Castle Walls
Chapter 2: Of Offers and Potential
Note: Hello, Lots of thanks to DemonDancing, ReJeCtEd AnGeL, Professor Authordude, Chaney, Shadowstalker, Samara-chan, Jewels, gohans-girl, and saiyagal. I've never gotten so many reviews on just the first chapter. Maybe I should make all my stuff crossovers from now on. I have ideas for all of the story up to the very end of this whole thing. Keep reading and always feel free to tell me if I screw up or if I error in someway. I love it when people are honest and up front about stuff like that. Don't worry about me just using Japanese for Gohan, I can't speak more than six words in that language and five of them are curses and insults. I got most of that one line from DoraMouse's wonderful website- http://www.geocities.com/dormuse/ check it out some time, it's a gold mine for us Dragonball Z fan fiction writers.
This dead of midnight is the noon of thought,
And Wisdom mounts her zenith with the stars.
-Anna Letitia (Aikin) Barbauld (1743-1825) A Summer's Evening Meditation.
The warmth and sweet taste of sun and a new day touched his face with its tender fingers of light beams and gentle feather light brushes of the autumn breeze. The air told of the trees, grass, and open spaces that existed. The sun urged him to open his eyes and take in all that it saw. His body just wanted to bask in the calm peace of the moment, to relish one of the few times of the past year that he was not required to get up and push his body and mind past his limits.
Suddenly he recalled where he was supposed to be, he was supposed to be on the battlefield. But he couldn't remember what had happened to bring him here. He remembered that he had just blocked that blast from killing Vegeta, and got his arm completely destroyed not to mention that took all of his energy.
So the question stood, where was he? Dead? Opening his eyes, he found that he was in a warm room, tapestries and maps hung on the gray stone walls of the smallish room. A clean fireplace with a dark wood mantel that was covered in trinkets and mementos of various origins was on the wall opposite of his bed. Near by him was a small and plain wooden desk with a pad of paper upon it and what looked like a well of ink. The high ceiling was made of dark colored woods with a chandler made of a gold looking metal with melted candles upon the five arms. He was laying on a dark cherry wood bed that was covered in rich intricate carvings of flora and a patchwork quilt of so many fabrics that Gohan couldn't find one that repeated even once. His left arm was covered in white gauze and he was in a long over washed looking nightshirt that was once a deep red but was now a gray-red orange. To his left was a large brown chair with a golden and orange afghan. At his right was the window, the six foot stained glass image of a knight in white armor against a rainbow checkerboard background was thrown open to a scene of a lush forest, emerald hills, a crystal lake, and soft verdant mountains in the distance.
It was a veritable paradise compared to where he had spent the last few days, not that Kami's Palace wasn't a nice place. It was just that open green space like this was so much better than being stuck in a small area with other fighters all worried about whether it was the last time they would see the sun rise and set that day. So where were his father, mother, friends, anyone?
He couldn't feel any familiar kis at all. A lone tear of loneliness streaked down his face. He pulled his knees to his chest and covered up his head with his arms as he found he couldn't hold back the tears. The questions were pounding at his mind, did he fail, where were his family and friends, did they hate him for failing, were they okay, were they in trouble, what was going on?
He felt a presence come into the room, he looked up and saw a small brown furred creature with a long pointy ears and nose and huge green-yellow eyes looking at him with what looked to be worry.
"Are you okay?" she asked in a soft high pitched feminine voice. Gohan rubbed the tears away. she was speaking in English, which was the only language that his mother made him learn. He blinked his eyes once or twice and nodded.
"Yes, I am fine." He said hesitantly, trying to remember the rules of the language. The creature nodded.
"Good, the headmaster will be here shortly. Would you like a cool cloth and a glass of water sir?" she asked. Gohan nodded silently, the brown creature walked to the desk where a cream ceramic pitcher now stood next to a crystal goblet and a small white terry washcloth. Gohan raised an eyebrow but decided to hold his tongue. The creature poured some of the water into the goblet and then dipped the cloth in it and wrung it out. It then offered Gohan the cloth first.
