"So... What do you think it is?" Sakura asked, looking at the staff curiously.
"How should I know?" Li said. The 2 looked at the time staff again.
"Maybe its a new card captor's wand."
"We tried that, it didn't respond to the cards at all. Except for the time card, that weird bulb glowed a little but that's it. Forget it Sakura, the thing is useless."
"I can't Li, maybe it means a new card captor is coming and-"
The 2 were interrupted by a bright light. Out of it came a young man holding a key.
"I'll take that." He said, grabbing the staff. He held it high in the air, and the Orb started to glow. And with another flash, he was gone.
The 2 children stared at each other, confused.
"So uh... How about them Yankees?"
*****
With a flash Satyr returned. "I got it." He said, waving the staff triumphantly.
"Good. Now Cush will hold it while I attempt to release the Orb."
"You do know how, right Hoium?"
"Uh, why of course I do! Piece of cake!"
Cush did as told. Hioum went up to the staff, and tried to pull the Orb off. Of course, this didn't work.
"Come *tug* on you *pull* stupid *pull* Orb *tug* Come off!"
Satyr looked at his master with wide eyed confusion.
"Master, what are you doing?"
"Trying *pull* to get this *tug* off the *tug* staff"
"And that's your ingenious plan of how to do it? Didn't The Book of Spells say how?"
Hoium looked down at the ground. "Well uh..."
"The book did say how to do this ritual... Right?"
"Well... No. Actually, I'm just winging it."
"WINGING IT?!" Satyr and Cush yelled.
"YOU MEAN WE'VE BEEN HERE ALL THIS TIME AND YOU'VE BEEN MAKING THIS UP AS WE WENT ALONG!? THIS MAY NOT EVEN WORK! WE COULD ALL-"
"HEY! All spells have to be made up at 1 point!"
Cush agreed with Hoium's statement and relented from beating him, but Satyr was worried. Words that his master had spoken to him long ago had been repeating in his mind lately:
If we drink her blood, we'll not only be able to wield the Orb, but we'll temporarily harbor time magic within ourselves...
The moment Satyr had drank her blood, he had a vision of blinding light. Nothing more, but he remembered the pain of that light... And he feared it. Now that it was known they were making up a dangerous spell...
"GOT IT!" Hoium yelled.
"Did you get it off?" Cush asked.
"No. But I figured out how to. Orb, I command you in the names of Eternity and Coronus to reveal your true power!"
A bright red flash omitted from the orb as it was released from the staff.
*****
Piccolo came to a sudden stop as he reached his destination. The 1st thing he saw were the 3 men, 1 of them trying to pull something off some kind of walking stick. But then his eyes fell on Trista. Her oddly colored blood forming a pool on the stone and the ground nearby. Her body convulsed a little as her eyes became blank. He rushed to her side.
"Kolana? Kolana here, eat this." He shoved the senzu in her mouth and furiously worked it for her. Forcing her to swallow, he watched, and waited. And though her body was trying, she couldn't heal.
"God. She must not have enough ki left to make the senzu work." He knew that if a body did not have enough ki, the attempt to heal may take all the ki that's left, causing a quicker death.* Desperate, he pressed her body to his.
"Don't die." He pleaded quitely. Unbidden tears weld in his eyes, but he was to distraught to notice. "I still need you." He said, taking her cold hand. "I'll always need you." He whispered, not realizing that his hand was glowing.
*****
It was so cold. And so dark, but she could just make out a figure over her. It must be... Death. Waiting for me. Her soul felt like crying. All her life she only wanted a simple life, but it just wasn't possible. Well, I'm glad I got this 1 year. To live that life... And to meet him.... Goodbye Piccolo. I'm sorry we couldn't have a life together.
But just then, she felt a sudden heat, from her hand. It spread through her like wild fire, shattering all signs of death. And this heat, it felt like him. Her love. Her piccolo. The darkness was replaced by the brightness of his soul, and as that cleared she could see him clearly.
*****
"P-Piccolo?" He looked down to see Trista, looking as if she had awoken from a dream.
"Kolana?" His face turned to a grateful smile. "The senzu worked."
"No." She said, wiping the tear from his face. "It was your love that saved me." She held up their hands to reveal they were glowing. "You gave me your own ki. And still are."
