Disclaimer: *sings* Oh I wish I owned Final Fantasy Niiiiiine. That is what I truly, wooly wiiiish! For if I owned Final Fantasy Niiiiine, then everybody'd think that I'm a fiiiiiish!

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"Results to Realization"

By: Laura M. Ulian

March 9, 2002

Dedicated to: Um....let's see....the Sly Eagle. I looooove "Death Of A Fairy Tale" and you seem to like my fics to. Do I really got to say why I'm dedicating this chapter to you? You're soo keenly excited to read it, and all, lol. *grin*

(More dedications to come, peeps. Though, so many, it shouldn't matter, right? I know ur all thinking 'Oh geez, she's dedicating things? But c'mon, give me a little joy to be spending half of my March break typing these things up. *wide grin* So yes, I'm starting to dedicate these things, cause it just feels better. Hehe. I hope it doesn't bug any of yous...Quote: "I'm such a kind, generous person, and you have to accept that!" Unquote. Riiiiight. Two problems with that. One: I'm not qualified to be a kind, generous person, and two: There's no such quote. Ahem. I think I'll just start writing now.....*sigh*)

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(So.....Uh, right. Hehehe, I'm in one of those moods that says "Write! Wriiiite!", and so I got no choice. Although I kind did post two chapters two days in a row, it's all that can be, um, expected. Wel, let's see....Amarant vs Vegeta. Let's place some bets, folks. Amarant - quick, always prepared, and wuite powerful magic-wise when he needs to be. Vegeta - powerful, fast, yet pretty overconfident sometimes. Who'll win? Today, on Dragonball Z!!!! *echoes* Man, that's even annoying to me! Oh well, half of you probably aren't even reading this anyway, hehehe.)
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This is great.....just great," Eiko mumbled under her breath. She sat cross-legged with her hand folded atop her knees, and her eyes were set firmly on the two fighters. Amarant and Vegeta stood facing each other, and yet neither moved, or even flinched to attack each other. The seven-year-old felt her face burn with a mounting temper, and finally, she couldn't stand another second of the silent, time-wasting, staring contest.

"Excuse me!" she called out to the midst of them. "If you don't mind, it would be great if you two DID something!"

"Eiko," said Dagger, sitting patiently to her right. They both rested comfortably against a scorched, crystal boulder, in wich Zidane was pacing along above them. But the queen looked almost sad, "You'd better allow them do what they are doing. This Vegeta man won't make the first move, and goodness knows that Amarant never attacks first. One of them will have to give in.....sooner or later."

Gohan sat upon yet another boulder, on the other side of the 'fighting' pair. According to Earth time, it must have been 10:00 already. He hadn't slept for eighteen hours, and the meal in his stomach was beginning to drowse him out. Beside him, Goten had curled himself up, and his head lay snuggled against his older brother's knee. The saiya-jin boy yawned in his sleep, and rolled over, startling Gohan from his daze. Blinking, he looked down at the peaceful Goten and smiled. If only Mom were awake, he thought. He's kinda scared, I guess. I really wonder how we're going to get home, even if we do find Bulma and Trunks. And where's Dad? Vegeta said...

But looking at the saiya-jin prince now, standing so solidly, so awake, made Gohan realize something that hadn't crossed his mind before. For all he knew, Vegeta could have tricked him. Knowing the saiya-jin, even though he'd 'cheered up' considerably since Buu, Gohan had doubts that his father would ever get another chance to leave the Other World, and therefor, Vegeta had been lying. Something, perhaps the fact he was watching Vegeta in battle, quenched the anger that balled up in the pit of his stomach. After all, he'd been merely speculating.

"I'm waiting," said Vegeta, startling Gohan for yet a second time. All heads turned in his direction. "Let's go, Amarant. It's your turn."

The firey-haired bandit said nothing, but Gohan could literally feel the ironic, irrational annyoance just radiating the air. Amarant shifted his weight slightly, and continued to stare. Finally, for what seemed like an hour later, he spoke.

"I don't attack. I fight."

