Chapter 23: What Comes Next…
Almost immediately as Gohan and Goten were back on Earth, they both were pulled into the strongest hug they had ever remembered their mom giving them. Chi Chi did not even notice Gohan's wincing as he held her two sons.
"I was so worried about you two!" She complained as she released them before pointing a finger at Gohan, "And I never would have let Pan stay there with you if you had told me you were dealing with some psycho the whole time!"
"Let me see my granddaughter." She ordered Videl, who was smart enough to quickly hand Pan over.
"Let's go, you two." Chi Chi commanded her sons, "Dinner's waiting."
The walk to Goku and Chi Chi's home was led by Chi Chi, who lectured Gohan and Goten about their responsibilities and their safety while Videl followed quietly behind them, hoping to avoid her mother-in-law's wrath entirely.
Goten, the last one to finish eating, had just finished when his father appeared standing next to Chi Chi, wearing his slightly torn, Whis-styled dogi.
"Dad!" Goten cheered excitedly.
"Hey guys!" Goku greeted them happily before Goten tackled him with a hug.
Gohan, Pan, and Videl laughed as the two toppled over; but Chi Chi was not as happy, since they nearly managed to knock her over as well.
"Ow," Goku joked as he pat Goten on the back, "I missed you two, little guy."
"Get off the floor, Goku." Chi Chi ordered, "You two know you're not supposed to play around like that at the dinner table."
"Sorry, Chi Chi."
"Sorry, Mom."
The two apologized simultaneously as they stood up, scratching the back of their heads with the same apologetic grin as well.
"So guys," Goku asked to change the subject, "What's Earthland like?"
Gohan, Goten, Videl, and even Pan recounted some of their favorite parts about the world, telling Goku and Chi Chi about Fairy Tail, and describing the different kind of magic they saw. Chi Chi gasped when she saw Goten's guild mark, and they quickly explained that it was not some kind of tattoo.
"I'd show mine if I could." Gohan said as he finished explaining the guild mark, "But it's covered at the moment."
"Yamcha told me what happened." Goku replied, "It sounds like there are some pretty nasty bad guys over there. What's that guy's name again? Edo? It's a weird name."
"We're not sure it's really his name, though." Gohan stated before adding, "We barely know anything about him, really."
"How strong is he?" the pure Saiyan questioned.
"No one's fought him yet." Gohan answered, "But I'm assuming he's just as strong as the two I fought yesterday, maybe stronger."
"It sounds like you could use some help." Goku volunteered, almost too quickly.
"Probably." Gohan agreed, "But I need training first."
"You're not planning on leaving with your father, are you?" Chi Chi asked her oldest son, "You have a daughter to help raise, you know."
"Mom," Gohan began to argue, but stopped when Videl nudged his side with her elbow.
"I can handle a few months on my own, Chi Chi; and you and Goten will be right next door." She spoke for her husband, "I'm fine with Gohan getting training. He needs it."
"I don't even know if Whis will train him, to be honest." Goku informed the group, though he was speaking mostly to his wife, "He doesn't like taking on extra students."
"Oh, that's right!" Goku suddenly said, turning to Gohan as he remembered something important, "Whis did say he wanted to talk to you!"
"Really?" Gohan asked, "When?"
"Before I left him at Bulma's." His father answered before adding with a scratch of his head, "Actually, he might be waiting for us right now."
"You should probably go then." Videl suggested, "I don't think you'd want to make Whis wait any longer."
"I'll meet you there, Dad." Gohan said. Goku nodded before saying goodbye to everyone else and disappearing.
"I'm guessing this might take a bit." Gohan said as he stood up and turned to Videl and Pan, "I'll see you two when I get home, okay?"
"You better." Videl remarked as Gohan smirked and turned back to his mother and brother. He said goodbye to them before disappearing as well. As soon as Gohan left the room, Videl looked at Goten with a mischievous grin.
"Hey, Goten." She teased him, "Gohan isn't here to help you change the subject now."
"Huh?" Goten feigned ignorance.
"You know what I'm talking about." She insisted.
"Not really." He lied.
"I certainly don't know what you're talking about." Chi Chi commented.
"Well," Videl began, "You see, Chi Chi, th-"
"Videeel!" Goten whined.
"Don't interrupt, Goten." His mother scolded him, "It's rude."
Goten went quiet, but he gave Videl a pleading look that spoke well enough for him.
"'Kissy, kissy', Goten." She taunted before turning back to Chi Chi, "Goten's forgotten to tell you about Wendy."
"Who's Wendy?" Chi Chi questioned with interest, "Is she another member of Fairy Tail?"
