Nope, still don't own DBZ, though negotiations _are_ in progress. . .;)
I thank all of the same people for the same reasons - Holly, Serina, and Jenny!
Any sentences like **this** are telepathic. **************************************************************************** ** Battle of the Heart by NansJns
Ch.2
"--Chi," Goku finished his statement, but jerked in alarm when he realized his arms were empty. His hands still held her warmth and scent on them, but they cooled rapidly as the night breeze passed over them. The same breeze caused Chi-Chi's single tear to hit his cheek, but he didn't realize what the tiny bit of moisture was, and hardly paid attention to it. "Chi-Chi?!" Goku gasped and looked around. He _couldn't_ have dropped her!! His grip had been secure, and her hands had been secured around his neck! His heart pounded furiously as panic fueled its agitated beat. No, if he _had_ dropped her, he'd hear her screaming and see her below himself, and feel her own fear through the bond. Where was she?! How could she just vanish from his arms like that?! His head was spinning and his throat tightened; the bond, the bond, the bond would tell him where she was. He reached out to pick up her ki's unique signal and called to her through the bond for all he was worth. Cold silence was the only response. He couldn't place her ki anywhere, and the bond. . .the bond was silent. No warmth, no feeling of her loving soul and heart; no thoughts of hers in his mind, no emotions flowing to him. Nothing, nothing at all except silence, as if. . .as if she wasn't _there_ anymore. "NOOO!" he howled in horror, and his powerful ki blazed around him. Frantic beyond belief, he flew off, uncaring of his direction, searching for any sign of his wife.
Goku stretched out with every sense he had, but Chi-Chi's scent ended a few feet from where they had been prior to her disappearance, and he heard nothing that sounded like her voice, and her ki was nowhere close by. The bond ached emptily, but Goku gritted his teeth and shook his head; Chi- Chi was alive, it would feel different if she was dead, he'd _know_ if she was dead. He flew back toward their house, but there was nothing there except his sons' kis, low with sleep, and he flew off again. He didn't know where to look, but he couldn't stop. His ki flared higher as his level of panic increased. If he hadn't dropped her (and he _knew_ that he hadn't) then there was only one other explanation - somebody _took_ her. But how was that possible? No one was so fast that Goku couldn't see them, or at least a blur of them.
**Chi-Chi! Chi-Chi, please, where are you?!** Goku called through the bond again. The aching, empty silence continued to be his only response. ((No, no, no, _please_ no! I can't lose her, not after getting her back after so long!)) Goku thought, as fearful tears started to blur his vision. In all of the battles he'd been in, he'd never felt so lost, alone, and afraid. This wasn't happening, it _couldn't_ be. . . Goku shook his head again, this time to clear it. Chi-Chi was out there _somewhere_, and he was going to find her, soon. He kept repeating that to himself to keep calm, but it didn't work as well as he would've liked.
As Goku flew haphazardly across most of the world, his blazing ki began to draw attention from those who could sense it. Krillin sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes, and felt out into the night carefully. ((Yeah, that's Goku, all right. . .but why is he blazing his ki at this hour of the night?)) he wondered as he stretched a bit and started to lie back down. ((Unless it's an invasion. . .)) Krillin froze in mid-movement as the unwelcome thought came to him. After a few seconds, he got out of bed and went to put on his clothes. ((Better safe than sorry.)) he reasoned. Piccolo blinked awake slowly, and let out a bewildered grunt. He felt Goku's ki out there, most definitely, but only Goku; none of the other senshi were with him, not even Gohan or Goten. What could have worked the Earth-raised Saiyan into such an uproar? He walked to the edge of Kami's Lookout and gazed into the vast distance. He didn't feel anything out of the norm, but as Goku's ki went up another notch, he decided he'd better investigate a little closer. With that, he flew off in Goku's direction.
Vegeta was deep in a shared dream with Bulma when he first felt the edge of Goku's ki. He'd been sharing dreams with Bulma almost every night since the fight with Buu, sharing everything he felt for her in the most private way possible. In this dream, they had been strolling through the royal gardens by Vegetasei's palace, a place Vegeta remembered faintly from his childhood, talking, kissing, and enjoying the increased closeness they were sharing, when a light brighter than the dream-sun pierced the area. With it came a feeling of someone familiar. They both winced at the brightness, and Vegeta growled. It increased, paused for a second, and then increased again. The idyllic dream began to blur and fade, and against his will, Vegeta woke up. He sat up with an annoyed growl, threw back the covers and began pulling on clothes. Still savoring the aftereffects of the shared dream, Bulma sat up slower, and quietly watched him getting dressed.
"Vegeta, that was Goku, wasn't it?" she asked groggily. "That light in the dream, I mean."
"His ki, yes. He's flaring his ki right now. And I'm going to found out why!" Vegeta answered as he pulled a tank top over his head. A quick glance to the clock told him it was only 1:55 am. Even by his standards, that was way too early. He growled again and opened the window. "Go back to sleep, Bulma. I'll join you as soon as I've found out what that baka is doing."
"Don't be too hard on him, dear," Bulma yawned sleepily and nestled back down in the blankets. "And don't be long. I liked seeing Vegetasei," she added in a soft, half-asleep murmur. Vegeta smiled at her over his shoulder and gave a nod he wasn't sure she saw, and then flew off into the night sky. Goku's ki felt close by, and he aimed for it. It seemed to be bouncing off in different directions every few seconds, in a wild and confused manner. Reaching out a little further, he noticed the Namek and the small human Krillin were also flying toward Kakkarot, but no one was right by him. What was his fellow Saiyan up to? He turned sharply as he felt Kakkarot do the same, and then poured on more speed to catch up. Something had sure gotten into Kakkarot, and Vegeta was seriously starting to wonder what had worked him up into such a state. After several minutes, he spotted Kakkarot flying in front of him, above a densely forested area. His own ki spiked higher as he sped up to intercept.
"Kakkarot!" he bellowed. Goku ignored him outright. Vegeta was the last person he wanted to deal with at the moment. Vegeta scowled, realizing that Goku was paying no heed to him. "Kakkarot, you idiot!"
"Go away, Vegeta!" Goku yelled over his shoulder at him. Vegeta seemed to disappear and then reappeared in front of Goku, blocking his progress. Vegeta grabbed Goku by the fancy dress shirt he was wearing and hauled him down to Vegeta's face level.
"Kakkarot, why are you flaring your ki across hell's back acre at this Kami-cursed hour of the night?!" Vegeta demanded harshly of his fellow Saiyan, giving him a hard shake. Goku sputtered a bit, and pried Vegeta's hand off his shirt.
