Princess Mononoke Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Singing Mountain ❯ Chapter 4: Have We Met? ( Chapter 4 )

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Cell was in a strange state of daze as Moro-sama carried him to Masq's house outside the forest. He couldn't think or move, but he could hear and see everything around him. He couldn't find the strength to move his head, so he stared at the moving ground and occasionally glimpsed at Moro-sama's feet. He could hear Moro and Masquerade converse with each other.

"Can he hear us?"

"I believe so. Cell, are you awake?"

He refused to answer.

"I guess not."

"Something is troubling you, San."

"No, Moro-sama."

"Don't try to lie to me. I can hear it in your voice. Please, tell me, Masquerade."

"I've only known you for a couple of days, Moro-sama."

"All of your secrets are safe with me."

"Well…"

There was a pause.

"Moro-sama, can a priestess fall in love and…have a mate?"

"Yes. There is no crime against the acts of love. Have you found someone you love, San?"

"I believe I have. Today. Just a few minutes ago…I saw the most handsome man in the world…"

"Oh?" Suddenly, Moro-sama chuckled. "Pardon me, Masquerade. I am not a good judge of human beauty."

"I understand. However…I'm not sure about him. He…well, I don't know him very well. Looks usually don't mean anything to me when it comes to love; I'm attracted to the personality. If I like him, then I go for him. I don't care if they're cute or not, but…I may have fallen in love with this stranger…"

"I see what you mean. You believe that you should be attracted to the man for who he is, and not for beauty, or money, or popularity like many other priestesses have. Remarkable. Not even San Rhapsody has this quality."

"This has never happened to me before. What do I do, Moro-sama?"

There was a pause. Cell had no idea what Masq was talking about. She was with him the whole day; he didn't see any men. Besides, everyone on this mountain was a woman! How could she have possibly seen a man?!

"If you see him again," Moro advised, "you should tell him how you feel about him, and listen to what he has to say. I recommend, from what I remember from other priestesses' tales, you shouldn't kiss him or let him kiss you, just to be safe. Forgive me, San, I know nothing of human love."

"That's alright." Masq chuckled. "Thank you, Moro-sama."

Cell was very confused. Love chat made him queasy. He couldn't understand it. He closed his eyes and tried to get to sleep. However, something Masq said kept him wide awake.

"Moro-sama, if there is any possible way, I want to help Seru become perfect again."

Cell felt Moro's head sway to look at the priestess.

"Why is this?" the wolf god asked.

"Perhaps when he becomes perfect again, he will be healthy. He wants that more than anything, and that's what I want for him to have."

There was a very long pause. Moro-sama was in deep thought. Yume whimpered and barked a few times as she struggled to keep up with her mother's pace. Finally, Moro spoke again.

"It will be a difficult task, San, but you have my blessing."

"Thank you, Moro-sama."

Why would Masq even care about Cell's well being? Yes, she was a Mononoke, and Mononoke cared about everyone, but would she help a horrible power like Cell? He killed people, he destroyed cities, he ruined the lives of billions, and left a scar on the world forever. Why would she help him? It made no sense!

Suddenly, Moro-sama stopped walking, and carefully placed Cell on his feet. He did try to stand, but he was too numb and half asleep to even keep himself upright. He collapsed to the side into someone's arms.

"Whoa!" Masq cried, keeping her footing, then placing one of Cell's arms over her shoulders to support him. "Are you okay, Seru?"

"I believe he was asleep." Moro explained.

"Oh yeah." Masq responded, slowly heading for the door as Cell hobbled next to her. She opened the door, and turned to look at the wolf who helped her.

"I wish you well." Moro nodded in leaving.

"Thank you for your help and advice, Moro-sama." Masq smiled. "You remind me of a mother I wish I had." Moro tilted her head to the side as an illusion of a smile appeared on her face, then she turned around and walked away with a small yip of farewell. Yume obediently followed.