Vegeta took this in, and considered it for a moment. Yes, it made perfect sense. So, this man wanted to be attacked, did he? He fought? The saiya-jin prince broke out into a smirk of contempt, "Very well. I'll show you MY technique."

Even without the adjoining comment, Amarant was already fully prepared for Vegeta's assault. Of course he was -- there was never a time he could be caught off guard. However, in the case of events that simply occured next, he had to admit to himself later that he wasn't fully ready for a quick, searing hot beam of....whatever it was. But Vegeta's hands came together, and before anyone could even blink, the shot had been made.

It was Amarant's instincts that saved him this time. Mustering the greatest amount of strength he could manage in a split second, he launched himself from the ground, and swung his claws into an attack position comfortable for when he landed again. His boots hit the ground, the would-be echo snuffed immediatly by the limited space about them. Amarant crouched, eyes keenly observing the saiya-jin's next possible move. His mind registered the unexpected attack as foulplay, but he was never one to complain about such things.

"My," commented Vegeta, rather amusingly. "That was close. I didn't expect you to dodge that in time. Well, at least we're off to a good start, would you say?"

Suddenly, the saiya-jin prince had simply vanished from his spot, travelling at high speed as he threw himself at the monk. Amarant somehow found it easy to evade his fists, by swiftly ducking under his outstretched arms. He kicked out with a single foot, expecting to meet his opponent's knees. Instead of tripping the saiya-jin, however, Vegeta leapt right over Amarant's head, and landed a kick of his own squarely in the monk's back. Amarant almost felt the bones shatter, but luckily, they held and the pain was forgotten. In a flash, he'd leapt to his feet, and was exchanging blow for blow with the saiya-jin prince

Gohan was dead awake now, watching with his jaw agape. He narrowed his eyes in bewilderment. The man -- Amarant matched Vegeta, move for move! Every blow he took with his fists, or his palms, and knocked them from harms way, as if they were made of willow twigs! The amzement of it all swelled inside of the saiya-jin boy's head, causing his head to spin. What kind of a human fighter could meet a saiya-jin's strength, let alone a prince?

Now both oppenents looked slightly surprised at each other's strength, having doubted each other entirely. Vegeta, not wanting to be beaten down, began to punch even harder, finding himself pitted against something he had not expected at all. There seemed to be no difficulty with this matter, but slowly, Amarant began to back up under the sheer pressure of the saiya-jin's attacks. Suddenly, he was simply no longer there, but swiftly travelling at a speed that matched even Vegeta's abilities. He'd pulled his fancy, however simple evasion trick. The monk now stood at his full height, roughly ten yards away from the saiya-jin, and staring in fascination.

It was Vegeta who commented next, "How admirable. A human with those techniques.....where did you learn this, Amarant?"

Amarant mearly shook his head and smirked, "It doesn't concern you. Seems I won't be needin' these," he said flatly, stripping himself of his Rune Claws. He tossed them to the ground. "Wouldn't want to hurt you or anything."

It was Vegeta's turn to smirk, "We'll see. However, I've seen your strength now. I'm curious about what powers you possess. Show me."

The monk glanced, almost uncertainly at Zidane. The genome had stopped pacing by now and was staring at them both, simply overshocked at the briefness of the squabble. "Ummm...." he said, and abruptly cleared his throat. "Yeah, whatever....show him what you got, Amarant."

"Yeah!" Eiko cried, helpfully. "You can do it, Amarant!"

Behind Vegeta, Gohan began to tremble very slightly. This man has an incredible power, he thought pensively, to himself. He could even fend of Vegeta's blows, and now Vegeta wants him to show his power? The boy shook his head. What sort of energy did Amarant have? How did a human -- however guilty it made Gohan to think that way -- know such maneuvers and use them so well?

"Vegeta..." he said, trying his best to sound sincere. "I hope you know what you're doing. It looks to me like he can do some pretty heavy damage."

"Stop worrying," said the saiya-jin prince. "I'll trust him to not kill me if he can help it," he added, scornfully.

All eyes were on Amarant now, as he stared calmly in Vegeta's direction. his gaze was thoughful, but undecided. Then, he spoke up, "How do I know you won't turn it against me?"

