Author's Note:

I've been meaning to do this but I've been forgetting since I've typed up most of my chapters already and have been forgetting to edit them and add A/N etc…

VegetaGokuLover, thanks SO much for reviewing. Do you know, you're the only one who's actually reviewing at will. No one else is reviewing and despite your very flattering comments about being a good author, I am beginning to doubt that thought and lose hope and inspiration of this story due to lack of readers. I'll continue this story although the inspiration is low just because practically only you keep it alive.

Matt :) a.k.a. dbzchiksrule, thanks for your reviews sweetheart. However your reviews aren't really reviews if you really have a think about it… considering you talk about Tour de France and anything else BUT this story! *pouts*

Tongtongtong a.k.a. vkay, thanks for being a consistent reviewer and reader of my story. Unlike Mattie up there :( you actually read my story and take interest in it! One day someone will also read and review your stories with loyalty as you have done mine. Faith does precede the miracle, and my blessings be to you for making a very lost and weary author happy!

Love, Fëaruin

Power, Deception, Lies

Part XII

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Gohan, having slipped out of the house which sheltered also Eighteen and Videl, plodded through the mud having not yet dried up from the recent monsoon. His training boots squelched as he stepped through the puddles, making him flinch; he loved to be clean, and just looking down at his boots now, it was enough to make him hang his head in hopelessness.

He carried a lantern with him as he walked to the wooden bridge and crossed the river which was close to the village; his heart pounding at the thought and desire of their meeting. However, Gohan was determined not to betray his honor; he had grown exceedingly fond of Cleo in the hours they'd talked together, and he could not deny that he desired her, but he was kind-hearted and no deceiver in relationships. He would not ever betray Videl's promises, not even for Cleo, for if he did, he would only be as bad as those that he had ever fought against. However much he adored her, he knew he could do little more than look, and he intended to keep it that way.

Gohan saw a blond head in the distance, and smiled. His steps quickened immediately, and Cleo turned around as she heard his footsteps, and grinned. Gohan strode up to her, and set down the lantern, before whisking Cleo up as a mischievous prank, their laughter loud as he swung her around, Cleo almost screaming in fright and excitement at the same time.

"Release me!" Cleo gasped in alarm and delight, holding on tightly to Gohan's shoulders.

Gohan stopped, and nodded. "Well, as you wish," he stated with feigned neutrality, letting her go. For any other situation Cleo would have landed perfectly on the grass, for even as a Princess she had the ability to climb trees; but from a little daze and giddiness from being spun around she fell over slightly clumsily, rolling over to recline on her back, releasing her laughter in little breathless puffs.

Gohan sat next to her, wearily releasing bouts of laughter as well, as he also almost fell to the ground. Cleo sat up, grinning sweetly, and it was then that Gohan realized something very questionable.

"New clothes again?" Gohan furrowed his eyebrows, noticing how nice she smelt.

Cleo froze, and instantly created a lie on the very spot. "My… brother came into town, and he provided me with some of my requirements," she hesitated, as the lies slipped uneasily past her teeth. "Although I may not be, he is rich, and successful."

"So…" Gohan looked away, feeling a little hurt. "…You're leaving?"

"Oh, not at all," She voiced in alarm. "He only came to see if there was anything I needed. He is an independent person, and works only alone. He does not need, nor does he desire, for his worthless little sister to shadow him and only be a nuisance."

"But you're eighteen years old," Gohan protested, "How could you be a bother to him? If he is the one who thinks that way, then I don't think he's half as smart as he thinks he is."

Cleo almost giggled as she thought of Marty. "No, only I do so. I love him greatly, for he is caring, and wonderful, and kind-hearted…" Cleo's voice broke slightly on the last word, as a shadow loomed over her face.

"Cleo?" Gohan asked, a little worried.

"I'm fine," she reassured, feigning a smile. "It's just… these issues of family and trust do not only involve my parents."

"I see," Gohan nodded, staring into her shining eyes. Whatever had occurred between her and her parents and her brother was not something he should be meddling with, he knew, for it would only make the problem worse. And besides, Cleo already clearly stated beforehand that she desired not to talk about it, so Gohan, stuck in his place, really didn't have any right to ask her what was wrong.

After a few minutes of silence, Cleo outwardly stated what had been pestering her mind for some time now. "Gohan…" she faltered, "Are you with someone?"

Gohan flinched, for he had dreaded that question. He had thought about it happening for some time, although he never thought it would actually occur. Hoping against hope he did not want Cleo to like him any less just because he was already promised to someone else; although he knew that any in their right mind would respect such a situation, and any who were not would probably lash out at him with their hatred. Although he knew Cleo, even for only several days now, not to be anything like that. To him she was tender, and good-natured, and had a heart of gold… although at the time he did not know the real truth.

"…Yeah, I am," he hesitated, turning his head to the ground as he picked at a blade of grass.

Cleo already knew that he was with Videl from what Marty had described, and she expected him to admit that anyway, but nonetheless a pain surged through her heart as he said so. She feigned a smile, although her heart shattered into microscopic fragments, as she never showed her pain.

"That's fine," she smiled sweetly, effectively masking her true feelings. "I respect that. I was just a little curious."

"You do?" Gohan realized what that meant to him, as he hugged Cleo thankfully, being surprised that he'd felt her a friend at so soon a time. "I thought… I anticipated you not to," he flushed suddenly, however, as that was not what he was intending to say.

"Now why would you think that? I am not as evil as you think," she lied, although not feeling any more light-hearted than she was before, as she pretended a jest. "As a friend, I must learn to respect the circumstances of others. I am not envious, or devious, or cruel in disdain…" the shadow that consistently loomed over her face returned.