"Bye bye, San!" the wolf cub called. "Bye bye, Seru-san!"

Masq chuckled, then walked inside the house. She headed into the bedroom, and laid Cell down on his bed.

Cell felt her hand touch his forehead, and the black shell on his headcrest. She gently stroked his headcrest, kneeling by the side of the bed. He moaned, tired and stiff.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"Home."

"Home?"

"You never had a place to call home, Seru?"

"No…"

"Oh…I see…"

"Why would you want to help someone like me?" Cell demanded. "Why do you even care?"

"Anything for a friend." Masq answered, taking her hand off Cell's head. Cell turned his head to her, and opened his eyes slowly in fatigue. She was leaning on the edge of the bed, head on her folded arms. She smiled at him sweetly.

"Friend?" he asked.

"Let me guess: you never had friends either?"

"No."

"Wow, that sucks."

"Pardon?" Cell growled. I can't believe it! A young lady, swearing…

"Yeah. Having not a friend in the world? That sucks."

"Hmph." Cell snorted, turning away from her. Jesus Christ… Masq laughed.

"You know? You can be a jerk, but you can also be so cute and sweet, and you're pretty polite for someone of your rep. I like that about you, so I'm making you one of my friends."

"…" Cell refused to respond. He hated everything about that little witch, and he was going to absorb her the first chance he got. She especially wouldn't survive if she did anything to make him mad, like dragging him outside by the tail, or laughing at him when the kodama attacked him, or swear in his face…

"Hey! I got an idea!" Masq exclaimed, getting up from the bed and heading for the closet. She dug around a chest of her belongings, and came out with her desired item. She came back to the bed, and held the item in her hand out to Cell. With no choice, he looked at the item: a crystal carved into a dagger and tied into a necklace with a thick leather cord. "I want you to have this, so that when you leave, you'll never forget me."

"What is it?"

"It's a crystal dagger. My dad gave it to me when I left for Singing Mountain to remember him by. Now I want you to have it."

"I don't want it." Cell stated. Masq lifted his wrist, pressed the dagger in his hand, and closed his fingers around it.

"Please?" Masq pleaded. Cell suddenly became angry.

Damn these humans! What part of 'no' don't they understand?!

"I said I don't want it!" he snapped, bolting up from the bed and punching Masq in the face. She fell over on her back with a surprised gasp. She promptly got back up, and raised her hand angrily.

"Back at ya!" she yelled, slapping him across the face. He cried out in pain and held his beak in his hands. He fell back onto the bed, snarling and growling in pain. "Don't you ever do that to me! Ever! I've done nothing to deserve that, you bastard!"

"…" Cell turned on his side, away from Masq. Masq angrily turned towards the living room to sit by the table, and began to walk away. Then she felt something thump her back, and she sharply turned back to Cell. He was facing her, with his hand pointed in her direction, then he curled up into his ball and rested his head on his arms. He had thrown something at her, then decided to go to sleep. Masq looked down at the ground, and laid eyes on the crystal she gave him. He threw it at her!

She picked it up and put it around her neck angrily. She left the bedroom, and sat by the table in the next room. Well, he was only staying for a week, and two days had gone by, so she only had to put up with the little snoot for five more days.

Five days with Cell? Who would kill whom first?

Singing Mountain: Chapter 4

Sunset came quickly, and a visitor came knocking on Masq's door. Masq was in the bathroom brushing her hair, and Cell was refusing to move from where he lay curled on the bed. The visitor finally pushed the unlocked door open and stepped inside.

"Hello?" she called into the house. "Is anyone here?"

An unwelcome guest? Cell wondered, smiling to himself. Well, well. Here's an opportunity to gather energy now.

"Hello?" the visitor called again, walking into the bedroom. She stopped in the doorway when her eyes fell upon the apparently sleeping Cell. "Oh!" she gasped, then gave a polite bow. "Good afternoon, Cell. Is San Masquerade home?

