Gohan's Moving Castle

Tribulations

After getting on the earliest possible bus, Videl was once again counting the minutes it would take her to get home. All the while, her mind was still plastered on the memory of what had happened today. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get the image of Gohan off her mind; the mysterious young man who had saved her. Eraser may have been firm about what she had said about him, but it wasn't something for Videl to be too concerned about. It didn't matter anyway. She had a feeling she wouldn't be seeing her savior again, and it sort of made her feel down inside.

Setting aside her feelings of the situation for now, Videl allowed the time to pass by freely on the trip. An hour later, by the time the bus pulled up to her stop right beside her house, it was already dark out. The sun had set over the mountains with a cool change soon to be in order. The wastes beyond the borders of the city were colder and darker then ever.

Getting off the bus, Videl turned and thanked the driver. Then, with a roar of the engine, it drove off. Videl watched the local transport disappear down the street and turn a corner. With a sigh, the raven haired girl then turned to her house. The white walls that surrounded her father's mansion stood high, hiding the massive complex behind it. She knew she was later then ever, but was glad to be home all the same.

Walking round the wall once, she made it to the front gate. With the keys to it in her hand she opened it up and stepped through. Closing the gates behind her she locked them up. Despite their size she was still able to move them easily. Stashing the keys back into her pocket, she then set off the rest of the way up the front entrance path toward her house. The mansion was as glamorous as any other building in the city. Two stories high, marble made interior and exterior, 1940's crafted with three coated paintjob. The garden had the plants handpicked by Videl's mother herself, which was the biggest spectacle out of all the parts making up the residence.

Accessing the building via the oak made, front doors, Videl quickly headed upstairs to her room. When she did, she passed by the maid, who was going down the stairs at the same time. The red headed girl saw Videl pass her and she bowed in respect to her when she did. "Miss Satan, welcome home…"

Videl stopped and turned around, smiling down at her friend. "Oh, hey there Ashleigh…" The maid looked up and smiled as well, her brown eyes glimmering in the lights of the household.

"How was your day Miss? Did everything turn out OK?" Videl nodded in response, despite how exhausted she was.

"Yeah, it was alright. Hey, is my father around?" Videl asked. Ashleigh frowned and shook her head.

"I'm afraid not Videl, your father went out on a business trip; something about a conference with the King. His majesty requested his presence and your father headed off for Kingsbury immediately," Ashleigh replied. Videl frowned and nodded in understanding. Even though this household was more peaceful then ever with her father out, this place was emptier then ever. Videl looked up at Ashleigh again and smiled.

"Well, thanks for telling me. You'd better get some rest now; I'm heading up to do some homework," Videl stated. Ashleigh nodded, seeing Videl turn round and begin walking up the stairs again.

"Of course Miss Satan. Your dinner is ready at your bedside table, and I've prepared a nice hot cup of tea for you, just to help you relax," Ashleigh said, making sure she warned the girl before she disappeared. Videl was pleased.

"Thanks Ashleigh," Videl called, reaching the top of the stairs and turning a corner.

The raven haired girl locked herself into her room and, making sure her door was secure, walked over to her bed. Tossing her backpack onto the couch along the way, the girl slumped down onto the cushiony mattress and let out a groan of relief. Her muscles were really sore, she just didn't know why. It wasn't like one of those days where she hit the gym for a four hour work out session. So she figured it was just one of those days. Tired and too buggered to do any work, the raven haired girl used these precious few minutes to regain her strength and energy.

Rolling over on her bed, the girl laid her arm over her forehead and stared up at the ceiling of her four-poster sleeping area. As if locked in another day dream, Videl just lay there, bathed in silence and completely oblivious to everything around her. The white walls of her room, large cupboard, desk, couches, and plasma screen TV and bookshelf all remained blank in the back of her mind. She didn't even know she had all that stuff here.

Then, she suddenly heard her balcony doors open. The glass double doors swung open with loud creaks, catching the attention of her ears. Immediately Videl sat up and glanced over her shoulder towards her balcony. She saw the doors hanging wide open with the purple curtains being blown around by the breeze seeping through. Narrowing her eyes on the doors she got up and walked over to them. She looked out into the dark edges of her balcony and her garden below, finding nothing out of the ordinary or misplaced. Her eyebrow raised in puzzlement.

"Hmm…that's weird. I could have sworn I locked these doors before I went to school. Maybe Ashleigh unlocked them to get some fresh air and forgot to lock it up afterwards…oh well."

Before Videl could even close her balcony doors shut, she suddenly felt a presence behind her and heard a low chuckle. Spinning around, Videl saw a shadowy person standing on the other side of her room. It turned out to be a really tall, fat lady with quad-triple chins and green eyes, and was wearing a black night-dress, a big out-door hat, necklaces, bracelets, high heels and a purse. Startled, Videl backed off, seeing the lady smiling at her sinisterly.

