Disclaimer: All characters and settings belong to their respective franchises.
"Hm…"
His ears twitched.
"Let's see…"
He tossed in the bed, huffing out a groan.
"Oops! That was too close even for me."
He turned over once more, but the noise only got louder.
"Ooh! This is just too good! Devo andare subito nel mio laboratorio!"
Then his eyes snapped open, and his gaze darted about until it landed on a figure at the foot of the bed, just a few paces from the door. They had a flashlight with them, illuminating something he couldn't make out because their back was to him, crouched and mumbling something to themselves.
A woman?
He stealthily sat up on the bed, keeping his eyes glued to the intruder as he spotted the bedside table in his periphery, empty of the items he had placed upon it. His mind raced, keeping his energy obscured as much as possible so as to be rendered invisible to just about anyone save for his father or Piccolo. With a flash of movement, he grabbed her in an expert chokehold, only to be blindsided by a puff of smoke that was all too familiar.
Pushing some Ki into his eyes, he looked down to see what capsule had been released, before calming down when he saw the unmistakable silhouette of an electric rice cooker on the floor. He then focused all his attention on the intruder, holding her just tight enough for her not to struggle against his grip. Any tighter and he would have risked suffocating her.
"Calm yourself, mio caro ragazzo," the woman said, slowly raising her arms to show that she was unarmed. Her tone was calm, not a crack to betray fear or panic. "Vengo in pace."
Gohan's eyebrows furrowed, thrown off by the pastiche of Italian. Of the knowledge implanted in him, he was only fluent in Chinese and Japanese, but the woman's language was beyond his current vocabulary.
"Who are you?" Gohan interrogated, his voice low but carrying a threatening promise. "What are you doing here?"
"Ah," the woman began, oddly animated in her words as she spoke, "I should really be asking you such questions, ragazzo mio."
Gohan kept his emotions even, sensing no hostility from the woman, but that could only be for him to lower his guard. Before he could ask again, she let out a surrendering sigh. "I will be more than happy to explain myself, young man," she said with a soft accent, "I admit I was out of line with my intrusion, but I simply could not contain myself."
The Half-Saiyan replayed the woman's words in his head, a bit divided as to what to do before slowly releasing his hold, but quickly retreating into a crouched position, ready to attack if necessary. The woman relaxed, rubbing her neck and rolling her shoulders before turning around to face the boy, seated on her knees. Through his Ki-enhanced vision, he took in the woman's full appearance in the dim lighting of the room, the flashlight hanging between turned off after his initial assault.
She was dressed in a rather peculiar manner, a mixture of brown, blue, and red colors, with some gold thrown in. An antiquated brown coat over a blue top with puffed sleeves, and a red skirt to preserve her modesty. Her arms and legs were wrapped in blue gloves and leggings with gold trim. Brown high-heeled shoes with gold accents completed her ensemble, or so he presumed at first when he noticed the cape that pooled down from behind her.
The woman herself was beautiful, if Gohan had to be honest, with flowing brown hair that fell luxuriously over her shoulders. She gave him a smile that was strangely soothing the more he stared, her blue eyes sparkling with curiosity and wonder as their gazes met before she spoke again. "Introductions are in order first, ragazzo mio," she said in the same magnanimous tone. "I am Leonardo da Vinci, summoned under the servant class, Caster."
Gohan shook himself out of his trance. "Caster? Servant Class?" He repeated the words slowly, trying to place or make sense of them. He knew what Servants were in the context of what Schweinorg had revealed, but little else.
Caster hummed, her smile never leaving her face as she stroked her finger along the underside of her chin, eyeing him with great interest. "Curious. It seems that you lack the basic knowledge of being a Master, and I would wager that it is not due to missing the rest of the Director's orientation."
Gohan visibly stiffened, causing the woman to chuckle. "Please, do not worry, ragazzo," the woman now known as Da Vinci or Caster assured him, "I understand. Truly, I do. More than anyone." Her gaze softened only for a second, but Gohan still managed to catch it. "You are not originally from this world, no?"
Gohan's eyes widened, but he suppressed his panic and asked calmly, "How do you know?" He knew he should have lied, maintained the ruse, or deflected in any way he could, but he recognized how perceptive the woman was by the way she was able to deduce something most people would dismiss as absurd. Then again, he was dealing with Magi, so maybe that wasn't necessarily an anomaly for them.
Caster's smile widened, becoming almost impish. She pressed a finger to her cheek and replied, "Let's just say you and I have... something in common."
"Something in...common?" Gohan repeated cautiously. "Are you... from another world as well?"
"Hm, 'world' wouldn't be the apt way to put it, un bambino adorabile" Caster admitted. "An alternate timeline to this version of Chaldea, one where I had met my demise."
Gohan's knees almost gave out. Someone from another timeline? Talk about deja vú. Wait. This Chaldea? "You must explain everything to me. Speak plainly," he said in a soft warning tone.
