Update Note: If anyone was wondering why the website suddenly went down.
It was me. Apparently.
Seriously, I place two updates and suddenly the entire site goes down.
A/N: Sorry I'm a little delayed with the upload.
I messed up my plans for future chapters, and it got all tangled up, then I moved things around so much I was no longer able to keep track of what was supposed to happen anymore.
And me starting two new series most certainly didn't help either. Especially when one crashed and burned.
Oh well, lessons were learned.
To Tactician: Videl on Yamcha's level on canon? That's still very high.
To the people pointing out that Gohan is more powerful than actual gods:
Yeah, but the people of the earth don't know that.
Yet.
Thank you all for your continued support.
Chapter 7
Purity II
In the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, Gohan rose from his deep, deep meditation, pleasant dream included.
To be fair, it started out as a meditation, but he must have been more tired than he thought. And his full stomach didn't really help all that much either.
For a second he wondered how Videl was doing, and made a search for her energy. It was close. Very close.
He opened his eyes, and looked down to see the side of her face, as she had put her head in his lap.
Her short hair was a mess, and her lips were ever so slightly apart.
Her top had shifted once more, once again revealing her bare chest to him, but he was a gentleman and only looked for a moment. Mostly, his eyes were just drawn to her face. So trusting, so peaceful.
Such a contrast with how he found her.
He took a deep breath to calm himself. What those men had nearly done to her was unforgivable.
Absentmindedly, perhaps to give his own torn mind a bit of comfort, he let his fingers slide over her cheek.
She reacted. First with a low, displeased mumble, then a large sigh.
Then she opened her eyes, turned to look up at him and smiled, through half closed eyes. A sleepy smile.
He let his fingers slide over her other cheek now.
"Good morning." She said, stretching out a little.
"Sorry I woke you up." He said, feeling a bit sad that their intimate moment was coming to an end.
"It's alright." She said as she stood up and fixed her top a little. "What time is it?" She then asked. There only the slightest blush of embarrassment on her cheeks. "How long did I sleep?"
"Not sure." Gohan replied, getting up himself.
Videl stretched out dramatically, letting out a high moan as she did so.
So cute. He just wanted to grab hold of her and snuggle in.
But she probably wouldn't be ok with that, even if she didn't dare refuse him.
At once his warmth and happiness was replaced by guilt.
"It was long enough, I guess." She turned back to him. Not the slightest hint of fear in her eyes. It felt good.
"I guess." Gohan agreed. He himself felt rather refreshed.
And he decided to just asked her. "While I was meditating." He started, just to start somewhere.
"Napping." She playfully corrected him.
"Before that I was actually meditating." He defended himself.
"Uh-huh." She nodded in a disbelieving way. "I could hear your 'snores of meditation' all the way from the bathroom."
"Anyway" He ignored her remark. "I was thinking, maybe I shouldn't be training you here." He stated.
"Why not?" She asked, tilting her head a little.
"Because this is pretty much a place outside of time, and if we spend an entire year in here, only a day passes outside." He said. "But we will still age, so I don't think it is a good idea to spend much more time here."
"If you say so." And she just agreed with him.
He noticed the slight uneasiness in her energy as she let her gaze wander over the nothing outside.
"Do you dislike it here?" He then asked.
"A little." She replied honestly.
"It takes some time getting used too." He said as he walked towards the door. "I spent an entire year training in here with my father, just before the Cell Games."
"Wow, that must have been rough on you." She replied.
"It wasn't all that bad." He shrugged. The year in here with Goku had many of his happier memories.
"Hey." She suddenly called. He looked back at her, and she seemed to be a little unsure of herself all of a sudden.
"Are these your clothes?" She then asked, sounding lightly. Clearly not what she intended to ask at first. "They seem a little… small for you." She plucked idly at her clothes.
"No, actually." He answered. "You didn't have anything so Piccolo materialised some for you."
"Piccolo?" She repeated, looking confused. "Materialised?"