Gohan took the cloth with a small thank you and washed his face. Refreshed, he gave the creature the cloth and accepted the water which he gulped down greedily. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand he happily grinned at the small creature.
"Sorry, I never got your name." Said Gohan. The creature smiled and gave a small nod of her head.
"Yes, my name is Mippy, sir."
"I am Son Gohan, uh. . . Gohan Son I guess it is here, correct? English is so confusing." Said the boy with a sigh.
"Is not English your first language sir?" asked Mippy. Gohan shook his head.
"No, I'm Japanese. Please don't call me sir, it's too much respect for me."
"You speak very well." Said Mippy with a reassuring smile. Gohan smiled back.
"Thank you. Where is here?" he asked. Mippy's smile vanished.
"You don't know? Oh well, I'm no good with geography, the headmaster will answer your questions. He's very smart and I am sure you will find him very pleasant. Now I must go. I have other duties to attend to. I will see you later with your supper." Said Mippy as she collected the pitcher, goblet and cloth and went out the door. Gohan got out of the covers and climbed onto the window sill, letting his legs dangle over the edge as he surveyed the landscape.
"Beautiful isn't it?" asked a voice. Gohan nodded dumbly, he felt the person enter he just didn't want to turn around. The scene was too perfect.
"I was so sure that after my dad died and Seru came back that I'd never see anything like this again. I was going to die with so many regrets, and unfulfilled dreams. But now I don't know if I was given a second chance, or was put into Purgatory." Said Gohan after a long pause. He heard the man settle into the chair. Turning around he let one leg hang over above the bed and the other foot was on the window sill. The man before him had a long white beard, semi-circle glasses, blue eyes, and maroon robes and a matching hat on. "Can you tell me if this is my second chance or if this is my punishment for being my father's son."
"Neither. This is a world you were pulled into by a spell gone awry. This is a school for witches and wizards." Gohan's face took on a stone look at the old wizard's words.
Dumbledore noticed but plunged on into the heart of this talk, "I and the rest of the professors of this school have been looking and trying to create a way for you to go home, but our efforts have been fruitless as of yet and I will be honest with you, after all you are mature enough to handle this, I hold very little hope that a counter spell exists. I don't lose hope easily and I'd love nothing more than to tell you that with a wave of my wand you can go back home and save the day.
"Until the day a way for you to go home appears, you will need lodging, nourishment, and an education. Since this whole thing is my fault, I will offer you either an education as a student of Hogwarts or with a private tutor if you haven't any magical ability."
Gohan was silent for a long moment, thinking over the old man's proposal. Closing his eyes he sighed. "I can live on my own. I don't need to be put up like some orphan." He said, his voice was full of prideful stubbornness. "Your offer is very generous, but you must understand I was brought up not to accept such lavish gifts. No thank you, and I'm sorry for my statement." He said bowing his head. Dumbledore smiled, and his wizened blue eyes sparkled.
"I understand, but if you can catch up to my students after a week of being in a coma you will have earned your tuition. Here we teach a lot in a short span of time and if you can catch up you are a very remarkable young man." Said Dumbledore. Gohan frowned.
"I do not mean to be disrespectful, you speak like I am a magical person. I have not even been tested or what ever you do to determine if I am or not." Said Gohan in a disappointed tone. "If I turn out to be not magical I doubt you could hire a tutor for me. Last time I talked to my father's best friend Krillan about school work, he told me my course work was at a high school senior level. I do not mean to be arrogant but it's the truth. The only things that I need to work on is my English, your world's social sciences, and maybe learn a new language."
Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully, he could read the boy with ease. Nothing was hidden with him, as if he had never learned how to hide his thoughts. So far he had learned so much; first off- Gohan could not lie. It was like a foreign concept to the boy and though he compensated by thinking through his words before speaking it was evident that lies were beyond him forever. Secondly- Gohan was much older than he should have been. It has been said the windows to the soul are in the eyes, and Gohan's eyes were clouded with debris of war and the smog of a child who knows death intimately. Dumbledore could see the aged soul that had borne the weight of the world and the stress of knowing that lives counted on him. Lastly- Dumbledore could see that this all created a situation where the boy before him could have a mental breakdown if someone didn't help him or give him a way to channel all the negativity in his life. So how to put the offer into terms the boy would accept?
