The sun that had been so welcoming just a few minutes ago had now disappeared. The innumerable white clouds hanging above them had snuffed it out and kept it hidden away.
Gohan looked behind them, he could no longer see the cave nor the mountainous glacier it was carved into; a new fog now covered both of them, hiding them just as efficiently as the clouds did the sun.
The two continued to walk, only capable of seeing a few yards worth of bridge out in front of them, and a few feets worth behind them. The icy bridge seemed endless, it was easily much longer than the staircase they climbed and far tougher to deal with, mostly due to the wind which was a constant bother. It constantly blew bits of snow and dry air into their eyes, mildly irritating both of them.
There was some good news, or at least possible good news: The humming had died down to an ignorable level, even sometimes blending in with the sound of the wind. Still, neither got too comfortable with the relative calmness of the situation.
The fog ahead of them thickened and as they entered, the wind mysteriously silenced itself. Neither could see the other so they focused on listening to the environment, rather than trying to see it. The only clear sounds were the very quiet humming and their footsteps across the snow-dusted ice.
A chill ran down Goku's back. "Be careful Jack." He squeezed Gohan's hand. "I don't like how quiet things just got."
"Yeah..." Gohan said. "I'll stick close."
Though they could not see it, they could hear the ice crack slightly beneath their feet, something that definitely wasn't happening earlier. They stepped slowly and carefully for the next few minutes.
Suddenly, Gohan felt his father's hand pull him down to the floor.
"Woah!" Goku cried as he was now dangling off the bridge.
Gohan quickly pulled him back up and felt with his foot where his father had fallen. There were a few worn, protruding ice crystals along this unexpected edge. Gohan reached his leg out, and beyond that, there was nothing.
"Goku, are you okay?" Gohan asked worriedly, still unable to see Goku.
Goku responded calmly, "I'm fine, but what was that?"
"I think the bridge collapsed here." Gohan paused, feeling out the uneven edge of the bridge.
"Do you think it's broken all the way across?"
"I'm not sure..." Gohan replied, "But we should check."
As they thoroughly checked the bridge, Gohan prayed for there to be some sort of small portion of the bridge left intact. They had come this far and to travel all the way back to the cave would not only be miserable but incredibly time-consuming, not to mention the only path they'd have left to explore was that passage, and Gohan hated the thought of doing that.
They had made it about three-quarters of the way across the bridge when Gohan felt a portion extend out past the rest of the ice.
"Goku, I think I found it!" He said excitedly.
Goku laughed happily. "That's great Jack! Lead the way!"
Gohan placed his foot down carefully on the narrow strip of ice, slowly adding his weight onto it. The sound of ice cracking became apparent, but it didn't sound severe enough to stop. Eventually, after slowly strategizing each step, Gohan and Goku were both shimmying across the slim strip of ice.
Both moved with intense focus and precision as one wrong move would lead to one, or both, of them falling off. Granted, it wouldn't have been much of an issue as Gohan would have just flown them back up, but that was risky considering how difficult it was to focus any ki at all in this strange place.
For a moment, Gohan caught a glimpse of the bridge through the fog, it looked like it widened just up ahead of them and, when they took only a few more steps, he smiled as his eyes spoke truthfully to him. The bridge had widened out, that much was for sure, but the fog still made it difficult to tell exactly how wide it had gotten.
The ice beneath them no longer made any cracks or chipping sounds as they stepped across it so they quickened their pace, but only by a little, still wary of the possibility that more of the bridge could be collapsed.
Goku could feel a warm hand touch his shoulder. The very quiet humming had turned to a louder, slower thumping. A hushed and unfamiliar voice whispered to him. "Hello there, Son Goku."
He quickly stopped, halting himself and Gohan as well. "Who said that?!" he yelled authoritatively.
Gohan looked in his general direction, his voice sounded concerned. "Who said what, Goku? Did you hear something?"
He placed himself up against Gohan's back and stared aggressively out into the fog. The thumping had vanished and the quiet hum had returned. "Someone just said my name, Jack. Whoever it is, they're right behind us, I felt them touch my shoulder."
Gohan tried to search for energies but as he raised his ki to search for anyone, the humming rapidly mutated into long and ear-piercing screeches. And only after a second of scanning, he was forced to drop his ki back down to nothing. Still, in that singular second, he didn't sense anyone or anything for that matter. The only living creatures he could sense were his father and himself.