"The big green guy that was out there with me." Gohan abridged. "He has the ability to create clothes and such."
"So you didn't actually dress me?" She then asked.
Such a weird question. Unless she believed he did, which, now that he thought about it, actually made sense, since she didn't know about that ability.
"No, he materialised them on you." He tried to put her at ease.
"I guess that explains my lack of underwear." She remarked. "Oh well, I'll take it. So you didn't notice how I… I had… kinda…" She trailed off.
He did have an idea of what she wanted to ask, and figured she was simply too ashamed to actually do it. "You wet yourself." He stated evenly.
"How do you know?" She asked sharply, suddenly reminding him of the Videl from before. "Did you… see?" She added, some of her newfound insecurity was clearly returning.
"No, but I do have a very sensitive sense of smell." He replied. Indeed he had noticed the scent of urine when he took her with him.
"It wasn't like… I was… I didn't…" She started stammering, barely able to form words. If only he could tell what she was thinking.
Gohan frowned. It hurt to see her like that, to be so clogged up over such a small matter. Though he had to admit, her being less aggressive was nice in its own way; however, it was too much. He was finding out that he preferred her aggressiveness over what she was rapidly becoming in this moment.
Without thinking about it he grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her towards himself, cherishing her against his chest.
He could feel a strange spike in her energy, and decided to chalk it up to her being taken by surprise.
"It's nothing to be ashamed off." He said gently. "You were in a pretty tight spot after all. And under a lot of stress." He added the last part with some bitterness. Once again that feeling of anger resurfaced.
"Yeah, I guess." She replied half heartedly.
She sniffed against his chest, and for a moment he thought that she was going to cry. But she didn't.
"Hey." He started gently, not sure how to start this up. But he thought of something. Something he probably should have done earlier. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked.
"That's ok." To his surprise, she denied him. "I'm fine."
Gohan didn't really believe her. The memory of her clinging to him for dear life resurfaced. He knew she had been through a lot these last few days, coming to a peak in that warehouse.
"It's ok, you can talk to me." He tried to encourage her.
"I'm fine." She repeated. "Don't worry about me." And she pushed away from him, so he let her go.
For a moment he wondered what to do. On one hand, he didn't believe she was fine. On the other, forcing it out of her would probably do more harm than good. So he decided to let it go. For now.
Instead, he moved to leave the time chamber.
He opened the door, and Videl followed him silently. It wasn't a pressing silence, he could feel that she was still curious about this place. She was clearly still taking it all in.
And from the corner of his eye, he was watching her. She was so calm. Oddly so, even. But then again, he was no psychotherapist. He didn't really have a grasp on what would be a normal reaction.
"This place is amazing." She stated. He could see her eyes wandering over every detail.
"Yeah, it is." He agreed, and led the way outside.
Piccolo and Dende were standing near the edge of the lookout, overlooking the world. A slight breeze swept over them. It must have been enough to bring Dende's attention back to his local surroundings, as he noticed two approaching from behind.
"Ah, you're back." Dende turned to them. "And you look well." He addressed Videl.
"I guess I needed a bit of a break." Gohan replied. It was true, his short time in the time chamber, isolated from the world and its troubles had done him well.
"She looks stronger than before." Piccolo noted. "Have you been teaching her?"
He looked back at Videl, who was using her hands to hold her top together.
"Just a little." He replied. "By the way, would you mind giving her a shirt? The top is a bit… revealing for her taste." He asked, even though he had yet to hear a single word of complaint from Videl.
But the slight smile betrayed her, telling him she would like to have another piece of clothing.
"Fine." Piccolo sighed, as Gohan knew he was unable to resist a request from him. "What did you have in mind?"
"Just a shirt underneath the top will do." Gohan replied. Piccolo nodded and pointed at Videl. And a red shirt materialised underneath the purple top.
