Disclaimer: If I owned DBZ or MKR, I would sell them at seven episodes per DVD, because that's what Sorcerer Hunters and Orphen did and people can afford to own all of the episodes.
Chapter 3: Motives
Ferio had left shortly before they had met up with Presea, saying something about going to look for the princess. They continued to Presea, where she made their three pieces of Escudo into swords. Hikaru received a large sword with a red handle. Umi got a rapier with a blue handle. Fuu got an extremely long sword with a green hilt. When asked of Gohan's escudo, he refused to let Presea have it, rather adding its power to the other three.
When Presea asked him about it, he said that he didn't need a weapon as much as the girls did. No one questioned this.
They, afterwards, had been following the white marshmallow . . . fuzz thing . . . Mokona for about a week now. Fuu thought that Mokona had been leading them in random directions, and Umi was seemingly losing her sanity, chuckling darkly often while staring at Mokona, or at any other thing that defied physics or genetics. However, Gohan assured them that Mokona knew where he was taking them. Continuing their walk, Umi started a conversation.
"You mean to tell me that thing is a he?" Umi said, developing another nervous twitch, "How can you tell?"
Hikaru and Fuu were also curious, so they looked at him imploringly. Gohan smirked slightly, he was expecting to tell them sooner or later.
"I am a part of these worlds, and they are a part of me," Gohan gestured with his left hand, bringing it to his heart. "These worlds were born from me, and I was born again from them. As for Mokona," Gohan looked at the thing in question and smirked again, "He was the first sentient life form I 'created' so he and I have a sort of connection."
"Puu pu pupupuu." Mokona chirped in, still hopping ahead, leading them slowly toward an ocean.
"Of course Mokona, I would never forget that." Gohan said.
"What did he say Gohan?" Hikaru asked.
"He told me to remind you that though I am the creator, he is the programmer." Gohan said.
"What do you mean, he is the programmer?" Fuu asked, getting interested in the conversation.
"I don't know if Clef or Presea told you, but this world is governed by the will of the people. The Pillar is Princess Emeraude, which means that her will is so strong that it supports and protects the Cephiro and its people, her will and her prayers alone do this." Gohan looked at all of them, and was about to continue, when he was interrupted by Umi.
"If will equals power in this world, she is extremely powerful. So if she's so powerful, why doesn't she free herself?"
"Because she is a person, and because of that, she suffers from the worst weakness of all. A weakness all of us share." Gohan said.
"What's that?" Hikaru asked.
"Emotion." After saying this he looked away from Hikaru, and up toward the sky.
Fuu interjected at this point, "But emotion isn't always a weakness."
"Fuu's right," Hikaru agreed vehemently, "Emotion can be a strength, right Gohan?"
Still looking at the sky, Gohan spoke, "I never said it couldn't be, in fact, emotion can be the greatest strength that someone can have. Emotion is the only reason I have bothered living as long as I have."
"What do you mean?" Hikaru asked. "You've only been here in Cephiro for a year."
"Remember Hikaru," Fuu said, "He is the creator of the world, he's been here longer than Mokona or Clef."
Growing curious, Umi rejoined the conversation. "How long is that Gohan?"
"Going on twenty-thousand years," Gohan said. "I've only been conscious for about six centuries though. Also, the year in Cephiro is about three-hundred days instead of three-hundred and sixty-five."
"You look so young though!" Fuu said, mouth agape.
"Clef looked younger than Gohan, and he's been alive longer than Gohan's been conscious." Hikaru said monotonously , as if in shock.
She had been so lonely, thinking about him nearly constantly throughout the year since he had 'died', not even a fifth of what how long he must have been going through same thing. If her friends weren't there, she might have started crying. Trying to change the subject before she did, she mentioned how he hadn't answered how Mokona was the programmer.
Gohan eyed her for a moment before answering. "Since Mokona was the first sentient being I created, he had a good portion of my energy. He also had free reign of the world which was still partially barren. He wanted to help the world grow, so he instilled within the very planet some of the energy he obtained from me and created the pillar system. It was a great accomplishment." Gohan trailed off, looking as if he wanted to say something more.