"Are you sure? I tried sensing for them but I can't feel anyone nearby."
Goku's eyes darted around the fog, looking for any forms that even resembled a person. "I'm sure."
Gohan didn't doubt him, if he heard someone, then someone was definitely out there. But their position right now wasn't good. If he couldn't see, sense, or hear whoever they were about to face, then how could he fight them?
He leaned his head back against his father's and dropped his voice to a whisper. "Goku, we have to move fast. We need to get whoever's following us out in the open and from there we can figure out if they're friendly or not."
"Right. Just keep holding my hand while we run, okay? We can't lose each other, especially not now." He paused, thinking he heard a noise, but as silence filled the air he dismissed it and started whispering again. "When I squeeze your hand, we start running."
Goku waited a moment more, he couldn't be sure if he was hearing something or if he was mistaking some minor ambient noise for something more significant. Either way, they were vulnerable here and the clock was ticking. He squeezed lightly and the two began sprinting.
For a few minutes, the pair were running blindly through a sea of white, unaware that at their pace, they were making amazing progress in crossing the bridge. Suddenly, like smashing through a wall, they broke through the edge of the fog. Without thinking, Gohan stared at the cloudy mass behind them, unaware that the ice below them had just become slick. He began to fall, and just before he could begin to pull Goku down too, Gohan let go of his father's hand and began to slide across the ice.
Goku, seeing another gap in the bridge ahead of them, tried his best to slow himself down, even falling back on the floor and pushing his hands against the ice for extra friction so he could match Gohan's slower speed. Despite his best efforts, they were both still rapidly approaching the edge, and when Gohan passed him, he reached out and grabbed his arm. Using his free hand, Goku then focused his ki into his fingers and jammed them into the ice, at the cost of only a second's worth of mind-scrambling screeching.
Past the gap, they could see two large four-sided obelisks constructed of deep blue ice, standing and guarding a cave entrance carved into yet another impossibly large glacier. Both, with their adrenaline pumping, wasted no time in jumping over the gap and continuing to run until they reached the entrance.
Standing near the obelisks to obscure themselves, the two looked back towards the faraway fog. It simultaneously covered the bridge beyond the gap and spilled off the sides of it, melting everything it touched into its ambiguous self. But up until that unclear border, they were certain that the bridge was clear. Whoever, or whatever, was following them clearly decided they weren't worth the trouble of leaving the fog.
Goku, somewhat confident that they were in the clear, stood up from behind the obelisk's cubic base. He walked over to Gohan, who was still crouched around the obelisk looking towards the fog, and helped him to his feet.
"Are you okay Jack? You fell a lot harder than I did." He asked.
Gohan frowned. He decided that, despite the caring tone, his father wasn't asking if he was okay; he was asking, why did he fall? "I'm sorry Goku, t-that was my fault. I shouldn't have been looking behind me...I should have been focused on where I was going."
"You don't need to say you're sorry; I just want to know if you're hurt. We're in this together and I need you just as much as you need me, so if something doesn't feel good, tell me."
Gohan unnecessarily felt his lower spine, there was a little pain but it was easily ignorable. "I feel fine."
Goku smiled. "Good." He looked over at the massive archway leading into the glacier. "Then let's figure out where this place goes."
Gohan nodded and followed closely as Goku led them past the entrance. Light filled the majority of the cave, but it illuminated less and less as the two approached a large circular door. The door itself wasn't much to look at, just another large block of ice in their way, but when Gohan looked at what surrounded the door, he was captivated by it immediately. Around the edges of the frame, immaculate and heroic images were carved into the ice. Separated into squares, every image seemed to tell a different story.
Some were fantastical, featuring men built like statues, struggling valiantly against much larger beasts. Others were more spiritual, containing many angelic figures and perhaps a few interpretations of a kai, although, Gohan couldn't be sure as he'd never met one before. He studied one, in particular, it featured a sort of dichotomy between a holy, righteous-looking angel that floated above a horned demon. The demon seemed intimidated and averted its eyes from the angel in an attempt to hide its fear.
"What do you think all this is?" Goku asked, staring blankly at one of the carvings.
Gohan stepped back from the image he was focused on. "They look like stories Goku, but... I don't know why they're here."