"Let's make a deal." Said the old wizard with a slight smile, "If you are a wizard, and you can get caught up with our other students in a week you will stay on for as long as you stay or until you graduate, with Hogwarts paying for your supplies, books, and whatever else you need. Consider it a full-ride scholarship. If you are not a wizard or cannot catch up to the other first year students and fail the first year, you will train to be a groundskeeper and study at least five hours a day on the subjects you mentioned until it is determined you are on par with the secondary school students. I cannot just let you go off and live like a savage, it would be irresponsible and idiotic of me." Dumbledore grinned at him to finish making his point.
"I understand. I understand that you just want what's best for me. You made that quite clear, I must have been a mess when I came here. You could have let me to die or given me less than good medical care. I can tell just by the lodgings you have put me up in that you are a very gracious host and have nothing but the best intentions for me. Thank you for that, you have put me in your debt for that alone. Then you offer me all this. . . you must understand, I have lived most of my life by a warrior's code of honor, to give me all of this like you are is putting me in your debt for the rest of my life. I don't like it. As I understand it, my coming here was an honest mistake. You have no wrongs to right, you have no reason to care so much about me. I am a magnet for trouble, it's a genetic thing. With me around you will be putting the whole student body and staff in great danger. I'm not even sure I can control my power anymore, if I get triggered there is no one who can stop me from being the end of this world." Gohan said with a sorrowful voice and face. Dumbledore nodded.
"I knew all of this before I came here. I also know you have this ability to do anything you want to. Just think about it for the next few days. Tomorrow, if you are allowed to by Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, I'll have one of our students take you on a tour of the school, surrounding grounds, and Hogsmeade, the magical community that is nearby. I'll see you in the morning and I hope you have a good night's rest." Said Dumbledore as he stood up.
" Yes, Good night sir." Reciprocated Gohan as the wizard left.
Okay that's it. Reviews really do help me go faster, and help me become very motivated and write better stuff. Thanks bunches for reading. . .
Later,
P.L.S.
Chapter 2: Of Offers and Potential
Note: Hello, Lots of thanks to DemonDancing, ReJeCtEd AnGeL, Professor Authordude, Chaney, Shadowstalker, Samara-chan, Jewels, gohans-girl, and saiyagal. I've never gotten so many reviews on just the first chapter. Maybe I should make all my stuff crossovers from now on. I have ideas for all of the story up to the very end of this whole thing. Keep reading and always feel free to tell me if I screw up or if I error in someway. I love it when people are honest and up front about stuff like that. Don't worry about me just using Japanese for Gohan, I can't speak more than six words in that language and five of them are curses and insults. I got most of that one line from DoraMouse's wonderful website- http://www.geocities.com/dormuse/ check it out some time, it's a gold mine for us Dragonball Z fan fiction writers.
This dead of midnight is the noon of thought,
And Wisdom mounts her zenith with the stars.
-Anna Letitia (Aikin) Barbauld (1743-1825) A Summer's Evening Meditation.
The warmth and sweet taste of sun and a new day touched his face with its tender fingers of light beams and gentle feather light brushes of the autumn breeze. The air told of the trees, grass, and open spaces that existed. The sun urged him to open his eyes and take in all that it saw. His body just wanted to bask in the calm peace of the moment, to relish one of the few times of the past year that he was not required to get up and push his body and mind past his limits.
Suddenly he recalled where he was supposed to be, he was supposed to be on the battlefield. But he couldn't remember what had happened to bring him here. He remembered that he had just blocked that blast from killing Vegeta, and got his arm completely destroyed not to mention that took all of his energy.
