Princess Mononoke Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Singing Mountain ❯ Chapter 7: Love for a Priestess ( Chapter 7 )

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Why does Masquerade drag me through these infested woods every day?! Cell moaned in his head as he was gently dragged by the elbow through kodama inhabited woods. The little spirits were so delighted of having visitors that they decided to show themselves and clack happy words in their strange language. As Masq held Cell's elbow, forcing him to walk behind her, she laughed at the friendly creatures. She loved their company and their cute antics. Yume was especially happy of all the playmates she had. She chased a few stray spirits down the trail, barking after them as they ran away.

"Not too far, Yume-chan!" Masq called after the puppy. Yume stopped and looked over her shoulder at Masq and Cell. She wagged her tail, bounded towards them barking very loudly. The kodama chased her back to them. Cell saw the spirits running towards him and he panicked.

"AAAAAAAAAA!" he screamed, attempting to back away. He ended up faltering and falling on his back, dragging Masq with him. She landed on top of him but quickly got up to her knees and dusted herself off.

"Dammit…" Masq cursed under her breath, dusting off her shirt. "Seru, this has got to stop! I'm having you take walks through these woods so that you can overcome your fear of kodama, y'know!"

"Well, it's not working!" Cell snapped at her, sitting up.

"At least you're walking." Masq snapped back. "I could be dragging you through here by the tail again. Would you like that?"

"No…"

"Then get up and come on." Masq insisted, grabbing Cell by the headcrest and yanking him up to his feet.

"Ow!" the monster yelped. Keeping a hold of his headcrest, Masq continued dragging Cell along the trail. "Let go!" She ignored him. Jesus Christ…Cell thought angrily, she never listens to me when I say that. "C'mon, that hurts! Let go!"

"San!" Yume yelled at Masquerade, walking by Cell. "You're hurting him! Let him go!" Masq ignored her too. "Let him go or I'll bite your head off, San! I mean it!"

Then Cell realized what he was doing wrong.

"Masquerade, let me go please!"

The priestess released his headcrest.

"That was all I wanted to hear." She grinned. Cell snarled at her through his fangs.

God, I hate that witch.

Suddenly, all the kodama ran away, disappearing into the trees they were born from. Masq, Cell, and Yume looked around curiously, wondering the same thing.

"What's going on?" Masq wondered, then called out to the last few kodama: "Hey! Where y'all goin?" The kodama were silent as they ran away to their mother trees.

"Come back!" Yume pleaded, running after them. "We can play some more! Please?"

"Something's wrong…" Masq bit her lip. "Why would all the kodama just take off and hide?"

"Maybe I'm scaring them?" Cell thought out loud. Masq shook her head.

"Believe me, it'll take a lot more than you to scare away kodama." She explained.

"And what is scarier than me?" the monster interrogated.

"Me." Masq retorted. It was suppost to be a joke, but no one laughed. Yume suddenly began whimpering in fear, laying on the ground and putting her paws over her nose.

"Something smells icky!" she cried. "Make it go away!"

"Uh oh…" Masq breathed. She quickly scanned the area for anything strange. She didn't see anything weird or unusual. But a gut feeling told her that something was wrong...

"Huh?" Cell wondered, looking up at the sky. He heard something from very far away. In the air above the trees circled hundreds of vultures, cawing and gliding in search of a dead meal. "San, look." Masq looked up too.

"Whoa." She gasped. "Lookit all of them."

"Something died?"

"Something big…"

"Hey!" another voice called from down the trail. Masq and Cell looked to see two wolves: one white and another brown with a rider on the brown one. It was San Rhapsody, Aman and Ghen. Yume lifted her head as Ghen nuzzled his little sister in comfort. Aman and Rhapsody trotted up to Masq and Cell. "Are you two alright?"

"Yeah." Masq nodded. "What's going on?"

"Dragon gods." Rhapsody explained. "Thousands of them. All warriors."

"Warriors?" Masq blinked.

"Dragon…gods?!" Cell worried.