Gohan was clearly worried about Cleo now, for she seemed to have many inner pains that she refused to talk to him about. More than anything at that precise moment the only thing he desired was that she would be happy, that she could forget all her troubles, that all paths would turn the right way so she could return home to where she could be cared for by her family once more… but that now seemed almost impossible. Her heart seemed scarred for eternity, although he was not meant to speak, as he did not even know what troubled her.

Cleo really did not need this rejection now, no matter how gentle it was, and even though she knew it was right, and noble… and honorable. However, her tainted heart was starting to experience the first chains of anger, as she fought back the hunger to lash out at him, as Gohan had thought before.

She was sad that all of this happened to her, but she could not understand why it occurred only to her, and she did not crave anything more than to release her anger in the most terrifying ways she could imagine. She was furious because she had a corrupted heart and a gloom-contaminated soul, and yet she could not do anything, she could not hurt Gohan either mortally nor verbally, and she was torn between her excessive lust for evil and her longing for Gohan. She loved her overshadowed heart, and hated it. She was also torn between her admiration for Gohan and yet her hatred of him; he was so good to her, but he was too good, and her wickedness would not rest until that was not acceptable. She scorned him for being so loyal to his honor, and for making a promise with one who was nowhere near as attractive as she, and she hated her more, and devised small visions of them suffering her wrath in her fury.

She would tie Videl to a stake, and flog her until she bled to death. Then she would release her and stab her in the places where it would hurt her the most, and sever her limbs and burn her until the smoke suffocated every living thing in the area that was pure and unspoiled. The ashes she would scatter in the depths of the sea, in which it would infect the water, and poison all forms of life in it that was created by good and knew not of any such thing as evil.

She then thought of Gohan. When he cries bitterly of his wretched girlfriend's death, Cleo would torment him in the most gruesome ways possible, scanning images in her head as to which may be the best and most painful way to torture him. Without killing him she would impale him as many times as she desired with something small, like scissors, and wash away the wounds with acid. She would afterwards burn him alive as she had Videl, although instead of being the way she wanted it to be, the vision reflected something that should be. As Gohan let out agonizing cries while the fire devoured him, in her vision Cleo suddenly rushed to put out the fire. She then sat and wept, and Gohan, being so forgiving slowly approached her with what little strength remained in him and embraced her, merciful to her mistakes.

Out of her vision, Cleo furiously stood and screamed, in the thought that she was still having a vision. However, she was not, and a worried Gohan immediately shook her shoulders, not understanding what had happened to Cleo to have made her suddenly scream so frighteningly, and yelled her name loudly in slight panic. It was even more frightful that a shadow seemed to possess her, and even Gohan could see so; her clear blue eyes darkened almost to black, through the rest of her face turned cold and white, whiter than even before. A sharp wind seemed to surround her body as her agonizing cries deepened, making in the mind her hair fly and darken like shadows had stained her hair; and in the dead of the darkness all nightly creatures that heard her scream flew away in dread.

"Snap out of it, Cleo!" he cried desperately, horror filling him at the way she shook violently and continued to scream as if a great pain achieved from bitter anger had filled her. Gohan was, in fact, so terrified at the eerie scream that he hadn't thought that she had done so straight after he had mentioned that he was already seeing someone.

Slowly, Cleo tired of her screams, and heard Gohan's distant voice urging her to wake. Gradually the image before her eyes vanished, and she saw the look of horror and fright upon Gohan's handsome features. Slowly too did Gohan relax, seeing that Cleo had awakened from what eerie images gripped her mind, and Cleo turned his face away from Gohan, a small smile adorning her face.

"Forgive me," she whispered, once more heavenly and beautiful, and no longer dreadful. "From the evils of the world that have torn my family apart in the past, a little of it still lies with me. I am still to discover the perils of the future… I know not even now who I am, who I can be. Where I sleep now, in the trees, I am no one."

Gohan looked at her solemnly, worry gripping him again. He did not understand what she just said, and if she were honest to say so, she didn't either. For without realization- or in fact with little realization- she hated Cell, she hated Garlic and Pilaf and Frieza and loved them at the same time, just like she lusted for and go to all lengths to evade evil. She loved them because they were dark and perfect, and had never any rules in anything they did. It excited her, for she wanted to rule a world where no regulations exist, and she could do whatever she desired, to corrupt, and destroy.

Yet she hated them for bringing this world upon her because she wanted freedom and love, and someone to share it with. Cleo knew also that the story she consistently told Gohan of being separated from her parents by circumstances beyond her control was no lie to cover her evil identity at all, it was purely honest, and she also hated the four Dark Foes for sundering the family to her that was once blessed and blissful. These cold lands that had no rules were preventing her from achieving it. She knew well that Gohan had a great heart, filled with care and gift, and if she were corrupted by the darkness she lusted for he would never take her. So it is a dilemma that she faced between the young boy she enamored, and the shadows she desired.

Cleo did not perceive also that although her heart had been infected by the dark liquid which tainted the kind and gentle souls of she and Marty, something was definitely amiss. For in the midst of all greed for evil and wrong, she had managed to fall for the most innocent boy amidst the Earth's most powerful warriors, which really highlighted a flaw. She knew that she had a very strong soul, one that could not be corrupted by anything. But apparently she had been overcome by the dark liquid, although there was little hope left.

"Cleo?" Gohan called, noticing her eyes blur over as though she was deep in the lands of thought.

Cleo looked back at him, her eyes shining. "No… I was wrong. I guess it may be true as they say; faith precedes the miracle."

Although Gohan didn't know it, the shine in her eyes had been dishonest, and her heart pained with her yearning for wickedness. In her mind, Cleo did not want to give up one desire of her heart for another. Besides, she was corrupted in the mind and so whatever she can do to achieve them both will lead still to one honesty; her iniquity.

For the root of her heart was now black, and whatever she wanted, she must have.

To be continued…