Fate: Dragon Order

by Wickerstein

There is always a protagonist. That is an inescapable trait of any story. Bereft of one, desperate measures must be employed.

8. Down Memory Lane

Disclaimer: All characters and settings belong to their respective franchises.

---

The following hours were spent conducting a series of medical examinations on Gohan. Ultimately, Romani's determination to thoroughly assess the boy prevailed over Caster's inclination to abduct him. The comprehensive evaluation encompassed a range of diagnostic procedures, including a physical examination, blood and urine analysis, height and weight measurement, and genetic testing. With the exception of a few extra organs found in connection to his tail, X-rays and CT scans revealed that the mysterious youth was anatomically identical to humans.

"I just can't make sense of it," Romani opined as he looked over the results, both on paper and on the holographic terminals. "He's perfectly healthy, to be sure." And he shot Da Vinci an unamused glance when she elbowed him for that. "I dare say even too healthy. If we were to ignore the tail, he seems just as human as anyone else here." Hinako, who had been present for a good half of the tests after she had been contacted by Pepe, in turn shot him a raised eyebrow. "Excluding a certain few, of course." He punched in some commands on his tablet to bring up another panel on the screen. "What puzzles me the most are these."

Caster, Pepe, Mash, Hinako and some of the medical staff present drew their focus to the panel, revealing the boy's cellular makeup. "Other than the present human cells, there seem to be additional unknowns."

The microscopic cells were made visible, running and swirling about in the sample Romani had taken. Caster, who had been assisting with the doctor's examinations with an ever-watchful and discerning eye, noticed something odd. Squinting as she inclined her head forward, she voiced out, "Are some of them... glowing?"

Romani magnified the image, all of them staring intently at the screen. The more they focused, the more they could see some of the cells giving off a faint, pulsating glow that couldn't be seen at a glance, almost golden in color, and the resolution had to be adjusted to show it.

"I ran my findings through every archived record and database, even that of the Clock Tower," Romani explained. "He doesn't match any form of Phantasmal Species known, unless you count his tail, which should identify him as a demihuman, but he could also be like Hinako."

"And I've already made it clear that he's not an elemental," Hinako countered. "He is something else. He certainly has the texture of a human being, but the other is foreign to me. Half of him is not of the World. Even if he was brought here by the Old Man."

"So an alien," Pepe surmised, rubbing his chin. "These... Saiyans, correct?"

"Saiyans," Romani tested the name. "The other Returners have never once mentioned such a race in all the times we've interviewed them, and those currently on the roster have submitted reports that none of them have ever encountered such a name or anyone resembling Sūn-kun in their respective timelines." He shot the rest with a grave expression. "Or, if they did, they might not have had the courage to."

The implication was clear. Given the remarkable feats the boy had demonstrated, it was difficult to conceive of any entity that might be able to contend, much less compare, except perhaps the most exalted of Servants or even a Nature Spirit of the highest authority. Several other Returners who had reached the Lostbelts, such as Pepe, could readily draw parallels between him and Karna in his Super Form, which was particularly pertinent if the golden aura was indicative of anything.

"Caster," Romani turned to Da Vinci. "Did Sūn-kun mention anything of relevance when you first spoke to him? Anything that might give us a clue as to who, what and where."

The renaissance woman regarded her colleague with a taciturn expression, closing her eyes as she recalled the macabre details related to her. She then opened them, addressing all those present, "Imagine, if you will, a universe comprising beings of equal or even greater potency than the ragazzo."

This revelation caused a collective pause among the group. The idea of an entire universe consisting of beings that could potentially rival or even surpass the young man's abilities was admittedly daunting. Seeking clarity, Romani inquired, "What exactly do you mean, Caster?"

Caster elected not to artfully phrase her response, instead providing a direct answer. "In the universe from which he hails, there exists the capability to train one's body to actually harness and strengthen oneself using Od without converting it into magical energy."

"What?!"

"Od?" one of the staff repeated, their voice dripping with disbelief. "Are you honestly expecting us to believe that that kid was just utilising unprocessed Od?!" Caster nodded in confirmation.

Another asked, "He didn't use spells or any form of magecraft?"

"In his home universe, they are even able to increase their output naturally through what I can only assume is intensely rigorous training," Da Vinci elaborated, causing no shortage of shock among the collective present, the mere suggestion of it stunning for how absurd it would be to even the most prominent of mages. For someone, a boy no less, to be able to use Od in a way that would put even those in the Age of Mysteries to shame, he would have to be a divine spirit, or an existence that rivaled the senses of the planet itself. But if he was partly alien in origin...

"And he was brought here by the Kaleidoscope?" Romani asked the Uomo Universale, who nodded.

"Zelretch had actually reached out to his universe to seek aid for us," Caster recounted Gohan's account of the events that led him to Chaldea. "For what you already know, the replacement of Fujimaru Ritsuka."

Romani's features gave way to dismay from being reminded of that.

Pepe interjected, explaining that the Wizard Marshall had previously forewarned Kirschtaria of the boy's arrival by letter. He continued, "He revealed this information to me and Hinako before he fell into his coma. As for the validity, it is possible that he has already disposed of said letter, either for security reasons or at the request of the man himself. Make of it what you will, but personally, I'm on the fence for this one."

Hinako concurred and said, "As am I."

It was understandable. The boy's arrival had been so fortuitous, so convenient even, that it was better to err on the side of caution than to welcome him with open arms. None of them wanted to push their luck, but if he was indeed some kind of godsend, then the pivotal question was how to move forward without their decision biting them worse than what they had already been forced to deal with from pasts long behind them.

"We could always talk to him," Caster relayed, earning a few looks. "It's better than nothing. And as far as I can tell from being in the same room, he is completely incapable of actual magecraft. So we don't have to worry too much about him attempting to influence any of us. Especially with the bounded fields in the holding cells that would suppress any use of circuits."

Mash still did not approve of their decision to imprison the boy, who had no objections if it would help build confidence. Maybe not complete and total trust, but something workable. She pleaded with him, but Gohan assured her that there was no real animosity behind the decision. That he would cooperate fully, if only to show that he meant them no real harm. Encouragingly, Romani and the others had been nothing but kind and cordial to the boy, who had been equally receptive and polite.

"Hm, it's probably our best bet," Pepe decided, drawing some surprise from the others. "Whether the kid is legit or not, hearing him out, getting his side of the story, might be our chance to get a real bead on him. A classic interrogation might just do the trick." He caught the look Mash gave him. "And when I say 'interrogation,' I really just mean questioning. After all the shit we've seen him take, I doubt he'll even break under torture, conventional or otherwise."

Mash stiffened at that last part, but was relieved that they were at least willing to settle the matter civilly. When she had volunteered to escort Gohan to the holding cell, she had expected to be refused, maybe even disciplined, but to her surprise, Romani had voted to accompany her, along with the approval of everyone else. The doctor was simply concerned and perhaps still a little suspicious, but after interacting with the boy during all the poking and prodding, he really seemed to be just a child. A disturbingly powerful child, but a child.

Gohan did not speak for the majority of the trek, but his eyes were constantly drawn to his surroundings, causing him to turn his head when something piqued his interest. Granted, Chaldea was still in a state of disarray and the personnel were working hard to restore it to at least a functional state of order. Of the few who passed them by, none of them could help but steal glances, murmur, and even be startled that the boy was up and walking around, with only her and Romani to serve as some sort of comfort.

Mash stole anxious glances of her own, mostly from Gohan, who did not seem the least bit bothered by the apprehension that still hung thickly in the air. He caught her gaze with his own and turned to her with a questioning smile. "Is something wrong, Kyrielight-san?" Coming from him, he knew it sounded hollow, but deep down, maybe he was just trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy between them.

"Well," Mash began as she slowed down a bit, but didn't finish what she wanted to say, although it was easily understood by the half-Saiyan.

Gohan turned away from her to look ahead. "You don't have to worry about that."

Mash kept her focus on the boy for a moment before her gaze dropped to the ground. "I... don't think I ever got to thank you."

Gohan's head sank between his shoulders, as he had already received enough thanks to last a long time. With a smile, he replied, "You're welcome, Kyrielight-san."

The rest of the way was silent until they took the elevator down and Mash continued, "Are you really okay?"

Romani turned to her. "He should be, Mash. I've already given him the all clear."

Gohan smiled, but did not comment on the earlier chaos. "Still, I have to admit, I can hardly believe it," Romani continued, eyeing the boy as if he expected to find the slightest scratch or blemish. "What exactly were those beans, Sūn-kun?"