Caster was more than willing to, letting the young man's veiled animosity slide, and commending both his curiosity and suspicion. "There is too much to cover, but long story short, my version of Chaldea was betrayed, infiltrated by traditori. We tried valiantly to defend ourselves, but ultimately had to evacuate. I volunteered to remain in order to facilitate the survivors for their escape, but in the end, I was eliminated. I assumed that my own mind would deteriorate instead of returning to the Throne, but upon regaining consciousness, which should not have been possible, I…found myself back in my workshop. At least, an alternate version of my workshop."
Gohan, eyebrows raised in confusion, shook his head and said, "Okay, I'm going to need some context here. I don't think I need to tell you, since, well, you already figured it out, but I'm afraid..."
"That you are not a Magus?" Caster finished for the lad knowingly.
"Right," Gohan nodded, still keeping his eyes trained on her every move.
"Eccelente!" Caster exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "I am always eager for those hungry for knowledge!"
Gohan inclined his head back, the edge of his lips upturned in an awkward grin at the woman's…enthusiasm.
"Let's make a trade?" Caster offered, boldly crawling closer and closer that Gohan had to back away until their noses were almost in contact. "I will tell you what you need to know and you will tell me what I need to know. Una transazione equa."
"A…A…Alright," Gohan conceded with a strained chuckle, trying to fight off the discomfort the woman was instilling in him. "By the way, my name is Son Gohan."
"Hm, yes, Son Gohan," Caster mused in a thinking manner. "Or Sūn Wùfàn as part of your cover. You wouldn't happen to know a Sūn Wùkōng, do you?"
Gohan blinked, his modified brain recognizing it as the Pinyin interpretation of Son Goku. "Yes. That's my father's name. Why?"
"Hm, could he be a Pseudo-Servant?" Caster thought to herself, and decided to reserve any conclusions until she had more information, already sensing an unusual quality to the boy even before she laid eyes on him in-person. "Nothing important, ragazzo." Gohan, though still confused as to how the woman even knew his father's name, decided to heed her words.
After turning on the lights in his room and motioning for them to sit on the bed, Caster was the first to give him an overview of everything he needed to know. The basics, such as the Fate System in Servant summoning and their classes, LAPLACE, SHEBA, and other technologies they used. To Da Vinci's delight and amazement, the boy was like a sponge, absorbing all the information seamlessly.
"So, you come from a timeline where Chaldea had already corrected all eight singularities?" Gohan reiterated what he had just been told after the cramming session, to which Caster confirmed with a nod. "There's more than one?"
Caster sighed and answered, "Sadly, yes. The main cause of these discrepancies is the impromptu introduction of a Holy Grail, scattered across different eras in order to tamper with fixed points in time. These create gaps in the temporal axis, in which history, the proper history, has become muddled, disrupting the natural flow and dooming humanity to uncertain possibilities. Think of time as like a river, and the Grail as a dam or blockage that needs to be removed to resume the flow."
"Eight," Gohan repeated in deep thought, cupping his chin with his thumb and forefinger. "But, why were you betrayed?"
Caster made a face, and it took a moment for Gohan to understand that she was cringing. "After the Eighth, and what we presumed to be the final singularity," her expression softened again, "the Mage Association would have seen fit to dissolve Chaldea and liquidate its assets. In other words, we weren't really needed anymore."
Gohan frowned. "That's it? After all you've done, the sacrifices you've made, they were just going to shut you down?"
"Yes," Da Vinci nodded, "were it not for the intervention of a certain Goredolf Musik, who had made a bid to purchase Chaldea in order to assume ownership and then directorship. But, as with any hostile takeover of a company, the staff at the time were to be dismissed, detained, and questioned."
"Detained? Questioned?" Gohan echoed in shock.
"As I mentioned, the Mage Association would have dissolved Chaldea," the woman frowned, "for suspected illegal activity during the period when humanity was still incinerated," Da Vinci explained. "However, that was merely an excuse among other reasons."
"Such as?"
Da Vinci made a dramatic flourish with her arm and declared in an equally dramatic voice, "What people wouldn't do out of paranoia! You see, ragazzo, the Mage Association, which helped establish Chaldea in the first place, in no way enjoys what it perceives as a threat to its power. We were all well and good when there was a crisis, but what do you suppose happens when a dog no longer has intruders to fend off? When a soldier who has performed admirably no longer has an enemy to fight?"
It didn't take long for the boy to catch on. Chaldea had become too good at what they were doing, and given enough time, they would have been a force all on their own, disrupting whatever balance of power existed.
The balance of power being the Mage Association.
"And so, with the timely intervention of a Signor Goredolf Musik, who had no prior approval from the Association to begin with mind you," she huffed at that part, her memories of the man still fresh in her mind, "he was able to stave off the inevitable culling of our staff and whatever Servants remained, instead wishing to have us arrested after milking us dry of whatever information and resource that would have proved valuable to him. That being said, he still wanted yours truly to go back to the Throne. Hmph!"