Vegeta raised his brow, "You seem to know a lot about me. Of course, I could do that. But only if your power is weak enough, however. Show me your strongest, and I'm sure you'll have no regrets."

"He did attack you with his magic," Dagger pointed out, her voice as awestruck as Zidanes'.

Vegeta chuckled, "Magic? Is that what you call it? No, I don't know how to use 'magic', woman. I use my energy. It's not magic."

"Well, Amarant uses magic," said Zidane, from atop of his boulder. He sat down, and slid over the edge of the rock to land softly on the crystal-like ground. "It's a little strange. I suppose the only one he could use that'll affect you is Curse, or Demi Shock."

Amarant suddenly grunted in approval, "Demi Shock. Of course."

"Uh, Amarant, just a-" Eiko began, standing up.

But the monk either hadn't heard her, or didn't care. Without another warning, Amarant drew back his fists, concentrating on the gravity-based attack he'd used those numerous times while battling with Zidane. As soon as he felt the heavy, dark magic at his finger tips, her threw his arms forward, and muttered half-heartedly, "Demi Shock."

Vegeta had been prepared. Given the time, and the clear fact that the monk was about to attack. Immediatly, he thrust himself into his super saiya-jin form and lifted his arms to shield the 'magic' enegry. For a split second, nothing happened. And then, when the saiya-jin was beginning to doubt Amarant's ability after all, he began to become of the incredible weight that seemed to be pulling him in every direction. An eerie, thick spehere of black light expanded itself around him, and several small bands of similar energy crackled form it's surface. The weight nearly unbearable, and an eruption of pain suddenly tore at the saiya-jin from inside. He cried out in both agony and shock, and threw himself backwards. The exact moment he left the sphere, it collapsed into itself, and disappeared completely.

Vegeta stood, panting heavily from the whole experience. It had felt as if his ribs were being snapped off, but as he absently took a few step backwards, he found out that he was still in one piece, and the pain had gone. Almost as if it had never been there in the first place. Grimacing his surprise, the saiya-jin prince lifted his accusing eyes to stare at the flame-haired monk. Amarant smirked and gestured in a careless way, "There. That's my 'power."

"You..." Vegeta growled, but somewhere inside, a new respect for this 'human' had planted itself, and refused to shake. "How did you..."

"Demi Shock takes away your energy, not your life," explained Zidane. "It give the illusion of pain to weaken the enemy, though."

Eiko was also staring, but for a completely different reason, "Um," she said plaintivly. "Am I the ONLY one that's noticed just a wee little change? Didn't this Vegeta guy have BLACK hair, not yellow?"

At the same moment, it seemed, every other spectator appeared to realize that Vegeta was no the same as he'd been before. Zidane was the first to speak up, "She's right. Your hair's different, and....well, you're different."

Dagger smiled, "It's Trance, isn't it? He must have gone into Trance."

At this, Vegeta turned on the queen. His voice was neither accusing or kindly, but it was full of something similar to anger, "Trance? I don't know what you're talking about. I am super saiya-jin."

Eiko snorted, in spote of herself, "Super what?"

"Saiya-jin!" Vegeta snapped, clenching his fists. "That's what I am! Isn't it obvious?"

The seven-year-old shook her head, eyes broadening, "Well, at least that explains why you keep refering us as humans. Just for the record, the only real humans here are Steiner and Amarant. And I'm not even sure about Amarant."

Gohan suddenly spoke up, voice faltering, "What about....Zidane? I thought he was human. I mean, he's clearly not saiya-jin, even though he has a tail...."

"He doesn't look like a saiya-jin to me," piped Goten, who was not fully awake and sitting on his brother's lap. "I'm bored, too. Can I go super saiya-jin like Vegeta, Gohan?"

"Not now," said Gohan, barely above a whisper.

Zidane glanced at his tail, and then to Vegeta. "I don't think I undestand. So, if you guys are saiya-jins, and saiya-jins have tails, why don't you guys have them?"

Vegeta glared dangerously at the genome, his eyes glittering, "They were removed," he said, stalely, and did not explain any further. Zidane had a hunch that the 'saiya-jin' wasn't proud of the fact that he was tailess, so he hastily dropped the subject.