"You know, this is pretty much unheard off." The tall Namekian commented. "Usually, only people who are accomplished Martial Artists get to train up here, but she hasn't even climbed Korin Tower."
"I guess that's true." Gohan chuckled. And then an idea just fell into his head. "Hey Videl, how would you like to climb Korin Tower?" He then asked.
"What's Korin Tower?" She asked, not entirely unexpected.
"It is the tower of Korin." Gohan said, earning him a bit of a scowl. "If you climb the tower, Korin may give you the Sacred Water, and you'll become stronger."
"Just like that?" She asked. "Did you do it?"
"Not me, but my father did, as did many of my friends." Gohan replied.
"Alright then." She went along with it. "Where is this tower?"
Gohan pointed down. "Directly below the Lookout." He replied.
Videl joined the other three at the edge, and looked down. "We are really high up, aren't we?" She asked. The answer was obvious, but an idea was forming in her head.
"Quite." Piccolo said.
"You'll catch me, right?" She asked, looking at Gohan with those bright and trusting eyes of her.
"Of course." Gohan replied without thinking. Then his brain caught up. "Wait, did you say catch?"
Videl didn't bother to respond. She just closed her eyes, and let herself fall forward, into the depths.
Gohan watched her go. She hadn't hesitated at all.
"She is a brave one, I give her that." Piccolo admitted.
This was intense. The wind rushing past her face as she reached terminal velocity. She had always wanted to go skydiving, but she never really found the occasion to go.
And calling this place high was like calling the moon a bit far away, or Gohan somewhat strong.
Even now she couldn't see the ground, just an ocean of white clouds below her.
"Hey." She heard next to her. Gohan was now falling besides her as well. "Why'd you just jump off like that?"
"I felt like it." She grinned. "I've always wanted to do something like this. I always imagined it feeling like flying."
She stopped for a moment on her own words. "Wait, can you teach me how to fly?"
"I could." He replied. "But I won't. Or climbing Korin Tower wouldn't be much of a challenge."
"But afterwards?" She continued.
"Sure." He nodded.
Oh, she was so happy, all the words in the world would fail to describe it.
Her eyes closed again, she just enjoyed the fall, trusting Gohan to catch her before she hit the ground.
And she fell.
And fell.
And fell.
A few minutes later, she felt a small prod in her side. She opened her eyes again and looked at her protector. He merely pointed down.
There, far below, but rapidly growing, was something. A building. Another floating platform perhaps?
"That is the top of Korin Tower." Gohan informed her. "And the halfway point down."
"Halfway?" She repeated. Now she saw the thing pass in the blink of an eye.
"Hang on a second." Gohan said, and promptly stopped his descent.
"TO WHAT?" She yelled, but he was already out of earshot. She turned so her back was in the wind, and saw him levitate towards the dome.
Ah well, back to enjoying the fall, she supposed. It wasn't like Gohan was going to let her fall to her death.
She noticed something odd. A white pillar, attached to the dome, and stretching past her, as far as she could see.
"Don't tell me I have to climb this?" She said out loud. But she knew it was true. Gohan said it was directly below the Lookout, so this had to be it. Besides, he had called the dome the top of the tower, so there was no room for doubt.
She eyed the pole as she kept falling. 'This is going to be a long climb, isn't it?' She closed her eyes again, and went back to enjoying the fall while she still could. Which also lasted several minutes.
All too soon, she felt someone take hold of her. It was Gohan, it pretty much had to be, so she waited with opening her eyes until she was sure they had completely stopped.
And only a few seconds later, she heard the soft tap of feet hitting the ground. Feeling a bit playful, she opened her eyes, looked at Gohan, and put on her most childish voice.
"Are we there yet?"
It made Gohan laugh so hard he nearly dropped her.
"I'm there, but you're going back." He replied.
"Ow." She pouted. And jumped from his arms. It was now that she took a look around. Nearby stood the foot of the tower, and all around it were tents. What did they call one of those again? Tipi?