Gohan became uneasy at one part of the woman's account. "Culling?"
Da Vinci's expression withered, saying in no uncertain terms, "The Association does not deal with what they deem 'a problem' lightly, ragazzo. We would have all been dead or declared fugitives—not necessarily in that order. As much of a buffoon Musik was, he managed to soften the blow by a huge margin. At the most, we were his to deal with as he saw fit, and he seemed to not share in the Association's ruthlessness."
"And, they trusted him enough for it?" Gohan mused skeptically.
Caster's smile returned. "Trust is poison in the world of Magi, mio giovane studente. For all his faults, Signore Musik was part of the aristocratic faction within the Clock Tower, and thus he had influence within the organization, however tenuous. I am willing to believe that they elected to drop everything on his big fat head, expecting him to fail so that they could move in and take their pound of flesh. After all, he spent his entire family fortune just to outbid those who also had their eyes on Chaldea."
Gohan hung his head, everything about this Mage Association sounding less than appealing to him. Despite Mr. Schweinorg's accounts and remarks regarding the Clock Tower, their politics were perhaps a subject he could do without. He had a strong feeling that he would not be welcome there.
"After all that heartache, and my untimely demise, my consciousness just wandered in the ether for however long, not really aware, but not completely detached either. I just...existed."
Gohan scratched at his head. "Who was it that killed you anyway?"
The Caster frowned. "You will get to know him in time, but for now we must focus on the present situation. As I expressed earlier, after an unknown span of being in limbo, I suddenly regained consciousness in what seemed to be my own workshop. At first, I assumed that I had simply traveled back in time, or even been caught in a temporal loop. After running numerous tests at my own discretion and examining the details of the world around me, I had concluded that I had merely arrived on an alternate timeline to my own." She sighed and ran a hand over her forehead. "Which should have been impossible for a few reasons, since I had uploaded my Saint Graph data as a backup for the survivors. I do wonder how she is doing at times, but alas I can only speculate."
Gohan was trying his best to keep up with the woman's pace, her demeanor and attitude greatly resembling Bulma's. It was a wonder how he was able to make sense of what she was saying, but he could probably owe that to his taste for studying.
"To be honest, I still question the nature of my awakening here," Caster mused more to herself. "Was I summoned with my memories of the Chaldea I experienced intact, or did I simply displace the mind of this version of myself? Oh, the possibilities are both disheartening and thrilling!"
"Erm, well, I guess it turned out…fine?" Gohan said in a bid to reassure the woman, only for the latter to wave off such concerns.
"You needn't fret, ragazzo!" Caster exclaimed. "I will come to terms with it in time, but for now..." She leaned forward toward the boy, getting down on all fours so that Gohan had to back away until his back was flush against the headboard of his bed. "I believe I have provided an adequate tithe to you, so I expect equal compensation."
Gohan was honestly perturbed as he stared into the woman's eyes, his discomfort skyrocketing for this invasion of his personal space alone. With a gulp, he replied, "A-Alright, I'll…I'll tell you all I can, but not everything. Otherwise, we'll be here all day."
"Oh, I wouldn't mind," Caster proclaimed, sitting back down after seeing how she was disturbing the young man, who she remembered was not much older than her previous pupil. And by "not much older," he was still at the tender age of 11, as she had heard through her eavesdropping from yesterday. "Please, do enlighten me."
Gohan took a deep, long breath for what he was about to do. While he had every reason to distrust this little parley they were having and maybe even escort the woman out—and by escort, he meant that genuinely—he had been thinking of gathering intel, perhaps even allies that could make his job a lot smoother. The woman in front of him was as valuable as they came, and from sensing her energy since he first laid eyes on her, he could not derive any malice or ill intent. If anything, she was quite the opposite, save for another odd quality that he couldn't quite place.
"Well, to start," Gohan began, licking his lips and keeping his voice steady, "I am not from this world, nor am I part of any timeline belonging to your multiverse."
Caster gasped. "A foreigner? Oh, this is exciting. I always hypothesized that there was a multiverse, but for other worlds, other realities outside of it, this discovery is to be celebrated!" She then came out of her reverie and said with a lopsided smile. "If I could, but for the sake of propriety, I would have to hold off on that for now."
Gohan sighed. "Well, good, because that's not even half of it." He then told her the bare minimum of what she needed to know. Who he really was, why and how he had come and; at her insistent request, what the Hoi Poi capsules were and how they worked. He demonstrated this by pressing the compression button on the rice cooker, turning it back into a capsule and vice versa to fully satisfy her curiosity, repeating it a few times and once again letting her try it herself. She was practically gushing over such a technological marvel that the Half-Saiyan was worried that she might just swallow it, which was one of the main hazards that Capsule Corp. could no longer be held responsible for by a court of law after numerous (and we mean numerous) cases of people doing just that.
