This post has the following content warnings:
View Flat HTML
View Metadata
Search Post
Yemma sighs. "There is a way I could let you in. A couple of ways, actually. Three." He extends a finger. "Easy way: if the Enemy were somehow not able to do anything, I could let you in. As long as he wasn't able to do anything about it, it'd be fine. That's probably not going to happen, to be honest." Another finger. "Slow way: go away, get stronger. Way stronger. Strong enough that you won't have to worry about the Enemy following you in. Obviously, that's not very helpful for you."
Kakara looks up at him through her bangs. "...and the third way?"
He sighs, nodding. "Third way. Quick way."
A door opens in the wall to your right. There are stairs inside.
Leading down.
"You take the stairs, and find what you're looking for the hard way," he says.
Kakara stares at the doorway. "...those go down."
"As far down as you can go," he says, nodding. "And they lead where you're thinking. I'll be honest: there are things down there that could rip you apart, shade or not, and they'd be happy to. If I were you, I wouldn't risk it. But if you really want to get into Heaven as fast as you can..." He shrugs. "I don't know that you want to head down there now, though."
Dazarel squirms free of her grip and scampers up onto her shoulders, hiding behind her neck. 'Please no.'
Yemma shoots the lizard a foul look. "I'd be glad to chuck him down there, though."
Kakara stares at the entrance to Hell, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end. It looks surprisingly unimposing, for something so important.
After a long moment of thought, she sighs, deflating. "No," she mutters. "You're right. I shouldn't risk it. Not yet, anyway."
"Sorry, kid," he says, grimacing.
"It's okay," she says. Then she scowls, glancing at Dazarel. "Get off of there, I didn't say you were allowed." She yanks him off of her shoulders, holding him by the neck.
Yemma sighs. "Much as I'd like to keep that monster here to toss him downstairs, I can't. He's still alive." He slumps. "And, so are you. I'm sorry, but I need you to go now."
"Wait," Kakara says, raising her head. "King Yemma, I understand that I can't stay, but...can I at least make one more visit? Just to see my Grandp- Grandfather, Gohan? I...I'd like to see him again. Even just for a few minutes."
And King Yemma's eyes...
...shift to the side for a moment. "...well..." he says, not meeting her gaze.
"What?" she asks.
"Well, I was going to surprise you both with this, but..." He makes a twisting motion with his fingers.
The door opens, and Son Gohan practically teleports to her side, sweeping her up in a hug.
"You're alright," murmurs Gohan. "You're alright."
"I- I saw me," Kakara says.
"In a vision. When I was out. I saw me, but all grown up, and- and she was miserable, you could see it, I don't know what happened. But she was Queen, and when I asked she just snapped and transformed and said that I just didn't want to get it the way she did, and everything about her was..."
She starts crying.
"I'm scared," she whispers. "I know that this can work because she said it could, but that means she went through with it, and that means that in some way it leads to her. She helped me and she was trying to do what was best for me, but I'm so scared that maybe I'm just going to turn into her because this is what makes that happen."
Gohan smooths down her hair.
"That's not going to happen," he tells her. "You know better, now."
"But I don't, she didn't say," Kakara replies, burying her face in his chest. "She didn't tell me how to avoid it. She just told me that I'd find another way."
"Then you will. You wouldn't lie to yourself. Not for something that important. If she was telling you to avoid it, she meant what she said. When the time comes, you'll know how to get away from that. Because I know you. You're a perfectionist, Kakara. You'll do whatever you need to, to get things right. If she was confident that you would know -- you'll know."
He leans away from Kakara's face for a moment, looking her over.
"You don't look bad," he says. "Just see-through."
"There are ways. Shades happen, sometimes. People have figured out ways to anchor them to things. You'd need to lock yourself down to a host."
"To live in somebody. I don't even know if you can possess somebody. But without it, you're just a shade. At least a body gives you camouflage. I'm pretty sure it'd even be automatic, once you landed in somebody."
And I'm going to need it. I...he's out there."
"...I'm scared," she whispers.
"...I know. I was, too, before the worst fights in my life. We're all scared, at least a little bit. Even Dad was scared; he just loved it, too. But we don't let it rule us. When we need to, we pick ourselves up and push on. You will succeed, Kakara. I know you will. It's just a matter of not giving up. You'll find the other side of this. And he doesn't know about you."
Gohan pulls her in for another hug.
"They'll manage. You've given them as good of a chance as you could. Now you need to focus on getting stronger, better, and coming home to save them all. This is your time, Kakara. And you will see it through. There are people out there who can help."
There's a familiar tug now, on her, and she burrows further into his arms.
"I'm about to leave."
The sense of pressure starts to recede, even as he grips her more tightly.
"I know," he admits. "I'm losing my grip on what lets me keep you here. Stay safe, Kakara. You're going to do great things."
Then he releases her, steps back, and turns to Dazarel.
"And, dragon." His eyes narrow. "You will be one of the people who helps her. If you don't, I will know, and no power in the universe will be enough to keep you safe from me."
Dazarel cringes, but bows his head as best as he can around Kakara's fist.
"As you command, Most Divine."
He's avoiding eye contact.
"See you."
Her hold on this place finally snaps, and a wall of divine will forces her back and out to streak through the spaces between the real.
"What was all that business about, 'Most Divine.'"
At his pleading look, she finally loosens her grip and allows him to scamper up her arm to her shoulders.
"You realize that your ancestor is a god, yes? No half-measures, nothing so prosaic as a mere mortal with access to divine ki -- he's a god, in truth."
"Not really. We don't have a great theory of divinity on Garenhuld. I mean, I buy it, what with that thing he was doing while we were leaving, but I don't know what it means."
As she speaks, she's considering her destination. Not Hell, just yet; she turned that route down for a reason. It would be dangerous enough for her with her proper body, with the full power of a spirit bomb supporting her, but as is, with no intelligence on what awaits her beyond the tales of the Z Fighters and with no aid? It would be an elaborate way to throw her life away. And sure, she'd make it to heaven then, but not in a way that would allow her to return and help her people after training there. But it doesn't have to stay that way; heaven may have been on lockdown for several centuries, but Hell was not, and there are plenty of species out there in the wider galaxy with a lifespan that measures in centuries anyway.
Take me to someone who can help me learn what I need, to fight my way through hell, and help me in my endeavor.
The Sight shudders a bit under her grasp, as though confused or unwilling, but acquiesces, and her path through unreality becomes purposeful.
"It means that there's more to his power than mere ki," he snorts. "More than magic, more even than my psychic abilities. Something unique to gods. As for the address... If I respect something, it is strength. And what could be more threatening to a dragon than the God of Heroes?"
(Here begins wholly original content)