There were people here too. They looked at the two of them, but not with as much surprise as she would have thought. They did just fall from the sky after all.
"Greeting strangers." A man addressed them. He was huge, way bigger than her father was. And on the right part of his chest he had a scar in the shape on an X. "What brings you to the Sacred Land of Korin?"
"He did." Videl pointed to Gohan, who grinned in return.
"Wait, hold on." Videl saw Gohan observe the man in front of them. "Are you Bora, by any chance?"
"You know me?" The man asked surprised. "I do not recognise you."
"No, but you knew my father, Son Goku." Gohan happily stated.
"Goku?" The man, Bora, repeated. "That is not a name that I have heard in a very long time." He made a large smile. "And he is your father? How is he doing?"
Gohan took a slightly more gloomy face. Come to think of it, Gohan had never talked about his father. And why did the name of Son Goku sound familiar? Did she hear it somewhere?
"He died a while back, during the Cell Games." Gohan replied. "He gave his life to protect the planet."
"But I thought you killed Cell." Videl asked without even thinking.
"I did." Gohan replied, not even blinking. So cold. For a moment she was reminded of the picture back in warehouse. That horrible wrath.
"Could he not be revived with the Dragon Balls?" Bora then asked.
'Dragon Balls?'
Gohan merely shook his head. "He had been revived already, and the dragon can not bring back the same person twice." He replied. "It is alright though, he is now off on a new adventure in the afterlife, and one day, I will join him there, and tell of my adventures here on Earth." He grinned. "Hopefully sometime next century or so."
Videl chuckled softly, and Bora just laughed out loud. "That's the spirit!" He said jovially. "But look at me, wasting your time. You must have a purpose for coming here, right?"
"She's going to climb Korin Tower." Gohan pointed to Videl, who shyly waved.
"Is she now?" Bora seized her up. "Then perhaps you would allow me to give you a parting gift? Normally we do not do this, but for the son of Goku I can make an exception."
"What kind of gift?" She asked, feeling curious.
"Food and water for the climb." He replied. "It is a long way up, you know?"
"Oh I know, I just fell down the entire tower." She looked aside at the black haired boy and tried to imitate his voice. "Hey look, see how far it goes, you're going to climb all the way back up."
"I did not say that." Gohan tried.
"No, but that was pretty much what it felt like." She returned. And cast one more look into the sky. She couldn't even see the top. "Do you really think I can climb all that way?" She then asked, before Gohan could try to defend himself more. That was just a jest anyway.
"I'm… not sure." He then hesitantly told her.
"You're not sure." She repeated.
"If I knew for sure you'd be able to do it, then there wouldn't be any meaning to it." He then said.
She frowned for a bit, and looked up again. "Alright, if you say so." She found herself agreeing. It wasn't like she didn't think this could be a bad idea, but she was just anxious to see if she could.
Eager to find her limits and push them further. To have a taste of her new, true, strength.
"By the way." Gohan addressed Bora. "Just water will be fine. She has had a Senzu Bean not long ago."
"I see." He nodded. "A few skins of water it is then." He said to the people behind him, who promptly went on their way, probably to get said skins.
"Why would you make an exception for me?" Videl asked. It was a question she had never asked before. It was something she never thought before. Up until now, she had only asked why when there wasn't an exception made for her.
Before she had been Videl Satan, rich and proud and egoistical. And she expected people to bow to her will.
But now, all of her wealth was gone. Her name was garbage. And she was broken.
To see a stranger give her something, for no other reason than generosity, it was something rather new.
"I owe Goku a debt I can never repay." Bora said, putting his left hand over the mark on his chest. "He gave me my life. Quite literally. He made a wish on the Dragon Balls, and restored my life to me. He gave me a second chance."
Gohan smiled at him. "I see you haven't wasted that chance." He noted, looking around at the small tribe.
He smiled in appreciation.
People came walking, carrying several skins with water, which they put on Videl's back.