"Moro-sama ordered all priestesses to the Shishi Gami pool. She doesn't like this at all."

"What's wrong with the vultures?" Masq asked, pointing up at the sky.

"I dunno," Rhapsody bit her lip, looking up. "But they're bringing bad luck. Come along now." Aman began to run away. "The army is moving swiftly. I wish I knew what they were up to."

"Let's go then." Masq announced, hopping on Ghen's back.

"Wait a minute!" Cell halted. "Dragon gods?! No one said anything about this mountain having dragon gods!"

"No, they don't live on the mountain." Masq explained. "They live in the sea. They must have been traveling for days to get all the way up here. Hey, hop on. We have to hurry."

"I'd rather walk."

"We ain't walking. We don't have that kind of time. Now come on!"

"Alright…" Cell sighed, climbing up on the giant wolf's back. Ghen took off running as soon as the android got comfortable. Yume scampered desperately behind them.

"Wait!" she called after them. "Ghen-san! San! Seru-san! Wait for me! You guys are being mean! You guiiiiiiiiiiies!"

/|\

The trip was quick, so Cell didn't have time to complain about the ride to the realm. Ghen stopped as soon as they arrived, and Masq slid down his side. Cell followed her example, and clumsily landed on his face as soon as his feet touched the ground and buckled. Yume trotted up to them angrily.

"None of you waited for me!" she whined and yelled, grabbing Cell's tail spike in her jaws and shaking it around viciously. "You're all bad! I hate you! I'll bite your heads off! Grrrrrrr!" Cell couldn't help but be amused. He reached over behind him and patted Yume's head. She froze in surprise, then dropped Cell's tail and began licking his face in forgiveness. He quickly got up and wiped wolf slobber off his beak and cheek.

Masq headed for the large gathering of Sans by the edge of the lake. Moro-sama was walking towards them, and was looking very grim. Masq headed to the giant wolf, wondering what was wrong. She asked the god that as she put a hand on Moro's muzzle.

"Four thousand dragons…" Moro-sama spoke quietly and softly. "…Osa commanding…all warriors…the dragons do not wish us well…at least I don't think so…"

"Will there be a fight, Moro-sama?" Masq asked in worry.

"There is no avoiding it." The wolf dreaded. "I have sent messengers to talk to Osa and his men, but none of them would listen. They continued to march on."

"Suppose…" Cell brainstormed as he approached, "…suppose that the dragons didn't come here because of you. Maybe they are after something else."

"We have nothing of their value." Moro shook her head. "It doesn't make sense. I don't know why…" She let that hang. Masquerade put a worried look on her face.

"I don't understand either…" she murmured. "Wolves and dragons are neutral allies. There's no reason to pick a fight with us…I know! Maybe they're bored!"

"Be serious, San!" Moro-sama snapped, baring all of her sharp teeth. "We could be on the brink of war!"

"Moro-sama?" one of the younger priestesses whimpered. Moro turned her head towards the group of Sans and began speaking.

"I don't know what the dragons want." She announced. "We'll try reasoning with them again."

"They ignore our messengers." One of the old Sans stated firmly.

"Yeah!" a teenage San spoke up, putting her hands on her hips. "They, like, didn't even make eye contact!"

"They're gonna eat us!" an eight-year old panicked, hiding her face under her fur shroud.

"No one is going to eat anybody." Moro announced. "They are headed for the river village in the canyon. We can meet them on the plains just in front of the bordering cliffs. We'll cut them off, and try negotiating…"

Savage peoples 'negotiating?' Cell wondered with a strange look on his face. I'll be damned! What is this planet coming to?!

"…and if they won't talk, then we will have to fight them. If we do fight, try not to kill anyone. Let there be no more casualties and no more wars. Understood?"

"Hai!" the priestesses nodded in unison. Masq saluted while Cell watched on.