"I don't have time for you!" Goku growled, and attempted to fly off and resume his search. Vegeta grabbed the back of his jacket to keep him from leaving.
"What the hell is going on?!" Vegeta demanded again. Goku pulled away again, but an adamant Vegeta grabbed his arm and threw him down to the ground. Goku pulled himself up choking and gasping, tears in his eyes, and shaking all over. Finally the fear, confusion, and pain overwhelmed him and he was sick to his stomach. Vegeta stared in utter bewilderment at Kakkarot's apparent emotional breakdown, from the trembling and the tears, to the vomiting. What in Kami's name had happened? Vegeta gingerly lowered himself behind Goku in order to avoid the spewed mess his fellow Saiyan had made. "Kakkarot, what in Kami's name is wrong with you? What's going on?" Vegeta asked, in a strangely calm and cool voice, touched with an almost audible (but not quite) note of concern. Still shaking, Goku stayed bent over for a few moments, before he lifted his head and looked back at Vegeta with tortured eyes.
"Ch-Chi-Chi. . .she disappeared," he whispered miserably.
"Your mate? What do you mean, 'disappeared'?" Vegeta prodded. Things were starting to become clearer now.
"Hey, what's going on?!" Krillin's voice suddenly cut in. "Goku, man, you look awful! Did you do that?" the short man looked at the Saiyans and at the mess upon the ground. Goku gave him a small, miserable nod.
"What in the name of Dende happened?" Piccolo suddenly landed near the group. "Goku, why were you spiking your ki? And. . ." Piccolo's eyes widened as they, too, darted to the mess nearby.
"He was about to say when you two interrupted!" Vegeta snarled impatiently. "It seems something happened to his mate."
"To Chi-Chi?" Krillin blinked. "That explains a lot. So, what is it? Is she hurt?" Goku shook his head wildly.
"No! I don't _know_! She vanished! Right out of my arms! One second she was there, the next she was gone! I can't find her ki! A-and. . .I call and call to her through our bond, but there's no answer. . .there's nothing on the other side at all. . ." Goku pushed himself onto his knees and tried not to cry in front of his friends. Vegeta twitched a little in empathy. It certainly explained why Kakkarot's ki had been going haywire and in all directions at once.he'd been desperately searching for his mate.
"The bond can't be broken. . .but death would silence. . ." Vegeta started to say, but then found himself pinned with his back against a tree trunk. The tree trunk cracked down the middle from the force of the impact.
"SHE'S ALIVE!" Goku bellowed furiously. Then he released his hold on Vegeta and drew in several slow breaths to calm himself. "She _has_ to be," he added quietly, insistently. Vegeta scowled for a moment as he pushed himself away from the tree, but when he thought of his own mate, safe and warm at home, he couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for Kakkarot. If Bulma suddenly disappeared and he couldn't reach her through the bond, he knew he'd surely lose control as well. Split in half from having Vegeta slammed into it, the large tree finally fell over with a crash, but none of them paid it any mind.
"Um, I'm a little lost here. What _bond_?" a perplexed Krillin carefully asked. Vegeta shot him a dismissive look.
"It's a Saiyan thing, a matter of telepathy. That's _all_ you need know about it," he stated firmly, his words chiseled in stone. Krillin nodded, a little confused by Vegeta's harshness. ((It must be kind of private.)) Krillin reasoned.
"Could she have been taken?" Piccolo suggested. Certainly, the idea that she had been kidnapped was far more preferable to believing that she was dead.
"By who?! Who could be so fast that I didn't see them?!" Goku heatedly objected. "I didn't see _anything_, don't you understand?! Nothing! She was in my arms, and I was saying 'I love you', and then she was gone before I finished speaking! I never took my eyes off her! She just _disappeared_!!" He gritted his teeth so tight they nearly cracked, and more hot tears sprang from his eyes. "There wasn't a blur of movement, a sound, a feeling of ki, there wasn't _anything_!"
"Besides, that wouldn't explain the silence in the bond. . .nothing does, unless she was taken so far away and so quickly that she had no time to call to him before she was out of range," Vegeta explained, shaking his head.
"_Range_? The bond has a range?" Goku snapped his head up to glare at Vegeta. Vegeta let out an uncomfortable sigh; he didn't like talking about the greatest and most private connection between Saiyan mates in front of non-Saiyans.
"Not exactly; by rights, no matter how far apart the mates are, they should be able to feel something from each other, but if the distance was great enough, a psychic barrier could be put up to completely block out the bond," Vegeta continued, reluctant to share such intimate information. A moment later he quietly added, "I think." He didn't want to admit it, but he only knew the basics of the bond. Raditz hadn't known anything about it, being a little younger than Vegeta himself. His royal bodyguard, Nappa, hadn't bothered to reveal much about it; and the way in which he did speak about it had led Vegeta to believe that Nappa didn't believe in the bond, or at least regarded it as more of a liability rather than an asset. Of course, Vegeta had always known that Nappa was an idiot and a fool. Still, though, the silence on Chi-Chi's end of the bond was concern-worthy; indeed, Kakkarot would know for certain if his mate _was_ dead - which was the second, and most emotionally devastating, of the two drawbacks attached to the bond. The first was that unless a mental barrier was up, pain was shared equally between bondmates. The second was that you always knew the instant your mate was dead, for there would be an intense feeling of loss and pain that accompanied it. He remembered tales of bonded mates, in which one had died, and the other, overwhelmed by their pain and grief, had committed suicide. Complete silence, on the other hand. . .no feeling at all. . . What in Kami's name could that mean? Goku moaned wretchedly, and Vegeta frowned slightly at the sound. It bothered him a little to see his fellow Saiyan in such a condition. He reached down, grabbed Goku's jacket by the lapels, and roughly hauled the taller man back onto his feet. "All right, Kakkarot, that's enough. Take us to the exact spot you were in when your mate disappeared. If we combine our efforts, maybe one of us can uncover something you missed," he grunted. Goku looked at him in mild confusion for a moment, and then nodded.
"Yeah, that's a good idea!" Krillin said, smiling and nodding as well.
"Lead the way, Goku," Piccolo agreed. Goku steadied himself, seemingly regaining some of his strength and pride, and took to the air with his three friends behind him. He soon reached the exact location where Chi-Chi vanished from his arms; Kami knows, he'd remember it forever.