"Pu pu pupupuu pu puu." Mokona urged.
"I agree Mokona, it was also your greatest mistake."
"How was it a mistake?" Fuu asked.
"At the end of your journey, you will see." Gohan said, before growing silent.
By the end of the night, they had reached the ocean, and Mokona was just sitting there, much to Umi's chagrin. Right before she was going to scalp him, Gohan spoke.
"Mokona, quit stalling and take them to the ocean temple!" Gohan practically yelled it. Mokona obeyed and shot a laser out of his forehead into the ocean, and immediately the three girls were at the bottom of the ocean, inside a magical bubble that let them breathe.
Gohan watched as they went into the ocean. He had been there before, so skipping out this time wasn't that bad. He turned and watched the forest they had recently exited. Noticing movement, he called out for the person to show themselves. Not that it was necessary, he already knew exactly who it was.
Now, Gohan was a calm man. If he heard bad news, he didn't start complaining or crying. If he was angered, he would not kill unless the time was right. Something about the man in front of him seemed to make that collectiveness dissipate.
"You're later than I expected."Gohan said with scarcely concealed anger. Across from him was the one whose death would free Hikaru and her friends from the torment the end of the journey would bring.
"I was waiting for the weak invalids to get out of our way before we started," Zagato said, a blank look on his face.
"Those invalids will be your downfall. Besides, as High Priest isn't it inappropriate to insult others?" Gohan said, continuing the small talk that always seemed to exist before important battles.
Zagato smiled as if amused, "Forgive me, manners are one thing that my old teacher never taught me." He raised his hand, surrounding it with a red ki.
"We'll just have to fix that now won't we." Gohan got into an offensive stance, raising his left hand in a blue ki, his right in a green ki.
"I suppose so." With that, they lept at each other.
"This is simply amazing, we're under water, and this bubble not only lets us breathe, but also allows us to survive the water pressure," Fuu said in fascination, glancing at everything in sight, trying to take in was scientist have strived to see, in her world, for many years, the ocean bottom. So far down that submarines would be crushed by the pressure. If only people would believe her if she wrote about it when she got back home.
"Yeah it is, don't you think so Umi." Hikaru said, half-expected her to rant and rave about how illogical it all was. Umi didn't though, and she had a dead look in her eyes, as though possessed.
Umi started heading toward a large blue doorway, with ornate carvings in it of a dragon. Obviously it was the temple that Gohan had yelled about only minutes before When the other two girls called out to her, she didn't answer.
So they ran in after her.
Inside, there was no water, only fresh air.
Hikaru and Fuu looked around, and saw Umi only as she went through another door, which closed behind her.
"Umi!" They both cried out, before running toward the door and trying, to no avail, to open it. It was then that they heard a child laughing.
"Silly magic knights, what do you think you're doing here?" The voice was that of a child, and if one were to listen closely, they could hear the sarcasm that practically dripped from the words as well as the condescending tone he spoke with.
"We don't really know," said Hikaru innocently.
"Liars!" The voice yelled angrily, making Hikaru and Fuu cringe. "You know exactly why you're here, so don't try to play dumb with me! You're here to awaken the Rune God of the Water Dragon so you can beat Lord Zagato aren't you?"
"We are?" Hikaru asked.
"I said not to play dumb with me, I am not a child!" They voice manifested itself as the child stepped from behind one of the many columns in the temple.
"But you look like a child." Fuu said in a matter of fact tone. This only seemed to infuriate the boy.
"That is it! Makishima!" A magical aura surrounded the boy, and then the aura leapt from him to an empty space close to him. The aura began to take the form of a monster much larger than the ones they had faced throughout the Forest of Silence.
"Annihilate them!"
"Who are you?" Umi said, unsure of where she was, though she was well aware of the giant dragon right in front of her.
"I am Celes, Rune God of this temple, and only a magic knight can use me." The dragon sounded bored with her, as if she wasn't even worth his time.