Gohan hummed before he replied, "I'll... tell you, but for now, I think it's better to let things settle down until then."

Romani opened his mouth as if to insist when he relented. "Point taken. And, Mash and I are truly sorry, but there is a procedure that must be followed. It's nothing against what you did, but... what you are."

Gohan winced, feeling self-conscious at what he could only perceive as an understatement. "That's understandable. I mean, I could try to help with things right now, but that would just be me willfully ignoring the huge elephant in the room."

"You being that elephant, right?" Romani joked back, exchanging pleasantries to lighten the mood, and was glad to get at least a chuckle out of the boy, even more so when he saw the smile on Mash's face.

"But, yeah, I don't want to impose any more than I already have," Gohan admitted.

"Well, as we've already conveyed, we're grateful that you stepped in when you did," Romani told him as they exited the elevator. "For what it's worth, you're not in any real trouble, Sūn-kun. It's just..."

Gohan's face furrowed, a thoughtful smile on his lips. "Yeah, I can't say that I didn't expect things to go this way. A lot of people back home wouldn't react any differently."

"Eh? Back home?" Mash asked.

"That's right," Gohan nodded. "I'm... not really from here. And no, I'm not talking about 'here' here, but somewhere else. I'm... actually from another world." He felt that he had no reason to keep that part of himself a secret anymore, considering that he had already revealed enough to Caster, and that it might help to build a little trust.

"Another world?" Mash repeated slowly, wondering if it was true or not. "You mean like 'i sekai'?"

"'I sekai'?" Mash nodded. According to Gohan's knowledge of Japanese, the word translated to 'otherworld'.

"Yes. It stands as a premise for a genre of story," Mash clarified. "Although it could be argued that it is also a subgenre of its own. It involves being transported to another world, usually a fantasy one, to have an adventure."

"Oh," Gohan blinked in understanding. "I think we have stories like that back home. They are always so entertaining."

Mash made a face. "Yeah, but it's kind of... oversaturated here now."

"Oversaturated?" Gohan echoed curiously.

"There are so many now that it can be a bit daunting to choose." She raised her hand. "Don't get me wrong, it was kind of amazing that there were so many at first, but lately hardly any of them are distinctly original or engaging anymore."

"Oh, well, I guess that kind of thing happens when something becomes popular," Gohan reasoned. "The same thing kind of happened in my world, and yeah, I know how ironic that sounds," they both shared a light laugh at that, "but you gotta take what you can get. Just go for the really good ones and ignore everything else."

Mash nodded, before she added with a sigh, "Except maybe for the ones with the long titles."

Gohan looked at her. "Long titles?"

"Such as," Mash began with a clearing of her throat, trying to remember just a few of the egregious ones she'd come across online, "'I was a deadbeat salaryman, but after being run over by Truck-kun, I was transported to another world where I undertook numerous quests until I was overpowered in the most unlikely class. Now, watch as I go on a journey to defeat the Demon Lord.'"

Gohan blinked his eyes slowly with a perplexed expression, his brows flat. "That's... not a title. Or as sure as heck doesn't sound like one."

"I know," Mash said with a sigh.

Romani smiled throughout their conversation, happy that, despite Fujimaru's absence, Mash was still forming bonds. "If only you were here, Fujimaru." When they finally reached the door, Romani entered the code to open it, revealing an empty room with two bunk beds on each side, a single light from the ceiling, and meager amenities such as a windowless toilet. The walls, floor, and ceiling were reinforced construction steel. To Mash, it felt cold and eerie, a place she wouldn't want to spend the night. For Gohan, it wasn't any worse than the places he had spent a considerable amount of time in. "Inside this cell is a bounded field," Romani began to explain. "Basically, it's outfitted with special runes and conduits that suppress the use of one's magical circuits to prevent them from casting magecraft. This is where you'll be staying for now, Sūn-kun."

Gohan's features furrowed, not recognizing the terms used, for Caster had given him only a rudimentary overview of what magecraft even was, which seemed to be the form of magic in this universe. "I see, Doctor," he said, adding as he rubbed the back of his head, "Uh, just the part about me staying here."

Romani gave him a look. "You…really don't know magecraft, do you?"

"I don't really," Gohan confessed with a shrug. "I mean, my mentor can do magic, but I could never really get the hang of it, even when he was teaching me."

Romani was silent for a moment, wondering if the boy had any formal training as a magus. Judging by his prolific use of what could only be raw Od, he was an anomaly to be watched closely. With that in mind, he considered the wording the young man had used. 'Magic' and not 'Magecraft', although that was often a common confusion.

Gohan proceeded to enter the room, and immediately after stepping through the door, he noticed a change in the air. It felt... stuffy, even though the interior seemed quite plain and empty. Almost as if a veil had come to envelop his entire body, the sensation more akin to being immersed in a deep body of water inside a cube-like container. "So, this must be the effect of the 'bounded field'."

Gohan decided to test something. He raised his hand to his middle, palm flat, and began to concentrate, focusing his Ki to manifest only in a tiny ball. Then, out of nowhere, he felt a resistance, as if something was preventing his energy from being released. He pushed a little harder, but was careful to maintain fine control so as not to cause any undue damage. Both Mash and Roman observed this, which kept them from making their closing remarks.

Soon, a tiny ball of Ki materialized just inches above Gohan's palm, flickering to life and bright yellow in color. He narrowed his eyes as the resistance only seemed to get stronger, as if it was trying to tighten its grip against his own attempts to slip through. Romani and Mash stepped closer out of fascination and curiosity. Through his own past mastery and knowledge of magecraft, the former Servant was able to see the tiny, fizzling energy for what it was.

"Sūn-kun..." Mash swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat. "Is... this your magecraft?"

"It's not magecraft per se, Mash. For he isn't casting," Romani refuted analytically, boring into the energy Gohan was holding for the man to examine. He put a clenched hand to his lips as he ran through all the knowledge he still possessed from his time as Solomon, knowledge that was all but useless to him now due to the end result of Ars Nova. It wasn't that he was forbidden to ever dabble in magecraft again, it was just that he couldn't, even if he wanted to. He didn't even retain ownership of his rings, having offered them back to Yahweh. "There is no Mystery being enacted. What you are seeing cannot be anything else but Od."

"Od?" Gohan repeated in question.

"Only the energy that you're using, Sūn-kun," Romani explained, leaning closer to examine the glowing ball of energy. "It is unmistakably life energy, which is known as Od under the Mage's Association diction, or Prana in India."

"Yes, that's right," Gohan nodded ponderingly. "This is life energy, but where I come from, we call it 'Ki'."

"Ki, chi, mana, sacred or holy energy," Romani rattled , surprising the boy. "It has gone by numerous names and terminologies over the centuries since King Solomon introduced magecraft to mankind," he trailed off nostalgically. "All that is life possesses Od. Humans, animals, even the planet itself. It is only a matter of transforming it into magical energy to evoke a 'mystery'."

"Huh? King Solomon? Mystery?" Gohan repeated curiously, having heard Caster use the term as well, but no mention of this man named Solomon, his curious expression shared by Mash.

A thin smile came over Romani's lips. "And that would be a story for another time, Sūn-kun. For now, it's best that you rest here. Food and other amenities will be brought in in due time." An awkward chuckle escaped him. "I'm not even sure I should be telling you to relax, considering, well..."

"It's okay, Doctor," Gohan accepted, dispersing the ki ball and walking further inside. He stopped in the middle of the room and waved to them, "I'll be fine here."

Mash still seemed reluctant, but decided that this was the better option for now. Romani entered the code to seal the door. As it slid into place, separating him from the outside, the half-Saiyan found himself locked in a room once again, only this time without his confiscated belongings.

And no strange woman to intrude on his sleep.

"Might as well," Gohan said before he went down to do some push-ups. Maybe he could finally break his 99,872 record. Go for the full 100k mark.

---

The next day…

"He's... still doing push-ups," Pepe remarked aloud, sipping a cup of coffee in the control room with Romani, Da Vinci, Hinako, and a few other staffers who had brought up the surveillance of the holding cell for them to view.

"And he hasn't stopped," Sylvia said from her terminal, showing a sped-up recording of the last 7 or so hours in which the boy hadn't even slept. "His stamina must be unreal."

"Unreal doesn't even begin to cover it," Romani remarked as he was once again going over Gohan's results, continually fascinated and amazed by his physiology. "From his bone structure to his musculature, even his tendons. His heart and lung capacity practically far exceeds that of a top-level athlete."