Come a little closer. I can't reach you with my tail over there.

"Oh, forgive me." The visitor chuckled nervously. "You're asleep. I'm sorry. Did I disturb you?"

Damn you! Get over here! How am I suppost to launch a surprise attack if I have to get up and walk over to you? …Which I can't do at the moment!

"Did you say something, Seru?" Masq's voice asked as she opened the bathroom door to peek out. She gasped in surprise of the visitor. "Whoa! Rhapsody! How did you get in here?"

"The doors don't have locks here, remember?" the visitor, Rhapsody, explained.

"Rhapsody?" Cell wondered. He had heard that name before. He opened one eye to look at her. He got a side view of her face: short black hair, tan skin, slim figure, brown eyes, and in her early twenties. Ah yes, San Rhapsody, the High Priestess of the barbarian witches. And to think I almost absorbed her…that would have ruined my chance to be released on good behavior…

"I forgot." Masq chuckled at Rhapsody. "Well, you could have knocked first."

"I did, no one answered." The high priestess explained, then waved her hand to Cell. "Cell was asleep, so I guess he didn't hear me." Cell quickly closed his eye as Masq turned her head to him.

"Don't mind him." Masq recommended. "He's…he's really upset about today. We should leave him alone. Hey, can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea? Anything at all to eat?"

"Actually, I came here to check up on your guest. A lot of the girls were really worried about him, and Yume-chan really likes him a lot."

"I wish I knew why." Masq admitted. "I don't like him at all. I can't wait to hand him over to you. You can deal with people like him."

So that was the plan?! Cell did his best to look asleep while he gritted his teeth. They planned to keep him here for more than a week?! Not if he had anything to say about that! The very mountain itself made him sick! He wanted off the giant rock and he wanted off now!

Masq and Rhapsody wandered into the next room to chat about girl stuff. Cell calmed himself down and started thinking as he curled himself up tighter together.

So, the fool named Masquerade wants to help me become perfect again? Well, by all means, "Masq," play the fool and do all the work for me. Once I am perfect again, I'll just replenish my lost collection of souls by taking the life energies of every priestess on the mountain and the Wolf Jaw. Who knows, the wolves themselves may be a refreshing treat. Yes, this is an excellent thought, indeed. Ha, ha! Go ahead and do what you can to help me, Masquerade. Because once I am perfect again, you will be the first to go.

/|\

That night, Masq dressed in her kimono and slipped on her tatari sandals. She was going outside for a little bit. She wanted to go sit under the stars for a while for a little time out for herself. She needed it. She was feeling a little homesick.

She walked past Cell's bed, but stopped to look at him. He hadn't moved all day. He had stayed curled up in his little protective ball on the bed not moving or saying anything. Her only assurance that he wasn't dead was his rising and falling back indicating breath. She sneered at him, then walked past him without another thought.

She sat outside her door, looking up at the stars. She wished there would be a moon to go with the warm air and gentle breeze. She leaned against the door, and took in the soothing atmosphere. She relaxed, listening to the crickets chirp far away.

Suddenly, her mind flashed back to the incident at the pool. Cell could have died today. He could have drowned in that water. Something was keeping him down there. Something tore her arms away from him. It had to have been a vengeful spirit of one of his victims. Well, the spirit had committed a crime from which it could never enter the Shishi Gami realm again. Perhaps Cell knew the spirit…she would ask him about it later. If they had a name for the spirit, then they could seal it away forever in Kage's Cave with other sealed spirits.

She closed her eyes, and saw the handsome face of Cell's perfect form again. She could clearly remember his pale skin, and his eyes. She loved his eyes; narrow, pink, and beautiful. The eyes seemed to capture her heart, and so did that face. He seemed to irresistible…yet, she couldn't help but wonder…did each of Cell's forms have their own personality? Like when a person changed into a werewolf, they change personalities from a human mind to animal instinct. Perhaps Masq was just seeing Cell's imperfect, ugly personality that went with his imperfect, ugly looks. Perhaps…his perfection had a beautiful personality to match!