When he was finished, there was a moment of blank silence before Caster practically exploded out of the bed and danced the pirouette with joy. "This is more than I could have ever dreamed of!" She dashed back and up close to the boy, "Oh, you must tell me more. Much more!"
Gohan was barely able to keep it together, doing his best to politely pacify the frantically passionate woman. "I…I will, Ms. Da Vinci, but not right now."
"Hmph," Caster huffed in retreat, crossing her arms over her chest, but not looking the least bit upset. "I did not take you as the teasing type."
"Teasing?" Gohan repeated quizzically as he was straightening his uniform. "I'm not teasing. I just can't tell you everything in one go. There's a lot to cover, Ms. Da Vinci."
Caster bored into him again before letting out a squeal and lunging at him, catching Gohan off guard as she swallowed him in a hug. "Oh, sei davvero adorabile!"
After calming down; or what qualified as calm for the renaissance woman, she took into account everything the boy had revealed of himself so far. By the time he was done, only then did the she seem to become contemplative. "Intriguing. So, everything began with your father, who belonged to an alien race of barbarians who ruthlessly pillaged the galaxy for a galactic emperor known as Frieza."
Gohan nodded. "Hard to believe?"
"Not even in the slightest!" Da Vinci declared brightly, shocking the boy once more. "If it were any other layman who would serve as an audience to you, perhaps, but I have experienced more than enough to be open-minded on such things. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were simply a genetically engineered organism created by a Magus. I did see your tail, after all."
"How?" Gohan wondered aloud.
"I have access to all the surveillance cameras," Da Vinci bluntly admitted. "Unauthorized."
"...Anyway," Gohan went on, choosing to ignore that part for now, "that's pretty much it. After Frieza destroyed Planet Vegeta, and to be honest, this is more secondhand and me piecing things together, my grandparents must have foreseen what would happen, and placed their son in a space pod that went on a course for my version of Earth. He landed in a place called Mt. Paozu, where Grandpa Gohan; my namesake, found and adopted him. After that, he grew up for most of his life not knowing that he wasn't human. That he was actually a Saiyan, who like I mentioned were a ruthless warrior race that conquered planets in order to prime them for the Planet Trade Organization, which was Frieza's empire."
Midway into the boy's account, Caster lost all enthusiasm, which was replaced by a taciturn and analytical demeanor. "This…Frieza…destroyed an entire planet?" Even as the words left her mouth, she was wrestling with the impulse to dismiss such a ludicrous feat with a healthy degree of skepticism. "With what?"
Gohan hesitated, mirroring the woman's expression. "If you mean he used a weapon to accomplish such a thing, then I'm afraid that isn't the case. In my world, people are capable of harnessing their energy, or Ki, to do incredible things. Enhance their bodies, fly, and generate blasts with enough destructive force to shatter even solid steel, and that's only scratching the surface."
"And…you?" Caster asked with an uncharacteristic degree of prudence.
Gohan blinked, his expression betraying little. "Pretty much the same thing."
Caster cupped her chin, her other arm resting on her elbow as she stared at the boy, studying him for the first time. If the accounts of who and what he was, of his world, were in any way true, then she might be looking at someone who could potentially rival the power of a Dead Apostle Ancestor. Even the most powerful magecraft she knew could hardly match the energy needed to destroy an entire planet. It was simply beyond the realm of the absurd.
"And…this Planet Trade Organization," Caster added warily. "They…?"
"Sell planets to the highest bidder," Gohan revealed soberly, choosing not to sugarcoat. "After the inhabitants had been subjected to genocide."
A chill formed in the pit of the woman's stomach, her blood running cold. Who in their right mind would even…?
"How did you get here?" Caster asked, trying to gain more insight to better form her opinion of the boy. If he was a threat, which she could hardly judge from how sincere and honest he seemed, then only the strongest of servants could have a chance of neutralizing him.
"It started when a man by the name of Kischur-"
"-Zelretch Schweinorg," Caster finished for him. "The infamous Wizard Marshal of the Clock Tower. Say no more, ragazzo mio, I think I understand. So he was the one who enlisted you for this task?"
"Uh, yes," Gohan affirmed. "Is he…really that important?"
"He has a…reputation," Caster implied in a tone that conveyed she'd rather talk about something else. Namely, the anomaly that was sitting just inches away from her. "Can you tell me more about your father?"
"Well," Gohan began, scratching at his hair, trying to figure out how to describe the man who was his father, "where to start? I mean, he's a martial artist and has been for most of his life. That's how Grandpa Gohan raised him. He used to tell me stories, his childhood, his adventures." A smile slowly appeared on the boy's face, and Caster couldn't help but mirror it, seeing how the boy must have admired his padre. "The one memory he liked best was when he met a girl named Bulma. At the time, she was traveling the world in order to search for these wish granting orbs called the Dragon Balls."