"A bonafide superhuman," Pepe opined coyly. "Or super half-human. What was the other half called? Saiyan? Bit of a strange name."

"Yeah, I can't imagine it's any less benign than 'little green men,'" Hinako remarked in a curt tone, rolling her eyes.

"What's gotten you into a knot, Hinako?" Pepe shot at her, but the Xian merely turned her head away in silence. With a shrug, the man continued, "Did he mention anything else about such a race, Caster?"

"Only that a handful of them remain living, Le Peperoncino, most residing in their version of Earth," Da Vinci told the others. "But they used to have a home planet of their own called 'Vegeta'."

A moment of silence passed through the room.

"'Saiyan'? 'Vegeta'?" Pepe rattled off pointedly. "Did he jump out of a salad bar, or are those just alien terms translated into our language?"

"His exact words, I'm afraid," Caster replied with a faint chuckle. "Perhaps it's just what comes naturally in his universe. It's certainly not the most bizarre we've encountered."

"True," Romani agreed, remembering the singularity Paul Bunyan had created from her reality marble. "What of this home planet, Caster?" He waited for her answer, but when he sensed her hesitation, he turned in his chair to face her. "Caster?"

Da Vinci took a sip of her coffee, perhaps to calm the growing anxiety. "I would prefer that the ragazzo be the one to reveal such details, but I will tell you this. Planet Vegeta is no more. It has been destroyed."

A more chilling quiet now overcame them.

"Destroyed? A-An entire planet?!" Romani asked in a slightly shaken tone. "How?"

"I'm afraid that is not for me to say," Da Vinci replied with a shake of her head. "For now, we must simply proceed with the utmost caution. I cannot claim to verify what he told me, so I fear we cannot dismiss the volatility of the boy. However," she looked Romani straight in the eye, "I do believe he is here to help."

She might have been speaking from experience, as this wasn't the first time they'd hit something of a road block. A particularly difficult Servant, fragile alliances, potential mutinies, and plans gone awry, their last journey to correct human history had not been a gracious experience.

Romani maintained eye contact with Da Vinci before letting out a sigh, but a soft smile formed on his lips. "Someone has to make the first step, eventually. Might as well try to get to know our guest. Get a sense of his character outside of what we currently know."

"Within a bounded field, of course," Pepe reminded them coyly as he swirled what was left of his coffee in his mug.

---

Later that day…

The cell door opened and Gohan could not keep a pang of disappointment from rising that he had come so close to a full hundred thousand with only six repetitions. Still, he was satisfied to have surpassed his previous record. When he stood up, his new uniform was naturally soaked with sweat, and he felt a sharp sense of embarrassment at who it could be that had come. He half expected it to be Mash or Doctor Archaman, but instead it was a young woman who looked a bit older, with strangely dyed (or so he assumed) hair. She pushed a cart into the room, loaded with what could only be plates of food, covered by stainless steel cloches.

"Uh, hello," Gohan greeted her, glancing down at the puddle of sweat that was also staining the floor. "Sorry, I'll..." He trailed off with a blink as the girl remained silent, her full focus only on the contents of the tray as she stopped by a table at the far end. She placed each of the plates and arranged them in order before grabbing the cart again and rolling it out of the room.

Gohan watched her leave without another word, more nonplussed than offended. Rather than dwell on the matter, he caught a whiff of the food, tantalizing his nose and drawing him closer. Once in front of the spread, he carefully removed each of the lids, three of them. The first was the largest, containing a plate of steak, eggs, and mashed potatoes. The second was a plate of pancakes, three on top of each other, drizzled with maple syrup and topped with butter. The last was the smallest, a bowl of vegetable salad.

A hand came to his rumbling stomach as he swallowed the drool that threatened to escape his lips. Deciding that his hunger needed to be satisfied, he pulled a chair from the other end of the corner and pushed it underneath him so he could sit down. Once seated, he grabbed the fork and knife and did what he always did best other than fight. When he was done, he lamented that there were still some lingering hunger pangs, the food barely up to his usual portions, but nothing he couldn't endure until the next meal.

Thinking he would have to wait until someone came to collect the empty plates and used cutlery, he soon sensed two people approaching, both of their energies now familiar to him. Sure enough, as the door slid open again, the previous girl came in with the cart, and behind her was none other than Doctor Romani Archaman. "Good morning, Sūn-kun," the man greeted amiably. "I hope the food was to your liking."

Gohan, still a bit conscious of the state he was in, decided to simply reply, "Uh, g-good morning to you too, Doctor. And yes, the food was great."

Romani nodded before he presented a folded bundle to the boy. "Here," the man said.

"Uh," Gohan began as he took what could only be a fresh change of clothes. Curious, he looked up at the man with a slightly confused expression, for it had only been a day or so since his detention.

"Questioning," Romani revealed to him concisely, his features withering as he did.

From the man's tone, Gohan figured he was avoiding anything that might come across the wrong way. "It's okay, Doctor. I understand."

Romani rubbed the back of his head, which was almost a mirror to his own. "Truth be told, I'm not really good at this sort of thing," he said with a chuckle. "Never have been. I'd probably be more in my element in the infirmary asking you where it still hurts."

Both shared a small laugh before Romani turned his attention to the other, who was still in the room and had already gathered the plates onto the cart. "Before I forget. Sūn-kun," he gestured to the young woman, who panned a glance at them upon being addressed, "this is Cerejeira Elron, our record-keeper."

Cerejeira, rather than say anything, just gave a polite nod, which Gohan returned. She then retreated with the cart in tow, departing before them. "She's actually quite nice," Romani voiced out in case the young man asked. "I take it you've had a good night's rest?"

Gohan's shoulders shook with a start. "Uh, y-yeah. I-I did," he replied uncomfortably, his eyes shifting to the side.

Romani allowed a chuckle to escape him once more. "No need to lie, Sūn-kun. We naturally have this entire room under surveillance."

"I-I see," Gohan replied meekly, cheeks flushed. "Should have figured. Er, do I…?"

"Come on," Romani motioned for the boy to follow. "It's better you clean yourself up first."

The walk to the facility's showers was not unlike their walk to the holding area, the boy still drawing a few looks, but most were just passing glances, without much murmuring or gossip. "Sūn-kun," Romani called to him. Tilting his head to look up at the doctor, the man pointed to a nearby monitor mounted on the wall. "You see that? Your fight with Flauros was broadcast on almost every working channel in the facility. Nearly everyone here has seen it."

Color came to Gohan's visage as he looked away, which only elicited a chuckle from Romani. He patted the boy's shoulder and said, "Don't take much of it to heart, Sūn-kun. Like Pepe said, many of us are still a little on edge, but none of us are placing any blame on you."

"I really wouldn't mind, since I still ended up damaging a lot of this place," Gohan muttered guiltily.

"Inevitable," Romani told him. "If you hadn't acted, there wouldn't be much of us left. Maybe some ruins, or some macabre effigy Flauros would carve out, but absolutely none of us alive."

A low hum was Gohan's only response. When they finally reached the showers, Romani offered to wait outside. Upon entering, the first thing the Half-Saiyan noticed were the rows of lockers that probably belonged to staff and masters alike. At the other end of the room were the showers. This could only be the men's room, for he couldn't imagine this place being unisex. He took off the now sweat-covered uniform and folded it neatly on a bench where it wouldn't mix with the fresh set, and instinctively looked for his locker when he noticed that they were all numbered.

Arriving at the 48th, he pulled the lever only to find the combination lock still in place. The three-digit kind. Perplexed, he began to fiddle with it, turning the dials until they each read 0, at which point he heard a click. Thinking it needed to be adjusted, he unlocked it and opened the door to find a clean white towel, some bottles, and an unused bar of soap sealed in a clear wrapper.

He took out the soap first, then examined each of the bottles to find them labeled 'shampoo' and 'conditioner' respectively. Passing on the conditioner, for he was never a fan of using it, he wrapped the towel with the soap and shampoo over one arm and headed for the showers. When he was done, he took the fresh change of clothes and donned them on, while disposing of the used laundry.

Satisfied, he went back outside to meet a still-waiting Romani, only now he was accompanied by another. "Hm? Oh, good morning, Kyrielight-san."

