universe can never hold its peace."
"Yes, but this battle will be devastating. I can not reveal much more than that, but your purpose here is to train under my guidance."
"Could we not have trained on Earth?" Gohan asked, tapping his foot on the ground.
"No. There are secrets this planet has yet to reveal that are beneficial to our cause."
Gohan tugged at his hair.
"Is there anything on this planet that's not a secret?"
"Yes. You know our food is like your Senzu beans."
If there had been a wall near by, Gohan probably would've smashed his head against it.
"Honestly, I think it would be best for your sanity not to ask too many questions. All answers will be revealed to you in due time." Japetus said, his voice indicating a hint of amusement from the young half saiyan's frustration.
Gohan took a de p breath, trying to calm himself down.
"So, training right? 'M I gonna have to fight you?"
"At some point in time, yes. Today you will be facing off against an enemy that has no life force." As he said this, he waved the staff and from the orb grew a large figure. It was pure white, as clean as Gohan's gi. The monster had the head of a lion, the arms of a gorilla, and the back end of a small monkey. It was a curious sight to behold, even for the young saiyan that had seen it all.
"I cannot control its movements. You win the fight if you can tip the beast over." Japetus said, before righting his staff again. The beast stood to attention, watching Gohan curiously. Gohan wanted the training to be over quickly, so he walked up to the amalgam and tried to lift one of its arms up. That only made the other arm come and knock Gohan over. He shook his head, before standing up again. He tried to lift it up from the backside, but that didn't work either. The amalgamation of creatures roared, and started chasing him around the courtyard. It caught up to Gohan, and knocked him over. Gohan jabbed the beast in the snout so it would get off of him. He didn't want to hurt the creature, as it did nothing to deserve it. There had to be some way..
Many unsuccessful tries later, Japetus spoke to the young boy.
"Try going at it from a different perspective."
Gohan struggled free from the vice grip he was held in, and stood a safe distance away from the creature.
A different perspective, huh?
He snapped his fingers, getting an idea. Calmly he approached the mane of the beast, and stroked it gently. A loud purring noise came from it. Gohan laughed, before digging his hands deeper into the mane. If he gave the beast enough petting, it might roll over for him. The gorilla arms folded, and soon the beast was lying down. Quickly, Gohan moved to its side and rolled the beast over easily. He gave its tummy a scratch before turning to Japetus, who was smiling widely.
"Good work, Gohan! I barely had to help you with that." Japetus walked up to the beast, and waved his staff over it. Soon enough, the beast was gone.
"Is there any more training to do today? That was actually kinda fun!" Gohan beamed, his fists clenched at his sides.
"Yes, but we'll have to leave the building for that. Now, go clean up and meet me out here in five minutes."
/I figure that's a good place to leave off for this chapter. Now we know a little bit of what's happening, and more will be revealed in due time. It's not explicitly written, but Japetus looks like Kaioshin and Zamasu had a baby. The red sash Gohan is wearing is like the ones the Kais wear. Again, I hope you like reading as much as I like writing!