"This is it," he said quietly, and the others spread out in a rough circle to look around. Goku dropped to the ground directly below, hoping to find. . .to find. . .he didn't know what. Something Chi-Chi might have dropped, perhaps, or something else. He picked up the faintest trace of her scent and aimed hopefully for it, only to find a single strand of long black hair, clinging to a tree branch a few feet away from where she disappeared. He carefully unraveled it from the tree branch and sadly looked at the thin string of silk, longing for his wife. Then a thought occurred to him as the strand fluttered in his grasp. The night wind had been blowing in a southerly direction from where the two of them had been when Chi-Chi had disappeared, but this tree was situated towards the north, only few feet ahead of where they had been, as were the last traces of her scent. So how had the hair gotten on _this_ tree if the wind had been steadily blowing in a different direction? Goku could only think of one thing - that she had, indeed, been carried to a place ahead of where they'd been. But, to _where_, and by _whom_? His head began spinning again. **Chi-Chi, where are you? Are you safe? Please. . .answer. . .Chi-Chi!** His mind called to her, but the same terrible quiet answered him, and tears pricked at the back of his eyes again. He held them in check with effort and tried to keep himself together.
"Nothing," Krillin's voice came to him.
"I didn't find a thing," Piccolo's voice said next.
"There's nothing here. Where's Kakkarot?" Vegeta said, looking around him, and then pinpointed his fellow Saiyan on the ground. Goku sighed heavily and flew up to rejoin them.
"I didn't find anything, except one of Chi-Chi's hairs," Goku admitted, looking down at the lone strand of hair in his hand. A capricious gust of wind then stole it from his hand.
"Dende may have seen something. He is Earth's Kami, after all - even when he's asleep, he knows what's happening," Piccolo suggested, and, before anyone else could speak, Goku was flying at top speed towards the Lookout. The others quickly followed, and within minutes all had arrived at the home of Earth's Guardian. Upon landing, Goku didn't pause for a moment, but simply charged into the room where Dende was resting.
"Dende! Wake up! Dende!" Goku barked, grabbing the young Namek by his shoulders, and giving him a rough shake. Dende's eyes popped open in surprise as he stared at the face of the half-crazed Saiyan.
"Goku? What--?" Dende sputtered. Goku released his grip, while struggling for control.
"I-I'm sorry, Dende, but there's an emergency!" Goku apologized, a note of desperation in his voice. "Chi-Chi is-"
"Chi-Chi? Your wife? Is she hurt?" Dende interjected.
"No, she's missing." Standing behind Goku, Piccolo answered for his Saiyan friend. Goku drew in some slow, deep breaths to quell his panic. He didn't know how much longer he could take the silence in the bond. It was driving him mad not being able to feel her in his mind, not knowing where she was or if she was safe.
"Missing?" Dende blinked.
"She disappeared about forty-five minutes ago," Goku said. "Right out of my arms while I was flying her home! Please, Dende, did you feel or see anything. . .?"
"Forty-five minutes ago?" Dende repeated, and then nodded. "Yes, I did feel something!" Goku almost sagged in relief.
"What was it?" he asked quickly.
"Well, I'm not really sure. . .it was extremely powerful, but it wasn't ki. It kinda felt like. . .well, like it felt when Babidi used that big spell to talk to everyone on Earth. . ." Dende admitted.
"BABIDI?!?!?!" Goku bellowed, grabbing the young Kami by the shoulders once more. Dende began sweating.
"No, no, no! It wasn't Babidi I felt! But it was a similar feeling - a feeling of _magic_, not of _ki_!!" Dende said quickly, fearing for his life. Goku looked at the Namek's terrified face, immediately calmed down, and let go of him.
"Oh," he sighed. "Sorry."
"Goku, why don't you sit down?" Dende said, concern replacing his fear. "You're exhausted." Goku sunk heavily into a nearby chair, but it was clear to everyone there that he was prepared to jump back out of it at a moment's notice.
"Say, were you all talking about what happened a little bit ago?" Mr. Popo asked as he entered the room.
"Even _you_ noticed it?" Vegeta glanced at the strange man. Initially, the Saiyan Prince hadn't felt a thing, for he'd been dream- sharing at the time, and that tended to lock out the real world. It was certainly a testament to the power of Goku's ki that it could break through the dream barrier.
"Yes. It was an incredible feeling of magic. Time magic, if I'm not mistaken," Mr. Popo answered, matter-of-factly.
"Time magic?" all the other occupants in the room echoed.
"Yes. I only felt something like it once before, centuries ago. There are some spells that can affect the flow of time - make it run backwards, jump it forwards, or even stop it," Mr. Popo added. "As I recall, about six hundred years ago, a wizard cast a spell to make time go forward a few days. That sensation I felt then was nearly identical to what occurred a little while ago."
"So, wait. . .the moment Chi-Chi disappeared, you're saying there was a strong feeling of time magic?" Goku muttered to himself, starting to see a possible connection between the two.
"It lasted only a second, and time obviously hasn't jumped forwards or backwards, so. . .it must have been stopped," Mr. Popo observed logically.
"That explains how she was there one second and gone the next! Someone froze time. . .and took her," Goku let out a long breath. One part of the mystery was solved, but the more urgent part remained unknown. "But who? And why? And to where?" At that moment, he felt his sons approaching the Lookout. ((Oh, no. . .how will I tell them. . .?)) he wondered helplessly, while the others also noted their approach. Several tense minutes later, the two boys landed on the lookout and ran inside where the others were gathered.
"Hey, what's going on? We felt all of your kis blazing," Gohan said quickly. Then he looked around and realized someone was missing. "Dad, where's Mom?"
"She. . .she's missing," Goku admitted sadly.
"MISSING?!?!" cried out both of his sons.
"What do you mean?!" Goten asked urgently, frightened by the look on his father's face.
"I was flying us home when she disappeared from my arms," Goku told them.
"At the same time, someone cast a time spell - we think the two incidences might be related," Piccolo added.
"Don't you have _any_ clue where she went?!" Gohan asked, as calmly as he could, almost near panic himself.
"We gotta go find her! We gotta go find her!" Goten cried. As he turned to bolt out of the Lookout, Piccolo grabbed his arm to keep him from going off half-cocked.
"First, we need to know _where_ to look," Piccolo observed.
"I can't feel her ki anywhere," Goku muttered in misery.
Chi-Chi found herself looking over a wide, green forest with a tall palace-like structure in the center. The surrounding air felt cool, crisp, and clean, slightly dampened with the evening dew. The unaccustomed quiet on the other end of the bond ate at her; she couldn't feel her Goku anywhere. Where had Davin taken her? She buried her fear and worry deep, and concentrated on her anger. Her kidnapper didn't seem to notice her discomfort at all. Davin was smiling proudly as he landed before the palace and set her on her feet. The invisible chains binding her arms and legs vanished then, and she moved her arms a bit to work out the minor pins and needles caused by having them bound above her head. Davin's eyes returned to their normal gray shade, though little flecks of silver could still be seen glinting for a few seconds more.
