Musha no Yomigaeri: Chapter Four
It almost surprised Trunks that it wasn't flooding as if a typhoon came by. Oh, there were puddles forming here and there, but with the rain pouring down this hard all day long, perhaps all night last night too, it should be flooding. Well, thank Kami his house is only three blocks away from Ekas's.
But Russ's house was farther. Trunks wasn't sure how far; Russ never told them and no one has ever been to his house ever. But it did seem like a long way off. Despite this, Russ still walked home alongside Trunks. He didn't even have an umbrella, so he had to share with him. Oh well, Russ could be just one who loves to walk no matter what the condition of the weather was.
Well, at least Trunks knew he'd be able to talk about the incident with the honors program with Russ without anyone interrupting. This was a very rare time that they were alone together accidentally. They never were alone together purposely. Never met at each other's house unless it was for a school project (like last week), hardly even spoke to each other unless they were speaking to the entire group. So now was the time, and the only time, that they could talk with one another.
"So, Russ," Trunks started, then paused. Oh dear Kami, I feel like as if I'm about to ask the guy out! He thought in horror. Suddenly he knew how to start the conversation off to lead towards the honors classes topic. "Looking forward to next year?"
"Eh," he shrugged as if he didn't care. His eyes were still glued to the ground, but Trunks noticed that he wore a disgusted look in them. But he said nothing more, much to Trunks disappointment. Now how was he supposed to continue the discussion without being obvious he wanted to talk about the honors program.
"'Eh?' That really tells me much," Trunks said sarcastically, a smug smile being worn on his face. They reached a crosswalk and stopped their walking momentarily. After seeing no cars go by, they resumed their pace. During this time no conversation went on until they reached the other side of the street.
"'Eh' meaning that I don't know how to feel," Russ stated. And the journey went on. "You know how it's going to be next year for both of us. Maybe. If Ekas and the others find out about..." He trailed off, but of course Trunks knew what he was talking about.
"I'm sure it'd be no problem," Trunks said, relieved that Russ actually mentioned it. Well, he didn't mention it literally, but he implied it. Oh, he didn't care! "We just don't have to tell them."
"They're going to find out sooner or later anyway," he pointed out. "We could just get it over with. But then again we, or I, would have done it long ago. How would Ekas act anyway?"
Trunks shrugged as they reached another street and stopped. Many cars roared by fast as the red-light for those walking on the boys' side shone. The purple-haired kid glanced at the brown-haired one with a tiny smirk. "You tell me. You know him better."
"Something like this has never happened before. Nothing has even come close to being as serious as this," Russ pointed out solemnly. "I've known him ever since the second grade. We've always been in the same class. Now..."
Again, he trailed off. The light turned green and the two sixth graders hurried across the street. These stoplights in the city always seemed to go by too fast. The 'Walk' sign would turn on, three seconds later blink like crazy for ten seconds, then the 'Stop' sign would show. How annoying that can be after a long while!
"Still, I'm sure he'd still be your friend," Trunks shrugged once the curb was three steps behind them. "I know I would."
"You're going to be in the same class as me, what are you talking about?" Russ joked, rolling his eyes.
"All the better!" Trunks exclaimed, laughing. They reached the outer walls of Capsule Corporation, signaling that the conversation had ended. Trunks handed the umbrella towards Russ. "Take it, dude. You still have a while to go. Just give it back to me tomorrow."
"Thanks, man," Russ said, gripping the handle. "I'll see you tomorrow. Continue this discussion whenever?"
"Whenever. See ya!" Trunks exclaimed as he jogged to the front door of his house, waving as he went. Well, that's off my shoulders. I can't believe I waited to talk about that. Could've taken care of it last Wednesday.
The delicious aroma snaking through the halls managed to intrude into the room. It filled it up instantly, making his stomach go berserk. But for some odd reason he didn't fly into the kitchen, asking when dinner was going to be served, how much longer until dinner was ready. It was the sight of him that made Gokuh quite uneasy and plain not hungry. That man just looked too familiar for his tastes.
Pun alert. If Kaiosama knew exactly what was on Gokuh's mind he would crack up and say that he came up with an extremely good joke.
Gokuh couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. Thinking of Kaiosama, Bubbles, and Gregory and the time he spent with them before the arrival of Vegeta and Nappa and during the seven year period after the Cell Games were quite amusing, and always relieved him of his tension. He needed to be relieved. There was nothing worse than coming across a look alike of yours who happened to be...
"Gokuh."
He sat up, startled from hearing his name. The voice called again, this time apparent it was coming from outside the house. Gokuh hopped off the bed and looked towards the window eagerly. Sure enough, there was the source of the voice standing right there in the rain. He pushed open the window, wondering what was so important. Hey, maybe he'd get to spar today!
"Piccolo! What are you doing here?" He exclaimed with a bright smile. "Why didn't you go to the front door?"
"Didn't feel like dealing with that wife of yours," the Nameksei-jin replied coldly. He continued on, giving no chance for the Saiya-jin to speak. "Gokuh, we need to talk about some important matters."