Mash, who had stayed up late the night before helping in the infirmary, now stood rested next to her surrogate father. She was dressed in a sleeveless gray fuku with a matching skirt. She was without her white hoodie, replaced by a black jacket. "Good morning to you too, Sūn-kun." She paused to stifle a yawn, some sleep still lingering. "Though it is almost noon."

"Right," Gohan acknowledged. He then turned to the doctor and nodded for them to move on.

"Are you…feeling alright?" Mash asked as they began walking in lockstep.

"Yeah," Gohan answered as he turned to her. "Why?"

"Well, you haven't gotten any sleep since last night," Mash asked from a place of concern, having been shown the footage earlier from her stop at the control room. "Aren't you tired?"

"From training? Not really," Gohan replied, before realizing what her actual concerns were. "It's fine. I actually had plenty of energy leftover from the Senzu I ate."

"Sen...zu?" Mash slowly repeated in question.

"That's what we call the beans we eat to get better," Gohan explained.

"Senzu," Romani repeated thoughtfully. "Sage beans?"

"For a literal translation, yes," Gohan shrugged. "The ones who usually eat them are hermits or sages where I'm from, since the one who grows them happens to be a sage himself."

"An actual sage? Who grows mystical beans that can induce near-instantaneous recovery?" Even in his days as Solomon, Romani had never heard of anyone capable of creating, let alone cultivating, a plant with such amazing regenerative properties. Of course, there were plenty of foods in mythology and legend with similar feats attached. Ambrosia, nectar, Heidrun's milk, the list went on.

"Does this mean that you studied under a sage?" Mash asked curiously.

"Not really," Gohan replied. "The sage lives in a high tower that you have to climb as part of a test to see if you're worthy to be taught martial arts or get anything else from him. So it's more like someone we get supplies from once in a while. He's also a long-time friend of my father's."

"Oh, I see," Mash said, continuing to ask, "How tall is the tower exactly?"

Gohan opened his mouth as if to answer, but then his expression became thoughtful and he tilted his head, trying to get as accurate a measurement as he could remember from climbing the tower in the past. Folding his arms across his chest, he tossed out, "If I had to give a rough estimate, it would have to be around 8,000 meters."

"8,000 METERS?!" Gohan could have sworn that he heard more than Romani and Mash repeating what he had just answered in obvious shock, before he shrugged that it could only have been his imagination.

"E-E-E-E-Eight th-th-th-th-thousand m-m-m-meters?!" Romani sputtered like he was having the mother of all aneurysms, his eyes popping out of their sockets. "Th-That's over 25,000 feet!" The Statue of Liberty was barely even a fraction of that height. Hell, Everest was only slightly taller, and Mauna Kea still dwarfed all of them by being a whopping 10,000 meters.

Gohan scratched the top of his head like it wasn't even that big of a deal. "I think he once mentioned that it's still growing."

"Huh?!"

"That's right!" Gohan exclaimed in memory, pounding his palm with a closed fist for emphasis. "The 'tower' is actually a tree. Pretty old too. There's a local tribe that lives underneath it, and they graft stone onto the trunk every ten years or so when it starts to show." He had asked Karin personally when he was curious after one of his climbs, and the Karinga tribe had been more than generous enough to show him how they would do the grafting.

"A-And," Mash swallowed, "it only grows…taller?"

"Yeah," Gohan nodded, facing her. "Hm? What's wrong?"

Both Romani and Mash stared wide-eyed at the boy as they exchanged glances before composing themselves. "N-Nothing, Sūn-kun. L-Let's just keep going," the girl said, trying to play everything off as normal, but failing.

Perhaps realizing what it was that had rattled them, Gohan decided to heed her, saying no more.

---

Control room…

"Okay, is this boya just messing with us?" Pepe remarked crossly, massaging a temple. "Climb a tower over 8000 meters high just to get some beans?"

"Magical beans that can rejuvenate you in an instant," Hinako reminded him. "If what he says is true, then this sage must be someone powerful and revered in his world."

Pepe let out a deep sigh. "Can we even find out if he's telling the truth?" He expected Caster to answer, only to be left hanging. "You have anything that can serve as a lie detector, Caster?" He and Hinako turned to the Servant who was now sitting in the chair, saying nothing and not moving. "Caster?"

The eerie silence lasted another minute or so before Caster's shoulders trembled, shivering as if she were cold, and then a sonorous laugh arose from her in a gradual crescendo. "Ahahaha! I truly am in the best timeline!" She threw her head back, wrapping her arms around herself as she continued to laugh madly, much to the consternation of those present, all sighing in resignation to the undoubtedly exhausting times ahead.

"This all better be worth it," Pepe muttered dryly, which was seconded by Hinako.

---

Later…

The room Gohan found himself in was, to put it in perspective, cold. Not only because of the air conditioner, but because of the deafening silence now that he was alone after Romani and Mash had gone through the door. Looking up from the table, he found himself staring at nothing but a wall, with no windows on any of the four corners. He knew better now. That this room was as much under surveillance as his cell, and that the wall in front of him bore the signatures of Caster, Romani, Mash, and two others who had been with them before, whose names eluded him.

The expression on his face was unreadable, almost thoughtful, but the group on the other side knew better. That he was aware of their presence, either by sensing their Od or by simple conjecture.

"Oh, he's good," Pepe remarked quietly, impressed. "So who's it gonna be? Shall we draw lots?"

"Me," Hinako said as she stepped forward.

"Now wait a minute," Pepe quickly disagreed, raising both hands. "I don't know about you, but you've been a little on edge when it comes to that kid lately. Anything you want to share with the class?"

Hinako scoffed. "Just that I understand more than anyone else here that he's dangerous. That's reason enough."

"Aw," Pepe cooed, batting his eyes at the old elemental with clasped hands, "we love you too." Hinako grumbled at the jab, her lips set in a straight line. "But no, darling," he crossed his arms, his hand resting on his elbow, "what we need right now is someone who can handle this delicately, and a familiar face for the boya to let down his guard."

"Well," Caster began as she dusted herself off, adjusted her gloves, and flipped her hair for good measure, "it seems it falls to me to take this leap into the unknown. For an untapped discovery awaits none other than the great Leonardo Da Vinci!" She points to the sky and declares, "Onward to the new frontier!"

In the middle of her march, however...

"I'll do it."

Da Vinci nearly stumbled as everyone else turned in the direction of the voice, and some expressed surprise that it was none other than Mash. "I'll…be the one to talk to him."

Romani came up to the girl and laid a hand on her shoulder, but instead of discouraging her, he did the opposite. "Maybe it'll be better for us to go in together."

"Are…Are you sure, Doctor?" Mash asked shakily. "I'm-I wouldn't…"

"It's not about that, Mash," Romani assured her. "I think it's best if we make Sūn-kun more comfortable, to help him open up. Turning him against us or treating him like a high-priority risk will achieve little to nothing." He shared a look with Caster, who pouted in disappointment before adopting a relieved smile as she might just prove to be a bit too intrusive for the boy's liking. Rather than allowing the experiences of their former timelines to harden them, many had taken to working together to avert, or at least mitigate, certain foreseen events. No one was perfect, and even if someone were to return to the past and work to make everything better, there would always be hurdles, variables that showed that fate would still try to assert itself, that nothing was ever completely under human control, but that was just part of the natural order. The true order that existed without Marisbury's interference. The one who instilled this idea in the Returners was Kirschtaria himself, who had become the rallying call for Chaldea to actually be for the protection of humanity, rather than some twisted machination under the ambitions of the Animusphere family's design.

Mash seemed to be about to argue, but any protest was muted as she decided to gratefully accept Romani's company with a gentle nod. With this, the two returned to the interrogation room to Gohan's curiosity and surprise. "Hello, Sūn-kun," Romani greeted in an awkward tone. "I hope we haven't kept you waiting for too long."

The boy shook his head. "Uh, no." He watched them walk over to the table, but it would be Romani who would take the seat across from him, while Mash would simply stand next to the man. He was silent as he watched the duo with an unreadable expression on his face. "But I thought…"

The man looked almost embarrassed. "We, uh, sort of put it to a vote, and I ended up getting the short end. Still, it shouldn't be too much of a challenge, right? I mean, it's just asking and answering questions."

Gohan gave a sympathetic smile, able to tell that the man must have been pressed into this. Romani smiled back and asked, "Are you comfortable?

Gohan gave a simple nod, the air taking on an awkward quality that lasted longer than it had to, as no one spoke a word, leaving their audience hanging. Finally, Romani gathered his wits and asked, "Ready?"

"Yeah," Gohan responded. "Um, how to start?"

