Author's note:

Hey everyone! Thanks for all the reviews! Although I did not get many I'm still trying to make this story good, so please return to find out what happens often and tell people you know about my story. I NEED REVIEWS!!! Pleeaaaaaasssee… oh, and also, I know that this was rated G before, but that was because when I uploaded the first chapter I forgot to change the default rating. For now since nothing is veering dangerously towards R I'll keep it as PG but maybe somewhere in the middle there may be a few things that may need me to change the rating to R so I'm really sorry for any inconveniences.

Remember to review! Luv u guys always!!!!

Luv, Fëaruin

Power, Deception, Lies

Part IV

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"Where are THEY??" Chi chi shouted in frustration, slamming her fist on the table, making it vibrate. The others who sat at the table cringed a little, as the fresh food that was laid on the table leapt into the air and fell back onto the table rather hard. "What a terrible way to begin the morning. Yam Cha, Chaozu, Krillin, Tien, Oolong, Puuaru, Vegita and Bulma all late for a nice hot breakfast! After slaving over the stove for an entire hour just to make all those pancakes… serves them right if they eat it cold. I don't want to know!!"

Marty sat at the table eating innocently, his face already losing its usual brightness. He continued to look down at his plate gently, saying nothing, several strands of hair falling over his overshadowed face. Eighteen looked at him, aware that he knew that some of the villagers were missing, and turned an anxious face back at Chi chi.

"Chi chi… I don't know what's going on, but I know it can't be good. I woke up today and Krillin, apparently, had woken up before me as he was not in bed when I awoke. I saw Videl and Gohan as I came out, and I wanted to go the others' cabins to see if Krillin was there or if anyone else knew of his whereabouts. But as I went inside the cabins there was just a silence," she explained reluctantly. "Nobody was around, and Gohan and Videl and I went off again to the next house when we realized that there were no vehicles around. We were suspecting something was going on- when we saw Krillin at the back of the village, veering off on his cruiser bike."

"Oh, gosh," Chi chi placed a hand over her mouth in worry. "To be quite honest, I had not seen Tien, Yam Cha and Chaozu since breakfast yesterday. I had not seen Puuaru and Oolong since morning tea, nor Bulma since afternoon tea yesterday… and she mentioned something about trying to find Vegita. Oh Lord… and as for Krillin… what happened next?"

"He was already off in the distance," Eighteen replied. "The three of us ran over to intersect him, but he made a sudden turn and was already far away before we even began to wave our arms and yell his name. This was over two hours ago."

"And he's still not back," Goku added nervously. "Which way did he go?"

Suddenly, there was a little growling noise from outside. Everyone rushed from the table in a tangled mess and ran over to the window, where they could get a clear view on what was happening. They crashed into the window with a domino effect just in time to see Chibi and Goten surfing off on their noisy cruiser skateboards, as quick as a fox, and disappear out of sight.

"That way," Eighteen, Videl and Gohan answered the question, beckoning at the two young boys who had just left the village.

"I could catch up to them if I hurry," Chi chi's voice trailed off as she rushed outside towards her own cruiser bike. "You all keep eating and I'll see what they're up to. I promise I'll return real soon."

"Be careful mom!" Gohan yelled, as he saw the sight of his mother climb onto her bike and rush off to somewhere unseen in a speed that he was sure would catch up to the mischievous youngsters and then maybe find out what really has been going on.

Marty looked up from the plate, his eyes blank and his face more pale and sickly than usual, and whispered something under his breath as she left that was too soft for the others to have paid heed. But the others definitely noticed that something about him had changed, that he was not as… full of color and life as before. His movements were still soft, his gazes tender and his words gentle, but he had stopped smiling. Why it was, they did not know, but maybe he was upset or worried… maybe because this began happening after he had arrived.

* * * * *

Chi chi held on to the handlebars of her quick bike, feeling rather afraid that she would fall off at such velocity. She had many thoughts running through her mind, all crossing her brain in a single second as the bike cruised quickly over the rocky dirt road. What was everyone doing? Where have they all gone? No, it can't be something dangerous, Chi chi thought. Maybe they're all just doing something that she would disapprove of… maybe they're having a party somewhere without her permission. But then again, it was a village, and a village meant sharing, and she could not claim that she was the leader that had to be invited to every party. But she knew that if there was a party, they would've told her about it. Unless it was a party for all the guys… in which Puuaru and Bulma wouldn't have attended yet they were gone, Gohan and Goku would've known about it, and they were sitting eating breakfast in her very own home…

Okay Chi chi, think of other possibilities… think! Maybe they've gone downtown for something special… perhaps there was some kind of special festival going on and they've gone to see it. No! No! That can't be it. Goten would never have gone without my permission… there's something he's keeping from me, if he's going off like this without telling me anything. And has Chibi actually noticed his parents were gone in his own house while he spent the entire night at Goten's playing video games all night, or did he know about this and is following the path his parents had left? What is going on?!