"What do you think? Beautiful, isn't it? I've been working on it for years," he asked proudly, and promptly received a well-placed right hook to his face for an answer. He fell to the ground, more startled than anything, holding his bruising left cheek.
"Yeah, lovely!! Now take me home, Davin!!" Chi-Chi snarled furiously. "I would've done that sooner, but I didn't want to fall!"
"Chi-Chi, please. . ." Davin said slowly as he got back up. "Calm down. You know, you were never so temperamental before you married that Goku guy."
"You kidnapped me! I have every right to be temperamental!" Chi-Chi snapped in return. "I want to go home to my family now, Davin!"
"Yes, your _family_. . ." Davin muttered, his eyes narrowing and giving him a slightly dangerous look. Chi-Chi stood firm, her fists clenched by her sides.
"Davin, I know you've had a thing for me since we were little, but I'm _happily married_ and have two children! It's about time for you to move on! Do you realize how unhealthy this fixation is?" Chi-Chi's voice was still high and angry, coloring her reasonable words with a hard edge.
"I've only wanted what was best for you, and I've never really believed that Goku guy was worthy of you. He leaves you alone all the time! How can you think he loves y-" Davin started, but stopped when Chi- Chi edged forward, ready to strike him again.
"You son of a bitch! You don't know anything about us! Yes, he's left on training trips in the past, but he does it to keep our world and me safe! We love each other deeply!" Chi-Chi snarled, her body tensing. "He took me out tonight! He was in the middle of saying "I love you" when you froze time and abducted me! You have no right to judge him or our relationship! Where do you get your information?!" Chi-Chi knew she was in full rant mode, but she couldn't stop herself, and it needed to be said anyway. Davin looked uncertain for a moment, and then murmured something under his breath. Chi-Chi's body jerked for a moment as she felt sleep overtake her, and she collapsed. Davin caught her before she hit the ground.
"I'm sorry, Chi-Chi, but you need to cool down for a bit. You'll wake up after dawn,"
Davin said soothingly to Chi-Chi's unconscious form. "I'm going to have to do something about that temper and her lack of willingness to cooperate if I hope to make any headway. I guess I shouldn't have expected privacy alone to help my cause," he sighed. He hoisted her back up into his arms, picked her purse off of the ground where she'd dropped it, and carried her into the palace he'd built. Three elf maidens were tidying the place when he walked in, and all of them looked at him with a mixture of fear, dislike, anger, and surprise that he wasn't alone.
"Master. . .who is that?" one of them asked, as she motioned towards the unconscious female in his arms.
"This is Chi-Chi, the woman for whom I built all of this. She'll be your mistress, and you'll serve her as you have served me," Davin answered. "Is that understood?"
"Yes, Davin, it is," the second elf-maiden answered, bowing her head.
"Good," Davin nodded. "I'll put her to bed." With that, he carried her away to the right, where a tall, spiral staircase stood, stretching upward through the many floors of his palace. He started up it the hard way, then decided to save time and just levitated the rest of the way through the open center. He stopped on the next-to-the-top floor and opened the first door there. He had prepared this room especially for Chi- Chi some time ago, right after he'd finished the palace on the whole and completed his own room, which took up most of the top floor. Her room was filled with all the things he knew she liked--largely books, exercise equipment and a pile of CDs of her preferred music with a player beside them. Vases filled with beautiful violets sat on nearly every table in the room. The closet was filled with lovely, rich clothes, and a box on the wood vanity was filled with many exquisite pieces of jewelry. Davin cast another quick spell to put Chi-Chi into a nightgown, and then he tucked her into the large bed that stood against the wall near the center of the room. The sheets and pillowcases were silk, and the quilts were fashioned of the warmest down. Once she was comfortably placed in the bed, Davin smiled at her fair face, her features peaceful in sleep. This room was only temporary, despite all the work he'd put into it. Eventually, she'd share his room. He kissed her soft lips and his right hand began to roam before he could stop it; but before he could touch her anywhere but her shoulder, Chi-Chi shuddered in revulsion in her sleep and rolled away from him. Davin stared in surprise. ((How. . .? Why. . .?)) he thought. That was a bizarre reaction, in his mind, to a caress. ((Did Goku hurt her during intercourse before? Is she afraid of a man touching her?)) he wondered. It didn't seem to fit with what he knew of the other man or his relationship with Chi-Chi, but then again, why had she shuddered like that? Trapped deep within her own subconscious, Chi-Chi couldn't tell him the truth. Even while asleep, she was able to sense that the person touching her was not her husband, which was why she had shuddered and pulled away. And even if she couldn't detect the difference in her unconscious state, the bond could, and the strong Saiyan bond permitted no such trespasses.
Davin left her asleep, mulling things over in his mind. He had much left to do. He climbed up the remaining steps to the top floor and entered his room. It was even larger and more extravagant than Chi-Chi's. One wall was covered with a bookcase, some shelves filled with books, others with strange bottles and jars filled with heaven-knew-what. A pentagram, a useful tool in some spells, was painted on the floor near the bookcase. A wood table with two chairs stood a few feet in front and to the left of the pentagram. A bed with a nightstand by its side sat on the opposite side of the room from the bookcase. A blown-glass vase filled with violets sat on the nightstand, beside a picture of Chi-Chi. The other three walls were covered in rich tapestries depicting fantastic scenes of magical acts and mythical beasts. The floor was a muted gray marble, matching the color as his eyes. The walls, what could be seen of them behind the tapestries, were painted a deep blue. Standing to the left of the table and two chairs, was a bookstand, on which sat an open book. It was very old, the pages yellowed with age, and the leather cover worn thin along its edges. It was to the book he went, glancing briefly at the page to which it was open - "Spells of Time Control." He flipped through the book carefully, searching for a particular page. He had seen something once that he felt could be very useful now. After a few minutes' time, he found it, and his mouth curved into a small, cold smile. It was a harsh thing to do, but if he truly wished to hold Chi-Chi's heart as his own, it would be necessary. Across the top of the found page in ancient cursive letters, were the words "Memory Removal, Creation, and Replacement."
**************************************************************************** ** Heehee, I've got a thing for cliffhangers, what can I say? It helps to assure that readers will come back, even if the next chapter takes a long time to come out!