"The basics," Romani replied. "First, your name."

"Sūn Wùfàn," Gohan offered almost automatically. He decided not to use his real name for now, just to be on the safe side. Romani had come in with a brown envelope on hand, pulling out a document that was probably for the record. He reached into his front pocket, drew out his pen, and clicked the tip out. He had a moment to write down the name and then asked, "How old are you?"

"Eleven."

"Hm," Romani nodded. "Where were you born?"

"...Mount Paozu," Gohan answered after a long moment.

Sylvia, who was watching them from the control room, tried to get information about that location, but came up empty. "There is no place with that name in any database or world map, dated or otherwise," Sylvia provided. "Unless it's remote or just a local name, Mount Paozu doesn't register at all."

"Thank you, Sylvia," Da Vinci spoke into her earpiece. "Continue to stand by."

"Roger."

Romani and Mash exchanged looks. "What…country is this…Mount Paozu? Or perhaps a region?"

"Just... Mount Paozu," he repeated in a more avoidant tone. "It's...pretty remote."

"I see," Romani said as he continued writing, the scratch of the pen deafening. "Birthday?"

"... May 18th."

Romani jotted down the month and day. "In what year?"

Gohan's gaze became glued to his hands halfway through their dialogue. "Age 757."

"Age..." Romani's pen froze in mid-stride as his mind caught up. He blinked and looked up at the boy, who continued to avoid eye contact.

"Age...757?" Da Vinci repeated slowly, her eyebrows furrowing as that part had never been mentioned before. Granted, she hadn't asked, but the boy could have at least mentioned it in passing.

Pepe raised an eyebrow. "Does he mean...757 AD or...?"

"Sūn-kun," Romani began patiently, "which...era are you from exactly?

"Hm?" Gohan finally looked up at the man, eyebrows raised, slightly confused by the nature of the question.

"I mean," Romani licked his lips. "Is it in the past, or...?"

Gohan shook his head. "No," he answered. "It's in the future."

"Sūn-kun," Romani began again with a crack to his tone, "it's currently the year 2016."

"I know," Gohan agreed. "Mash already told me. But in my world, it's the year 767."

"That's... in the distant past here," Romani told him carefully, believing that the boy might simply be confused or mistaken. "Are you saying that you live in the past of your world?"

Gohan wanted to kick himself. "Uh, no, let me explain," he backtracked, "in the world where I come from, the calendar is similar to yours. The only important difference is the years. It's 2016 here, right? Well, in Age 767, we're already in the modern era."

"You're kidding!" Romani jumped out of his seat and slammed his hands on the table. "That's-!" It shouldn't be possible. "You mean to tell me that humanity has already advanced that early?"

Gohan himself nearly bounded out of his chair from the man's sudden outburst. "Uh, y-yeah, we-they have! Wh-Why would that...?"

Romani licked his lips, carefully considering his next words. If the humanity of Wùfàn's world had indeed evolved to resemble the modern present, then he could only imagine the level of Mystery that had diminished in the ensuing period. Unless...

"Sūn-kun, I'm going to ask you a question about your world," Romani began, his tone undercut with anxiety. "Does... does magic still exist?"

Gohan answered almost automatically, before taking a moment to actually study Romani and Mash's expressions, to absorb how... unsettled they both seemed. "When...you say magic..."

Romani's breath caught in his throat. "Sūn-kun, you must already know the difference between magic and magecraft, correct?"

Gohan nodded after a moment. "Y-Yes. Caster explained it to me and I think I got enough of the basic details down. Actual magic in this world is almost depleted, and magecraft has taken its place. She also said something about mystery being involved." He scratched his head, perhaps not really getting the full gist of it just yet. "Uh, that's…the most she told me."

Romani sighed and sank back into his seat. "For you to better understand, you must first be made aware of what 'Mystery' itself is. It is essentially what continues to fuel all manner of supernatural phenomena in this day and age. Take the creation of fire, for example. In ancient times, when Mystery was at its height, when the gods still walked the earth, not many understood the nature of fire. Why does it exist? Why and how is it created? How is it hot, etc, etc. Belief and faith play a large role in supporting the Mystery, with numerous myths and legends associated with fire and vice versa. Because of this, mages of the time were able to materialize fire by simply wishing for it, rather than having to go through a step-by-step process. Cases of lightning striking a dry tree or accidental combustion could simply be attributed to anything from curses to displays of divinity.

"No one could understand the actual science behind it. And even when people were finally able to make fire from scratch, they still couldn't understand the actual reasons or mechanism why, only that they could make fire and whatever else was left up to speculation. You could say that it was this very ignorance that gave such power to fire and the magic around it.

Gohan gaped at the explanation. Ignorance contributed to magic? From all the times he had heard his mother say that education, not martial arts, would lead to true power, he could only imagine what she would say if she were in this room with them at this very moment.

Romani sighed with a heavy heart. "But this is where the Common Era comes into play, the Age of Man in which we currently live, where Science has taken the place of Mystery. Once something is understood, once the unknown is thoroughly dissected, it is no longer considered a Mystery, causing whatever was supernatural about it to diminish or disappear altogether. This is where Magecraft comes in to mitigate the decline. Going back to the fire example, mages now have to actually recite an aria, inscribe a rune, offer a sacrifice, or use tools just to materialize fire, and even then it pales in comparison to what mages of the past could do with the kind of flames they could generate."

Gohan recoiled in awe at how he seemed to have barely scratched the surface of what Caster had revealed to him. "Now, let me ask you again, Sūn-kun," he steepled his fingers together again, adopting a more sober expression while Mash remained silent, though hers was more anxious, "does magic still exist in your era?"

The Half-Saiyan would have answered all of five seconds ago had he not been made aware of the sheer weight that Mystery seemed to hold in this world, and after witnessing the incredible feats that were being performed in his own world, he was no longer even sure that revealing the full extent to which Mysticism still ran rampant was such a wise idea going forward. Romani seemed to read into this, for it was impossible for him not to, having come to read people long enough.

Gohan's gaze slid back and forth, internally debating with himself and reconsidering his earlier stance of being open.

"I already gave Caster a rough sketch of it, but…yes." He then looked up at Romani, deciding to relinquish all doubt. "Magic still does exist in my world."

The moment those words escaped his lips, it seemed to cause a stir among those whose ears they reached, from the technicians present to Caster and the rest, even though the renaissance woman had already been told of this, the revelation still left a surreal flavor that was hard to swallow.

Instead of losing his cool again, Romani simply closed his eyes, as if trying to come to terms with this information that seemed to go against everything he, and by extension the rest of Chaldea, knew and believed. "Sūn-kun," he wanted to ask the boy a million more questions now, but he suppressed those impulses. He decided to start small: "Do gods still exist in your layer of reality?"

Small for him, he supposed, but better to get his more pressing suspicions out of the way.

"Layer of reality?" Gohan thought to himself. Questions for later or another time. "Yes."

Caster walked over to the nearby table where the coffee was, with Pepe joining her. Hinako just stood there, maintaining her stoicism, but inside, she was just as shaken. The beans alone had given her a hint, for such a food with a miraculous, almost divine ability to rejuvenate already held plenty of Mystery.

Romani hung his head as he tried to gather his thoughts. "Let's... let's end this for now, Sūn-kun."

Gohan let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Y-Yeah, sure." They both stood up at about the same time, Romani being the one who avoided eye contact this time. Mash volunteered to escort Gohan back to the holding area and received no objections.

Once Romani was back in the control room, he couldn't wait to fall back into his seat, while Da Vinci graciously gave her colleague a wide berth. "Well?"

Romani ran a hand over his forehead and kept his eyes closed. He declined the offer of coffee, abstaining from anything strong until he could compose himself. "The things he says should be... impossible," he finally spoke, "or at least highly unlikely."

"Or perhaps his world simply does not obey the same laws as ours," Da Vinci suggested. "There may be no Alaya or Gaia. His Earth could be as alien to us as ours is to him."

Which might well be the case, he had to admit. "So, what we're getting here," Pepe piped up, "is that there is a reality, perhaps even several, all of which differ greatly in how humanity has progressed, with one even being at least two millennia earlier, and might even still be within the Age of Gods judging by the boy's insinuations. Am I getting that right? Anyone?"

"You want a cookie?" Hinako remarked with a roll of her eyes.

"Matcha," Pepe shot back playfully, "white chocolate chip, light on the sugar." A heavy sigh followed, however. "Is this gonna be off the record?"