Goku walked to the middle of the door and would have tried to push it open had it not begun to lift by itself. As it rose, the hum once again quieted and the slower, more rhythmic thumping returned. "I guess that means we're going the right way." mused Goku.
Although quiet at first, the door eventually began to scrape against the frame above it and by the time it was halfway open, it sounded like something just snapped, like the old gears moving the door had just shattered. Clearly, something was wrong because, after that snap, the door fell back down. It left just barely enough space for one person to crawl in at a time.
"That wasn't good." Gohan said.
"Yeah, but at least we can still get through." Goku crouched down and lowered his head to the floor. Beyond the bottom of the thick ice door, he couldn't see a thing. He raised his head back up and looked at Gohan. "I'll go first, okay?"
Gohan nodded unsurely. "Okay."
Goku laid flat on the ground, using his arms to push himself under the door. When he got past it, he reached his hand back under the door, motioning for Gohan to come through.
Gohan laid down and crawled to the door, but just before he could get beneath, it slammed shut, sending tiny particles of powderized ice floating into the air.
Goku quickly stood up and placed himself against the icy door. "Jack!" He yelled, his voice now echoing along the walls and screaming right back at him. "Can you hear me?"
He began to pull up the ice as hard as he could, mustering every bit of strength he had to try and lift it, but repeatedly, his fingers just slipped out from wherever he'd put them. And that obnoxious thumping was now as loud as war drums, yet it didn't discourage him, if anything its painful volume motivated him to try harder.
He lifted again and the war drums pounded even louder now, he thought he'd even started to lift it, but then his fingers slipped and he fell backward.
He was breathing heavily while he sat there, he'd try again in a minute but he needed to catch his breath first. The amount of effort he just put into that had just made him light-headed.
The drums halted as something spoke to him from deeper within the cave. "A good effort, Son Goku."
Goku jumped into his stance. His back against the door, he faced the voice's direction. "Who's there?!"
"Who?" The voice asked, coming from every direction at once. "Yes, who..." It repeated. "What an interesting question."
"I'm being serious!" Goku stated hostilely.
"I know you are." the voice remarked. "And I also know why you have come to this place."
"You do?" Goku asked skeptically.
"Yes, you have come for the ultra divine water. Am I correct?"
Goku, still unsure of the voice's true intentions, decided it was best to go along with it for now. "Yes, I need it so I can beat Piccolo and bring my friends back to life. Can you help me?"
"You know, you are rather interesting Goku. I've been waiting for someone of your caliber for a long, long time. Did you get a chance to see the carvings around the door?"
"I didn't look at them too much." Goku stated, slightly off-put by the voice's strange deep, and overly pronounced way of speaking.
"Oh, that is a shame, although your friend Jack did seem quite interested in them. I wonder if he is done trying to break through the ice yet."
Goku felt immediate protective anger. "You leave him out of this! He just came in here to help me!"
"Do not mistake my intentions, I have no reason to harm either of you. After all, I chose to make your journey here one of the easiest and safest possible."
"Then open the door and make it easier on everyone!" Goku demanded.
The voice's tone changed dramatically. "No Goku!" It shouted, sounding absolutely enraged. "You and I have a business to attend to!... Your 'friend' is perfectly fine waiting out there for now." A soft orange light became visible farther into the cave and the voice composed itself. "Previously, you asked who I am, but to tell you the truth Goku, I am not necessarily anyone at all. If anything, aside from the guardian of the ultra divine water, I am a bookkeeper. I record and catalog all of the great heroic stories throughout time. And, might I say, your story has the potential of being one of the greatest...if you are wise enough not to question me." The voice paused. "Now please, follow the light."
Reluctantly, Goku left the door and began walking towards the orange light reflecting off the icy walls.
The voice continued speaking as Goku walked. "The water will judge your purity, but the outcome is already well known to me and so I wish to share a few things with you first."
"Why?" Goku asked, more suspicious than intrigued.
"To broaden your perspective. To help you see the bigger picture if you will."
The voice stopped as Goku came upon a room with a small fire crackling in the center of it. Off to the edges of the room were seven corridors, all leading in different directions.
"Sit by the fire Son Goku, and I will share with you a bit of truth."
Goku, despite hating the thought of just sitting down and relaxing in front of a warm fire while Gohan froze outside, sat down, and crossed his legs.
"Stare into the smoke. What do you see?"