"Advisers, expecting, and smallings head for the temple. All warriors, mount a wolf and head for the cliffs outside the river village." Moro ordered. "Go!" The group quickly broke up. The older priestesses and children moved quickly away while the ones who decided to fight grabbed spears, bows and arrows, or katanas and hopped on the giant wolf of their choice. Very young puppies joined the retreaters to the temple. Yume was reluctant to go.

"I want to stay with you, Moro-mama!" she argued.

"Go with your brothers and sisters."

"Ghen-san and Sirrus get to go! Why can't I?"

"You're too young and you'll get hurt. Now go on."

"I won't fight. I'll just be with you."

"Hopefully there will be no fighting, little one. Now go with the others to the temple."

"You should go to the temple too, Seru." Masq suggested, grabbing a spear and jumping onto Ghen's back.

"You're going to the dragon gods too?" he wondered.

"Yeah. And I don't know what's going to happen."

"Very well." Cell nodded. "Good luck to you and the tribe, San." He jogged after the retreaters to the temple. Masq looked up to Moro, who looked into her priestess's eyes. Masq sighed and smiled.

"Will you come with us, Moro-sama?" she asked.

"I will come, but I will watch from afar." Moro nodded, then bumped Yume in the rear with her muzzle. Yume yipped, then barked fiercely as she ran after Cell and the Sans heading for the temple. "If anything should go wrong, I will be there to begin the battle."

"Let's go then." Masq suggested, grabbing a tuff of fir on Ghen's back. Both wolves took off running and joined the group of diplomats heading for the dragon gods, preparing for both peaceful and bloody endings to the dilemma.

Singing Mountain: Chapter 7

Cell could see both the marching of the wolf warriors and the dragon warriors by a river a few miles away. They were headed towards each other. The massive Osa Gami watched from a high cliff far away from both armies. Moro-sama had hidden herself away in the underbrush by the village entrance. For percausions, the village was evacuated and the people were heading to the temple as a separate caravan.

Be safe, Masquerade, Cell wished in his head as the warrior Sans began singing their marching song. They formed a defense formation in front of the cliffs by the village. He had a feeling that the dragons were indeed here to fight and something bad would happen to Masquerade. He blinked with a surprised look. What am I thinking?! She's a human, and I'm the ultimate warrior. I'm a real god. Why should I care about her? Especially since she would do those incredibly horrible things to me…

"Are you coming?" a sickeningly familiar voice asked in annoyance.

"Don't rush me, Namek. I'm sick, remember?!" Cell snapped, continuing to walk up to the temple. Piccolo walked beside him, carrying his cape over his shoulder like a fresh kill from a hunt.

"Yeah. I remember." Piccolo glanced at his old foe. "Don't tell me you're worried about that girl."

"…"

"You are, aren't you?"

"I didn't say anything."

"I'll admit it," Piccolo began, "her lack of respect for authority is remarkable. I've met a lot of women, but none with a temper like that."

"She is authority." Cell groaned. "Just this morning, she…" He stopped himself from saying too much, and began to blush. Piccolo turned his head towards Cell.

"Come on now. What did she do?"

"I refuse to talk about it, and you'll laugh."

"I've never laughed at anything."

Until you saw my reaction to kodama. Cell sighed mentally. He turned his head away from the Namek. Out of the corner of his eye, Cell noticed little Yume running towards them, panting happily.

"Stop this." Piccolo encouraged. "Stop holding back what needs to be said. Now what did she do to you this morning?"

"It's not important anyway." Cell insisted. Suddenly, Yume burst out laughing.

"Guess what? Guess what?" the puppy chattered, standing on her hind legs and playfully pawing the air up at Piccolo. "San hit Seru-san with a pot this morning!" Then she fell over laughing.

"She what?!" Piccolo wondered in horror. Cell lowered his head to hide his blushing face.

"It was a frying pan, actually." He mumbled.

"That woman hit you with a frying pan?!"

"Not so loud!" Cell hissed.

"I'll be damned…" Piccolo shook his head as he continued up the mountain. Cell followed him from behind and Yume walked beside the android like a faithful seeing-eye dog. "I can't believe it. Either you made her mad, or she really likes flaunting her authority over you."