"Right," he said slowly, and hesitated for a moment or two. "Well, I'm a genome, originally from this world. Long story. Dagger here might look like a human, but she's a summoner, like Eiko here. Her horn was removed, I suppose, like your tails were. Vivi, the little guy over there," he said, gesturing towards the unconscious black mage, who'd been carefully placed so that he rested comfortably, "Is a black mage. Long story there, too. Freya is..." his eyes darted to the silent Dragon Knight. Freya glanced back, "She's a Burmecian. She might not say very much, but...."

The saiya-jin prince stared, nearly disgustedly, at Quina, "What is that thing?"

Zidane shrugged, "A Qu. When s/he wakes up, I suggest you stay away from her....er, him....it. Whatever."

Goten seemed particularily interested in this, "You mean you don't know if it's a boy or a girl?"

The genome shurgged helplessly, "We never asked. We assume....it's a him. Quina's a nice person, but kinda strange. All he'll talk about is food, so don't expect much of a conversation."

"Um," Eiko, once again, broke intot he conversation. "I'm just curious and everything, but....who one the fight?"

Both Amarant and Vegeta glared at her. "No one," said Amarant.

"A draw," agreed Vegeta, absently. "I, for one, don't want to know what other power you might contain, Amarant. Not when we are running so low on time."

"Ow...."

Zidane turned around, to see not only Vivi get to his feet, but Steiner as well. Quina was still rather motionless. The ten-year-old black mage shook his head, straightened his hat, and looked over at the genome, who was watching him. Slowly, he turned to face Vegeta, and the Gohan and his little brother. Finally, after completing a full circle, Vivi peered up into Zidane's face, "Who...who're they?"

"Curses..." came Steiner's voice, as he frowned in Vegeta's direction. "I must have passed out again....What has happened? Where is the queen? Who are these scoundrels?"

"Whoa, Rusty, calm down," said Zidane, shaking his head. "Don't worry about Dagger, -- she's fine. And they," he added, gesturing towards the saiya-jins, "Are not scoundrels. They're friends. Vivi, it's good to know you're not taking any immediate implications."

The black mage just blinked and shook his head again, "I-I don't understand. Are we on Terra?"

"Yes, we're on Terra," Zidane confirmed. "I'll explain everything to you when Quina and the others wake up."

Vivi looked around him, still rather puzzled, "But Zidane....everyone's already awake."

"I think he's talking about Mo- I mean, ChiChi and the others," Gohan interjected. "Hey there. I'm Gohan."

"H-hi..." the black mage stammered, and blinked.

"An odd-looking child..." said Vegeta, thoughtfully. "You said he was the most powerful of the lot?"

Zidane shrugged, "The lot of us? I dunno. He can use a bunch of different magic that has to do with fire, ice, lightning.....very painful to be one of his enemies."

"I d-don't know..." said Vivi, uncertainly. "I'm not that strong..."

"Did I mention he's very modest?" said Zidane, grinning.

Gohan was looking intently at ChiChi, and the two Z-Fighters. His expression was blank. "I think that Mom's going to take a while to recover....I don't think she has as much strength as the rest of us. I don't know why Piccolo and Krillin aren't awake. I would have thought at least Piccolo would be awake by now."

"I am," said a steely voice.

Gohan's eyes grew wide, "Piccolo? You're awake???"

Zidane watched amusingly, as the strange, green-skinned, white-caped creature openned his eyes, and gazed calmly at the saiya-jin boy. 'Piccolo' lifted his head from the rock he'd been resting against, and squinted in Amarant's direction, "I've been awake."

Vegeta glared cooly at the Namekian, "For how long?"

"Long before the rest of you," was Piccolo's reply, as he torpidly got to his feet. He approached the saiya-jin prince and stopped to stare at the others, "I heard. Don't bother explaining."

Gohan looked meekly towards Zidane, "This is Piccolo. He's from another planet called Namek. It was destroyed, like the planet Vegeta. Oh, and he's the keeper of the Dragonballs, which I'll explain about later, I guess."

"Dragonballs...Namek," the genome shook his head. "He reminds me of someone I know...."