E-mail me at NansJns@aol.com!
I thank all of the same people for the same reasons - Holly, Serina, and Jenny!
Any sentences like **this** are telepathic. **************************************************************************** ** Battle of the Heart by NansJns
Ch.2
"--Chi," Goku finished his statement, but jerked in alarm when he realized his arms were empty. His hands still held her warmth and scent on them, but they cooled rapidly as the night breeze passed over them. The same breeze caused Chi-Chi's single tear to hit his cheek, but he didn't realize what the tiny bit of moisture was, and hardly paid attention to it. "Chi-Chi?!" Goku gasped and looked around. He _couldn't_ have dropped her!! His grip had been secure, and her hands had been secured around his neck! His heart pounded furiously as panic fueled its agitated beat. No, if he _had_ dropped her, he'd hear her screaming and see her below himself, and feel her own fear through the bond. Where was she?! How could she just vanish from his arms like that?! His head was spinning and his throat tightened; the bond, the bond, the bond would tell him where she was. He reached out to pick up her ki's unique signal and called to her through the bond for all he was worth. Cold silence was the only response. He couldn't place her ki anywhere, and the bond. . .the bond was silent. No warmth, no feeling of her loving soul and heart; no thoughts of hers in his mind, no emotions flowing to him. Nothing, nothing at all except silence, as if. . .as if she wasn't _there_ anymore. "NOOO!" he howled in horror, and his powerful ki blazed around him. Frantic beyond belief, he flew off, uncaring of his direction, searching for any sign of his wife.
Goku stretched out with every sense he had, but Chi-Chi's scent ended a few feet from where they had been prior to her disappearance, and he heard nothing that sounded like her voice, and her ki was nowhere close by. The bond ached emptily, but Goku gritted his teeth and shook his head; Chi- Chi was alive, it would feel different if she was dead, he'd _know_ if she was dead. He flew back toward their house, but there was nothing there except his sons' kis, low with sleep, and he flew off again. He didn't know where to look, but he couldn't stop. His ki flared higher as his level of panic increased. If he hadn't dropped her (and he _knew_ that he hadn't) then there was only one other explanation - somebody _took_ her. But how was that possible? No one was so fast that Goku couldn't see them, or at least a blur of them.
**Chi-Chi! Chi-Chi, please, where are you?!** Goku called through the bond again. The aching, empty silence continued to be his only response. ((No, no, no, _please_ no! I can't lose her, not after getting her back after so long!)) Goku thought, as fearful tears started to blur his vision. In all of the battles he'd been in, he'd never felt so lost, alone, and afraid. This wasn't happening, it _couldn't_ be. . . Goku shook his head again, this time to clear it. Chi-Chi was out there _somewhere_, and he was going to find her, soon. He kept repeating that to himself to keep calm, but it didn't work as well as he would've liked.
As Goku flew haphazardly across most of the world, his blazing ki began to draw attention from those who could sense it. Krillin sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes, and felt out into the night carefully. ((Yeah, that's Goku, all right. . .but why is he blazing his ki at this hour of the night?)) he wondered as he stretched a bit and started to lie back down. ((Unless it's an invasion. . .)) Krillin froze in mid-movement as the unwelcome thought came to him. After a few seconds, he got out of bed and went to put on his clothes. ((Better safe than sorry.)) he reasoned. Piccolo blinked awake slowly, and let out a bewildered grunt. He felt Goku's ki out there, most definitely, but only Goku; none of the other senshi were with him, not even Gohan or Goten. What could have worked the Earth-raised Saiyan into such an uproar? He walked to the edge of Kami's Lookout and gazed into the vast distance. He didn't feel anything out of the norm, but as Goku's ki went up another notch, he decided he'd better investigate a little closer. With that, he flew off in Goku's direction.
Vegeta was deep in a shared dream with Bulma when he first felt the edge of Goku's ki. He'd been sharing dreams with Bulma almost every night since the fight with Buu, sharing everything he felt for her in the most private way possible. In this dream, they had been strolling through the royal gardens by Vegetasei's palace, a place Vegeta remembered faintly from his childhood, talking, kissing, and enjoying the increased closeness they were sharing, when a light brighter than the dream-sun pierced the area. With it came a feeling of someone familiar. They both winced at the brightness, and Vegeta growled. It increased, paused for a second, and then increased again. The idyllic dream began to blur and fade, and against his will, Vegeta woke up. He sat up with an annoyed growl, threw back the covers and began pulling on clothes. Still savoring the aftereffects of the shared dream, Bulma sat up slower, and quietly watched him getting dressed.
"Vegeta, that was Goku, wasn't it?" she asked groggily. "That light in the dream, I mean."
"His ki, yes. He's flaring his ki right now. And I'm going to found out why!" Vegeta answered as he pulled a tank top over his head. A quick glance to the clock told him it was only 1:55 am. Even by his standards, that was way too early. He growled again and opened the window. "Go back to sleep, Bulma. I'll join you as soon as I've found out what that baka is doing."
"Don't be too hard on him, dear," Bulma yawned sleepily and nestled back down in the blankets. "And don't be long. I liked seeing Vegetasei," she added in a soft, half-asleep murmur. Vegeta smiled at her over his shoulder and gave a nod he wasn't sure she saw, and then flew off into the night sky. Goku's ki felt close by, and he aimed for it. It seemed to be bouncing off in different directions every few seconds, in a wild and confused manner. Reaching out a little further, he noticed the Namek and the small human Krillin were also flying toward Kakkarot, but no one was right by him. What was his fellow Saiyan up to? He turned sharply as he felt Kakkarot do the same, and then poured on more speed to catch up. Something had sure gotten into Kakkarot, and Vegeta was seriously starting to wonder what had worked him up into such a state. After several minutes, he spotted Kakkarot flying in front of him, above a densely forested area. His own ki spiked higher as he sped up to intercept.
"Kakkarot!" he bellowed. Goku ignored him outright. Vegeta was the last person he wanted to deal with at the moment. Vegeta scowled, realizing that Goku was paying no heed to him. "Kakkarot, you idiot!"
"Go away, Vegeta!" Goku yelled over his shoulder at him. Vegeta seemed to disappear and then reappeared in front of Goku, blocking his progress. Vegeta grabbed Goku by the fancy dress shirt he was wearing and hauled him down to Vegeta's face level.
"Kakkarot, why are you flaring your ki across hell's back acre at this Kami-cursed hour of the night?!" Vegeta demanded harshly of his fellow Saiyan, giving him a hard shake. Goku sputtered a bit, and pried Vegeta's hand off his shirt.