"Thank you." She nodded, and turned to the tower. She felt Gohan's hand on her shoulder. In his other, he held something.
A small piece of metal. It looked like a hairpin of some sorts.
"Here." He said, putting it in her hand. "For good luck."
"Thank you." She repeated, putting it in her hair. She didn't exactly need it anymore, but she wasn't about to refuse it. "Alright, here goes nothing."
And thus she started her climb. First thing she noticed was how easily she could pull herself up. She was stronger than she thought she was. And definitely than she had been before.
"That is the result of your energy training." Gohan said, as if he had read her mind. "Go on, you can do it."
'Yes, I can do it.' She told herself, and climbed higher.
Below her, Gohan and the tribe was watching her, until she was nothing more than a black dot on the pillar.
"She is strong." Bora complemented her.
"I know." Gohan nodded proudly. "Thank you for your help." He said to him, lifting off slightly.
"No, thank you, and your father." Bora returned. "But what are you going to do? You know you can't help her, right?'
"I know." He replied. "I'm just going to keep an eye on her." He waved, and took off.
She climbed on and on, higher and higher. She already passed some clouds, and still the top wasn't even in view. It wasn't going to be for quite some time, she knew that.
Yet she climbed on. If Gohan believed in her, then she believed she could do it as well.
On and on. Her arms started feeling like lead, her legs like useless pieces of meat.
And the sky was already darkening.
'What time is it?' She asked herself, taking a small break and a drink. 'How long have I been climbing?'
She honestly didn't know.
After a few minutes of rest, she went on.
Until it was completely dark. She decided to take the risky nap against the pillar. It was tricky, but she had found a small ledge, just big enough to lean and give her legs the rest they needed, as well as her arms, which she didn't have to use to hold on either. It wasn't comfortable, but in the last few days she had to learn to let go.
Come morning, she woke, and nearly fell backwards. In fact, she considered it a miracle she hadn't fallen yet.
And on she went. She had a slight muscle ache, but this was hardly the first time, so she pressed on.
And on.
'By everything that is good and holy, this thing was not this high when I came falling down!' She mentally complained, hoping to encourage herself.
It didn't work.
So on she went. She was convinced that at this point, going down would take longer than going up.
Come evening, she learned just how wrong she was.
Besides wrong, she was also out of water.
And tired, so tired.
Yet she climbed on, forgetting about trying to reach the top, and just looking for a ledge big enough to sleep on.
And she found one, slightly larger and more comfortable than the last one. The sun wasn't going to set for another hour, but Videl had already left for the realm of dreams the moment she was sure she wasn't going to fall.
Climbing without water was lighter at first, but after a few hours she had become thirsty as well as tired.
The only thing missing was hunger.
But she did have a Senzu Bean, so that explained that.
Sighing, and taking a break after having climbed for the entire morning, she looked down for a bit. It was seriously high up.
'How much higher is this thing?' She asked herself, looking up again. And she looked closer.
'Wait, is that… is that it?'
With renewed effort, she made her aching muscles work.
Her pace was slow, and she had lost a lot of strength over the distance.
But it really was the top, and slowly but steadily she crept up, until, finally, she could reach one of the holes above her, and with the last of her strength, hoisted herself in.
There she laid on the floor, utterly spend, yet grinning broadly because she made it.
Overcome by her exhaustion, she drifted into slumber right where she laid.
Not even a few seconds later, Gohan came floating up the hole. He couldn't help but smile proudly at the sleeping girl. She had came so far, in such a short time.
Gently, he pushed one hand under her head, lifting her up somewhat, so he could take her around the back, with the other underneath her knees. Carefully, as not to wake her up, he lifted her, and flew up.
She was sound asleep. But then, it was a really long climb. He watched her go part of the way, partly to give himself some time to think, to figure out what to do now.
When he decided on something he left his vigil to Piccolo, and left. He did a little scouting around the world, and learned about King Furry's speech. And of something more.