He looked down at their hands in surprise. He hadn't realized he was. He quickly let go of her hand.
"We can discuss this later." he said, regaining his composure and handing Trista her transformation pen. "Right now, we have some serious ass kicking to do."
Trista suddenly remembered why she had been dying in the 1st place and looked in the direction in which Piccolo was baring his fangs. The magicians were handling the orb with the time keys as reigns to hold it in place.
"Fools. They're going to kill us all." Piccolo looked at her curiously. "The orb is to strong for anyone to control. They think the keys can hold it, but that won't work for long. We can't let them drop the orb. We'll die if they do."
"Well then, what are we talking for?" And with that they sprang into action.
Piccolo powered up and rushed to attack, but Cush could hear his approach and sprang into action. Piccolo was met with a stunning blow to the face. Blood sprayed from his nose on impact. Piccolo stumbled back and quickly checked his nose. It was bleeding, but not broken.
He let his fist express his anger as he assaulted the man. To his surprise, Cush was able to block a great deal of his punches. How can a blind man be this good?
Cush listened hard for the sound of the air parting over his fist. And quickly dodged the attack.
"I'll make you pay," he said as he ferociously assailed him. " For what you did to me."
Piccolo had had enough of this. He charged a ki ball and shot it straight through his opponent. Cush landed on the ground with a thud.
"Wha-"
"The 1st time I underestimated you. This time, you caught me off guard. Those are the only reasons you lived this long." And with another quick blast, Cush was no more.
In a matter of seconds Trista became Sailor Pluto, guardian of time. She looked at her garnet rod sadly. Without the orb, it was only a shell of its former glory. Then, she called: "Garnet orb, return."
At the sound of her voice, and the potency of her blood, the orb frantically tried to escape the grasp of the magicians to heed the call of its true master. But they would not give up so easily. They pulled back and soon it became a sort of tug-of-war between the magicians and the orb itself. Pluto bent down to pick up the staff and discovered all to late the barrier.
Satyr, thought his vision meant the time witch would get the staff and orb and kill them. To keep that from happening, he had cast a barrier spell over the staff.
Just Pluto had realized this, the orb broke their grasp and went to the staff. She was caught in the cross fire. Pluto's eyes grew wide as the orb headed for her.
The next thing Piccolo knew there was an eruption of some sort. When the red light faded he saw Pluto holding the orb. A red aura surrounded them both and her eyes were an eerie shade of blood red. She turned her head to face the magicians, and a bright light came from the orb. Pain engulfed them as the light grew brighter. It was the last thing either of them saw.
The light stopped and soon after so did Pluto's state. As the aura disappeared she fell to her knees.
"Kolana?" piccolo ran to her side.
"I'm fine Piccolo." She said with a smile.
"But I thought the orb would kill you."
"I did too. But once I held it, it felt... familiar. As if, I'm apart of it somehow. Like the keys are."**
"Finally," Piccolo said. "We can live in peace. Together." Suddenly, Pluto looked very sad.
"No." She said, biting back tears. "We can't."
Confusion etched Piccolo's face.
"When I was apart of the orb, I realized i made a grievous mistake. I shouldn't have stayed. If I wasn't here, in this town, with these people, things would have been different. I have disturbed the timeline."
Piccolo was starting to understand what she meant. But he couldn't imagine saving her, just to lose her.
"Please Kolana," He said, holding her close, and looked into her tear brimmed eyes. "Stay here. With me."
And for a moment, she almost said yes. But she pulled away. "No. I-I can't. It was Gohan who was suppose to heal your heart. Not me. I-" She looked down at the orb, as if it held the support she needed.
"This orb... It is the very essence of time. And memory, is closely tied to it."
Piccolo eyes widened. He understood that clearly. No, not only was he going to lose her, but...
"Though it does not control memory itself, it can manipulate it a bit. Time can't be erased, nor can it be allowed to stop. For time must continue to its end. But I- my time here can't be remembered, but it can't be erased either. So... It must be forgotten."
He fought back the wave of emotion coming over him. He didn't want to lose her, not when he had just discovered love and its glory. But... He knew her. He trusted her, and she was having a hard enough time with this. No, he would be strong for her. That was what she needed, not some sentimental claud. He understood that in the end, they were both soldiers, bound to their own separate fates. And as much as he hated to let her go, they both knew it was the best thing.