But did she love him?

"A psychopath jerk with an ego too big for his britches?" Masq scolded herself. "No way! Plus, he's ugly! I hate Seru, and as soon as this week is over, he's outta here!"

/|\

… … …

In his dreams, he could see a young girl, with blond hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. He could see her turn to him, and he could see the fear well in her eyes, and her lips part in a gasp. He could see her mouth gape open to scream in fright as he closed in on her for the kill. He could see her try to run away and protect herself with her arms. He could see his hand close against her throat, hoist her in the air, and then toss her to the ground like a rag doll.

He could hear her voice, so frightened, so shrilled…

"No! Stop! Please, don't hurt me!"

"It is too late for that." He heard himself tell her. "Time to die, young one." His tail arched, ready to stab into her vulnerable flesh and suck away her soul.

"No! Please!" she cried. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

… … …

Cell opened his eyes. That voice…he knew that voice from somewhere…and he had seen that girl…

He looked to Masq's bed to see that she wasn't there. He looked around the room and discovered that all the lights were off. Where did she go? Did she leave him already? A week wasn't up yet. San Rhapsody seemed to have left a long time ago. He stretched out of his curl, and cracked his fingers. Then he carefully stood up and balanced himself on his two feet. He had to start trying to move around again. He needed to be ready to either escape from Masq or add her name to the list of souls.

Suddenly, the door opened. Cell looked towards the other room to see who it was.

He relaxed when he saw Masq. He stopped relaxing when she saw him.

"Seru?" she softly called. He suddenly grew embarrassed. He quickly sat down before his knees buckled again. Masq walked up to him. "Seru, is something wrong?"

"Where were you?" he asked.

"Outside, just for a little bit." She answered, turning on a light by her bed. Seru's eyes failed to adjust to the sudden burst of light, and he shielded his eyes with his hand. "So, you finally woke up. You can't keep this up. If you have any hopes of getting your strength back, you need to move around and go out more. I should start taking you on walks in the forest."

Cell's mind flashed back to the kodama in the forest, and he grew afraid. He tried not to show his fear.

"No, no, no!" Cell insisted. "I need more rest than I do exercise."

"I'm not kidding." Masq scolded. "I need to get you outside more often. You'll never recover if you stay cooped up here in the house."

Cell glared at her.

"You're not the superior of the both of us. You can't force me to do what I don't want to do."

"We'll see about that." Masq smirked, heading for the bed. "Well, now that you're up, what do you plan to do?"

Cell didn't give that much thought as Masq pulled back the covers.

"I'll go back to sleep." He suggested, curling back up. "It's the only thing I can do."

"Alright." Masq chuckled as she turned off the light. "Good night, Seru."

"Good night."

He sure is polite for a snooty jerk. Masq thought as she snuggled under the covers. I wonder why that is. Cell's perfect face blipped in her mind, and she suddenly blushed. She pulled the covers over her head in embarrassment. Now that she thought about it, she never got a good look at all of his body. How could she judge him by just his face? She let that stand as she tried to sleep.

Meanwhile, Cell was haunted about that girl. He had seen and heard her before…she was too familiar to him, like he had known her his whole life…

Hey, wait a minute…

He opened his eyes to look at Masq, but she had pulled the covers over her head. She couldn't get a good look at her face.

Masquerade is about the right height and age…with the same features…is it possible that I have ran into her before? Before she became a Mononoke? I can't tell now. I'll examine her further tomorrow.

He closed his eyes, and easily slipped into sleep.

As Masq started fretting about Cell's perfect form and if she really was in love with him or if it was just another obsession over a cute guy, she fell asleep.