Now, Piccolo had contacted him telepathically, since he didn't want to miss her reaching the top, so he came back.
"Well done." He whispered. He moved her away from the edge, where he put her down again. The only reason he moved her at all was because he was worried she might roll over in her sleep, since she pretty much laid on the edge.
Afterwards, he made his way up to the main part.
"Gohan." Korin greeted him. "Not who I was expecting. Where is your friend?"
"She fell asleep downstairs." He smiled as he pointed down. Then the smiled faded away. "I guess I better get going then. If she finishes her training before I come back, could you tell her she's welcome at my house?"
"Of, course, no problem." The cat declared. "So what are you planning on doing?"
"Well, I've got a press conference in the morning." Gohan started.
"So you are finally going to clear the whole God-thing up?" Korin asked him.
But then Gohan shook his head. "No, perhaps it would be better if I didn't." He lifted off slightly, and waved. "Take care of her for me." He said, and flew off, towards the world.
Or tried to. The tower was barely out of sight when he noticed Piccolo going after him. So he waited for the Namekian to catch up to him.
"Gohan." Piccolo sounded serious.
"Is there something wrong?" He sounded worried.
"Something happened while you were watching her." He started. "It's not an emergency, but I thought you'd want to know."
After about an hour Videl woke, and felt that much better, though still very tired and thirsty.
She looked at the hole a small distance away. She figured she must have rolled over in her sleep, and counted herself very luck she didn't roll the other way.
On the other hand, she was pretty sure someone had been watching her, and perhaps even moved her. Probably Gohan.
So she made her way up the stairs, to the open part of the dome.
There she saw a cat. Holding a staff.
"Took you long enough." It said. The cat could speak. "What were you doing down there?"
"Napping, mostly." She replied with a small grin. "Are you Master Korin?"
"It was quite the climb, wasn't it?" The cat returned. "Yes, I am. Here." He threw her something. A small green bean. "I believe you are already familiar with the Senzu Beans?"
"This is a Senzu Bean?" She asked, half surprised. She had expected something a bit more… magical looking.
"Just eat it." He told her.
And she did. It tasted bland, and a little like fish.
Then a surge hit her. She could literally feel her energy being restored, and her tiredness washing away.
"Feels good, doesn't it?" Korin asked. "You are here for the Sacred Water, are you not?"
"Yes, I am." She nodded. "Do you have it?"
"Of course, it's right over there." He pointed to the small pedestal in the middle of the space. "You may take it, if you can." She saw a flask on top of it.
'If I can?' She mentally repeated. 'Is this a test? Oh well, on way to find out.' So she went over, and reached for it.
Only to be kicked in the back by the cat. It made her stumble and fall down.
She looked up, to see Korin swinging the flask at the end of his staff.
"You said I could take it." She said, a little angry. Was this guy playing a game or something?
"If you wish to drink the water, you must take it from me." Korin stated.
And she tried, but that cat was nimble.
After only a few tries, she was already out of breath.
"You waste a lot of energy, don't you?" Korin said to her, swinging the flask like bait. "We are very high up here, the air is thin. You need to regulate your breathing."
"If I control my breath, will I be able to catch you?" She asked him.
"No." He replied. "That alone is not enough. Climbing this tower has given you strength, and lung conditioning."
"Really?" She looked surprised. But come to think of it, she did feel a lot stronger than before."
"But I'm afraid you need a bit more training." The cat said. In one paw he held the staff with the flask.
In the other, a hairpin. Videl reached up to her head, but it was gone.
"Give that back!" She snapped.
"Sure." Korin replied. And threw it over his shoulder, over the edge, down the tower.
"YOU FFFFFF!" Videl watched it go down. As much as she would like to stay and share some of her favourite words, she'd rather go down and get it.
So she did.
Some time later, at the ground, Videl jumped down from the tower, getting quite a few looks from the villagers, but she didn't even notice them.