"I am a magic knight," she said indignantly, while giving it a glare that dropped the temperature of the room.
"Prove it." Umi saw a bright flash.
Then she saw something worse. Hikaru and Fuu were fighting a rather large monster made of flame. Hikaru couldn't use her fire spells, because they would only help the monster, and Fuu's wind and healing magic was just as useless. Reaching deep into her soul, Umi found something that would greatly aid her in the future.
"Water Dragon!" Umi yelled, raising her right hand to point at the flame monster. A water spell that shaped itself into a large dragon-like form shot toward the monster and disintegrated it.
It was at this point that Umi saw a little boy who was summoning another one. She ran toward him and slapped him, releasing his hold on the spell.
"Why would you summon another one of those monsters!" Umi demanded, putting her hands on her hips.
"Don't call them monsters, they're my friends, and you killed one of my friends!" He yelled, he looked like he was about to go on a tirade before Umi slapped him.
Now, there are many different kinds of slaps. There is the stunning slap, which Umi just used to break his concentration. There is also a playful slap, like when a girl slaps her sister for tickling her. But what Umi used after the boy said that was a straight up bitch-slap, the kind of slap that makes you shut up and listen.
"How dare you make your friends fight for you? You use them to attack my friends, and get angry when your friends are the ones to die." Umi's gaze softened as she saw the fear and self-hatred that flickered through his eyes. "What's your name?"
"My name? It's . . . Ascot," Ascot looked away from her, unable to maintain eye contact with her.
"Why were you attacking us?" Umi asked.
"Lord Zagato asked me too," Ascot said. At her inquisitive look, he continued, "My friends and I were always shunned by all the people in Emeraude's palace, except by Emeraude, of course. Zagato said that we would always be welcome if we followed him."
"I understand, but please, try to stay away from him," Umi said.
"Yes Miss . . ."
"Umi," She said with a smile.
"Umi," he said, blushing.
"Does anyone know where Gohan is?" Hikaru interjected. Indeed, none of them had noticed he was gone due to all of the excitement.
"Gohan? As is Gohan Daimo, the Creator? The greatest fighter and mage in all of Cephiro is back?" Ascot said, suddenly as excited as a schoolgirl for a boy band.
"Yeah," Hikaru said this with no little bit of pride.
"Cool, well, I'll be going now!" Ascot left, riding atop one of his monster friends. Mokona reappeared, and sent them all to the shore. But Gohan was still nowhere to be found.
"Where could he be?" Fuu wondered aloud.
"Probably left without us!" Umi seethed.
"I have a feeling that we left without him." Hikaru said this trembling.
"What's wrong Hikaru?"Umi asked. Hikaru started to tear up, feeling an imaginary pain from wounds she knew she didn't have.
Zagato strode up to where his captive was being held. With his will alone, he let down the barrier that divided the detainee from salvation.
"I'm not so weak anymore, am I Gohan?" He said, staring at eyes of the person in question. "Why are you here? Haven't you caused enough trouble already?"
"I can stop this Zagato, I can set Emeraude free." Gohan said, breathing deeply and bleeding in many places.
"You know as well as I that what you seek to do is impossible." Zagato said, giving a dark chuckle at the thought.
"Not this time, I will be able to stop it, even if I am the one who is the sacrificial lamb." Gohan said.
Zagato thought about it for several minutes, "Even I would not wish that for you, teacher." He gave off another dark chuckle. "If the world ends, no one will suffer." With that he started to walk away, planning to pay a visit to a different prisoner.
Gohan sighed, "Everyone will suffer, especially Emeraude." Zagato paused for a moment, but then continued to stalk away.
May 7, 2006 (7:52pm)
AN: Not too shabby of a chapter if I do say so myself. My offer in the AN of the last chapter is still up for grabs, if anyone is interested. This is also the largest chapter of this story yet, and I hope to keep that trend going.
AN: I would like to hear any of your opinions for name changes for this story, Hikaru the Willfull seemed a bit redundant (repetitive) and Imperfect doesn't seem quite right. Please Review.