"I don't have time for you!" Goku growled, and attempted to fly off and resume his search. Vegeta grabbed the back of his jacket to keep him from leaving.
"What the hell is going on?!" Vegeta demanded again. Goku pulled away again, but an adamant Vegeta grabbed his arm and threw him down to the ground. Goku pulled himself up choking and gasping, tears in his eyes, and shaking all over. Finally the fear, confusion, and pain overwhelmed him and he was sick to his stomach. Vegeta stared in utter bewilderment at Kakkarot's apparent emotional breakdown, from the trembling and the tears, to the vomiting. What in Kami's name had happened? Vegeta gingerly lowered himself behind Goku in order to avoid the spewed mess his fellow Saiyan had made. "Kakkarot, what in Kami's name is wrong with you? What's going on?" Vegeta asked, in a strangely calm and cool voice, touched with an almost audible (but not quite) note of concern. Still shaking, Goku stayed bent over for a few moments, before he lifted his head and looked back at Vegeta with tortured eyes.
"Ch-Chi-Chi. . .she disappeared," he whispered miserably.
"Your mate? What do you mean, 'disappeared'?" Vegeta prodded. Things were starting to become clearer now.
"Hey, what's going on?!" Krillin's voice suddenly cut in. "Goku, man, you look awful! Did you do that?" the short man looked at the Saiyans and at the mess upon the ground. Goku gave him a small, miserable nod.
"What in the name of Dende happened?" Piccolo suddenly landed near the group. "Goku, why were you spiking your ki? And. . ." Piccolo's eyes widened as they, too, darted to the mess nearby.
"He was about to say when you two interrupted!" Vegeta snarled impatiently. "It seems something happened to his mate."
"To Chi-Chi?" Krillin blinked. "That explains a lot. So, what is it? Is she hurt?" Goku shook his head wildly.
"No! I don't _know_! She vanished! Right out of my arms! One second she was there, the next she was gone! I can't find her ki! A-and. . .I call and call to her through our bond, but there's no answer. . .there's nothing on the other side at all. . ." Goku pushed himself onto his knees and tried not to cry in front of his friends. Vegeta twitched a little in empathy. It certainly explained why Kakkarot's ki had been going haywire and in all directions at once.he'd been desperately searching for his mate.
"The bond can't be broken. . .but death would silence. . ." Vegeta started to say, but then found himself pinned with his back against a tree trunk. The tree trunk cracked down the middle from the force of the impact.
"SHE'S ALIVE!" Goku bellowed furiously. Then he released his hold on Vegeta and drew in several slow breaths to calm himself. "She _has_ to be," he added quietly, insistently. Vegeta scowled for a moment as he pushed himself away from the tree, but when he thought of his own mate, safe and warm at home, he couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for Kakkarot. If Bulma suddenly disappeared and he couldn't reach her through the bond, he knew he'd surely lose control as well. Split in half from having Vegeta slammed into it, the large tree finally fell over with a crash, but none of them paid it any mind.
"Um, I'm a little lost here. What _bond_?" a perplexed Krillin carefully asked. Vegeta shot him a dismissive look.
"It's a Saiyan thing, a matter of telepathy. That's _all_ you need know about it," he stated firmly, his words chiseled in stone. Krillin nodded, a little confused by Vegeta's harshness. ((It must be kind of private.)) Krillin reasoned.
"Could she have been taken?" Piccolo suggested. Certainly, the idea that she had been kidnapped was far more preferable to believing that she was dead.
"By who?! Who could be so fast that I didn't see them?!" Goku heatedly objected. "I didn't see _anything_, don't you understand?! Nothing! She was in my arms, and I was saying 'I love you', and then she was gone before I finished speaking! I never took my eyes off her! She just _disappeared_!!" He gritted his teeth so tight they nearly cracked, and more hot tears sprang from his eyes. "There wasn't a blur of movement, a sound, a feeling of ki, there wasn't _anything_!"
"Besides, that wouldn't explain the silence in the bond. . .nothing does, unless she was taken so far away and so quickly that she had no time to call to him before she was out of range," Vegeta explained, shaking his head.
"_Range_? The bond has a range?" Goku snapped his head up to glare at Vegeta. Vegeta let out an uncomfortable sigh; he didn't like talking about the greatest and most private connection between Saiyan mates in front of non-Saiyans.
"Not exactly; by rights, no matter how far apart the mates are, they should be able to feel something from each other, but if the distance was great enough, a psychic barrier could be put up to completely block out the bond," Vegeta continued, reluctant to share such intimate information. A moment later he quietly added, "I think." He didn't want to admit it, but he only knew the basics of the bond. Raditz hadn't known anything about it, being a little younger than Vegeta himself. His royal bodyguard, Nappa, hadn't bothered to reveal much about it; and the way in which he did speak about it had led Vegeta to believe that Nappa didn't believe in the bond, or at least regarded it as more of a liability rather than an asset. Of course, Vegeta had always known that Nappa was an idiot and a fool. Still, though, the silence on Chi-Chi's end of the bond was concern-worthy; indeed, Kakkarot would know for certain if his mate _was_ dead - which was the second, and most emotionally devastating, of the two drawbacks attached to the bond. The first was that unless a mental barrier was up, pain was shared equally between bondmates. The second was that you always knew the instant your mate was dead, for there would be an intense feeling of loss and pain that accompanied it. He remembered tales of bonded mates, in which one had died, and the other, overwhelmed by their pain and grief, had committed suicide. Complete silence, on the other hand. . .no feeling at all. . . What in Kami's name could that mean? Goku moaned wretchedly, and Vegeta frowned slightly at the sound. It bothered him a little to see his fellow Saiyan in such a condition. He reached down, grabbed Goku's jacket by the lapels, and roughly hauled the taller man back onto his feet. "All right, Kakkarot, that's enough. Take us to the exact spot you were in when your mate disappeared. If we combine our efforts, maybe one of us can uncover something you missed," he grunted. Goku looked at him in mild confusion for a moment, and then nodded.
"Yeah, that's a good idea!" Krillin said, smiling and nodding as well.
"Lead the way, Goku," Piccolo agreed. Goku steadied himself, seemingly regaining some of his strength and pride, and took to the air with his three friends behind him. He soon reached the exact location where Chi-Chi vanished from his arms; Kami knows, he'd remember it forever.