"No," Romani refused, much louder than he would have liked, then in a much more conciliatory tone, "we can't put this off or pull the wool over their eyes. The Association is far too guarded for that. If anything, it'll just give them an excuse to hold an inspection a lot sooner than needed."

Pepe's mouth dropped open in near incredulity, for they all knew only too well that the Association would be tripping over themselves if it meant getting their hands on a single hair sample from the boy for the sheer amount of Od he possessed. Sighing heavily, he lamented, "This is going to blow us all so hard."

"Phrasing," Hinako deadpanned, unamused. "But he's right. Unless there isn't a chance in hell for there to be a leak, the incineration can't come soon enough." She scoffed. "If it'll still come at all now."

None of them had the energy or sense to scold the Elemental, for she was right, as were Pepe and Romani. Damned if they did, damned if they didn't. A sudden clap snapped them all out of their collective stupor, followed by Da Vinci clearing her throat. "Got all that out of the way? Good. Now, let's consider our options. Either we throw caution to the wind and welcome the boy with open arms and all the benefits in tow, or we bite the bullet and let the Association get its hands on the ragazzo. Which of the two do you think will have a less devastating effect not only on us, but on humanity as a whole?"

"You just... want to be the one to have a real crack at the kid first," Pepe pointed out flatly, deciding to say what was on everyone else's mind.

"And?" Da Vinci shrugged with a shameless lack of denial.

Pepe sighed, a hand going to his temple. "Alright, fine," he clicked his tongue, "we'll give the boya a chance. Throw him one hell of a welcome party, some good old-fashioned hazing, dress him up funny, bada bing bada boom, we've got ourselves Fujimaru 2.0 the Deluxe Edition."

"I think he'd be happy to pass on the party," Romani remarked as he checked Gohan's medical scans on his tablet. "And the hazing."

"Regardless of everything else, we stick to our core mission," Da Vinci asserted as the others fell silent in agreement. "It's the only thing we can do until something else comes along." When she received no further objections or responses except for a few chuckles, she turned to the one person who had come closest to becoming director when Pepe and Hinako were dismissed.

"Well?"

Romani looked up from his tablet and nodded. "According to his scans, he does have magical circuits." He tapped another button. "And they all seem to be centered around his tail."

Da Vinci cupped her chin with a low hum. "How many?"

Romani slid a finger across the panel. "About five."

Far too few for even an average magus. There was a renowned lord in the Clock Tower with at least nine. "Quality?"

Romani would actually hesitate at that part, which the Renaissance woman did not miss. "Romani?"

"They're... subpar," Romani said with no shortage of bewilderment. "Not only are they the lowest in quantity for any magus, but as far as quality goes, he might as well have no circuits at all. They're nearly atrophied."

"What?!" Da Vinci actually snapped her head back to Romani from pacing as she listened. "Let me see." Romani shuffled over to hand her the tablet, and then went over the boy's cataloged results (which were fortunately on an encrypted server separate from the main one that the Clock Tower was privy to). Her eyes flickered at the same pace as her finger slashed through every section. "Romani, this is…"

Romani nodded. "He's at least qualified for rayshifting and, remarkably enough, a Master. However, based on the analysis, he can only manage one Servant at the most."

"But when it comes to actually processing his unbelievable reserves of Od, he's…"

"Even worse than Fujimaru."

…

"And Kadoc," Da Vinci felt the need to bring up.

"Huh?" Romani blinked as his tablet was being handed back to him. "Oh right. Right. Kadoc." His eyes shifted as he trailed off.

---

Elsewhere…

Mash and Gohan had been silent the whole way back to the holding area. When it was in sight, the girl spoke, "I'm sorry..."

Gohan was aware where the apology was coming from, but he didn't know how to react for fear of saying something else out of turn.

Mash, stealing a look from him, interpreted the silence as permission for her to continue. "I... hope you don't take any of this the wrong way."

"I'm not," Gohan relented. "If anything, it's the opposite."

Mash turned to him, slightly surprised. "You... you didn't do anything wrong, Sūn-kun. It's just..."

Gohan, who already had a rough idea of what mage society was like, just shook his head. "If there's anything I did wrong, it was overestimating myself. I thought I could just be honest to build trust, but in all the excitement, I didn't realize how stupid that was in retrospect."

"Stupid?" Mash repeated curiously.

They both stopped walking and Gohan began to say, "You... saw what... I could do, right?"

The older girl was silent for a moment. "Y-Yes, I...I did." And she was still reeling from that episode, having witnessed things she had only ever seen in simulations that Marisbury had shown her. "Are...you really an alien?"

"Half, actually," Gohan clarified. "From my father. My mother is human."

Mash seemed to ruminate. "What...? "

"Hm?" Gohan's expression was encouraging, wishing to hear what she had to say.

But Mash squeezed her eyes shut, as if she wanted to force her words out. "What... does your father look... like?"

Blinking, Gohan smiled at her curiosity. "Black hair, tall, muscular. He looks human, but maybe if he still had his tail, that would be the only clue."

Mash turned to the boy, who was roughly about her height, which was why she had assumed they were about the same age back then. Then, her eyes traveled downward before she caught herself, but Gohan didn't miss it the least bit.

Without a word, Gohan reached around the waist of his new Mystic Code uniform, pulling the end up until a hint of brown fur could be seen. Mash's eyes widened to dinner plates, tempted to turn away as color came to her cheeks. Once fully unfurled, the tail wiggled freely in the air, causing the girl to take a step or two back. The face she made at that moment could best be described as a mixture of shock and surprise, but with a tiny bit of the same curiosity. She had only ever seen monkeys in books and simulations of forests. But to see an actual tail jut out from a human being was admittedly jarring to her. The fingers of her right hand twitched, and she realized that the temptation to touch it began to creep in. She shook her head to ignore it, but Gohan still managed to read into her body language.

Instead of wrapping it around his waist again, Gohan allowed the appendage to twirl freely as they walked on out of rising discomfort. "Does it...?"

The moment he turned his head, Mash averted hers in total embarrassment, prompting Gohan to leave the matter alone. Once he was back in the cell, only a few pleasantries were exchanged until they would see each other the next day.

---

When the next session came, it would be Caster who would be in charge, and Gohan did not miss the sharp looks Romani gave her to keep her in check. Mash was conspicuously absent in the room, having stayed behind with the others behind the same wall based on reading her energy. "So, ragazzo, what exactly did you mean about the gods still being present in the layer of your world?"

There it was again. "Um, you keep mentioning that. Layer."

Da Vinci straightened in her seat, remembering that the boy was still a novice. "When we say 'layer,' Sūn-kun, it simply refers to the texture or fabric of the reality of the present world. Since you have already been inducted into the Age of Gods, that particular era itself is, or was, a texture. Or several, for you see, different myths and legends would occur in a given time, and each would be within its own layer to avoid conflict."

"Conflict?" Gohan repeated in thought, his tail twitching. "You mean they could have contradicted each other?"

Caster nodded. "Each would have its own creation myth, for example. Each his own version in which our universe was formed. The corpse of a giant, a cosmic being spitting out the cosmos, and on and on. We only refer to the concept as a 'layer' because the actual metaphysical aspect of it is more like dimensions that make up parts of the Universe. It was only with the advent of the Age of Mankind that these contiguous layers converged into a single, coherent one that currently wraps around the surface of the planet and makes up everything you see before you." She gestures around the room for emphasis. "Humanity and the laws of physics that largely make up this world, where Mystery is not as prevalent as it once was."

And Gohan had thought that learning the inner workings of Chaldea was a challenge. "So what you're saying," he raised his hands to mimic layers stacked on top of each other, "is that there used to be…several layers at once, until humanity began to rationalize supernatural phenomena, at which point those layers," he clasped his hands together, "would merge into just one."

"That's... one way of looking at it, but yes," Caster agreed slowly, she and Romani exchanging quick glances. "Now, having broached that topic, we simply cannot leave out the Reverse Side of the World."

Gohan could not hold back a sigh at the realization that the second half of this interrogation would take a while.

After Caster had finished, it was Gohan's turn to provide a framework of how the divinity of his universe worked. "Well, when it comes to divine beings in my world, they still more or less interfere with mortal affairs."

"In... what way?" Caster asked carefully.

"For one, most of them reside in what is called the Other World."

Caster and Romani exchanged strange looks. "Sūn-kun, that... sounds like they still reside in their own plane. Their equivalent of the Reverse Side of the World."