Caster's eyes were as wide as saucers. "Wish granting?"
Gohan nodded. "And before you think that they are in any way connected to a Grail, Ms. Da Vinci, no, they are not. The Dragon Balls are mystical objects created by a race called the Namekians. From what I've learned from being around them for so long, they are capable of powerful magic, but only the most experienced are able to forge Dragon Balls."
Caster shook her head in disbelief, though her lips curled into a smile. More and more, this boy tickled a part of her that wanted to dig into every kernel of knowledge he held. "Are you saying that these Namekians are capable of True Magic?"
"I suppose," Gohan shrugged. "I don't really claim myself to be an expert on the matter, but if you mean that they can create things out of nothing, then yeah. My mentor, Piccolo, would conjure up clothes for me."
"And this Piccolo is a Namekian?" Caster inquired, to which Gohan nodded. "What do these Namekians look like?"
Gohan went on to give as detailed a description as he could of the Namekian race, which Caster ran through in her head to cross-reference with other races she knew of. To her curiosity, these "Namekians" sounded close to what could be considered faeries or even demons. Upon mentioning this to the boy, he proceeded to remark, "Mr. Piccolo once told me that Namekians weren't originally extraterrestrials. That their original home wasn't Planet Namek. They come from a place called the Dai-makai, or Great Demon Realm. So, yeah, you could say that they are Demons."
"So you studied under a Demon?" Caster said more out of intrigue than judgment. She could claim that she had not had the best experiences with Demons from her previous incarnation, but from the way Gohan spoke of these Namekians, they seemed like a friendly bunch who would answer any questions she might have as best they could.
"Mr. Piccolo is, I admit, not the most approachable person, but I can tell you that he is one of the bravest I know, and one I am proud to call a teacher," Gohan said with conviction. He went on to tell how the arrival of his Uncle Raditz would be the true beginning of everything that changed for his father, who came to learn of his true heritage. "He kidnapped me as a bargaining chip so that if my father wanted me back, he would have to kill over a hundred people. He didn't do that, of course, and went straight to try and rescue me. My uncle stuffed me into his pod so I could only watch as my father and Piccolo fought for their lives. Well into the fight, they almost had him on the ropes, but..."
Caster moved her head closer, poised to listen. "Being in the pod, I couldn't really hear much other than their blows or energy blasts going off everywhere, but my uncle must have been begging for his life. My father is... pretty merciful at the best of times." The renaissance woman nodded, unwilling to fault such a kind man, but it was still a foolish thing to do in a life and death battle. Not even Fujimaru, who had come to understand the dangers he faced, would take such a risk. On the other hand, he had managed to surprise them from time to time.
"How were they able to turn the battle back around?" Caster asked. "They must have, as your father had to have been alive to confront this Frieza."
"He died, actually," Gohan answered in no uncertain terms, taking the woman aback. "You see, even with me being inside the pod, it still had a window, and I could see almost everything that was happening. After my uncle took full advantage of my father letting go of his tail, which is just one of our weaknesses by the way," he brought up a hand to stem another question from the Servant, wishing to finish, "he was about to kill him. I saw it and got angry. Angry enough to break out of the pod and slam my head straight into my uncle's gut."
"Your emotions," Caster surmised analytically, "are tied to your power, is that correct?" The half-Saiyan nodded.
"I've...always had anger issues, to name a few." Caster nodded understandingly, getting an idea of how traumatic the boy's life must have been. "But that still wasn't enough to take him down, and from how much energy I suddenly expended, I lost consciousness. Mr. Piccolo didn't mince words when he told me exactly what had happened while I was out of it. My father caught my uncle in a full nelson hold, and with that, he managed to launch an attack powerful enough to blow a hole right through both of them." He winced at the shock on the woman's face as he trailed off. "Yeah, that's more or less how my dad died the first time."
Caster was stunned, not knowing what to say. How could she? She didn't believe that most people could come out of such an experience stable, let alone well adjusted. And yet, looking at the boy in front of her, so polite in his conduct, she was inclined to dismiss it all as a delusion or an elaborate lie.
But it was his eyes.
Beneath the warmth and gentleness she could see, there was... a hardness that would not be out of place in a veteran of war. This young man had seen real hell. Running the rest of the information through her mind, she postulated, "And, you used these Dragon Balls to wish him back to life?"
"Yes," Gohan replied. "But before you get any ideas, the Dragon Balls have limitations. They're only as powerful as the one who created them, so they can't wish for something that's beyond a certain threshold. You can wish someone back to life, but so long as they haven't died of natural causes. There used to be a limit that you could only resurrect someone once, and if they happened to be dead for more than a year, but the Namekian who replaced the previous creator has since removed those limits, except for the natural death part."
