I've been stuck in Vtuber (virtual youtubers) hell recently. I can't stop watching videos of them. Currently im very into deadpan humour so Mayuzumi Kai is feeding me just what I need. I need to brush up on my japanese or else I keep missing his jokes
Anyways, I know this story's plot line seems to be going nowhere for now. But this fanfic is going to update until you die of old age so you can be sure its going to be thicker than the 7 books of Harry Potter stacked together
which means, the plot is going to be THICC babbyyyy
which also means, this story is just starting baAABYYYY
-Recap- What happened in the last episode of DragonBall Z...
"b r u h she a hoe"
"ikr smhmh no feet pic"
It was also a sleepless night for the three brothers...or two.
Luffy had bothered his older brothers for answers till he fell asleep by accidentally letting his eyes blink for too long, but heavy thoughts kept the other two from blissful sleep. They laid beside each other in silence, listening to the rhythmic snores of the youngest.
"...Luffy's finally asleep."
"Yeah." Ace stared into the darkness, listening to the chirping of the crickets. It was a stifling night of little wind and high humidity.
"Luffy doesn't sound convinced."
"Yeah."
"...What should we do if she comes back to find us?"
Ace contemplated for a moment before answering, "Beat her up."
Ace could hear Sabo beside him raise his eyebrows.
The freckled boy gave a muffled grunt that sounded somewhat like "Run away or something".
There was another stretch of silence, filled in only by the snores of Luffy and the chirping crickets.
"I...Actually, I don't think she did it either," Sabo suddenly voiced out his doubts, "She's weird and all but I don't think she killed the woman."
"Then how do you explain her death? She disappeared from Makino's place, then the next day the woman was found dead? The townspeople said it looked like a suicide, but I sneaked into her house and it looked like a war zone. Everything was trashed."
Sabo's eyebrows knitted together, "I mean...maybe the woman really killed herself?"
Ace sighed harshly, turning his head to glare at the blond, "Logically, after we screwed up that woman's plans to kill that little bitch, shouldn't that woman come find us to get her revenge or something? We all saw the woman that day. She really hated her guts. Would she stop before she got to kill that shithead? And just off herself like that?"
Sabo's expression wavered, "Well..."
"Don't be stupid, Sabo. She's lying to all of us." Ace plucked Luffy's smelly foot from his side and turned his back to the two.
Tsuki was squatting in the bushes, only a distance away from the trio's hideout.
She had calmed down on the way here with vigorous exercise and was regretting her very immature decision to come and...what, waste her time explaining things to three idiots she won't see ever again?
So what if they disliked her? So what if they hated her?
Their feelings were not of her concern.
"..." Tsuki waved away Luffy's floating face.
It wasn't as if Tsuki's competitive spirit wasn't egging her on to win the argument against Ace, but on her list of priority, opening the blue Pocket from the Wu Zun was definitely higher than finding out what "I'm not like you" nonsense was. Conveniently, opening the Pocket in the forest where no one could see her was ideal. Whatever was inside the Pocket, Tsuki couldn't risk triggering Makino's maternal (or sisterly) instincts with her reactions, nor did she want to an outsider like Makino learning more about her.
Tsuki ventured deeper into the jungle, punching a few monkeys from a tree that had a view of the waning moon. She let Vermillion and Whitey out to do their job of protecting her nutritious flesh, and settled down on a high branch, the howls of dying beasts providing some background music. She didn't need light from the moon when she could see well in the dark, but she always had an attachment to the glowing orb in the sky. Maybe it was because her first name was 'Moon'.
Maybe because it was the only other witness to the night she lost everything.
The Churian girl gazed at the night sky. Crickets filled in the silence the howls left behind.
The moon slowly morphed into a certain rubber boy's face.
"Tsk."