"Maybe," Gohan shrugged. "I'm not really that well acquainted with the intricacies of it, but they still intervene when needed, because unlike in this dimension, they aren't isolated or locked away from the mortal realm. Besides that, the Other World serves as the afterlife, where all deceased souls go."

All of the listeners were floored, save for Caster, who was already made aware of such, but not to this extent. "And... you've been there?"

"No," Gohan replied. "Not yet, but maybe one day." Both the doctor and the scientist were a bit disturbed by this answer. "The only people I know who have been there are my father, his friends and Mr. Piccolo."

Caster swallowed, inwardly blaming herself for not preparing for this moment. Namely, to warn the others about the Dragon Balls. "And... they were..."

"Resurrected," Gohan answered, and the silence that followed could not have been more deafening. A particularly shaken Romani almost called for a break, only for Da Vinci to insist that they continue. From there, the Dragon Balls were disclosed to the boy's meager audience.

"They were created by the God of your Earth?!" Romani practically screamed as he leaped forward over the table, his face coming within a foot of a retreating Gohan, while an unamused Caster cleared her throat sharply at him. "Ahem! Sorry."

"Who has to be the one to tone it down now, huh?" Caster reminded him archly, her finger tapping on the table. "Yes, but as fantastic as these Dragon Balls are, they still have their limits." After revealing said limits, they asked for more about the nature of their creator.

"Well," Gohan began, "it is more of a position than to come into actual divinity."

Romani's eyebrows furrowed. "Position?"

"Uh, like..." Gohan racked his brain for the right word, "the custodian of the planet?"

"Custodian?" Caster repeated.

"Yes, like a guardianship, and whenever there's a vacancy-"

"Vacancy?!"

Caster kicked Romani in the shin with the intention of inflicting some well-deserved pain, eliciting a shrill cry from the man and causing him to go down and hold his aching foot. "That's two strikes. One more and you're out." Then she turned her attention back to Gohan. "So you mean to tell us that the position of this 'God' is more like an overseer than anything truly divine?"

"That is correct," Gohan confirmed. "But that doesn't mean that he doesn't have access to powerful magic."

"True Magic?" Romani grunted after he stood up again. Gohan nodded.

"Yes. The God of Earth resides in a great temple that floats high in the sky," Gohan continued, once again earning awestruck reactions. "From there, he can see everything that happens in the world. Especially when there is a crisis."

Romani was stunned, reminded of his own clairvoyance.

Caster nuzzled her chin, for floating cities or temples were not out of place in myth. "Does this God have a name?"

"That's... where this gets complicated," Gohan replied, knowing that the already convoluted story of Kami and Piccolo was on top of a bevy of other, already convoluted narratives pertaining to his universe. When he was finished, they finally gave in to a short break.

"Are we sure they don't have their own Grail Wars where he's from?" Pepe asked as he drank from a water bottle. "Dragon Ball Wars? Dragon Wars? Ball Wars?"

"Phrasing," Hinako shot back at him again. "Still, to think that there is a humanity that would thrive in an era that's still practically the Age of Gods." As part of Gaia's senses, she was well attuned to how the Counter Force would have crushed any radical measure of progress if it meant delaying humanity's potential for destruction.

"Or, perhaps their universe simply works in a completely different axis to ours," Caster speculated. "It could be that they simply have no Alaya or Gaia to regulate a balance."

"Man," Pepe huffed. "Just imagine how insane it is back there."

"Hm?" All others looked to the effeminate mage.

"If you think about how much raw power he has at his age, imagine how crazy strong his elders are," Pepe pointed out. "His father, as Caster mentioned, belongs to a whole race of human-like aliens who used to plunder entire planets for a galactic warlord. And yes, when you say it out loud, it does sound like something out of science fiction. Did he ever mention anything about this warlord, Caster?"

"Only that he single-handedly destroyed the planet Vegeta," Caster revealed, causing Pepe to choke as he took a drink. "I'm not exaggerating, and I believe neither is the ragazzo. I believe there are beings in his universe that are more than capable of decimating not only entire populations, but planets as well. This...Planet Trade Organization, as the name suggests, seeks out ideal planets to sell to buyers willing to part with the right amount of coin. And in case you were wondering if the natives ever have a say in such a transaction, unless they cooperate or willingly join this Empire, they will simply be wiped out."

"That's...that's insane!" Romani stammered out in pure shock, taking two steps back. Never in his life had he, or everyone else present with him for that matter, imagined anyone willing to sell entire planets as if they were just prime real estate.

Pepe sighed. "I rest my case."

Hinako's lips curled in disdain at the mere thought of a planet being sold like it was just a commodity. Oh, she could live with the population being culled, for what were they in Gaia's eyes but parasites? "Whatever happened to this warlord, Caster? Is he still at large?"

The other woman shook her head. "We were not able to reach that part of his story, since it was around the time Flauros made his move."

"For all we know, this nutjob could still be alive," Pepe suggested.

"That is for the ragazzo to tell."

---

Later…

"Oh. He's dead."

"Dead?!" Both Romani and Caster repeated in shock before recomposing themselves, with the renaissance woman clearing her throat. "So, this Frieza is…dead? How? Did your father kill him?"

"At first, we thought that, yes," Gohan nodded.

Both adults traded odd looks, with Caster asking, "What do you mean?"

Gohan remembered that turbulent time well. "It was when we were on the planet Namek... yes, we were on another planet. May I continue?" He addressed her directly, a panicked Caster having quickly put both hands on Romani's mouth before he could unleash another potential tirade. "To better understand, I need to start at the beginning, when the Saiyans arrived on Earth. The surviving Saiyans who were still in Frieza's employ, that is. The first was my uncle, Raditz."

"Your... uncle?"

Romani asked after Caster had already been told the basic story. Gohan went into more detail. After the death of his father, his training under the Namekian Piccolo and when Vegeta and Nappa arrived. "Half of our friends were killed by Nappa, and me and Mr. Krillin would have been next if my father had not returned from the afterlife after being revived by the Dragon Balls."

Pepe, Hinako and the overhearing technicians were extremely grateful that this entire exchange was private and that the control room was locked until further notice. Caster and the others had been thorough in removing listening devices, familiars, anything that might compromise them. Romani felt like fainting. He wanted to dismiss all of this as the fictitious ramblings of a child, but reading the boy's body language, he seemed nothing but sincere. There was the possibility that he was under hypnosis, but it would take an egregiously meticulous mind to come up with the first half of the boy's account alone. Caster took a long sip of her hot coffee, the excitement and her Servant physiology helping her endure the heat. "After my father defeated Nappa, Vegeta, disgusted by what he saw as weakness, killed him."

"He... killed another of your kind when you were already so close to extinction?" Romani asked in confusion and disgust. It would be as if only a handful of humans left started killing each other for no good reason.

"Yeah," Gohan said neutrally, looking neither of them in the eye. "It was then that my father and Vegeta battled, and believe me when I say this, it was the toughest fight of our lives. The entire Earth would have been destroyed had we not defeated him."

"Wait," Caster thrust her hand forward to stop the boy, her chest pounding, "you mean this Vegeta character would have destroyed your planet? But that's..."

"It is possible, Caster," Romani interjected. "Since this Vegeta is a full-blooded alien and not of Earth, he isn't bound by the Counter Force. That is, if it even exists in his universe."

"Believe me, he would have destroyed the planet if my father had not countered with the same technique I used against Flauros, the signature move of the Turtle School of Martial Arts," Gohan explained. "The Kamehameha."

Caster stared at the boy. "That…technique was named after a Hawaiian King?"

Gohan sighed, because he had also found such information on his phone. "Look, I know it...sounds ridiculous, but that was the name that Master Roshi chose, which could just as easily be a pun on 'turtle' by the 'kame' part alone. Literally translated, it would be the 'Turtle Destruction Wave'. We also don't have the same geography as your Earth, so you can probably forgive him for that."

"The Turtle Destruction Wave, huh?" Pepe repeated with intrigue. Having been trained in Shugendō, there was indeed a technique similar to such a seemingly powerful beam attack, although it was nowhere near the level of the boy's. Had he stayed and not massacred his clan, he would undoubtedly have mastered it within another year of his training.

"Why exactly is it called that?" Caster asked. "The Turtle School."

"Mostly because Master Roshi uses heavy turtle shells that he has his students wear, which he increases in weight once you get used to it," Gohan replied. "It's pretty straightforward. He also has an actual turtle for a companion, Umigame."