Goten scratched the back of his head very nervously.
"Yes, and she's a friend." He lied again. He watched as his mother gave him an appraising look.
"Wendy is somewhat of a celebrity in Earthland." Videl added, "She's a Sky Dragon Slayer."
"One of the seven you were telling us about?" Chi Chi recollected, slightly impressed.
"That's right." Videl affirmed, "Goten was training with her most of the time he was there, actually."
"Oh, really?" Chi Chi replied before looking to Goten, "Why didn't you tell me about her, Goten?"
"Because he's also been dating her." Videl said nonchalantly. Goten shut his eyes and tensed up in preparation for whatever reaction his mother was about to have once she had finished processing Videl's words. The response, however, came in the form of Videl's shouting in surprise and a loud thud as Chi Chi fell out her chair and hit the floor. The two helped her back up, both apologizing as they did.
"Are you okay, Mom?" Goten questioned as she rubbed her head.
"I'm fine," Chi Chi answered, "But you, on the other hand, have some explaining to do."
"Pan and I will see you tomorrow." Videl quickly chimed in, knowing things were about to take a turn for Goten's worse as she picked up Pan.
"Goodnight you two," Chi Chi replied politely, and Videl almost out the door when Chi Chi turned back to Goten with her hands on her hips. She waited for the door to close before speaking.
"So, Son Goten," She questioned sternly, "Who's Wendy?"
"Momma?" Pan asked after they were outside, "Is Uncle Ten in trouble?"
"A little." Videl answered honestly with a smirk.
"But, I thought you're not supposed to laugh at someone when they get in trouble…" Pan recalled for her mother.
"You're not." Videl agreed, "But this is different, you'll understand when you get older."
The two reached their home, and Videl carried Pan inside with a relieved sigh.
"Home, Sweet Home." She said to no one in particular before looking to Pan, "Are you ready to go to sleep?"
Her daughter shook her head.
"Me neither." Videl agreed with a smile, "It may be night here, but it's still early afternoon in Earthland. I forgot we'd have to readjust to Earth time."
Ten minutes later, Gohan arrived in the center of the kitchen to see his wife and daughter at work by the counter.
"It's about time you got back." Videl remarked as she turned around to greet her approaching husband, "Feels good to be home, right?"
"More than you know." Gohan replied, letting Videl give him a peck on the lips as he reached her.
"What are we working on?" He asked, looking to the counter as Videl turned to look with him.
"Momma and I are making cookies!" Pan announced happily, showing her father the two dozen raw clumps of dough on a baking tray.
"That's a lot more than usual." Gohan observed. He smiled when he saw Pan nod excitedly in agreement.
"I figured we were celebrating coming home." Videl explained, "Is there a problem with that?"
"Hey, I'm not complaining about extra cookies." Gohan remarked, Pan nodded happily again. Videl shook her head at the two with a sigh before grabbing the tray and putting it in the oven.
An hour and a half later, Videl joined Gohan in their bedroom.
"Pan's finally asleep." She announced as she closed the door behind her, "I knew she'd crash after a sugar rush."
"So that's why you made more cookies?" Gohan concluded from his seat on the corner of the bed, smirking when Videl nodded.
"And here I thought you were just spoiling her to make up for all the time I got to spend with her." Gohan remarked as his wife sat to his right.
"Maybe it was both." Videl half-joked before changing the subject, "What did Whis want to talk to you about? Is he going to train you?"
"He will." Gohan answered.
"That's a relief." She replied.
"But he wanted to teach me even before I asked." Gohan revealed.
"Really?" Videl questioned.
"Yeah," He affirmed, "I don't know why, but that's what he said."
"And do you know when you'll start training?"
"He's giving me two days to rest before he comes to get me." He told her.
"I'm glad he didn't make you leave with your dad." She remarked.
"Me too." He agreed, "It's not really like I could have started training today, though."
"That was the next thing I was going to ask." Videl added, "How's your back? I hope your mom didn't aggravate it with that hug."
"It was a little sore earlier." He replied, "But I think it's fine now."
"Let me see." She instructed before scooting behind him and helping him out of his blue and orange shirts. She carefully unwrapped her husband's bandaging, starting from his shoulders. Before even the first few bits of wrapping were removed, Videl could see the top part of the large scar on his back.
"Well, it does look all healed up." She observed as she removed the last of the bandages, "But that scar's definitely permanent."
"I thought it would be." Gohan agreed, "It's not too ugly, is it?"
"No," Videl assured him, "It makes you look tough."
Gohan chuckled at his wife's comment before he felt her run a hand along the scar.