"My, my…what do we have here; a tacky little brat taking a night time stroll out onto her balcony? You might want to put on a jacket; it's quite chilly out there. Although…I'm guessing all your clothes are tacky as well," the woman said in a deep, almost feminine voice. Videl looked toward both her doors behind her and across the room. Something was definitely wrong.

"Hey! Who are you and how did you get in here? No…wait, scratch that! I'm Videl Satan and this is my house. Pardon my French Miss, but I'm afraid you'll have to leave!" the raven haired girl said loudly, standing up straight and pointing out toward her balcony. "I suggest taking the quickest way out. So if you please…"

The fat woman chuckled, her lipstick toned lips twitching into an evil grin and her eyes widening in a frightening way. "Standing up to the Witch of the Waste…that's plucky…"

Videl gasped, stepping back. Of all the things that could happen to her today, this was the limit. "The Witch of the Waste!" she whispered, startled beyond belief. She finally recognized her.

Suddenly, she heard a strange gurgling and groaning sound behind her. Spinning around, Videl investigated this strange noise, only to find to her horror two more blob like men coming up from behind through the balcony. They remained at the doorway, blocking her escape route. It was her misguidance of attention that things slipped from bad to worse.

Floating off of her feet, the Witch of the Waste suddenly shot straight at the raven haired girl, taking her by surprise. Just as Videl spun around back toward the fat lady, she felt a cold rush of wind and a strange sensation pass through her when the Witch of the Waste herself flew right into her. The solid form of the witch was reduced to a transparent, thin air form. It was a strange technique, but it was nonetheless effective at scaring the hell out of other people. But it wasn't easy to topple Videl. The raven haired girl had taken a blocking stance, one she had taught herself on how to handle charging opponents. However, when she expected a full on tackle, all she felt was a cold wind. In response to this she curled up, hiding her face from the rest of the chilling breeze.

With her objective complete, the Witch of the Waste landed behind Videl, walking the rest of the way out of the room and onto the balcony. Her two servants parted to allow her passage, with the fat witch grinning over at Videl's back. Her eye twitched. "The best part about that spell is your vulnerability, as well as the fact that you can't tell anyone about it. Master Babidi will surely be able to tap at his enemy's weakness now. Send his regards to Gohan…and make sure to give him that message…"

With those words said, the two doors to Videl's balcony slammed shut and the Witch of the Waste was off. Easily getting back into her carrier compartment, the witch and her two servants hurried her and themselves out of the mansion's area and into the dark streets. They disappeared within a minute.

Finally, after several seconds had passed, Videl looked up, moving her arms away from her face. Shaking her head, the girl blinked a couple of times to make sure her eyesight was alright. With her sight perfectly alright, she stood up to full height, at the same time looking down at herself. She felt OK. In fact, she was alright all over. Nothing had happened to her. Her clothes were still trendy, her skin was still smooth, her hair and form was OK with no bones broken or muscles burned away, she was still all herself. She wondered what the big deal was. So much for her brush with the Witch of the Waste…

She was about to lose up her balcony doors and get moving when she suddenly felt something rub at her leg. She let out a shriek and looked behind her. Videl's eyes widened with shock as a silent gasp escaped her lips when she saw what it was. It was a tail, a very furry, brown tail. To make matters worse, it was attached to her! She spun around, making sure it was hers and when it was still attached to her in the end, her fears were confirmed. The brown, furry appendage seemed to wave off its own accord.

"What the…wha…how…aahh…" Videl shouted, panicking. So that's what happened, the witch gave her a tail.

The girl reached down and grabbed it, giving it a pull. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end when she felt a bolt of pain shoot through her. She pulled away without a second thought before collapsing to her knees in agony. Videl groaned and breathed in quickly, her tail relaxing again and the pain subsiding quickly. After shaking off the effects she stood up and went over to her mirror. Looking at the tail through her reflection, she clearly saw that it had pocked right through her shorts and was coming out from underneath her white T-shirt. Now this was weird and scary in a way.

"Oh great," she muttered with a scowl, waving her new appendage around. "Now what am I going to do…?" She then began pacing around her room, muttering to herself. "Hold up Videl…just take a few deep breaths, everything is going to be alright. Just relax, don't panic. Come on…this has to be a bad dream…that's it…it's all a dream…just a dream…DAMN!"

For half an hour the girl continued to pace, passing by her mirror each and every time to check on her new furry friend. It was with every pass did she fall into another fit of hysterics and cursing. This muttering and worrying would continue on for a while now. Kami knows what was going to happen next…

TO BE CONTINUED…