"A familiar?" Caster surmised, already sensing something more to this Master Roshi fellow.

"Well, not exactly," Gohan denied somewhat. "Umigame is a turtle that has lived for at least a thousand years."

"Ah, a long-lived animal," Caster nodded, as did Romani. "And I suppose Signore Umigame can speak?"

"Yes," Gohan shrugged.

"It is said that animals that have lived so long tend to develop intelligence to the same degree as humans," Caster continued. "And this Master Roshi. Is he long-lived as well?"

"Yeah," Gohan nodded. "When my father first met him when he was still a kid, Master Roshi was already about 300 years old."

"An old, practically ancient martial arts master," Pepe snorted. "Classic."

"Please," Hinako scoffed. "Brishisan is at least ten times as old."

"Then this Roshi's got some catching up to do."

Caster was still diligently jotting this down for the record, as was Romani recording with his tablet. "So, your father defeated Vegeta? Then what?"

"Well," Gohan looked to the side, his expression becoming reflective, "with a lot of our friends dead, we were hoping to revive them with the Dragon Balls."

"Mhm?"

"But…we later found out that we couldn't."

"Is it…because of the limitations? Your friends had died before?" Gohan shook his head.

"No, it was none of that," Gohan rebutted. "It was because Mr. Piccolo died. The Dragon Balls are always linked to the one who created them. And, with Piccolo being the other half of Kami, when he expired from Nappa's attack, the other half followed as well."

Romani cupped his chin and drew some parallels to the Grails, who needed an anchor or key, something (or someone) to help bind them to the mortal plane. For these two Namekians, who had once been a single entity, to still be bound in such a way. "So, you went to this planet Namek to…"

"Procure their Dragon Balls to wish everyone back," Gohan replied. "If we just manage to revive either Mr. Piccolo or Kami, then we'd be able to use the Earth Dragon Balls."

"And…that was how you came into conflict with this Frieza?"

Gohan's brows narrowed. "Yes."

"So, in a way," Caster started, "it was a battle as to who would come to possess these Dragon Balls. Not unlike a Grail War."

"You could say that it was a war," Gohan agreed, his gaze shifting to the side. "We fought tooth and nail just to survive, and that was with defending the Namekian people from Frieza and his men slaughtering them."

Both Caster and Romani winced. "Did these Namekians…survive?"

"Oh, yes," Gohan nodded. "Those who died were simply wished back. Every single one. Except…"

"Except…?"

"..." Gohan remembered that not all Namekians had been revived, his right fist clenching in dismay and anger. As much as Vegeta had reformed, it was undeniable that the man was still guilty of the massacre of a village and countless other crimes. It was only when he defected from the Frieza Force that the wish did not include those whose lives he had stolen. "The wish we made was specific that only those killed by Frieza and his men would be revived."

Caster's features gave way to sullen understanding, as did Romani's. "Not... all of them could be brought back." A silent nod was her answer, realizing that there might be more to the story than the boy was willing to share. "Then?"

"Hm?" Jerked out of his own thoughts, Gohan coughed. "Oh, uh, then... what happened after that was... well, we wished the Namekians to come to Earth."

"For refuge." He nodded.

"So we could find a new planet for them," Gohan added. "Until then, they stayed with our friend Bulma and her family. They have a compound that was large enough to shelter them. As for Frieza," his expression darkened, "he and my father were left behind on the doomed planet Namek. At the time, it was on the verge of destruction because of an energy blast from Frieza that reached the planet's core."

It was still so surreal to hear. That someone could be so powerful as to cause a planet's destruction. "Was your father even strong enough to defeat such a being?" Caster asked.

Gohan twiddled his fingers on the table. "Frieza was strong. Stronger than anyone had any right to be. I firmly believe that, at the time, he was the most powerful living organism in our entire universe. We barely came out with our lives just laying a single scratch on him. A single scratch!" He gritted his teeth and clenched his now trembling fingers together, remembering the evil Ki of the now deceased warlord.

Any trace of levity had evaporated from those listening, with Pepe now adopting a dead serious expression, as did Hinako. Caster and Romani could practically feel the waves of anxiety radiating from the boy, clear as day that his experiences on such a perilous journey had left some level of trauma. "How…old were you when this all occurred?"

"Five."

"...You were five?" There was no panic, no rise in Caster's tone. Just pure, unfiltered disbelief that the young man before her had experienced things that would put most of their exploits through the Singularities and Lost Belts to shame.

"Yeah," Gohan said neutrally. "I started my training when I was four."

Romani was tempted to cease recording, his finger already inches away from the screen of his tablet. "Do you…wish to stop for now, Sūn-kun?"

Despite himself, the Half-Saiyan shook his head. "No. I want to get this done. Putting it off won't change anything." From there, he moved on to the events after Namek. Who really put an end to Frieza and his father, his own father's return from his journey through space, the androids, and most of all, Cell. By the time he finished, Caster, Romani, and the rest of his audience saw the boy in a new light. That he came from a world so different from their own that it bordered on the fantastical. Things that any magus could only hope to dream of.

"So," Caster began in a low, serious tone, before shifting gears and exclaiming cheerfully, "what do you all say to making it official?"

"Huh?" Romani reeled back with a raised eyebrow, as did Gohan. "Official?"

"Do we make Sūn Wùfàn an official member of Chaldea?"

Stunned silence was her response, with Pepe being the first to break and shake his head, a mirthless chuckle escaping from him. Hinako didn't comment, choosing to mull over the things she had just learned. Romani, while not in complete opposition, still wanted to be sure of certain matters, mostly pertaining to what the actual director would have to say.

---

Present…

"And…that's pretty much it."

It would be some time into Gohan's retelling of the time before his awakening that Romani and Caster would enter the room, accompanied by Mash, perhaps eager to hear his decision. That Sūn Wùfàn would officially become a member of Chaldea and help them in their mission. Kirschtaria Wodime had thought about it even before the boy had begun his story, and had weighed the pros and cons with a sharpness that could only be honed through two lifetimes. The blonde looked to those present, then down at what was being presented before him. A small, seemingly ordinary lima bean.

A lima bean that could help him recover in an instant and resume his much needed duties. With some hesitation, he lifted up the tiny petri dish which it was held in and examined it with a deep scrutiny. He couldn't use Structural Analysis without overtaxing his still spent Magic Circuits, so he could only place his trust on those with whom he had sworn to live and die with.

Slowly, he brought the dish to his lips and tilted his head back, as if he were simply downing a pill or tablet. Then he started to chew, thrown off a bit by the unusually crunchy texture and "It... kind of tastes like fish."

"Yes, it does," Gohan shrugged. But that wasn't all. The outer shell was not only crunchy, but also quite dense for a legume, making it a bit difficult for the still weak Kirschtaria to keep working his jaw. But he kept at it, wondering if this would really lead to his recovery.

"Now you swallow it," Gohan instructed.

Kirishtaria did just that, gathering the now scattered pieces with his tongue and swallowing them all in one go. Once that was done, they waited, all of them watching the blonde expectantly, which he had to admit made him a little uncomfortable.

Suddenly, however, Kirschtaria's body seemed to seize up, but not from pain, more like a dull, tingling sensation that ran through his entire body faster than his mind could process it, as he could practically feel his muscles tense up for just a moment, clenching his teeth as his fatigue seemed to vanish with each passing second. Finally, he let out a cough, as if he had just taken a huge gulp of life-giving air and his lungs were readjusting, his chest tightening for the briefest of instances.

A hand flew to his mouth, as if to prevent the contents of his stomach from spilling out, as something else seemed to be happening. The change was noticeable even in such a state. No, it was because he was in a serene state of health again that he could feel it. He raised his arm, and those watching could only stand back in barely contained surprise at what he was about to do. What they all knew he was going to do.

Kirschtaria's jaw tightened as his magical circuits lit up the room, the veins of his family crest proudly displayed after what must have been years of infrequent use. More and more he fed his newly replenished reserves of Od into his circuits, and through it all he could feel a warmth. Not a painful, searing burn that made him squirm, but a pleasant warmth he hadn't felt in a long, long time.

He could hardly believe it, even after stopping and repeating the process, the mere sensation becoming almost addictive after being deprived of it for so long. So long that he had to suffer the risk of death if he ever went all the way, a curse he had come to accept.

Tears welled in his eyes as he looked at the boy, at all of them as no further words needed to be said.

---

A/N: Question. What Servant Classes would Gohan qualify for?