"This doesn't hurt, does it?" She asked cautiously, stopping her hand in the middle of his back.
"No," He answered, "It feels nice, really."
Gohan closed his eyes as he felt her finish following the scar before starting to give him a backrub.
"Mm." He said after a moment of quiet.
"Feels good?" Videl questioned him.
"Really good." Gohan confirmed.
"I guess you won't mind if I stop then." She joked before wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him to her.
"I'm fine with this too." Gohan told her with a faint laugh, resting the back of his head on her left shoulder. The two enjoyed the physical contact for a moment before Gohan broke the silence.
"Did I tell you how much you mean to me today?" He asked flirtatiously, turning his head to see her face.
"I think you did that when you let me eat the last cookie." She joked, smiling as she got a laugh from her husband.
"Maybe," Gohan remarked, still wearing a smile, "But I feel like I should say I love you anyway."
"It certainly doesn't hurt to say it." Videl replied before placing her lips against his. Gohan happily returned the kiss until their lips parted a moment later. When Videl opened her eyes, she saw a familiar expression on Gohan's face, one that made her feel pride and excitement every time she saw it.
"Hey," Gohan questioned, "You weren't completely lying when you said we were celebrating right?"
"I wasn't." She answered, "But I was having trouble with figuring out how to celebrate."
"Maybe I can help?" He asked hopefully, "I think I've got an idea."
"I'm sure you do." She joked before bringing her lips close to his right ear and whispering, "Lucky for you, I'm open to suggestions."
In the Kingdom of Fiore, in a bar known to be frequented by dark wizards…
Dark wizards were scattered by a large explosion that blew the front door to shreds before the room filled with panic.
"They're here!" A few shouted. "It's him!" Some others yelled. Whatever they were yelling, they all were essentially saying the same thing: Crime Sorciere had come calling, and they seemed to be on the warpath.
"GRAND CHARIOT!" Jellal shouted, and the symbols appeared on the ceiling before the attack rained onto the dark wizards.
Jellal grabbed a downed wizard by the collar and lifted him up before the smoke even cleared.
"The dark wizard Edo," He demanded from the terrified man, "Where is he?!"
"I don't know what you're talking about!" the man replied, "Please don't hurt me!"
Jellal threw the man aside before walking around and picking up another wizard in the same fashion as the first.
"Edo," He ordered intensely, "What do you know about him?!"
"Who's Edo?!" The woman questioned, grabbing Jellal's wrists as she begged for mercy, "I don't know him! Just let me go!"
Jellal could see the woman was too terrified to lie, and he dropped her with a sigh before letting her run off.
"Anything?" He asked his partner as he scanned the wreckage in front of him.
"Nothing." Merudy replied as she approached her friend, "I don't think we're going to find something here."
"Damnit!" Jellal yelled, slamming a fist onto a table, which broke in half under the force of the impact.
"We can't keep tearing places apart like this." Merudy stated as she surveyed the bar, "Someone's going to figure out what we're doing."
"That won't stop me." Jellal remarked, moving past the broken table and heading for the bar, "I'll kick down every door in Earthland until we find something."
"We're losing sources on other dark guilds every time we raid places like this, you know." She reminded him as he reached the bar.
"Perhaps." Jellal replied before hopping over the bar, "Maybe the bartender will know something."
Looking under the bar, Jellal saw three people huddled closely together, staring at him with terrified expressions.
"Which one of you runs this place?" He questioned calmly. Two of them pointed to the man on their left.
"You two may go." Jellal informed them, and the bartender gulped as the two that sold him out made a run for it, "Are you going to come out, or do I have to drag you out?"
"Please don't do anything else!" The man pleaded as he came out his hiding spot, "I'm just trying to make a living here!"
"How many dark wizards do you serve on a daily basis?" Jellal questioned rhetorically, "I'm guessing you hear a fair share of rumors."
"Yeah," The bartender agreed, clearly still scared senseless, "But that's all they are, rumors!"
"Even flat out lies have something in common with the truth," Jellal remarked, "Tell us what you know, and we won't burn this place down."
"Please don't, this place is all I have!" The man pleaded, but decided to answer when he saw the anger flash in Jellal's eyes, "Okay! Okay! Look, things have been weird around here lately."
"What do you mean, 'weird'?" The former Wizard Saint asked. Crossing his arms impatiently.
"Fairy Tail's shaken everything up," The man explained, "Did you hear how many guys they took down at Phantom?"
"One hundred and twelve." Jellal recounted for the man, "One hundred and thirteen if you count Porla, who I impaled with a sword."
"So you're the guy that took him out?" The man asked, even more terrified, "Well, you've gotta know what he was up to then."