She turned her attention away from the annoying face, going into her daily reflections to distract herself. Her daily reflections hadn't been very fruitful lately. She hadn't slept since yesterday and it was going to be another long night— not that she could sleep with all those thoughts jumbled up in her head. It was in her nature to have all questions answered and any enigma deciphered.
Tsuki found humans very interesting. She could grasp people's actions and thoughts and even manipulate them, though sometimes she found herself being unable to understand some. It was kind of like doing math equations; Tsuki knew where to use those formulas, but she didn't know why. Still, math was easier than trying to understand some people. Makino's generous nature was one. Giving everyone a chance to be believed in? The Churian girl crinkled her nose in skepticism. She had no qualms with being as kind and trusting as the pretty bar owner, but, only when it meant she could reap some benefit from it.
Not that she didn't try putting in some kindness and trust with her one and only ex-best friend. Tsuki gave a derisive snort at the thought of Yin Ruoyan. She regretted not introducing the detestable girl to her stash of zombie worms—preferably in her pillow— before they moved away. It also was the first time Tsuki suspected her parents were hiding something from her. Back then she expected her mother to go on a rampage, yet all she got was packed bags and threats from her mother to move her butt before she moved it for her.
Whitey circled back to her, sensing its master becoming a little miffed. Tsuki just satisfied the stone with a few pats before ordering the stone back to doing its job. She was no longer going to stall opening that damned blue Pocket. The little girl fished around in the pants that Makino had bought for her, feeling for the smooth silk of the Pocket between her fingers. Her Churian tunic was kept neatly in a drawer beside Makino's bed, since it made more sense for her to wear clothing that didn't stand out.
Taking a deep breath, Tsuki gathered her courage and channeled her Qi to open the unowned blue Pocket. The Wu Zun's Imprint was more like a scribbling of his name on the Pocket with a marker (which conveniently also functioned as a tracker), so any Qi users could open the Pocket as it wasn't registered under his. He must have erased ownership of the Pocket when he stuffed it into her tunic.
The space was similar in size to her mother's black Pocket, which was just about...the size of her bedroom? Her bedroom wasn't all that big either, since her father didn't earn much. Compared to her mother's Pocket, the Wu Zun had made full use of his space. Qi Crystals littered a corner of the 'room' of the blue Pocket, some trinkets and thingamajigs covering part of the floor, herbs and other medicinal salves were arranged nicely in a medicinal cabinet, complete with a stand that held several weapons. Most were straight swords (Jian), but there were quite a few polished daggers and knives as well. A large halberd leaned against the stand, with a spear by its side.
It seemed like there were plenty of alternatives for meat butchering...but Vermillion didn't need to know that.
A small pile of Belis and Churian Yuan lay in another corner. If only she had opened the Pocket earlier she wouldn't have to suffer under the hands of Ms Chicatory. Her eyes roved over a small pile of scrolls and bound books. According to the memories the Wu Zun imparted forcefully into her, some were handwritten copies of the sealed scrolls he stole from the freezing vault, which had information on the rest of the Standards and training methods. He had copied them out from memory. Other books had his notes on training written down. These would make any Qi user sell even the last piece of their soul in order to obtain it.
Hm?
Tsuki pulled back her senses into the real world. She had been actively trying to forget the Wu Zun's memories so it was hard to recall them, but...
His Pocket should be safe from those five elderly men she saw in his memories, because they didn't have Qi. They must have wanted to check, and it should have been registered under the Wu Zun's Qi, so even if they called the Grand Masters to help them open the Pocket, it wouldn't have worked.
The little girl abused her bottom lip with her lone front tooth, her eyebrows entangled in a deep furrow as she bored holes with her eyes into the neighbouring tree before her.
Safe?
The blue Pocket was equivalent to a highly secured safe for the Wu Zun. It could be used to store incriminating evidence against the World Government, or anything that the Wu Zun wanted to hide from them.