"Both." Cell admitted, giving Yume a small kick in the side for her big mouth. "I wanted to sleep to help get my strength back, and she wanted to take me for a walk through the kodama forests. When I argued with her, she went into the kitchen and…" Suddenly he stopped himself and shot Piccolo a very angry look. "Wait a minute, why am I telling you?!"

"Because you trust me." Piccolo answered, looking back at the old enemy of his. "And because I trust you. I didn't laugh at you when you thought I would."

Cell sighed in agreement.

"Thank you for not laughing at me." He groaned.

"Your welcome." The Namek nodded then continued on. Cell looked back down on the wolf army several miles away below him. They were lined up and waiting at their positions. Moro-sama had completely disappeared in hiding. The dragons were starting to charge towards the village the wolves were guarding. Cell was too far away to spot Masquerade among the troops, but she was out there on a white wolf named Ghen.

Be safe, Masquerade. He wished. Please be safe…

/|\

"Hitotsu futatsu wa akago mo fumuga
Mittsu yottsu wa oni mo naku, naku
Tatara onna wa kogane no nasake
Tokete nagarerya yaiba ni kawaru."

The Sans rode their wolves into place, holding their weapons ready. Rhapsody and Masq stood in the second to the first row as the second wave of necessary attack. Both held spears in their hands, but their knives were strapped to their legs where they could reach and unsheathe quickly. They watched the tree line half a mile away from them. The dragons would come from those trees in a huge mass. The oldest of the group of sans, San Aoi, would be the first to speak to the attackers. If the dragons were willing to speak with the wolves, great; If not, there would be a battle.

Soon, everyone was in place, and all there was left to do was wait silently.

Some put their sweating hands on the hilts of their sheathed swords. Others held their unloaded bows in their laps in patience. The wolves were still and silent. They could wait for as long as it took. Masq gave her spear a heavier grip. She sensed there would be a fight. Moro-sama agreed that there may be no avoiding a battle with their neutral allies.

"What do you think will happen, Rhapsody?" Masq wondered to her friend. Rhapsody had her mask over her face, hiding her grim frown.

"I don't know. We will just have to see."

"What are the dragons like? Perhaps knowing that, we have a chance for peace."

"Dragons are stubborn creatures with hot tempers and little patience. They believe their decisions are etched in stone. If they came here to fight us, then we will have to fight them in defense. They aren't very smart, so we may have the advantage if they attack."

"Yeah." Masq nodded.

So there was going to be a fight. Would it lead to a war?

/|\

Cell stopped walking as he felt something strange. He looked back down at the defending wolf army. They were quiet, almost calm. The forest seemed equally quiet, like it was holding its breath, waiting for something to happen. Up on the far away cliff, Osa turned his head this way and that, looking through the tree canopy. He seemed to be looking for something. Cell turned around, and looked through the canopy too. He wasn't quite so sure what he was looking for, though.

"How odd." Piccolo murmured, stopping too. "I felt a huge power drop." He looked down to the scene as well. "Well, everything appears to be fine…"

"What exactly was it you felt?" Cell wondered.

"I'm not sure. I experienced this before when…" Piccolo let that hang as he tried to remember. He had felt it before…when Cell attacked Nickey Town. Back then, the Namek could feel the life of the city fade away. Something similar was happing now.

"I'm too weak in ki to feel anything." Cell admitted shaking his head. "But I felt something, and I didn't like it."

"No." Piccolo agreed. "I have a bad feeling about this."

They both watched and waited for the source of the power to show itself.

/|\

Five minutes passed.

Then ten minutes went by.

Then a whole half an hour.

Nothing had happened.

"What's going on?" Masq finally wondered. "The dragonoids should have gotten here a long time ago…"

"Maybe it's a trap?" a nearby San shrugged. "Maybe they're trying to lure us into the forest?"