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by the vision of two small dots in front of her. She smiled and licked her lips, knowing that she was hot on her son and his friend's tails. She accelerated, hoping that the bike wouldn't be too fast that it may get caught on something and catapult her towards them, so she held on even tighter to the handlebars, feeling her hands go slightly damp as she had gripped the bars tightly for so long. She followed them for about ten minutes, frowning when she noticed that they had been veering towards deeper mountainous area, which was slightly gloomy even in the day compared to the cheerful hilly area that was their village. She swung her head around as she rode, glancing and shuddering at the tall mountains that seemed to dislike her presence.

To her horror she discovered that she had lost sight of the two boys when she was looking around. She cursed herself, but then realized that the growling sound of their cruiser skateboard engines that originally was overlapped by her own was no longer audible. She smiled again and thought, 'they got off here somewhere. Now I can find them.'

Chi chi slowed right down and stopped and carefully got off her bike, trying not to attract attention until she knew where the two boys had gone, where the others were and what they were doing. She looked around again, her gaze somehow attracted to those mountains. She could not understand it. She disliked these mountains, for they were tall and seemed to either enjoy towering darkly over her small and mortal body, or wanted her out of their territory immediately. But she couldn't tear her eyes away from them. She looked at one particularly larger than the others, dry and erosive, and felt as if she needed to go to it. It was as if the mountain was calling out to her, reaching out to her…

She left her bike and sprinted around the base of the mountain, which took her probably fifteen minutes. As she came to the other side a large shadow seemed to be set on the ground, and she followed it to the foot of a cave which was so large it startled her half-dead, startled at seeing darkness that could emerge from the day.

Chi chi swallowed, trying to relax as she shuddered at the cave that loomed before her. No need to be afraid… you've been here many times before. This is Dragon Fields, and you've seen this cave so many times that if you count it by picking an apple out of a tree each time, the world would have by now been suffering famine. No wonder it was as if the mountain was calling out to her; for she had recognized it, and was drawn to it because at the back of her mind she had seen it already before.

She got slightly annoyed, as she looked around and was surrounded by complete silence, mountains and trees on all sides. But as she kept searching for any movement something in the corner of her eye continued to disturb her. She thought she could see something standing out of the darkness of the cave, although it was completely black, and it did not shine or glint but it visually stood out, like a silver blur. Her heart was rather afraid, but told her to walk into that terrible cave and see what it was.

As she carefully stepped into the blackness, her heart pounding like drums and the blood roaring in her ears, she was slightly glad and afraid at the same time to see the silver blur grow nearer, for her soul was anxious to leave this place as soon as she investigated what it was. When she took a final step the blur was filled; a silver face loomed suddenly out of the darkness, quiet and still, but the face was disturbed and the mouth was open as if shaped into a belated scream. Chi chi squealed in shock and fear as the sudden appearance startled her and she realized the face was one she knew all too well; it was the face of her very own son whom she had been following, made of stone and stationary as a mountain. Her heart raced as she whirled around to flee; but to no avail. She had run straight into two strong arms which had caught her, and began its work to torture the poor defenseless lady.

* * * * *

The table, and those who sat around it, was still. Nobody had moved or spoken since Chi chi had left, and the four villagers who had sat there were now getting anxious, for Chi chi's promise to return had not been fulfilled.

"She should've been back by now," Gohan broke the several hours of silence, his uneasiness heightened as everyone's heads suddenly whirled around to the sound of his voice.

Videl looked at him and nodded slowly. "I'm getting worried… I suggest we go after her. It's already right about lunchtime, and Chi chi's never been late with her meals, us having passed morning tea which was meant to be approximately two hours ago without eating anything."

Eighteen cut in before Videl could say any more. "Videl, have faith. Just because the others are gone does not mean that she has followed their path. Literally, in fact… maybe she just got a little lost, and she's on the way back. I mean, she could be back here any moment now… cheering victoriously at her success, with the others that she had found parading on their cruiser bikes behind her…"

Although that had been an attempt to encourage everyone from worried thoughts, Goku, Videl and Gohan in turn became more worried. They knew that wouldn't happen… she'd been gone too long now. And the room was so silent… if there were noises of even a single engine in the air that didn't even have to belong to one of those missing villagers, it would've been a considerable thought. But no. The atmosphere was so quiet, not a single bird sang or a cricket chirped. It was as if everyone, including the wind and the trees and the animals, had frozen and were waiting quietly for something.

"You're right," Eighteen mumbled after a long silence, feeling defeated. "Let's go…"

To be continued…