"Porla was trying to fill the gap in the Balam Alliance." Merudy chipped in, "But we stopped him."
"I didn't know you guys work with Fairy Tail." The man remarked.
"We don't." Jellal lied, "We were following our own leads on Phantom before the fighting between the two broke out. But you need to tell us something we don't know, for your sake."
"Uh, I can tell you about the freaks that were in here the night before." The bartender offered, "Members of some kinda cult, I think."
"We're waiting." Jellal replied darkly.
"Right, well; these guys came in, I think four or five of them." The man began, "They were all wearing hoods, so I can't tell you what they looked like."
"That's fine." Merudy assured the man, "Just tell us what happened."
"Well, they ordered drinks like everyone else," The man recollected, glancing between Merudy and Jellal as he tried to figure out who to talk to, "But they got a little crazy after they had a few. They started picking fights with the regulars, so I kicked them out."
"Nothing about this sounds out of the ordinary." Jellal remarked, trying to show his patience was being tested.
"Let me get there!" The man requested, "On their way out the door, one of my buddies heard one of them say something about how pointless coming to the bar was; he said, 'The Underworld King has made the call'. Weird, right?"
"Tartaros." Merudy pointed out before asking, "Is there anything else strange that's happened around here?"
"You mean besides you two coming in, tearing up the place, and beating the crap out of everyone in the room?" the bartender remarked, "No, that's it."
"And you haven't happened to see a boy with light purple hair recently, have you? He had a sword with him when he went missing as well."
The bartender shook his head.
"I see." Merudy concluded, "Well, thank you for your time, then."
"Yeah," The man laughed weakly as Jellal walked past him and around the bar on his way out, "And I'm guessing you guys aren't going to pay for this?"
"Be happy you're still able to walk." Jellal replied as he headed for what was left of the door with Merudy. The man swore as he saw the two cross the doorway.
"Nothing." Jellal complained as he walked with Merudy, "This is the third place we've gone to, and we're still no closer to finding Edo."
"Well," Merudy offered, "At least we're learning where he's not."
"You know that's not good enough." Jellal replied, slightly angry, "We can't stop until he's paid for what he's done."
"You're right, he does need to be stopped," Merudy stated, "But what are we going to do if we find him?"
"That's simple." Jellal answered darkly, "We're going to kill him."
"Jellal, I think we need to actually think this through." She suggested, "Just two of his henchmen took Gohan down. I know Juvia's back on our side somehow, but we've still got Zancrow and Orga to worry about; and we don't know if he has anyone else helping him. You may be strong Jellal, but if Gohan couldn't take on two of them; we definitely can't handle three."
"You'd be surprised at what I can do when I'm pissed off." Jellal remarked.
"I don't think I would be." Merudy quipped, "I saw how badly you hurt some of those guys back there."
"What should I have done differently, Meldy?" Jellal demanded, "Knocked on their door? Asked them nicely?"
"No," Merudy replied, "I just think we need to take a step back and-"
"They're gone, Meldy." Jellal interrupted, "And the only thing that's going to make things right is Edo's elimination."
"Jellal, Edo might have died with them." She suggested, "You saw how big the crater was. Maybe Juvia's free because her controller died."
"No." Jellal disagreed, "Gray said Juvia was not there for the start of the fight. That means someone brought her there after the explosion, but we could find no trace of anyone else."
"Maybe Zancrow did it." Merudy offered, "He told me Edo was sharing his powers with him."
"I don't want to hear about Zancrow." Jellal remarked.
"He isn't a bad person anymore, Jellal, I could tell." She argued, "He's just on the wrong side."
"And as I said before," Jellal replied, "Edo could be telling him to earn your trust. He wants you weak."
"That's not what my Sensory Link with him at Phantom showed." Merudy reminded her friend, "No one was controlling him then."
"Controlled or not, he's working with Edo." Jellal stated, "That's bad enough for me, and I won't be merciful if he gets in my way. There's four debts that need to be repaid, and I have no problem if he wants to split the bill with his master."
"Jellal." Merudy suddenly said forcefully, stepping in front of him and shoving against his chest so he would stop walking, "You really need to cool off."
"What I need to do is find Edo!" Jellal yelled at her and smacked her hands away. He instantly regret his actions when he saw the wounded look on his friend's face.
"Meldy, I'm sorry." He apologized as she turned her back on him. To his surprise, she quickly spun on her heels to face him. The anger on her face was a new sight.
"Sit down, now." She commanded him, pointing him to a tree just of the side of the road. Jellal nodded quickly before doing as he was told as she followed him.