"Well, at least that's the most of us," said Gohan, glancing back at his mother. "I just wish mom would wake up. I think Goten's a little tired..." he said, and laughed lightly as his little brother sighed in his sleep. "Then again, so am I....How 'bout you, Piccolo?"

But Piccolo wasn't listening to the saiya-jin boy. His icy gaze was still fixed on Amarant, as if her were trying to call upon an old memory. It couldn't be... he thought, sourly. His power level is extremely high. He might have won, and he knows it. I heard the fight. His energy was endless when he called that....magic attack. Why doesn't he desire to fight?

Suddenly, his eyes darted towards the remainder of the Gaians. A cold realization gripped his mind, when he sensed their own power. The same was for them. They had limits, but they were extendable. They wore gear and bore weapons to make them stronger. It was not merely this Amarant character whom possessed this strange kind of energy called 'magic'. Or perhaps it was something else....an emotion. A passion. Anger? Perhaps their power depended on their mood. He had to know....

"Piccolo?" Gohan's voice rang inside of his ears. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"This Trance you spoke of," said Piccolo, gruffly. "Tell me Zidane, what is it?"

Zidane scratched the back of his neck at the unusual question, "It's kinda hard to explain. Trance is....a surge of emotions, I guess. It makes us about ten times stronger than we are to begin with, though it only lasts a little while. I mean, if we're really angry, or upset, or even really happy, then we go into Trance."

Vegeta found this rather amusing, "Quite similar of what happens to a saiya-jin when gazing at the full moon. I admire that kind of power."

"We all know you do, Vegeta," said Gohan, almost accusingly.

"Um, excuse me?" said Eiko. "Seeing as there's a lot we have to do, I'm gonna ask, you know, one more question....Don't we have somewhere to go?"

"That's right," said Freya, for the first time in a while. "There was that voice, Zidane. Remember, we're only here to find whomever is calling for our help."

"In which I should have no part of," growled Amarant, mostly to himself.

"We can't leave until ChiChi, Krillin and your friend wake up," said Gohan. "We'll have to wait until they come around."

"Well," said Eiko, flopping herself back on the ground, against the crystal boulder. "We're gonna have to wait some more then. Is it just me, or am I the only one not enjoying this trip?"

"I'll admit that I agree with Eiko," said Dagger, sighing. "It could be another day for all we know, until your friends wake up."

Zidane suddenly laughed, "It should be easy enough to tempt Quina awake. Just find some food and hover it above his nose.

Eiko frowned, "S/he doesn't have a nose."

An awkward silence filled the air, and one by one, the new companions took a seat somewhere, whether it be on boulder, or ground. Not long after the silence took place, Gohan and Goten were both fast asleep. Vegeta sat by himself, though not at all far off from the others. Amarant was the only one left standing, as he leaned himself comforatbly against the boulder Zidane now sat against. He stared at the wall of burned wreckage, knowing that just past it would be another. After that wall, there would be thousands more.

He frowned at himself, for suddenly feeling afraid to fall asleep. He too, was tired, but the last thing he needed was another vision. Surely, considering he was here, on Terra, with the seven other 'souls' that the portal had demanded--

A new fear abruptly stuck him, like a club. How stupid! The man had saved his life from the damn 'portal's' wrath! He'd trained at his side for four days straight! Amarant shook his head, beginning to wonder something new. Something he didn't want to remind the rest of the group about. Someone was missing.

Corroc wasn't there.

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(First of all....I don't know how Vegeta doesn't have a tail, though I know Piccolo *ahem* "removed" Gohans when he was a boy, and Goten's was removed at birth....But I don't know why Vegeta don't have one. Oh well, it'd be nice if someone told me. Anyway....OMG, where's Corroc? Forget that, where's Bulma and Trunks, and Goku? What's up with Vegeta's attitude? Find out on the next episode of.....ah, man. Never mind, that's REALLY starting to bug me. But really, you'll have to wait until tomorrow, or the next day, or whenever I feel like finishing it.....*sigh*)

(Well....like me, blame me, but please don't flame me! *winks* Ciao for now!)