It didn't make a lick of sense to Tsuki. Why would they not confiscate the Pocket? They knew what the Pocket was. They should have kept it under lock and key when he became the Wu Zun, or be more thorough with it and completely destroy the Pocket, not that she knew whether it was possible.
From what she recalled, the Wu Zun didn't take the scrolls out from the vault because he didn't want to be discovered. Even if he could hide the secret scrolls from the World Government in his blue Pocket, once they discovered the vault was empty, they would certainly take the Pocket away from him. In order not to lose his last bastion, he sneaked into the vault multiple times to memorise the scrolls and copy it out from his own memory, thus he could safely store the knowledge in his Pocket without anyone realising their secrets had been leaked. However, the Wu Zun's actions were discovered eventually.
Tsuki's teeth clamped down on her lip. The memories from the Wu Zun were more like a loose summary of specific events than a detailed autobiography of his entire life, so she was missing a lot of information to build her logic on. Tsuki snapped a twig from the tree, using it to scratch her thoughts out on the bark of the trunk so she could iron out the mess of questions in her head.
The five elderly men only discovered the Wu Zun had stolen their secrets after he succeeded in advancing to the sixth Standard. Him reaching the Transdimensional Standard was concrete evidence that he had knowledge of the secret scrolls— so how could they have overlooked the fact that the Wu Zun might have made a copy of the scrolls? Was there really no attempt to take away his Pocket or even search through it?
It was like they were deliberately letting him run free, allowing him to collect secrets or even information against the government.
The little girl's breath hitched, eyes widening as she stared in disbelief at the messy mind map she had scratched out.
Immediately, the risks of such a plan surfaced in her head. The ownership of the Pocket could be transferred willingly, just like how the Pocket was in her hands at this instant, so the Wu Zun could have passed on his Pocket-ful of evidence and secrets to someone and expose the government for their evil deeds. Or the Pocket could even be thrown in a dumpster somewhere and be lost to time forever.
Could it be...?
The laughter that rang out into the humid night was devoid of any humour. Vermillion and Whitey both came back to check in on her, worried that their master had finally snapped.
She couldn't help it. It was just so hilarious that they thought they had slipped through the clutches of the World Government.
There was a moment of irrational glee at the thought of the Wu Zun naively believing he was successful in his little rebelling ways— Serves him right! Then Tsuki continued down the chain of thought and found herself together with the Wu Zun, dancing in the palms of their enemy like pitiful clowns.
The Wu Zun was more foolish than she thought.
We both are hopeless, desperate fools.
She had never underestimated the World Government, but she definitely didn't expect that they were this cunning. She was barely scratching through the surface of their schemes and it was already proving to be terrifyingly deep.
Her laughter died down and her face hardened into stone. It was time to rethink her position.
There was still a chance they don't know she was alive. A small chance that the Wu Zun's little ploy did get its way. It was up to her whether to take on this gamble.
The Imprint from the Wu Zun was still there. Which meant he was still alive— or, kept alive.
The twig was getting shorter and shorter as her frenzied scratching continued, the mind map turning more illegible by the second (if it was even legible in the first place).
If the Wu Zun was the dog on a leash, then what was the leash? What was this safeguard measure that the World Government had put on the Wu Zun? There must be something they hold over the Wu Zun, or they wouldn't have let him out of the house with the little Pocket swinging in his mouth.
There was nary a clue in the memories the Wu Zun had given her. Either he did not know what the World Government had put around his neck, or it just happened to be left out of the memories.
Questions, questions and more questions. The twig had been rubbed down to a small nub. Tsuki threw the nub away and heaved a sigh, leaning back against the disfigured trunk. The lack of sleep and the intense use of her brain was giving her a headache. She hadn't made such satisfying logic links in a while, but the conclusions drawn from it were not contributing to a good mood.
One, the World Government still had a trump card yet to be played.
Two, this trump card highly likely was the blue Pocket that was currently being wrung into a wrinkly mess in her hands. It could also be the Wu Zun himself. Or, something else entirely.