"Now you're going to listen to me." She ordered him before beginning her lecture, "We're not going to accomplish anything while we're angry. All day we've been attacking people with little to no results. If we keep being so obvious, the council's going to catch up with us. Heck, you almost ruined Fairy Tail's reputation by telling that guy we were at Phantom."
Jellal nodded gravely as he agreed.
"So far we've seen nothing to tell us if Edo is alive or dead," She continued, "We can't even find clues to where Trunks could be. As far as I'm concerned this whole day has been a waste of time."
"We learned something about Tartaros." Jellal replied, "But I agree, we haven't accomplished much."
"Here's what I think we should do," She offered, "Let's go back to Fairy Tail and watch the funeral tomorrow. I know we can't go near them because it's not just Fairy Tail that's there, but I know you'll regret not being there."
"I don't think it would help." Jellal said honestly, "It just makes me angrier every time I think about them."
"That's why we should go." Merudy insisted, "Believe me, I'm just as angry as you are. I mean, I can't begin to imagine what Wendy's going through; and to even think about Pan…"
She trailed off as she tried to maintain her own composure.
"My point is," She said with a deep breath, "We need to do something else, something constructive."
Jellal nodded before taking a moment to think.
"As much as I want to keep chasing Edo," Jellal stated, "I don't think we're going to find anything from the lower dark guilds. We need to look higher up."
"What are you thinking?" Merudy questioned.
"We haven't found anything about Edo so far," Jellal reflected, "But at all three places we heard rumors about Tartaros. I'm thinking I need to talk with Erik."
"With the Oracion Seis?" Merudy asked, surprised, "But's he's locked up."
"For now." Jellal replied, "But he seemed very confident about his situation last I heard. Besides the information he'll have on Tartaros, his hearing could help us catch Edo."
"So, what?" Merudy wondered, "Should we head for the Magic Council's headquarters and see if anything happens?"
"It sounds like an idea, and the Council would never expect we'd be watching them." Jellal said as he rubbed his chin in thought, "But perhaps we should head back to Magnolia first and wait for the funeral to start. We can pay our respects once everyone else has left."
"Now that sounds like a plan." Merudy agreed.
Somewhere on Earthland, a week later…
A lone man stumbled out of the darkness, falling and barely catching himself before his face could hit the cold and slippery rock underneath him. Figuring out he was in a cave, the man held his hand out to create a ball of light so he could see.
"It's about time I found you." An unfamiliar man's voice declared from in front of him, and the man jumped back and drew his sword as the light faded.
"Take it easy, okay?" The voice asked calmly, "I'm not going to attack you."
"Where am I?" the man demanded, sword pointed at the source of the voice, "What year is it?"
"That's a strange question." The voice remarked, "One time travelers or people waking up from comas usually ask that. I know which one you are."
"Who are you?" The man questioned.
"An enemy of your enemy." The voice said cryptically, "I can't say much else here, but I can say I know what happened to you."
"Can you fix what happened to me?" The man asked.
"It is possible." The voice replied, "But the temporal magic you've been exposed to is extremely powerful, I might not be able to fully undo what has happened."
"How do I know you can really help me?" the man wondered.
"Because I'm the one that got you out of there." The voice replied, "And not a moment too soon it would seem. Any longer and I might have found you after you hit your forties, or I might have found you as a toddler."
"You know where I was?" The man asked, ignoring the comment about his apparent age.
"To be fair, no one really knows where someone goes when they get sent into an alternate plane of existence." The voice explained, "All I know is how to find previously opened rifts and reopen them. Essentially, I fished you out. If I hadn't, you might've been stuck in there for a lot longer."
The source of the voice heard a soft click as the man sheathed his sword.
"Okay," the man concluded, "I can at least hear you out, I guess."
"Great!" the voice said happily, "We should get moving then. The sooner we get to my home, the better I can mend your aging issue. After that, I can explain everything that's happened since last week."
"It's only been a week?" The man questioned.
"That's right." The voice affirmed, "And as for where you are, you're in a cave that's located on the edge of the Principality of Veronica. Pretty close to one of my favorite villages, actually. Well, it's not a village anymore."
"What are you talking about?" The man asked, confused with the voices additional comments.
"Sorry, just reminiscing." The voice apologized, "Anyway, we should stop getting distracted. C'mon, Trunks, there are things I need your help with."
Hearing the voice say his name was the last bit of confirmation to the demi-Saiyan that he should trust the stranger.
"I'm with you." Trunks agreed, "But can you at least tell me your name?"
"Oh, crap." The voice swore at himself, "I'm sorry, where are my manners? My friends call me Iga, and I think I may have a solution for several of your problems."