'Important matters'. The way he said it told Gokuh to be serious. This was not something to joke around with. It was something that he needed to take heart into. So he automatically did. The transfer was swift yet almost unnoticeable. It had always been an advantage in the past. "What is it?"
"Don't you think you should let us in first?" A different voice called from the side. A woman's voice. Gokuh leaned forward out the window to see a very young person with golden brown cascading hair. Yet she seemed quite old. Her skin was pale and her black sweater and jeans helped to stand it out. Unlike Piccolo, she was under a black umbrella, so she as dry as one could get with one. "It's only the polite thing to do."
Gokuh noticed something different about her Ki signature. It wasn't like most beings. Most beings Ki were felt the strongest when they are the most powerful, the weakest when they are dying or have no strength at all. One could tell if they had potential power and strength or not. But this woman. Her Ki was strong and weak. It was nowhere in the middle either. Gokuh couldn't explain it, but along with feeling how much strength she had he felt how much willpower she had. That was quite unusual.
"This is Siarus," Piccolo announced. "An immortal. She's been around for more than five hundred years."
"I don't think that information is necessary," Siarus shook her head. "Let's just tell him about Acirema. I have to get back home soon."
"What's an Acirema?"
"It's not a 'what', it's a 'who'," the immortal explained, waving a hand towards him. "Is it a problem if we go inside? It's kind of hard to tell a story of the past in pouring weather."
"Ah, sorry," Gokuh said quickly, moving aside. Siarus easily climbed through without bringing a drop of water with her. Her umbrella fell into a puddle once she was inside. Gokuh pondered if he should let Piccolo come in. He was wet, so Chichi would get angry if she saw the mud and water inside. Then again, if she caught Piccolo inside the house she would get angry. "Um, Piccolo..."
"No need," he refused, knowing what Gokuh was going to either say or ask. "Like I said, I don't want to deal with that wife of yours. Siarus, go ahead and explain to him about the Tenrag and Acirema."
She nodded and turned to the Saiya-jin. "The Tenrag is a combination of earth, air, water, and fire. It has to be held by a solid form to keep it in perfect condition. I put it in a small, brown marble and left it in the middle of the wilderness. It cannot be taken inside a compound. But when one touches the marble, the Tenrag will be absorbed by that person who touched it. Someone did touch and absorb it a long time ago."
"The Tenrag sounds important," Gokuh pointed out. "What does it do?"
"Holds dimensions together," she said. "With it gone everything falls apart. Gradually at first, but it speeds up as time goes by. The major destruction doesn't happen until three hundred years after it disappears. That's next year."
"So, why not use the dragonballs?"
Piccolo spoke up. "This is one of the few things that is out of Shenlong's power. There is only one way to get the Tenrag back. And that's by killing the person who has it."
"I see."
"Acirema is the person who absorbed the Tenrag," Siarus continued. "He's still alive. I killed him once, but the Tenrag never returned. He was resurrected two hundred years later. I don't know how. I tried to kill him again, but a sekai tabibito by the name of Emor sent him to a place worse then Hell: Dertah."
"So just killing him won't work, there's a special way," Piccolo muttered. Gokuh wasn't sure if he was speaking to him, Siarus, or both of them. But he had a different question to ask.
"What's a sekai tabibito?"
"The best title a mortal could ever get," the immortal answered. "It translates to 'world traveler'. He really travels through different dimensions on command by the high gods. His second job is to help protect dimensions. But he doesn't know about the Tenrag. No mortal does except you two."
"Acirema is here, on Earth, this dimension," Piccolo cut in. "I don't know what he's doing back or how he got back, but now is the time to get this Tenrag back."
"But," Siarus said, looking down to the floor, "whatever you do, whatever happens to Earth, don't interfere with the battle. It's between me and Acirema. No one else. Do not try to fight Acirema. I will take care of it."
"So, why did you tell me about all of this?" Gokuh asked, puzzled.
"Destruction may occur on Earth," Piccolo answered, his voice quiet and low. "And if that happens, try your best to save the people instead of stopping the cause of it all. If you stop the cause of it all surely the dimensions will fall. Siarus is just asking that you and the others stay out of the battle. It doesn't even involve Ki at all."
Gokuh nodded, understanding a little bit now. Before he could say anything in response, the door behind him opened. He glanced behind his shoulder and saw young Goten poking his head through.
"Dad, there's a strange man out here," he called with little panic and a truckload of confusion. "And he looks a lot like you."
"I know," he replied. He could feel Piccolo's sudden bewilderment. "He's awake?" His son nodded, and that just brought a smile to Gokuh's face. "Good." He turned to Siarus and Piccolo almost apologetic as he walked towards the door. "I'll be right back."
"Who is this man? Turles?" Piccolo questioned with much suspicion. Gokuh shook his head and turned in a semicircle, now with a frown and a small melancholy look.
"No. He's my father."