"Dragons are too dumb for that." Aman-sama answered. "They attack with full force. They wouldn't hide or set traps. That's a waste of time for them."

"Then where are they?" Masq wondered. "Did they retreat?"

"No." Rhapsody shook her head. "A Mononoke never retreats from battle."

"This is strange. Where are they?"

"I smell blood." Ghen suddenly spoke up, nose twitching left and right.

"As do I." Aman agreed, sniffing the air too. All the wolves took a whiff and agreed that a smell similar was in the air.

"I don't smell anything…" A priestess murmured.

"Hey! I think I see something!" another called, pointing to the trees. All eyes turned to the edge of the forest. Something was moving in the shadows of the trees, but it seemed to glide like a wave of water.

"I don't like the look of that!" Rhapsody announced to the wolves. "Those with bows and arrows, tie prayers to your arrows! Quickly!" Those that were armed with the weapons in question took small paper scrolls out of their quivers and tied hard knots around the shafts of their arrows and loaded their bows. Masq just pointed her spear in the direction of the coming shape. It was creepy in her eyes, and she sensed an evil power nearby.

Then, it emerged!

It was a gigantic creature the size of a wolf god. It was covered in slimy, snake-like tendrils, had ten spider leg appendages, and an egg shaped body. Red eyes shone on the front of its body. It had no mouth, nose, or feet. It left a trail of blood stained ground. Trees withered away as it touched them. The grass below its feet was melted away into red nothingness.

It was headed for the wolves!

"It's a demon!" San Miaka called in alarm.

A demon?! Masq worried. Is that what one really looks like?

"Open fire!" Rhapsody ordered. The priestesses released their bowstrings, letting their arrows sing through the air towards the unholy creature. They sank into its flesh and were thrown to the ground by the tendrils. Suddenly, the creature gained speed and crashed into the line of Sans. Those that were touched by its skin were burned and screamed in pain. Wolves whimpered and cried out as their fur was singed and smoldered. Ghen panicked and bucked Masq off his back. His trusted friend fell on her back as the wolf's muzzle was singed by the demon's leg. Masq got up and ran away from the panicking armada.

"Retreat!" Miaka shouted to the wolves, taking out a knife with a blue blade. She stabbed it into the demon's body, and it shrieked in pain. Masq covered her ears and ran blindly away from the scene. The wolves ran up the cliffs to head for the river where they would be safe. Masq was running for the forest the demon had come from. Miaka was punched in the stomach by one of the monster's legs and was thrown in with the retreating army. Then it caught sight of Masquerade, and ran after her.

Masq soon caught the scent of blood in the forest air. As soon as the smell got to her nose, she stopped in disgust. She put the back of her hand to her nose to block the stench, but it was little help. Then she saw it, the source of the smell. The entire army of dragons and their warrior riders was sprawled out among the trees and forest floor in burned and bloody messes. They were carcasses. Some of the vultures from above were picking at some of the bodies. Masq was disgusted, and so was her stomach. Her breakfast jumped to her throat as she threw up in a bush.

"Help!" a weak voice called from the massacre aftermath. Masq wiped her mouth and looked up. One of the warriors, with red burns on his face and chest, tried to crawl away on his stomach with only his arms to move him. "Somebody! Help!" Masq ran to him and helped him up.

"Did that demon do this?" she asked him. He whimpered and squeaked in fear upon hearing the word 'demon.' Then, speak of the devil, the demon burst out of the trees and at the two humans. Masq slung the warrior's arm over her shoulders and started running away as fast as she could. The demon was at her heals, snarling and roaring in hunger. Masq tried to use the words she had learned from the Demon Scroll. It was a request that the monster go away, but she didn't know if it would work or not.

"Calm your fury, oh mighty lord!" she screamed to it over her shoulder in panic. "Whatever you may be, god or demon, please leave us in peace!"

It continued to chase them.

Masq was very scared now.

Am I going to die?