"This is it," he said quietly, and the others spread out in a rough circle to look around. Goku dropped to the ground directly below, hoping to find. . .to find. . .he didn't know what. Something Chi-Chi might have dropped, perhaps, or something else. He picked up the faintest trace of her scent and aimed hopefully for it, only to find a single strand of long black hair, clinging to a tree branch a few feet away from where she disappeared. He carefully unraveled it from the tree branch and sadly looked at the thin string of silk, longing for his wife. Then a thought occurred to him as the strand fluttered in his grasp. The night wind had been blowing in a southerly direction from where the two of them had been when Chi-Chi had disappeared, but this tree was situated towards the north, only few feet ahead of where they had been, as were the last traces of her scent. So how had the hair gotten on _this_ tree if the wind had been steadily blowing in a different direction? Goku could only think of one thing - that she had, indeed, been carried to a place ahead of where they'd been. But, to _where_, and by _whom_? His head began spinning again. **Chi-Chi, where are you? Are you safe? Please. . .answer. . .Chi-Chi!** His mind called to her, but the same terrible quiet answered him, and tears pricked at the back of his eyes again. He held them in check with effort and tried to keep himself together.
"Nothing," Krillin's voice came to him.
"I didn't find a thing," Piccolo's voice said next.
"There's nothing here. Where's Kakkarot?" Vegeta said, looking around him, and then pinpointed his fellow Saiyan on the ground. Goku sighed heavily and flew up to rejoin them.
"I didn't find anything, except one of Chi-Chi's hairs," Goku admitted, looking down at the lone strand of hair in his hand. A capricious gust of wind then stole it from his hand.
"Dende may have seen something. He is Earth's Kami, after all - even when he's asleep, he knows what's happening," Piccolo suggested, and, before anyone else could speak, Goku was flying at top speed towards the Lookout. The others quickly followed, and within minutes all had arrived at the home of Earth's Guardian. Upon landing, Goku didn't pause for a moment, but simply charged into the room where Dende was resting.
"Dende! Wake up! Dende!" Goku barked, grabbing the young Namek by his shoulders, and giving him a rough shake. Dende's eyes popped open in surprise as he stared at the face of the half-crazed Saiyan.
"Goku? What--?" Dende sputtered. Goku released his grip, while struggling for control.
"I-I'm sorry, Dende, but there's an emergency!" Goku apologized, a note of desperation in his voice. "Chi-Chi is-"
"Chi-Chi? Your wife? Is she hurt?" Dende interjected.
"No, she's missing." Standing behind Goku, Piccolo answered for his Saiyan friend. Goku drew in some slow, deep breaths to quell his panic. He didn't know how much longer he could take the silence in the bond. It was driving him mad not being able to feel her in his mind, not knowing where she was or if she was safe.
"Missing?" Dende blinked.
"She disappeared about forty-five minutes ago," Goku said. "Right out of my arms while I was flying her home! Please, Dende, did you feel or see anything. . .?"
"Forty-five minutes ago?" Dende repeated, and then nodded. "Yes, I did feel something!" Goku almost sagged in relief.
"What was it?" he asked quickly.
"Well, I'm not really sure. . .it was extremely powerful, but it wasn't ki. It kinda felt like. . .well, like it felt when Babidi used that big spell to talk to everyone on Earth. . ." Dende admitted.
"BABIDI?!?!?!" Goku bellowed, grabbing the young Kami by the shoulders once more. Dende began sweating.
"No, no, no! It wasn't Babidi I felt! But it was a similar feeling - a feeling of _magic_, not of _ki_!!" Dende said quickly, fearing for his life. Goku looked at the Namek's terrified face, immediately calmed down, and let go of him.
"Oh," he sighed. "Sorry."
"Goku, why don't you sit down?" Dende said, concern replacing his fear. "You're exhausted." Goku sunk heavily into a nearby chair, but it was clear to everyone there that he was prepared to jump back out of it at a moment's notice.
"Say, were you all talking about what happened a little bit ago?" Mr. Popo asked as he entered the room.
"Even _you_ noticed it?" Vegeta glanced at the strange man. Initially, the Saiyan Prince hadn't felt a thing, for he'd been dream- sharing at the time, and that tended to lock out the real world. It was certainly a testament to the power of Goku's ki that it could break through the dream barrier.
"Yes. It was an incredible feeling of magic. Time magic, if I'm not mistaken," Mr. Popo answered, matter-of-factly.
"Time magic?" all the other occupants in the room echoed.
"Yes. I only felt something like it once before, centuries ago. There are some spells that can affect the flow of time - make it run backwards, jump it forwards, or even stop it," Mr. Popo added. "As I recall, about six hundred years ago, a wizard cast a spell to make time go forward a few days. That sensation I felt then was nearly identical to what occurred a little while ago."
"So, wait. . .the moment Chi-Chi disappeared, you're saying there was a strong feeling of time magic?" Goku muttered to himself, starting to see a possible connection between the two.
"It lasted only a second, and time obviously hasn't jumped forwards or backwards, so. . .it must have been stopped," Mr. Popo observed logically.
"That explains how she was there one second and gone the next! Someone froze time. . .and took her," Goku let out a long breath. One part of the mystery was solved, but the more urgent part remained unknown. "But who? And why? And to where?" At that moment, he felt his sons approaching the Lookout. ((Oh, no. . .how will I tell them. . .?)) he wondered helplessly, while the others also noted their approach. Several tense minutes later, the two boys landed on the lookout and ran inside where the others were gathered.
"Hey, what's going on? We felt all of your kis blazing," Gohan said quickly. Then he looked around and realized someone was missing. "Dad, where's Mom?"
"She. . .she's missing," Goku admitted sadly.
"MISSING?!?!" cried out both of his sons.
"What do you mean?!" Goten asked urgently, frightened by the look on his father's face.
"I was flying us home when she disappeared from my arms," Goku told them.
"At the same time, someone cast a time spell - we think the two incidences might be related," Piccolo added.
"Don't you have _any_ clue where she went?!" Gohan asked, as calmly as he could, almost near panic himself.
"We gotta go find her! We gotta go find her!" Goten cried. As he turned to bolt out of the Lookout, Piccolo grabbed his arm to keep him from going off half-cocked.
"First, we need to know _where_ to look," Piccolo observed.
"I can't feel her ki anywhere," Goku muttered in misery.
Chi-Chi found herself looking over a wide, green forest with a tall palace-like structure in the center. The surrounding air felt cool, crisp, and clean, slightly dampened with the evening dew. The unaccustomed quiet on the other end of the bond ate at her; she couldn't feel her Goku anywhere. Where had Davin taken her? She buried her fear and worry deep, and concentrated on her anger. Her kidnapper didn't seem to notice her discomfort at all. Davin was smiling proudly as he landed before the palace and set her on her feet. The invisible chains binding her arms and legs vanished then, and she moved her arms a bit to work out the minor pins and needles caused by having them bound above her head. Davin's eyes returned to their normal gray shade, though little flecks of silver could still be seen glinting for a few seconds more.