So the question stood, where was he? Dead? Opening his eyes, he found that he was in a warm room, tapestries and maps hung on the gray stone walls of the smallish room. A clean fireplace with a dark wood mantel that was covered in trinkets and mementos of various origins was on the wall opposite of his bed. Near by him was a small and plain wooden desk with a pad of paper upon it and what looked like a well of ink. The high ceiling was made of dark colored woods with a chandler made of a gold looking metal with melted candles upon the five arms. He was laying on a dark cherry wood bed that was covered in rich intricate carvings of flora and a patchwork quilt of so many fabrics that Gohan couldn't find one that repeated even once. His left arm was covered in white gauze and he was in a long over washed looking nightshirt that was once a deep red but was now a gray-red orange. To his left was a large brown chair with a golden and orange afghan. At his right was the window, the six foot stained glass image of a knight in white armor against a rainbow checkerboard background was thrown open to a scene of a lush forest, emerald hills, a crystal lake, and soft verdant mountains in the distance.
It was a veritable paradise compared to where he had spent the last few days, not that Kami's Palace wasn't a nice place. It was just that open green space like this was so much better than being stuck in a small area with other fighters all worried about whether it was the last time they would see the sun rise and set that day. So where were his father, mother, friends, anyone?
He couldn't feel any familiar kis at all. A lone tear of loneliness streaked down his face. He pulled his knees to his chest and covered up his head with his arms as he found he couldn't hold back the tears. The questions were pounding at his mind, did he fail, where were his family and friends, did they hate him for failing, were they okay, were they in trouble, what was going on?
He felt a presence come into the room, he looked up and saw a small brown furred creature with a long pointy ears and nose and huge green-yellow eyes looking at him with what looked to be worry.
"Are you okay?" she asked in a soft high pitched feminine voice. Gohan rubbed the tears away. she was speaking in English, which was the only language that his mother made him learn. He blinked his eyes once or twice and nodded.
"Yes, I am fine." He said hesitantly, trying to remember the rules of the language. The creature nodded.
"Good, the headmaster will be here shortly. Would you like a cool cloth and a glass of water sir?" she asked. Gohan nodded silently, the brown creature walked to the desk where a cream ceramic pitcher now stood next to a crystal goblet and a small white terry washcloth. Gohan raised an eyebrow but decided to hold his tongue. The creature poured some of the water into the goblet and then dipped the cloth in it and wrung it out. It then offered Gohan the cloth first.
Gohan took the cloth with a small thank you and washed his face. Refreshed, he gave the creature the cloth and accepted the water which he gulped down greedily. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand he happily grinned at the small creature.
"Sorry, I never got your name." Said Gohan. The creature smiled and gave a small nod of her head.
"Yes, my name is Mippy, sir."
"I am Son Gohan, uh. . . Gohan Son I guess it is here, correct? English is so confusing." Said the boy with a sigh.
"Is not English your first language sir?" asked Mippy. Gohan shook his head.
"No, I'm Japanese. Please don't call me sir, it's too much respect for me."
"You speak very well." Said Mippy with a reassuring smile. Gohan smiled back.
"Thank you. Where is here?" he asked. Mippy's smile vanished.
"You don't know? Oh well, I'm no good with geography, the headmaster will answer your questions. He's very smart and I am sure you will find him very pleasant. Now I must go. I have other duties to attend to. I will see you later with your supper." Said Mippy as she collected the pitcher, goblet and cloth and went out the door. Gohan got out of the covers and climbed onto the window sill, letting his legs dangle over the edge as he surveyed the landscape.
"Beautiful isn't it?" asked a voice. Gohan nodded dumbly, he felt the person enter he just didn't want to turn around. The scene was too perfect.
"I was so sure that after my dad died and Seru came back that I'd never see anything like this again. I was going to die with so many regrets, and unfulfilled dreams. But now I don't know if I was given a second chance, or was put into Purgatory." Said Gohan after a long pause. He heard the man settle into the chair. Turning around he let one leg hang over above the bed and the other foot was on the window sill. The man before him had a long white beard, semi-circle glasses, blue eyes, and maroon robes and a matching hat on. "Can you tell me if this is my second chance or if this is my punishment for being my father's son."
"Neither. This is a world you were pulled into by a spell gone awry. This is a school for witches and wizards." Gohan's face took on a stone look at the old wizard's words.
Dumbledore noticed but plunged on into the heart of this talk, "I and the rest of the professors of this school have been looking and trying to create a way for you to go home, but our efforts have been fruitless as of yet and I will be honest with you, after all you are mature enough to handle this, I hold very little hope that a counter spell exists. I don't lose hope easily and I'd love nothing more than to tell you that with a wave of my wand you can go back home and save the day.