/|\

"Oh my God!" Piccolo and Cell gasped at what they saw. A strange monster with slimy skin attacked the wolves, leaving four dead and the rest seriously injured. They all headed for the river and to Moro-sama's hiding place. Cell spotted one of the Mononoke running in the direction the monster came from.

"What is that idiot thinking?!" Cell demanded in confusion. "What is going on here?"

"That ki signature!" Piccolo recognized the priestess running the wrong way. "It's San Masquerade!"

"WHAT?!" Cell screamed in shock. Then, he watched the demon run after her. Cell's breath became quick, and his heart pounded in his chest. What was going to happen to Masquerade? He couldn't let her die! With strength he had seemed to magically regain, he ran down the mountain at his fastest speed towards the forest.

"No Cell!" Piccolo shouted after him, trying to follow. "Don't go down there! If that creature touches you, you could die!"

"I don't care!" Cell shouted up after him. "Masquerade would never let me die, so I won't let her die either!" Piccolo clenched his teeth in frustration.

"I'm going with you!"

As grateful as Cell was for the help, he didn't respond. His focus was on Masquerade, and keeping her alive.

/|\

Moro-sama stood up in alarm as her injured priestesses ran to her side. The smallest injury was to San Rhapsody, who had a small burn on her shoulder. The burns were starting to dull from red to purple, and the pain was going away, but that wouldn't last too long. Moro immediately went to her high priestess.

"Where did that demon come from?" she demanded.

"We don't know." Rhapsody shook her head, pushing her mask off her face and to the top of her head. "We believe the dragon army ran into it, though. That may be the reason why they never came."

"San!" Ghen called around into the crowd of injured. "San Masquerade, where are you?"

"One of the priestesses ran into the forest." Moro noted, keeping an eye on Ghen. "Who was it?"

"I didn't see anyone…" Rhapsody admitted.

"The demon retreated into the forest!" Miaka explained. "It was running after the girl!"

"I'm going to stop him!" Moro-sama declared, jumping out of her hiding spot. "Rhapsody, come with me!"

"Miaka!" Rhapsody called. "Give me a bow and arrows!" The medicine woman complied. Rhapsody caught them, jumped back on Aman's back, and spurred the wolf to follow Moro. Ghen ran with them. Miaka began to lead the injured towards the Shishi Gami pool where they could be safe and she could heal them.

/|\

Masquerade ran out of the tree line, and toward a sloping downward hill. The demon was in hot pursuit.

"Go back!" she shouted at it. "Leave us alone! Please! Stop!"

It refused to listen. Masquerade was becoming tired and out of breath, and on top of that there was a stitch in her side, causing her to run slower. Suddenly, the demon batted at Masquerade with one of its legs, knocking her over to the side where she landed on her back. To save the injured dragon, she flung him far away from her, and tried to stand. Her right side, where the demon touched her, burned and sapped her strength. She lifted her head to see the demon charging towards her. She screamed in fear, helpless and pale.

/|\

Cell leapt at Masquerade, and knocked her away from the demon with his body. He tumbled away with her as the demon struck only grass. It growled in disappointment, and turned to Cell. His priestess friend fainted in his arms. The android shielded Masq with his back, wings, and tail from the monstrosity.

"If you try to touch her again," he growled at the animal, "then I'll steal that filthy soul of yours!" The demon roared at him. Then, Cell spotted an opening in the demon's skin as it tried to breathe. It was tired from running after Masq. What he saw through the break was a familiar, fatigued face. "Surreal?" he wondered.

"Makkankosappo!" Piccolo called out his attack name from the air. He fired his spiraling attack from his fingers to the demon. The ki attack landed on the demon and there was a loud explosion, billowing clouds of dust from the ground. Cell gathered Masquerade in his arms and began to run away down the hill. However, the unharmed demon charged from the dust and ran after Cell. "WHAT?!" Piccolo cried out in shock. "How could it have survived that?!"