Three, if the trump card really was the blue Pocket...the World Government probably knew she was still alive.
It doesn't matter if they know I'm alive or not. I need to live in hiding anyways. And my target was never the Government...
The chirping of the crickets was getting more obnoxious. Tsuki scowled at the trees, wanting the stupid insects to shut up. She needed to think in peace and quiet. The girl opened the blue Pocket once more, taking out each book and scroll to skim through for any useful clues, but came up with nothing. She even held her disgust in and riffled through a stack of the Wu Zun's clothing. As she flicked her hand to get those dirty Wu Zun germs away from her, she spotted a small wooden drawer. It had escaped her eye as the room was filled with so many other flashier things that took the spotlight from the nondescript drawer. A few porcelain urns sat at the top, and the inside of the drawer was filled with larger porcelain vats. A yellowed manual with handwriting that she didn't recognise was wedged between the urns.
Tsuki flipped open the manual. Her eyes slid down the words, blood running cold as she read further.
"What— "
The smooth porcelain pieces were without a blemish, hiding their secrets behind a cool exterior. Tsuki's eyes snapped from the manual to the urns, and back again. She didn't want to check its contents at all, but she needed to know. Dropping the manual as if it burned her, the little girl took the closest porcelain urn from the drawer. It was heavy, liquid inside sloshing as she took it out from the Pocket to place it on the branch before her.
Vermillion and Whitey sidled closer, sensing Tsuki's discomfort.
"May the Heavens above protect me," the girl muttered a rare prayer, lifting the cover of the urn.
A strong herbal smell with something sharp and acrid hit her nose. The little girl stared straight ahead, afraid to look in and find what the manual described.
"Whitey?" Tsuki's voice wavered a little in the dark night.
The stone 'nodded', ready to act upon her instructions.
Tsuki tried to gather her thoughts, then shook her head, "...Never mind. You two, just stay close to me."
The sound of her rapidly pounding heartbeat was drowning out everything else. The little girl closed her eyes, then stuck a determined hand into the cold liquid. Her fingers brushed against something slimy and she shivered at how vile the thing felt.
Please don't be it, please don't let it be real...
She gripped it with her fingertips, slowly pulling out of the mouth of the urn.
A drop of the liquid caught the glint of the weak moonlight, running down the perfectly preserved forehead, along the crease of the eyelids and into the empty holes where eyes should have been.
The skinned face of a man lay in her hands, its thin skin almost transparent under the dim light of the moon.
Tsuki opened her mouth to scream but terror had snatched her voice away. She chucked the human skin mask as far away as she could with Qi, the porcelain urn following after it.
River...! Where is the river?!
The girl took off into the jungle, frantically trying to find a water source she could wash her hands of the filth she touched. Not even halfway there, she began to dry heave, collapsing to the ground as the image of the skin mask flashed before her eyes. Tsuki dug her hand into the soil in an attempt to forget the feel of the horrifying thing, pulling a rock across her fingers, stripping her skin off with its rough surface. The scratches stung as soil mixed in, and she couldn't tell if she was hyperventilating or vomiting or both at the same time.
The thought of her holding someone's face, the thought that behind the Wu Zun's mask was maybe a face of another stretched across his own, the thought that she had to wear one—
"Don't use your face."
The Wu Zun's words when he threw her through the Teleportation Door.
She would never do it. She couldn't do it.
Eyes brimming with tears, Tsuki tried to stop her shaking body, beckoning for Whitey. The stone cast a simple healing circle, the wounds on her hand closing up rapidly. Green light illuminated her surroundings for a second before plunging her back into darkness again. The jungle never paused for her, crickets drowning out the sound of her laboured breathing. Tsuki embraced Vermillion and Whitey, curling up on the jungle floor.
She missed her parents so, so much.
also i just clicked on a random chapter and realised there was a truncated line but who cares it wasnt that important anyways im too lazy to change it