He looked at her, and smiled a melancholy smile. "I understand. And I must accept it."
She smiled back, her face streaked with her sadness. She lifted the orb in the air and as it rose high above them, it began to emit a bright light.
Then, she gave him 1 last sorrowful kiss.
"I love you." She whispered as the light enveloped the Earth.
*****
Piccolo looked around confused. Where was he? What was he doing there? And why did he feel his heart breaking? Try as he might he couldn't remember.
Then, upon seeing the 3 bodies not far away, he assumed they were the reason.
"Worthless pathetic humans." He muttered and, masking his pain, flew away. As he did, it began to rain.
*****
With a burst of light, the time gates opened and out stepped forth Pluto.
"PU!" The screamed and clung to her legs in a avid hug.
"I missed you so much!" Rini managed between sobs. " i felt you were in pan and I thought we may never see you again!"
"Yeah!" Hotaru added. "For a moment, i thought i could sense you dying."
I was foolish. Pluto thought as she listened to the children. In selfish pursuit of my own happiness, I had forgotten about my family here. My Rini.
"I'm sorry Small Lady." Pluto said. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
"What's in the bag?" Hotaru asked, eyeing the unusual satchel Pluto was carrying.
"Just stuff. But 1st I wanna show you a neat trick I learned."
The girls eyes became pools of wonder as the unrestricted garnet orb began to float....
"Pu?" Rini asked, looking rather confused. "What-"
"You shouldn't have spent all day playing with me." Pluto interjected. "Its getting late in your time. Now get back to the palace before Queen Serenity starts to worry." Assuming those were the activities of the day, the 2 smiled.
"Ok. Bye Pu, see ya later!"
She waved after the children, and when she was sure they were gone, she shifted through the bag. It was all the things she had gotten in the other dimension. No evidence on my stay in that time can be left there. As she looked at her meager belongings, her eyes fell on the coat she had made from Piccolo's cape. Only then did the tears once again flow.
"You and I my love, are a pair of star crossed lovers. Bound to meet, bound to spend that 1 instantaneous moment together. And bound to part, never seeing each other again."
* For a better explanation, read chapter 17 of From the Past by Dreamwraith. Though I highly suggest reading the entire story, seeing how its so good.
** In chapter 3, Hoium said that Trista's blood was special because she had been so close to the garnet orb. Since she has so much of its power within her, much like the little orbs on the keys she can interact with the orb itself without fear of death.
PW: *sobbing* That was soooo sad!
Stone Warrior- You wrote it!
PW: I KNOW! *sobbing*
/ I sigh and shake my head until I notice you, the readers staring at Path Walker and myself with hatred and sadness./
Stone Warrior- Oh come on. Anyone who knew what the phrase star cross lovers meant. /I eye Yasha./ Knew it would end this way. Even if you didn't, how could there be a Piccolo love story that doesn't effect the time line of Dragon Ball Z unless it has a similar ending?
PW: I wish it didn't end that way!!! *sobbing uncontrollably* Poor Piccolo! And Trista! All alone and having to remember-
Stone Warrior- That's it! You're writing a sequel!
PW: *sniff* I am?
Stone Warrior- If it'll stop this infernal crying...
PW: That's right! I can! *looking sad* But not right now, the pain is- *sniff* just to near. I can't even enjoy the fact I finished my first chapter story... Still *brightening*... The sequel can have action and Trista singing some more and- Oh I gotta write this down! *runs off muttering to herself*
/I sigh and shake my head./
Stone Warrior- Well, that's the end of Star Crossed Lovers. Your reviews are always welcome.
PW: *walking back in* And they can kiss some more and- I almost forgot. A major Thank You to DreamWraith and The Chosen One for helping yet again with this chapter. What would I do without you guys? *gives them big hug* And finally, *sniff* I have to say goodbye to all my reviewers. *starts to cry* Goodbye Rosethorn and Namek-Girl and-
Stone Warrior- This is pathetic. You're prolonging the enevitable. Just end it already.
PW: WHAAAA! I DON'T WANNA SAY GOODBYE!
Stone Warrior- Goodbye.
PW: Hey!
El Elohe Israel