The demon stretched an extra leg from its back, and grabbed one of Cell's legs. Cell tripped and almost dropped Masquerade as he was hoisted into the air, and dropped on the creature's body. Cell felt his skin burn, like he was on fire. He tried to protect Masq by wrapping his arms and legs around her and fanning out his wings as he sank into the creature's tendrils. Pain shot through his body, burning him to the bone. Tears streaked through his eyes as the sensation became too unbearable. He screamed in pain, but the monster's triumphant roars drowned him out!

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

/|\

Moro-sama held her ground as she let Rhapsody continue on. Aman charged for the demon with her bow loaded and bowstring taunt. She saw a break in the creature's skin, and let her prayer-tied arrow fly. It sunk beyond the skin and the demon roared in deadly pain. Then, Moro-sama took her part of the plan and ran to the weakened demon. She quickly burrowed her muzzle into the withering and slithering tendrils, and grabbed the source of the demon's power. The pulled it out of the mass of slime, and flung it away. It was a spirit of a human woman, and Rhapsody's arrow had taken root in her chest. The spirit was smacked into a tree, and fell to the ground where it was ignored.

The demon's body then melted away into thick, gray gobs of muddy goo. Cell stood up from them, holding Masquerade tightly to him. His breathing was labored, and his heartbeat was fatally slow. With Moro-sama's gentle nudges of help, Cell stepped out of the mess, then fell to the ground on top of Masquerade. Moro-sama tugged him aside as Piccolo landed next to her.

"Incredible…" he gasped. "What happened?"

"The demon is dead." Rhapsody explained, riding up to them on Aman. Ghen trotted behind them. "It won't bother us anymore." Piccolo's eyes turned to the spirit, who was glaring at them as she pulled the arrow out of her. Then the spirit faded away, leaving the arrow and its prayer behind as the last trace of her.

"Who was that?" Piccolo wondered.

"An evil spirit." Ghen snarled. "I'll request Miaka to seal it away after she learns its name."

Meanwhile, Aman and Moro-sama licked away the harmless goo from Cell and Masquerade's faces so that they could breathe. After a while, Cell opened his eyes and looked up at Moro's face.

"You have changed again, Seru." Moro said softly. Cell wondered what she meant, and lifted his hand. Some of the goo slid off cleanly to reveal his marble white hand and black claws. He was too tired, and in a daze to let this impact him. He knew he had transformed back into his perfect body, but he didn't feel anything. Nothing. No excitement, happiness, relief, or even satisfaction. Nothing at all. He closed his eyes and breathed through his mouth.

"Masquerade…" he groaned.

"She is fine." Moro comforted. "Her burns are bad, but you took most of the damage for her. She could have died if you didn't help her…and you could have died too."

"She would have done the same for me."

"I thought you didn't care about her." Piccolo interrogated as he stood over Cell. "What's wrong, can't you make up your mind? Do you like her or hate her?"

"Can't think…" Cell moaned. "I'm so…sleepy…"

"Get some rest then." Moro encouraged, closing her jaws gently around the android and lifting him up. "I'll take you to Miaka to get you healed." Rhapsody lifted the unconcience Masquerade onto Ghen's back, then she ran to the dragon warrior and carried him to Aman. She placed the warrior on the other wolf's back, and jumped into a seating position on the wolf's back to keep the man steady. Ghen walked along side his mother, and Piccolo walked with Moro too. The Namek wanted to hear everything Cell had to say about San Masquerade.

I thought he hated her. I would hate her too after all she done to him. She teased him, taunted him, ordered him around, insulted him, slapped him, and even hit him with a frying pan when he disobeyed her. He looked over at the priestess on Ghen's back. But…she had the courage to do all of that. Therefore, she did all of that for his own good. She wanted to help him become healthy again, and she was very attached to him. She talked about him and treated him like he was a brother to her. From what I have heard about her, she always defended a friend in danger…

So what is the special case here? Why did he save her if he hates her? Was he lying to me? Or maybe…he was lying to himself? Maybe he liked her all along…

Maybe he…is in love with her?

Farfetched, I know. But it is possible…