"Where is it, where is it?" She mumbled to herself, looking over the ground. Then she saw something glitter.
There it was.
She snatched it up, lodged it back on her hair, and promptly jumped to restart the climb.
"I SWEAR I WILL SKIN YOU ALIVE!" She yelled as a war cry, making her way back.
Bora had just been standing there in silence, watching her go. "That was… odd."
"WHAT THE HELL!" Videl screamed at the cat, only slightly out of breath.
"What?" He then asked. "You don't appreciate the extra training?" He smiled at her. Or at least, she hoped it was a smile. "Coming up here took you more than two days, but just now you made the round trip within seven hours. Talk about progress."
"I did?" Videl looked at her hands. "Wow, I really did." Realisation dawned on her.
"Well then." And the flask was swung like bait once more. "Let's try that again."
Evening had come and gone. It was nearly completely dark now.
By now she could keep going, not getting out of breath every few moves. She could see that cat move, she could anticipate his next ones.
And still she just couldn't get hold of that flask.
Korin was just too fast.
She was taking a break, which mostly consisted of her sitting her on the ground at the edge, leaning against the railing, with her legs swinging freely.
She looked down, and could see the familiar sea of white clouds that she had seen on her fall earlier.
The sky above her was donned with bright stars, far more than she had ever seen before herself. Only to her far right there was some hint of daylight left.
Within a few minutes that too would be gone.
Something moved above her head, blocking out the light of the numerous stars. The flask, on the end of the stick, held out to bait her.
She made a half hearted grasp at it. Korin didn't even need to move the flask to prevent her from taking it.
"Come on then." He said to her. "You'll never be able to take it if you keep sitting there."
"It's no use." She sighed. "I can't do it."
"Of course you can." Korin objected. "You climbed the tower by your own strength. There are few people who can boast that."
"Barely." She returned. "And I only did it because I thought I was nearly there the whole way. Had I known at the start it would take this long, I'd never have tried it."
"And then you would never have reached this place, and never had a shot at drinking the sacred water." Korin added.
"I can't get it anyway, so what's the point?" She returned.
Korin withdrew his staff, and shook his head. Thanks to his ability to read minds, he had an idea of what was wrong.
"How about you take a good night's sleep?" He suggested. "You'll feel better in the morning."
"Maybe." She replied, but stood up nonetheless.
"Oh, and one more thing." The ancient cat continued. "Don't go comparing yourself to Gohan. That kid not only has a talent unlike I've ever seen before, he also has been training for most of his life already. Even Kami himself would feel inadequate next to Gohan. So don't let it get to you, ok?"
"Yeah." She gave him a little smile, and left for the bed.
Of course, Korin didn't really expect anything else.
Her spirit had broken. She was going to need more than just a bit of encouragement.
Up until now she had been burning on Gohan's presence, on his encouragement and belief in her. But after several days of climbing, only to be unable to get what she came for, she had finally ran out of fuel, and the fire within had started to die down.
Gohan had believed, by training and getting stronger, she'd be able to move on from that feeling of powerlessness. But if she didn't have the will to keep fighting, she would not grow.
And that will was dying.
Accepting her weakness had allowed her to let go of her illusion of strength, but also opened up the danger of surrendering to said weakness.
For now, the only reason she was still trying was because she had literally nothing else to do.
Four days.
That's how long she had spent with Korin.
And at the end of the third, he insisted she'd go back down and climb the entire tower again.
Of course, aside of sleeping, she also spend some of her time sitting at the edge, contemplating her life. Korin, who knew what troubled her mind, let her do so. She may have accepted how her life had changed all of a sudden, she still had trouble processing it all.
But at the end of the fourth day, after six or seven days in total, she finally managed to grasp the flask.
"I did it!" She shouted triumphantly.
"Congratulations." Korin clapped for her.
She opened the flask, and drank. Finally, the power of the Sacred Water. The incredible rush of power…
…
… was not there.
"I don't feel any different." She commented.