Caster hummed in thought. "That makes sense." Certain magic and spells needed restrictions and a corresponding exchange in order to manifest properly, otherwise Gaia would do everything in its power to nullify such a violation of the laws of nature. For these Dragon Balls to resurrect the dead with no strings attached was already incredible that it might as well be True Magic, but the limitations were put in place both because it would still violate certain laws of nature, and because of the creator's inherent limits. "These Dragon Balls could very well rival the Grail."
"Yes, but there's a catch," Gohan was quick to tell her. "After one uses the Dragon Balls and wishes to the Eternal Dragon, Shenron-"
"Waitwaitwaitwaitwait!" Caster sputtered, waving her hands frantically to cut into the rest of the boy's account. "Eternal Dragon? Shenron?!"
"O-Oh, right," Gohan chuckled, scratching his cheek. "When using the Dragon Balls, a gigantic dragon called Shenron appears and nearly envelops the sky for miles. He's the one who you have to talk to in order to facilitate your wish."
Caster just stared at the boy, with only a tiny twitch of her eyes to show that she was doing her very best not to burst out of the room like a madwoman and run down the hallways, pulling out strands of hair in the process. She might have just stumbled upon a gold mine of possibilities! "Anyway," Gohan continued, reading into the woman's body language and preparing himself for the worst, "once you have your wish, or wishes, granted," he tensed as Da Vinci bit her lip, her body twisting as if valiantly trying to rein in her urges, "they turn to stone and are scattered randomly around the world. Within a year they will be active again, but you'll have to search for them if you want to have your wishes granted again."
Gohan then waited for the woman to calm herself down, and before long, she did with a heavy release of breath. "Sorry," she apologized. "I get like that at times. It's just a quirk of mine, really."
The half-Saiyan waved it off, having seen Bulma get into one of her trances when she was too into her work. "So, these Dragon Balls. From the plurality, I imagine that they come in numbers?" Caster asked.
Gohan nodded. "Seven of them. They come in the form of baseball-sized spheres with red stars that indicate their number. My family used to have the four-star Dragon Ball that belonged to Grandpa Gohan when he was alive. You have to collect all seven, or they won't activate, and even then, you have to know the password when you want to summon Shenron."
Caster gave a series of nods, her finger stroking the bottom of her chin. As far as she could decipher, these Dragon Balls had a fair deal of restrictions attached so they couldn't be abused or used carelessly. If anything, they seemed to be a far more preferable alternative to the Grail, which worked by allowing a magus to access the Root and virtually limitless magical energy to do with as they pleased. Contrary to what many believed, it was up to the Masters themselves to channel that energy into their intended desire, since the Grail itself had limited sentience. This Shenron, however, was practically a bonafide Genie, and from the way Gohan described the creature, it might even be able to hold a civil conversation. "Oh, ragazzo, I can't claim to know what Zelretch had in mind by bringing you here, but I am grateful that he did, otherwise, I wouldn't have come to such an opportunity."
"Uh, opportunity?" Gohan echoed uneasily.
Caster opened her eyes, her face radiant with newfound determination. "The chance to reach beyond the stars! To break through all preconceived notions that I never even knew existed, to reach new and unimaginable heights, an opportunity of a lifetime!" She once again did a pirouette, her eyes alight with excitement, before plopping back down on the bed. "Then what? After your father was revived, what else?"
"...Uh, I think we need to slow down first, Ms. Da Vinci," Gohan told her, completely out of his element. "Like I said, there's a lot to cover, and we may not be able to go through it all in a single day. Which reminds me, what time is it?"
"4:47 a.m.," Caster replied, long used to keeping track of the time without a piece even before she became a Servant.
Gohan got up from the bed, elated. "Great! Then there's still time!" Even though he was suspended, he saw that the light on his door was no longer red. Either his suspension had been miraculously lifted, or Caster, whom he suspected was adept at technology, had hacked her way in. The important thing was that he would make it. He had taken no more than two steps when the woman stopped him.
"Ragazzo…"
Gohan turned to the Caster. "Yes?" He looked at the woman and saw that she had lost much of her enthusiasm again, but was still smiling. Tilting her head up at him, she asked, "Can you show me your tail?"
The boy didn't move, only able to blink his eyes as he processed the woman's request. "I'm sorry?"
"Your tail," Caster insisted with an almost eerie calmness. "I would like to see…some more solid proof of your claims. Not that I have had much doubt after all of the prevailing evidence, but seeing is believing as people would say."
"..." Gohan couldn't find the words to respond as he just stared back at the woman with a blank face. While he's never had an issue of letting his tail hang free for all to see, not once has anyone ever asked him to actually show them the appendage. "Well…if it's to help corroborate my story, I guess…"
Still, he felt a blush rise to his cheeks, so he turned to face the woman fully, his embarrassment growing as he saw her smile and worked to free his tail from beneath his Chaldean uniform. Unwrapping it from his waist, the familiar monkey tail waved loosely in the air, snaking out into view from behind him, and Caster's eyes lit up at actually seeing it with her own eyes, exclaiming, "Oh, magnifico! Turn around! I want to get a closer look, please!" His reddening cheeks couldn't get any redder as he reluctantly obeyed, stifling the urge to bury his tail back in-
"GYEEH!" Gohan froze, his entire body going rigid as if he had just been struck by lightning. His muscles seized up and he fell face first to the ground. "Ah...ah...ah...!" He struggled to lift his head, and what he saw out of the corner of his eye was Caster smiling mischievously down at him, while her hand gripped his tail. Firmly, at that. "Wh... what...?"