"Until the day a way for you to go home appears, you will need lodging, nourishment, and an education. Since this whole thing is my fault, I will offer you either an education as a student of Hogwarts or with a private tutor if you haven't any magical ability."
Gohan was silent for a long moment, thinking over the old man's proposal. Closing his eyes he sighed. "I can live on my own. I don't need to be put up like some orphan." He said, his voice was full of prideful stubbornness. "Your offer is very generous, but you must understand I was brought up not to accept such lavish gifts. No thank you, and I'm sorry for my statement." He said bowing his head. Dumbledore smiled, and his wizened blue eyes sparkled.
"I understand, but if you can catch up to my students after a week of being in a coma you will have earned your tuition. Here we teach a lot in a short span of time and if you can catch up you are a very remarkable young man." Said Dumbledore. Gohan frowned.
"I do not mean to be disrespectful, you speak like I am a magical person. I have not even been tested or what ever you do to determine if I am or not." Said Gohan in a disappointed tone. "If I turn out to be not magical I doubt you could hire a tutor for me. Last time I talked to my father's best friend Krillan about school work, he told me my course work was at a high school senior level. I do not mean to be arrogant but it's the truth. The only things that I need to work on is my English, your world's social sciences, and maybe learn a new language."
Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully, he could read the boy with ease. Nothing was hidden with him, as if he had never learned how to hide his thoughts. So far he had learned so much; first off- Gohan could not lie. It was like a foreign concept to the boy and though he compensated by thinking through his words before speaking it was evident that lies were beyond him forever. Secondly- Gohan was much older than he should have been. It has been said the windows to the soul are in the eyes, and Gohan's eyes were clouded with debris of war and the smog of a child who knows death intimately. Dumbledore could see the aged soul that had borne the weight of the world and the stress of knowing that lives counted on him. Lastly- Dumbledore could see that this all created a situation where the boy before him could have a mental breakdown if someone didn't help him or give him a way to channel all the negativity in his life. So how to put the offer into terms the boy would accept?
"Let's make a deal." Said the old wizard with a slight smile, "If you are a wizard, and you can get caught up with our other students in a week you will stay on for as long as you stay or until you graduate, with Hogwarts paying for your supplies, books, and whatever else you need. Consider it a full-ride scholarship. If you are not a wizard or cannot catch up to the other first year students and fail the first year, you will train to be a groundskeeper and study at least five hours a day on the subjects you mentioned until it is determined you are on par with the secondary school students. I cannot just let you go off and live like a savage, it would be irresponsible and idiotic of me." Dumbledore grinned at him to finish making his point.
"I understand. I understand that you just want what's best for me. You made that quite clear, I must have been a mess when I came here. You could have let me to die or given me less than good medical care. I can tell just by the lodgings you have put me up in that you are a very gracious host and have nothing but the best intentions for me. Thank you for that, you have put me in your debt for that alone. Then you offer me all this. . . you must understand, I have lived most of my life by a warrior's code of honor, to give me all of this like you are is putting me in your debt for the rest of my life. I don't like it. As I understand it, my coming here was an honest mistake. You have no wrongs to right, you have no reason to care so much about me. I am a magnet for trouble, it's a genetic thing. With me around you will be putting the whole student body and staff in great danger. I'm not even sure I can control my power anymore, if I get triggered there is no one who can stop me from being the end of this world." Gohan said with a sorrowful voice and face. Dumbledore nodded.
"I knew all of this before I came here. I also know you have this ability to do anything you want to. Just think about it for the next few days. Tomorrow, if you are allowed to by Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, I'll have one of our students take you on a tour of the school, surrounding grounds, and Hogsmeade, the magical community that is nearby. I'll see you in the morning and I hope you have a good night's rest." Said Dumbledore as he stood up.
" Yes, Good night sir." Reciprocated Gohan as the wizard left.
Okay that's it. Reviews really do help me go faster, and help me become very motivated and write better stuff. Thanks bunches for reading. . .
Later,
P.L.S.