"What do you think? Beautiful, isn't it? I've been working on it for years," he asked proudly, and promptly received a well-placed right hook to his face for an answer. He fell to the ground, more startled than anything, holding his bruising left cheek.
"Yeah, lovely!! Now take me home, Davin!!" Chi-Chi snarled furiously. "I would've done that sooner, but I didn't want to fall!"
"Chi-Chi, please. . ." Davin said slowly as he got back up. "Calm down. You know, you were never so temperamental before you married that Goku guy."
"You kidnapped me! I have every right to be temperamental!" Chi-Chi snapped in return. "I want to go home to my family now, Davin!"
"Yes, your _family_. . ." Davin muttered, his eyes narrowing and giving him a slightly dangerous look. Chi-Chi stood firm, her fists clenched by her sides.
"Davin, I know you've had a thing for me since we were little, but I'm _happily married_ and have two children! It's about time for you to move on! Do you realize how unhealthy this fixation is?" Chi-Chi's voice was still high and angry, coloring her reasonable words with a hard edge.
"I've only wanted what was best for you, and I've never really believed that Goku guy was worthy of you. He leaves you alone all the time! How can you think he loves y-" Davin started, but stopped when Chi- Chi edged forward, ready to strike him again.
"You son of a bitch! You don't know anything about us! Yes, he's left on training trips in the past, but he does it to keep our world and me safe! We love each other deeply!" Chi-Chi snarled, her body tensing. "He took me out tonight! He was in the middle of saying "I love you" when you froze time and abducted me! You have no right to judge him or our relationship! Where do you get your information?!" Chi-Chi knew she was in full rant mode, but she couldn't stop herself, and it needed to be said anyway. Davin looked uncertain for a moment, and then murmured something under his breath. Chi-Chi's body jerked for a moment as she felt sleep overtake her, and she collapsed. Davin caught her before she hit the ground.
"I'm sorry, Chi-Chi, but you need to cool down for a bit. You'll wake up after dawn,"
Davin said soothingly to Chi-Chi's unconscious form. "I'm going to have to do something about that temper and her lack of willingness to cooperate if I hope to make any headway. I guess I shouldn't have expected privacy alone to help my cause," he sighed. He hoisted her back up into his arms, picked her purse off of the ground where she'd dropped it, and carried her into the palace he'd built. Three elf maidens were tidying the place when he walked in, and all of them looked at him with a mixture of fear, dislike, anger, and surprise that he wasn't alone.
"Master. . .who is that?" one of them asked, as she motioned towards the unconscious female in his arms.
"This is Chi-Chi, the woman for whom I built all of this. She'll be your mistress, and you'll serve her as you have served me," Davin answered. "Is that understood?"
"Yes, Davin, it is," the second elf-maiden answered, bowing her head.
"Good," Davin nodded. "I'll put her to bed." With that, he carried her away to the right, where a tall, spiral staircase stood, stretching upward through the many floors of his palace. He started up it the hard way, then decided to save time and just levitated the rest of the way through the open center. He stopped on the next-to-the-top floor and opened the first door there. He had prepared this room especially for Chi- Chi some time ago, right after he'd finished the palace on the whole and completed his own room, which took up most of the top floor. Her room was filled with all the things he knew she liked--largely books, exercise equipment and a pile of CDs of her preferred music with a player beside them. Vases filled with beautiful violets sat on nearly every table in the room. The closet was filled with lovely, rich clothes, and a box on the wood vanity was filled with many exquisite pieces of jewelry. Davin cast another quick spell to put Chi-Chi into a nightgown, and then he tucked her into the large bed that stood against the wall near the center of the room. The sheets and pillowcases were silk, and the quilts were fashioned of the warmest down. Once she was comfortably placed in the bed, Davin smiled at her fair face, her features peaceful in sleep. This room was only temporary, despite all the work he'd put into it. Eventually, she'd share his room. He kissed her soft lips and his right hand began to roam before he could stop it; but before he could touch her anywhere but her shoulder, Chi-Chi shuddered in revulsion in her sleep and rolled away from him. Davin stared in surprise. ((How. . .? Why. . .?)) he thought. That was a bizarre reaction, in his mind, to a caress. ((Did Goku hurt her during intercourse before? Is she afraid of a man touching her?)) he wondered. It didn't seem to fit with what he knew of the other man or his relationship with Chi-Chi, but then again, why had she shuddered like that? Trapped deep within her own subconscious, Chi-Chi couldn't tell him the truth. Even while asleep, she was able to sense that the person touching her was not her husband, which was why she had shuddered and pulled away. And even if she couldn't detect the difference in her unconscious state, the bond could, and the strong Saiyan bond permitted no such trespasses.
Davin left her asleep, mulling things over in his mind. He had much left to do. He climbed up the remaining steps to the top floor and entered his room. It was even larger and more extravagant than Chi-Chi's. One wall was covered with a bookcase, some shelves filled with books, others with strange bottles and jars filled with heaven-knew-what. A pentagram, a useful tool in some spells, was painted on the floor near the bookcase. A wood table with two chairs stood a few feet in front and to the left of the pentagram. A bed with a nightstand by its side sat on the opposite side of the room from the bookcase. A blown-glass vase filled with violets sat on the nightstand, beside a picture of Chi-Chi. The other three walls were covered in rich tapestries depicting fantastic scenes of magical acts and mythical beasts. The floor was a muted gray marble, matching the color as his eyes. The walls, what could be seen of them behind the tapestries, were painted a deep blue. Standing to the left of the table and two chairs, was a bookstand, on which sat an open book. It was very old, the pages yellowed with age, and the leather cover worn thin along its edges. It was to the book he went, glancing briefly at the page to which it was open - "Spells of Time Control." He flipped through the book carefully, searching for a particular page. He had seen something once that he felt could be very useful now. After a few minutes' time, he found it, and his mouth curved into a small, cold smile. It was a harsh thing to do, but if he truly wished to hold Chi-Chi's heart as his own, it would be necessary. Across the top of the found page in ancient cursive letters, were the words "Memory Removal, Creation, and Replacement."
**************************************************************************** ** Heehee, I've got a thing for cliffhangers, what can I say? It helps to assure that readers will come back, even if the next chapter takes a long time to come out!
E-mail me at NansJns@aol.com!