"Hm, I see," Caster said thoughtfully, playing with the tail by wiggling it, which made Gohan squeal again. "So it seems that your tail has an abundance of nerve endings, which are stimulated with sufficient strain."
Gohan could only sputter out helplessly on the floor, gritting his teeth from the numbing pain he was in. "L-Let…go…"
Caster made a show of considering it, humming with her head tipped to the side. "I could let go, but there is a matter that I wish to discuss with you first."
"Wha…di-discuss…?"
"Infatti," Caster nodded. "It concerns the matter of you wishing to prevent the tragedy that befell Chaldea." Gohan's eyes widened in shock. "Yes, I managed to deduce your motive, ragazzo. You intend to prevent the deaths of the masters."
Gohan choked back a gasp, fumbling to form words. "I…"
"I will tell you this right now," Caster spoke in a more subdued tone, her features becoming somber. "That their deaths are a fixed point in time, meaning that the fateful day cannot be prevented from coming to pass."
Gohan struggled to break from his incapacitation, one eye closed. "I…have…to…"
Caster smiled, and Gohan could see the sadness underlying it. "Your determination is admirable, bambino. You are going to need it going forward." Her smile then disappeared, her brows knitting into a light frown as she asked him, "If I let go, can you promise me one thing?"
"Ha…hai?" So disoriented was he that he inadvertently responded in Japanese.
"Don't give up." Gohan blinked, his surprise momentarily eclipsing the pain. "No matter what, my boy, you must not give up. Don't dwell on failures and mistakes. Keep moving forward. Fujimaru…my Fujimaru had experienced many trials as he faced the Singularities. He made hard decisions, compromises, and sacrifices, and he did it all for the completion of the mission. Yet, he never faltered. He came through in the most miraculous ways to restore humanity and return history to what it rightfully was." Her smile became warmer, and Gohan, now sitting up after being released halfway into the woman's words, could see the sadness, a tenderness that spoke of so much. "I know you two are different, but I'm sure…that you two would be good friends if you ever met."
Gohan held the woman's gaze, free from judgment and resentment. He took her hands in his, his own warm and reassuring. "I understand, Da Vinci-san. I understand. I'll work hard. I can't promise you anything, but I won't give up." His smile was firm and determined. "I don't expect you to trust me, but I'll do what I can."
Caster nodded, seeing the boy's sincerity. "Well, then! What else-" She was interrupted by Gohan, who jumped to his feet and turned to face the door. Immediately, the renaissance woman was on alert as well, rising from her seat in preparation. "What is it?"
Gohan did not answer, his own mind racing. "That energy. It's Professor Lev's." When he first felt the man's Ki, he could sense the malice beneath a layer of coy condescension, as if this Lev Lainur had a mocking undertone to his perception of others. All of which he masterfully hid behind a kind smile that never reached his eyes.
He turned to Caster and said, "I have to go."
Instead of stopping the boy to question him, Caster nodded, already aware of what was about to happen. "I will head for the control room. Most of the staff should already be there."
"Warn them," Gohan told her. "I have a feeling things are about to get crazy."
Caster assumed Spirit Form, but not before imparting to Gohan, "I have already lifted the lock on the door. Both of us must hurry!"
Deciding to question the phenomena he had just witnessed for later; with the hope that there would even be a later, Gohan ran to the door and sure enough, it opened for him, causing him to quicken his pace once he was outside. He accelerated, pushing Ki into his feet to move quickly and silently through the corridors as he zeroed in on Lev's energy like a beacon. "He wants me to go to him." Seconds into his trek through the corridors, he noticed how barren the place seemed, the lights turned off, the sterile air making his nose wrinkle even more than it normally would have. The facility was thick with something he couldn't put his finger on, but it wasn't until he arrived at the designated spot that he realized it.
Death.
"No! I can't be too late. I just have to-"
"Looking for something, Mr. Sūn?"
He didn't dare turn around, for there he was, his shoulder leaning against the wall in smug confidence, his arms crossed over his chest. He could feel that ever-present smile that never seemed to reach the man's eyes. "You know why I am here."
"Do I?" Lev asked in an exaggeratedly confused tone, cupping his chin with one hand. "What are you…?"
"I'm not here to play games," Gohan threatened. "Where is it?"
"Where is what? You have to be more specific."
