Princess Mononoke Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Singing Mountain ❯ Chapter 14: Seeking Revenge ( Chapter 14 )

Last time on Singing Mountain…

On the conquered Mountain of the Tatara, a face masked in red cloth looked out at the Singing Mountain just several miles away. The clothed priest stared at the mountain in hatred and disgust. He was one of the many high priests of the raven clan, dressed in ancient Emishi robes and carrying a long katana. His gigantic bird, the size of a moving van, stood by his side.

"All but that mountain is ours." The bird squawked through its beak. "The mountain that is the home of the wolf gods."

"It is also the realm of the late Shishi Gami." The high priest nodded. "How dare the descendents of those who killed him live on that land with the gods…"

"Indeed…" the bird agreed. "Sinful people. No mercy for them either…"

"No mercy." The priest nodded. "Especially for the one named Cell."

Singing Mountain: Chapter 14

Cell approached Moro-sama as she rested on the top of her den. One of her ears twitched as she watched Cell walk up to one of her front paws.

"Konnichuwa, Moro-sama." Cell greeted with a nod. Moro raised her head slightly.

"Good afternoon, Cell." She greeted with what appeared to be a small smile.

"…" Cell hesitated before he could ask his question. He felt a little nervous, and the information he gathered from his dreams gave him too much insight of Singing Mountain's history. Ashitaka, San, Lady Eboshi, the wolves, the boars, the Shishi Gami…and the mysterious tie between Akimo and Surreal…

…and Laerrus, let's not forget Laerrus…

"Something troubles you?" Moro wondered, turning her ears toward the android. Cell bowed his head slightly.

"What is happening on the mountain?" he asked. "What kind of danger are we in?"

"Rather great danger." Moro explained. "The raven tribe is upon us, headed for us now as we speak. There is no doubt in my mind they wish to fight us."

"But this isn't their land." Cell blinked. "It never was. Why would they fight you?"

"Because my priestesses are the descendents of those who killed the Shishi Gami." Moro-sama began. "They are the last of the Tatara clan. The ravens hated the Tatara."

"Why?"

Moro-sama lowered her head between her front paws, and sighed out her massive nose. She was about to explain a long story.

"Thousands and thousands of years ago, before any of the Earth's creatures existed, there were four life Gods, each representing one element. All four were Gods of life and death: a deer, a bird, a fish, and a cat. Together, all four created the land. The trees, the oceans, the mountains, the clouds…the creatures that lived on it.

"The first beasts on the land were giants, alike us, but as time went by and the land evolved, many of the giants began to shrink in size and the Gods began to lose their power over the land. Not many are sure how or why, but three of the four Gods had died. The humans destroyed the bird God when his home was turned into the capital city of Kyoto. The ravens began to fight the humans, but were driven to the east by Lady Eboshi and her warriors. The ravens sought refuge with the lost and long forgotten tribe of humans called the Emishi. The ravens were hardly heard from again.

"The only God that remained was the Shishi Gami of the Wolf Jaw Mountains. Moro Gami, my grandmother, had bestowed the duty upon herself to guard the God's life, for his death would then mean the death of all. She, along with her two sons and human daughter, kept guard of him until the Tatara settled on the mountain. Thus began the war between the humans and the Gods…"

"But it was just a fight for right of the land." Cell interrupted with his claim. "There was no real war. The Gods were protecting their home while Eboshi tried to take it away."

"How do you know this?" Moro wondered. Cell hesitated, frowning. He didn't know how to tell Moro-sama about his dreams, and he didn't know what she would think of them. He turned his head away before giving his answer to Moro-sama's question.

"I…heard about it from San Miaka. I'm sorry for interrupting, please continue. Who won the war between the Gods and the humans?"

"Nobody."

Cell looked back at Moro-sama.

"Nobody?"

"It ended when the Shishi Gami died, and both the humans and Gods were forced to work together and survive his demon's wrath. When he died, the Shishi Gami became an entity of death. The forest began to whither away at his touch, and the lives of many innocent creatures and humans were sucked away. San and Ashitaka together brought his spirit to rest, and the land was resurrected. Ashitaka was revered as a hero, and San was once again the human who lived with the Gods."

"When do the ravens come in?"

"Some few months afterward…when Lady Eboshi built a temple on top of the Tatara Ba ruins in tribute to Moro Gami. The ravens were enraged that her murderer would suddenly pay homage to the courageous warrior. They attacked and tore the temple down. If not for Ashitaka-sama's help, there would have been no survivors. We were once again forced to war, no matter how many times Ashitaka tried to establish peace between our two tribes. It was no use. Many died, warriors and innocent, God and beast. The forest was almost torn down again…

"…San and Ashitaka once again worked together to solve the conflict. In an attempt to talk peace to the ravens, the raven leader perished when a comrade suspected him of treason. The ravens did themselves in, and put the blame on us. We had not heard of them since, but they sought an alliance with the Emishi people, making them their clan of priests and priestesses."

Cell knew little about the Emishi. During the Muramachi period, the reigning emperor did everything he could to demolish any trace of the tribe. They were driven away for their loyalty to the Gods, and their power to overthrow the Empire. However, their last existence was recorded at 6,500 years ago. The Emishi should be no more.

"And now they have returned…" Cell thought out loud, "…but after all these years, what do they have to come back for? Why didn't they attack the mountain earlier?"

"They have learned their lesson, and Ashitaka-sama kept them away as long as he was alive." Moro-sama did her best to answer. "Why the ravens are here now is not clear to me. I can only see their intent of revenge…"

"Moro-sama?"

"Yes, Cell?"

"Who is Laerrus? I have always wondered that. Her name isn't Japanese…"

"When the Shishi Gami died, she became the God of Death."

"Is there a connection between her and Akimo?"

"This is another long story."

Cell sat down next to Moro-sama, and looked up at her.

"Please…tell me…"

"The morning after the Shishi Gami died, Ashitaka came across two infant humans lying side by side in a grassy field. They were a twin boy and girl. Confused as to what to do with them, he took them to the ruins of Tatara Ba and showed them to the people there. None of them claimed the newborns. Lady Eboshi, a woman with a heart for the outcasted and unfortunate, decided to take the girl child in while Ashitaka cared for the boy. Both children were raised separately, and both were named after a single word that was heard in Ashitaka and Eboshi's dreams. The boy was named Akimo, and the girl was named Laerrus.

"Akimo began to acquire strange powers. Where he walked, flowers would bloom. He could give life to dead creatures, and he could communicate with the kodama and creatures of the forest. He made the mightiest of trees grow from a seed in a matter of seconds. Ashitaka didn't know how to explain it, except the child was the resurrected spirit of the Shishi Gami. However, the boy didn't live long. When he was nine years of age, he died of a sickness. Ashitaka was very saddened.

"Laerrus lived a good life with Lady Eboshi. She learned politics, leadership, and how to fire a rifle. She was very much like her mother as she grew. She was fourteen years old when she acquired a strange power. She possessed a power to kill whatever living thing she touched. The power drove her mad. She released energy and powers the death god once did. Many of the Tatara people and the forests of Singing Mountain were destroyed. