What's this? TWO CHAPTERS so close together? Well, you have my dear friend Sarah to thank. She sends much inspiration my way!
Tsuki's head snapped up from her work as she pulled and twisted threads of fate together. A surge of dark magic had caught her attention, and she realized with a start that it was coming from two beings now. She could feel the unpracticed waver of her brother's magic, but the other... that was a strong pulse. And then, as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone, and she couldn't track it.
"My Lady, did you feel that?" Shin asked, suddenly appearing before her.
"I did. Were you able to track it, my friend?" she asked.
"No. It was strong, but it was gone too quickly. Who could possibly...?"
"I am not sure. I have not felt a strength in dark magic that strong since Bibidi. I fear my brother has found help in accessing the Darkness. It will not take him long with someone of that power aiding him."
Shin visibly shuddered in remembrance of the dark wizard and his destruction. "But... your mother locked Bibidi away with his monster. There's no way he could have gotten out, no matter his skills!" Shin protested. "Unless... do you think Bibidi made himself a successor? Much as your mother came into you when she passed?"
Tsuki sighed. "It is entirely possible, given the strength of dark magic. It felt very similar to Bibidi, did it not?"
"Yes, nearly identical."
"This new source is smart, it appears, and very in touch with magic. He or she has been able to hide from me all this time, and I dare say, sensed that I am no longer myself."
"What do we do, my Lady?"
"It appears there is a dash of luck on our side, East. They may both know I am weakened, but they have still underestimated both my and your abilities to see. I doubt they intended to be sensed. We may not be able to track them, but now, we are aware, and we must prepare for the inevitable. Buu will be released, and soon, if that little blip we felt was any indication of this new being's power."
"Do you have a plan?" Shin pressed.
Tsuki turned from him and reached out into the nothingness, conjuring up a floating orb, and brought it closer. She held it in the space between her hands, allowing Shin to lean in and look into it. In it, they watched as Piccolo and Gohan left Capsule Corp. and headed on their way home.
"My Lady, I know he defeated Cell, but Buu... that monster is on a whole different level. Maybe he can take him down in his Majin, perhaps even his Super form... but what if the monster reaches his Pure Kid form? There's no way, my Lady. With all due respect, he is not strong enough..."
"I need you to train him, my friend. Take him, and train him in your realm. The Z Sword, it is there. Teach him to use it. With him there, I can easily aid you. It's our only hope, East. He is our only chance. I am too weak now. You, while strong, are no match for Buu either."
"The Namekian will fight this. He will not allow me to take the boy from him so easily," Shin said factually. "You know he won't. And you know my realm will not allow him in. He is mortal, and not divine. It will kick him out immediately."
"Talk to him. You will only keep him for a week. If I sense he will not budge on the matter, I suppose I will have no choice but to intervene. Piccolo has changed much in these years. He will not be hostile towards you, you know that."
"But he is fiercely protective of that boy!"
"You are no threat, and he knows that. Do not worry. It will work out. Please East, I need you to do this for me."
Shin hesitated. "Yes, my Lady."
Gohan and Piccolo landed outside their home just as the sun slipped behind the mountains, shrouding the land in darkness.
"I can't believe Trunks is five already!" Gohan exclaimed, opening the door to the small house. "And I know I say this every time I see him, but man, he looks so much like Vegeta! I mean yeah, he's got Bulma's eyes and hair, but that face is all Vegeta!"
Piccolo snorted. "Not to mention his attitude. That is one cocky kid. You're lucky you were never like that, kid. I would've had to beat that out of you."
"You beat me anyways when I was his age," Gohan teased lightly.
"I did not. I trained you. Trust me, you would have known the difference," Piccolo retorted. He paused for a moment, hesitating. "Did you think I was beating you?" he asked finally.
"What? Of course not! I mean, I thought you were being super tough on me, but I figured that was just you not knowing how to handle a kid..."
"Well, you wouldn't be wrong about that," Piccolo admitted.
"I know," Gohan responded lightly, smiling brightly at him. He then wandered into the bathroom to brush his teeth.
Piccolo went into the bedroom to get an early start on his meditation. Parties always wore on him, especially now with Trunks. Piccolo prided himself on being tolerant, but it became more and more obvious every time they visited the Briefs family that Gohan would be the only kid Piccolo could tolerate long term. He almost smirked to himself at the term tolerant. He certainly more than tolerated Gohan. Love was a term that entered his thoughts more and more often with each passing year. In the beginning, it had been a hard word to process, but now it flowed easily in his mind, at least concerning the boy. Hell, he'd even admitted it out loud to the kid.
His mind wandered to the party unbidden. Ever since Krillin's death those years ago, parties had been different. There was always a little strain there, at least between Gohan and Vegeta. Gohan tried hard to keep his friendship with Vegeta as it had always been, but it was easy to see that though the Saiyan cared for Gohan in his own strange way, he still bore a grudge regarding Krillin's passing. Piccolo could see that it hurt Gohan, even though he tried not to show it, and he just wanted to shake the Saiyan and yell at him that it wasn't Gohan's fault.
And then there was the more pressing thought on his mind: Trunks' interactions with both his parents. Bulma doted on her son, and even Vegeta had his own form of parenting. It was easy to see that the young boy was loved by his family, and that he was flourishing under their care. Gohan watched those interactions with a look of tenderness and happiness on his face and Piccolo couldn't help but wonder: was Gohan envious?
Gohan had only had Chi-Chi and Goku a short four years of his life, and he had openly admitted that he did not remember much about it anymore. And then he had only had Piccolo and the Namekian wondered if the kid was truly happy with only him around, now that he could so easily see what he was missing out on...
"Hey, Mr. Piccolo, after we train tomorrow, can we go to the waterfall?" Gohan asked, coming into the bedroom. He began to change into his pajamas. "I only have half a fish left and that's probably only going to last-"
"Until you eat it for lunch tomorrow, yeah yeah, we'll go," Piccolo replied.
"And you'll help?"
"You are more than capable of catching fish yourself. You do it every week."
"Yeah, but it's not as fun as when you help."
Okay, so maybe Gohan didn't mind having only Piccolo around.
"Sure. But I swear to god, Gohan, if you put another hole in my ear..."
Gohan's laughter filled the room.
Piccolo and Gohan both fell to the ground, exhausted. They had just finished their final set of sparring, which meant Gohan had been in his fully ascended form. Piccolo worked hard to keep up with him, and over the years, his ki had grown to that of just past a normal Super Saiyan. He was quite happy to say that he was nearly as strong as Vegeta now. He was still no match for the boy, but he made sure their training kept him in top form, even if Piccolo couldn't keep up. He wouldn't let his pride stop the boy from progressing.
"Hello," a familiar voice came from just behind them.
Piccolo scrambled to his feet immediately, turning to face their visitor. Gohan merely craned his head around, opting to stay on the ground.
"Oh, hi Shin!" Gohan greeted. "I'd get up, but I can't feel my legs right now."
Shin smiled down at him. "No need to get up."
"Just here visiting, or do you come bringing news?" Piccolo asked. Shin or Tsuki showing up was almost never a good sign, and he felt anxiety swell in his chest.
"You both look tired. Why don't you split this, and then we'll talk," Shin replied, evading the question. He presented a senzu bean, splitting it in half. "Here."
Piccolo nearly snatched the bean out of his hand, forcing himself to take it in a more dignified manner. Gohan lifted his hand in the air and Piccolo set his half in his open palm. Instantly, their energy came back as they ate the bean.
"Better?" Shin asked as Gohan moved to sit cross-legged on the ground.
"Yup! So what's up?" Gohan asked. Shin's demeanor changed then, and Piccolo's anxiety turned to dread. Gohan noticed it as well. "What did my father do now?" he asked, practically spitting the word.
"I wish you wouldn't call him that," Shin said levelly, speaking exactly what Piccolo was thinking.
"Yeah, well, he never lets us forget it, now does he?" he deadpanned in response.
Shin sighed. "The Lady and I believe Amat has teamed up with another in order to access the Darkness and get to a monster that is there."
"Majin Buu," Piccolo stated more than asked.
"Yes," Shin affirmed sullenly.
"Who's that?" Gohan asked. "Mr. Piccolo, how do you know about it?"
"Tsuki told me about him, a very long time ago, when you first came to me," Piccolo answered. "He is the reason there is only one Supreme Kai now. Shin used to be the Eastern Supreme Kai. Majin Buu killed the others."
"Buu has three forms. His Pure Kid form, where he is the strongest. He easily killed West and North. When he absorbed the Southern Supreme Kai, he devolved into Super Buu, though he was still powerful. He nearly absorbed me, when the Grand Supreme Kai sacrificed himself instead, and that caused him to devolve again into Majin Buu. It was in this state that the Lady Gami was able to banish him to the Darkness.
"And now, Amat has teamed with another being who is even more skilled in dark magic. We have no idea if Buu will still be Majin when he is released from the Darkness. You are strong, young Gohan, and perhaps you could defeat him in that form. But Amat will likely count on that, and we do not know if this being he is with will somehow be able to transform Buu into his Super, or Heavens forbid, Pure Kid form."
"So what do we do?" Gohan asked, his eyes on the ground as he plucked blades of grass from the soil in nervousness.
Shin's eyes shifted almost uneasily to Piccolo. "Well...the Lady thinks it would be best if you came to stay with me for a while, Gohan. To train." He caught sight of the look on Piccolo's face and pressed on quickly before the Namekian could interrupt. "The Lady would be able to supervise easily in my realm. It would be to your, and the Earth's benefit, if you came with me."
"And Mr. Piccolo would be coming with me, right?" Gohan asked.
Shin hesitated. "He...can't."
"Then no," both Piccolo and Gohan said at the same time, Gohan springing to his feet and grabbing Piccolo's hand tightly.
"Now Piccolo, Gohan, this is very important... I don't think you understand..."
"Mr. Piccolo can train me just fine here," Gohan said sternly. "If he can't come with me, I'm not going."
"This is what I was afraid of," Shin muttered, and while it was too quiet for Gohan to hear, Piccolo's ears caught it loud and clear.
"What is in your realm that is so different than what I can train here? No offense, Shin, but I'm stronger than you. Vegeta is stronger than you. Gohan is stronger than you," Piccolo said. "What can you possibly teach him that I or even Vegeta can't here?"
"Honestly, Piccolo," Tsuki's voice chided as she appeared next to Shin. "You dare question him? You dare question me?"
Piccolo growled. "We're not starting this again. I said no. You may be a kai, and you may be a goddess, but I'm his guardian!"
"Then you are dooming everyone! Everything! Amat and his new ally may think they'll be able to control Buu once he's out, but they won't. Once Buu gets to his Pure form, it's all lost!" Tsuki practically raged. "I will not be able to banish him back to the Darkness, and neither will they!" She took a deep breath then, and seemed to calm down. "Please, Piccolo. A week is all I ask of you. I know you're trying to protect him and do right by him, but you keeping him here to train yourself will be doing the exact opposite. Do you understand that? A week. I'm not taking him away forever, I promise."
"But why can't he go too? Can't you train him while you train me, or something?" Gohan asked, still not letting go of Piccolo's hand.
"My realm will not allow anyone who is mortal in," Shin replied carefully.
"I'm mortal. You're mortal," Gohan protested.
"Yes, but you and I have divinity. Piccolo does not."
"But what is there that I can't learn here?" Gohan pressed.
"There is a power there, called the Z Sword. If you can master it, we have hope," Tsuki answered.
"And it can't be brought to Earth?" Gohan asked.
"No, Gohan. It can't. Come now, child, it is only for a week," Tsuki responded.
"I've never been away from him that long though," Gohan whispered. "Only when I was dead..."
"Time will go quickly, I promise," Shin put in helpfully.
"Time will pass here quickly as well, Piccolo. You and Vegeta will have much to do," Tsuki added.
Piccolo's interest was piqued then, even if he was somewhat wary. "What do you mean?" he asked carefully.
Shin looked surprised as well. "My Lady?"
"I have felt disturbances in the threads. My brother has been pulling at them. I believe he is creating an army of sorts. I need you and Vegeta ready to lead mine," Tsuki explained carefully.
"An army? But who? Vegeta and I are all that's left..."
"I have my ways," she said coyly.
Piccolo sighed and looked down at Gohan. So small. So innocent. "You're sure, if he masters this... Z Sword... he'll be able to handle it?"
Tsuki read him easily. "Gohan may be young, but his body is strong. There is much more it can take. Much more ki to be unleashed. No harm will come to him in learning this, I promise you that."
"Well, in that case, you'd better have plenty of food. He'll eat you out of house and home," Piccolo relented.
"You're letting me go?" Gohan asked, looking up at his guardian.
"I don't think we get much of a choice regardless. They will take good care of you. As they said, it'll only be a week."
"Alright. Only a week. I can do this. We can do this. You'll train with Vegeta?" Gohan asked, somewhat skeptical.
"I don't think I get a choice in that either. I won't kill him, if that's what you're worried about," Piccolo said, trying to make light of the situation.
Gohan gave him a small smile. "Do I need to bring anything with me?" he asked Shin then.
"I can provide you with whatever you need," Shin replied.
Gohan gave a small sigh. "Okay. I'm ready, I guess."
"Good. I'm afraid you'll have to let go of Piccolo's hand and take mine instead," Shin said, gesturing to the pair's clasped hands. Gohan reluctantly let go and Piccolo felt the feeling begin to return to his fingers. He grabbed Shin's hand in a much lighter grip and looked back at Piccolo one last time.
"See you in a week, Mr. Piccolo," he said softly.
"In a week," Piccolo confirmed as the three disappeared. He stared at the nothingness for a moment, and then gathered himself together. He needed to go to Vegeta, and while the two got along better than they had before, Gohan would not be there to keep them in check.
He wasn't looking forward to it.