"The bomb you planted," Gohan seethed, chiding himself for walking into that. His muscles tensed again, but this time it was in preparation for the inevitable collision.
"Bomb?" Lev pushed himself away from the wall, then paced about in another exaggerated show of ignorance. "Bomb, bomb, bomb-Ah! Yes, the bomb. That takes me back. My best work, if I may say so. One of several, actually."
Gohan's eyes widened, his mind once again churning. "You're-"
"Ah-ah!" Lev silenced him with a playful wagging of his finger, the two of them mere inches away from each other in a deadlock. "Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies."
Gohan took a breath to calm himself, to focus better, but it proved to be a challenge now that the man's aura was at its peak, the simmering malice now a flood of malevolence and hostility. "I take it you also know who I am?"
"What you are, to be more precise," Lev corrected him, and Gohan's heart nearly leaped out of his chest before he added, "Long way from home, aren't you? I don't suppose you have a story to tell me?"
Gohan's back was to him, his body tense. "He doesn't seem to be aware of my true nature, only that I'm from an alternate world. Then that means he must be like Caster. But, how? Tell me where the bomb is, or else," the boy threatened again, but this only drew a snicker from the magus.
"Or else, what?" Lev dared to ask. "Don't think that I'm foolish enough to underestimate you, Mr. Sūn. From the moment I saw you, I knew that there was something…off. I'm sure you felt the same way in regards to yours truly."
"He's buying time. You must really love the sound of your own voice," Gohan jeered, seething over his shoulder at the man.
"Oh, why thank you," Lev bowed in mocking gratitude. "I never really could find one I could have a decent conversation with, so I try my best to pass the time in any way I can."
In a flash of movement, Gohan grabbed Lev by the crook of his collar and slammed him against the wall, the man admittedly surprised at how strong the boy was, let alone how fast he moved. "I told you, I'm not playing here! Either you tell me where the bomb is-"
"Tsk, tsk," Lev clicked his tongue, and Gohan had only a second before he dodged a clawed hand that was about to tear through him. "There's really no need to be violent, Mr. Sūn. I would be happy to tell you, but if you would just calm down and be more civilized about it."
Gohan looked down and saw that he had dodged the attack, fluidly assuming a fighting stance in case he had to move again. He looked up to find that Lev's right hand was covered in a strange energy that took the form of a three-pronged blade, black and writhing with power. "There, isn't that more like it?" The half-Saiyan settled into his stance, his eyes trained on his opponent who calmly produced a vial from his coat.
"Can you guess what this is?" Lev dangled the vial, which contained a clear solution. When no answer came, his smile finally reached his eyes, as if there was something he was particularly proud and happy about. "Poison. But not just any poison you can whip up in a lab. Oh no." He got into a walk, Gohan's eyes never leaving him as he paced the hall they occupied. "It was a gift. One bequeathed to me by my... benefactor." The energy in his hand dissipated, allowing him to pull the cork from the bottle and open it. He took a whiff, as if it were the most fragrant perfume he'd ever smelled. "Odorless, tasteless, and..." He sealed it again with an audible slam of the cork. "Undetectable by most enchantments."
Gohan's anger bubbled up, and he prayed that it still wasn't too late. "How? You couldn't possibly have poisoned them all."
"Oh, but that's where you're wrong," Lev countered. "It's amazing how this tiny vial has made things so much easier for me. In fact, all I ever really needed to do…was shake their hand."
Gohan's eyes widened.
"Pat them on the back."
His glare intensified, a wave of disgust washing over him.
"Even the slightest contact, and the poison was already in their system," Lev explained in gleeful detail, then placed his free hand on his chest. "I'm immune, of course. The best part? The poison is linked to my Magic Circuits, so with a simple snap of my fingers, it could be activated, and... well, I don't think I even need to say that phase out loud."
"You didn't…"
Lev's chest and shoulders shook, and soon, a sickly-sweet laugh escaped from him. "Come now. Do you honestly believe I wouldn't have started before meeting up with you? Suspended or not, on time or not, there was really nothing you could do. They're all dead! Ahahaha!"
Gohan's anger flared, his eyes turning murderous—before something, or someone, came to his mind. "Mash..." He said the girl's name out of reflex, his budding anger leading him on.
"Ah, yes!" Lev threw his head back and laughed, riding a high he never knew he could experience. "Mash. Sweet, thoughtful little Mash." He savored how the boy was glaring daggers at him now. "Oh, don't worry. I reserved something special for her. But first, you're the one I wanted to speak with, Mr. Sūn Wùfàn."
Gohan allowed his aura to course throughout his body. "And what is it exactly that you want to talk about?"
"Hehe," Lev chuckled, before snapping his head unnaturally to face the boy, his smile now even wider, revealing rows and rows of sharp teeth. "Why, the pleasure of disposing of you myself!"
A/N: Shoutout to the fic Strange Monkey Boy by Trusty McGoodGuy, who helped inspire this story.