"Of course not, it's just ordinary tap water." Korin told her.
"TAP WATER?" She echoed.
"Yes, that is what I said." He replied.
"Where is the real Sacred Water?" She then asked.
"I have no such thing." He dashed her hopes.
"So I spend a week trying to get this water, and now you tell me you don't even have it?" She could feel her anger bubbling up.
"Why do you want the Sacred Water?" Korin then asked.
"To become stronger." She replied without missing a beat.
"Have you not become stronger?" He then asked.
"Well, yeah." She replied, still quite angry.
"The water is merely a visual, a goal to strive towards." Korin explained. "What makes you stronger is the training. And your power has multiplied."
Realisation hit her like a ten ton truck. He was right, she had been forcing herself to improve in order to gain the water.
"Since the water turned out to be just a trick, allow me to give you something real instead." Korin said, and walked to the edge.
Videl followed.
At the edge, the cat drew a deep breath. "Come to me, Nimbus!"
"Nimbus?" She repeated. That sounded awfully familiar.
And indeed, a golden cloud appeared before her.
"This here is a Nimbus Cloud." Korin told her.
"Doesn't that belong to Gohan?" She then asked.
Korin nodded. "Gohan has one, yes, but this one is now yours."
"But…" She stammered, feeling a little overwhelmed. "But I can't ride it. You have to be pure of heart to ride it, don't you?"
"Indeed." Korin nodded patiently. "But Nimbus Clouds can do more than just give pure hearted people rides, you know? They can carry things for you, for one. When it is hot, and the sun is burning down mercilessly, a Nimbus Cloud can give you some shade. They can water your garden, and when you are lonely, keep you company."
"Wow." With each statement, her wonder grew.
"You see, they are very useful to have, even if you can't ride it." Korin concluded. "But of course, if you don't want to have it, I won't force it on you."
"Wow." Videl repeated. She stepped towards it, and reached out. She had expected her hand to go through, and this was the reason she did it in the first place.
Yet her fingers met with something else.
Something solid.
'But that is not possible.' She breathed to herself. Yet she continued. She put her other hand on it as well, and lifted herself up.
And sat down.
"Well, that's a surprise." Dende commented, watching Videl leave the tower on the Nimbus. "How is she able to do that? She couldn't sit on the Nimbus before, could she?"
"No." Piccolo replied simply. "Before, she had her arrogance, formed by her pride and greed. These were the sources of the evil within her. But now those have been ripped out by the root. It was not a pleasant experience, and the road ahead may be difficult, but she has a chance to become a better person. The question is, will she take it?"
"I'd be more worried about how she will take the changes that have been going on." Dende stated. "A lot happened while she was gone."
From a distance, someone had been watching the tower. He had been for a few days now.
Then a tiny little golden streak departed from it.
Only one thought formed in the head of the fat samurai.
"Can I finally go back now?"
End of Chapter
If you feel like this was short, I would like to point out that this is my longest chapter yet.
Next chapter we will pick up where ch5 left off.
Fun fact;
I wrote the most of Purity chapters in a single go. That's nearly nine thousand words. In one go. When I was done, I realised it was half past one in the night. And I had to get up again at seven.
So that was fun.
But completely worth it.
For those wondering how I came up with this story, I have a little something to share.
This story…
(pause for effect)
…was an alien invasion story at first. But Gohan was simply too powerful, and no matter what I did, it was either forced or way too short.
I thought, wait, wouldn't that mean that Gohan's power is now public knowledge?
Then I looked up a few pictures of Super Saiyans, and I thought, man in real life, a Super Saiyan would be really scary, wouldn't it?
Then the two ideas met, and had a beautiful baby.
And here we are.
Thanks for reading, and please, leave a review with your thoughts. I find it keeps me sharp, and hey, maybe you'll think of something I hadn't thought of.
And special thanks to MrChuckMan, for helping me sort out this chapter, and beta-reading.