Goku squinted and the black smoke that rose above the orange flames of the fire changed little by little. Hints of grey and brown laid out an environment. Figures began to form. He could see a boy with golden hair, he was in a purple gi, holding his bleeding left arm. He knew that face, it was unmistakably Gohan. He was looking towards someone tall and imposing, with a long pair of beetle-like wings. Goku's mind began going to work deciphering what this was exactly, he thought back to the first few days he'd met Gohan, and remembered his story about the monster that had killed his father.
"I-is this the future?" Goku asked, now more trusting of the voice than before.
"Yes, do you recognize anything...or perhaps, anyone?"
"My friend, Jack, his hair's all yellow but...that's him." Goku said. He lifted his hand and pointed towards the green creature. "Is this the monster that killed his father? He told me a story about it a long time ago, but, after the tournament, I didn't know if it really happened or not."
"It did."
Goku felt a deep shame for what he'd accused Gohan of at the tournament. He knew Gohan had kept Piccolo a secret for some reason, but, how could he doubt everything else he told him? Especially because most of the things Gohan ever shared with him were emotional and painful secrets. Why would he lie about that?
Goku pictured Gohan crying at the tournament, he envisioned himself standing there, yelling at him for something he didn't have any control over whatsoever, all while Gohan was trying to hug and apologize to him. He imagined how painful it must have been for him to hear those accusations, to hear his closest friend in the whole world berate him. He hated that he did that.
"Keep your mind in the present Son Goku. You will have time for thinking later."
Goku looked back at the smoke and it began to change, it was morphing into another image. This time he could see a large man with golden hair, his face was obscured by the angle he was standing at. Goku looked at his gi and noted the similar color, he tried to look for the school's symbol but the smoke ate some of the detail away from the image, making it harder to focus on its finer aspects. The man moved his hand and touched his temple with two fingers. The image faded as the man disappeared.
"Did you recognize that man, Son Goku?" The voice asked.
"That's Jack's father isn't it?"
"That is correct. But do you know who he is?"
Goku scratched his head and sighed. "No...do I know him?"
"In a way, Son Goku, you do." Goku could hear the voices smile behind those words. "I think that is enough for now, let us travel to the water. Take the middle path, it will take time but it will lead you to the tea set."
Gohan hurled his fist against the door, as he had been doing for the past fifteen minutes. He had tried everything, even using that new form of Super Saiyan to try and break through it, but nothing was working. And that damn noise was now the worst it had ever been, forcing him to stop his efforts. He defeatedly sat with his back against the door, he, like his father, had exerted a lot of energy in a very short time span trying to open it.
He jumped when he heard someone speak to him. "Sorry to have you wait out here in this most unfriendly of climates." Gohan stood and looked around for whoever was speaking to him. "But it is meant to be unfriendly. It deters the weak-willed and the immoral, although, they rarely get the opportunity to come here."
"Who are you?" Gohan asked as he looked around the room. "Were you the person on the bridge with us earlier?"
"Ah, so similar you are to your father. Yet so different. So much more analytical and attentive. Perhaps that is why I find your story even more interesting."
"You know my father?" Gohan asked, unsure of what kind of response he'd receive.
"Yes I do, like Korin, I know who you are Son Gohan. But my understanding of you is far better than his."
"Your understanding?"
"That is what I said. I understand everything about you my friend, including your innermost desires and most dreadful of fears."
Gohan felt a wave of nervous angst come over him, from the way this entity spoke to him it sounded like it was definitely otherwordly. "What are you?" Asked Gohan. "I felt for your ki earlier on the bridge but..."
"I am not living, Son Gohan. You cannot sense me as I do not necessarily have a physical presence, although I could manifest a form if I wanted to."
"I-Is this your home?"
"In a way. Although, it is more akin to a library than a home. As you can see by the carvings, I appreciate good stories." The voice paused as Gohan looked back towards the carvings. "These are just my favorites, the rest are recorded elsewhere."
The voice laughed unnaturally. "Oh my, we are getting so off track...The reason that I speak to you now, rather than opening the door and allowing you through, is because, just as I have done for your father, I wish to show you a bit of truth."
"I'm sorry but I really don't have time. My dad and I are trying to find the ultra divine water to-"
"To help save your friends, I am aware. I still insist that you listen to me because, after some enlightenment, I will lead you to the ultra divine water myself."
"Y-you know where it is?"
"Of course I do!" The voice assured. "I am its guardian."