/|\

As he stood on a ledge looking out at the forest below, a lone man let the cold night air blow through his cape. He stared out at the endless landscape of trees, listening to the howling of the wind and the low clacking of kodama. He closed his eyes and concentrated at the life force of the land. He felt no strange disturbances or strong powers. He opened his eyes, wondering why that was.

A couple of days ago, from the Tenkai, Dende and I felt a strange power here on this mountain, and then another power when the first disappeared. I thought maybe Cell had come back, but the power level was too weak to be him. Well, I can't feel it now. It seems to have disappeared.

Then, he heard a loud, long wolf howl in the distance above him.

"AWROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

He looked up, and could just barely make out a shape of a large, brown wolf standing on another cliff miles above him.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOR!"

Another wolf answered the first from the forest below, but the answer was so loud and so close that it rattled the man's bones. He scanned the surrounding forest for the second wolf, but couldn't find it. He looked back up at the first wolf, and saw it slowly make its way down the mountain. The man came up with an idea.

The wolves of the Singing Mountain…perhaps they can tell me about the strange power I felt. I should ask.

The man stepped in the first wolf's path, and the wolf stopped walking. It growled at the man in annoyance. The strange man politely bowed his head and introduced himself.

"My name is Piccolo Daimao. I have traveled here to investigate a strange disturbance of power. Can you please take me to Moro-sama?" The wolf stared at the Namek warrior curiously.

"Stranger named Piccolo," the wolf began, "I am Amaroq, Moro-sama's brother. I am headed to Moro now. Follow if you wish."

"Thank you." Piccolo accepted with a smile. As Amaroq approached, Piccolo walked carefully along side the wolf, following down the mountain trail and into the shelter of trees. The kodama noisily greeted Piccolo's presence in their home. The Namek ignored them, they were bothersome little creatures that made rather annoying noises. Their clacking pestered him, and he wished they would be quiet.

But…perhaps they bored witness to the strange powers that emerged two days ago. If Moro-sama couldn't answer his questions, maybe the friendly tree children could.

/|\

The sun was beginning to rise on Master Roshi's island. The seagulls began squawking noisily as they patrolled the waters for their breakfast, and the peaceful sound of waves breaking on the sandy shore silently soothed the air. Android 18 sat on the porch, taking in what the morning brought to her. It was relaxing and beautiful. She rarely got to enjoy sunrises since she wasn't a morning person, but she couldn't sleep and had been sitting outside for the last two hours watching the sun come up.

I wish everything were this nice. 18 sighed. I hardly have time to myself, what with Kuririn excited about the baby and that old pervert never leaving my underwear drawer alone… She supported herself on her arms as she leaned back and breathed in the salty air deep. Well, I'm excited about the baby too. Eight months is too long for me.

Suddenly, she heard a strange sound in the distance.

"WROOOOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOORRG!"

"What the…" she wondered. She leaned forward and peered out at the waves in the distance. She could see something break the surface of the water. It looked like a dolphin or something, but a dolphin didn't make that noise…She strained her eyes to look farther, and could see a long, snake like back move through the waves and a large whale like tail slap the water before disappearing. Then, another followed it, and another, and another, and another, until there seemed to be hundreds of them moving through the ocean. "Oh my God…"

"WROOOOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOORRG!"

18 stood up, and trotted to the beach. She shielded her eyes from the bright sun as she watched the creatures. A head surfaced from the mass of snake like bodies, and blew out steam from its nose. 18 gasped, the head looked a little like Shen Long without his horns…how strange… Following her sense of adventure but heading caution, she slowly lifted herself in the air and followed the serpents.

"Sea serpents?" she asked herself as she followed the creatures. "It's a fitting title for them, but serpents only exist in fairy tales…"

To be continued soon!

((Author's Note: Yeah, yeah, this chapter was rather short and didn't go anywhere, but I've got writer's block and I can't think of anything that comes after this. Don't worry, I'll think of something. Just stay tuned. ~Masquerade))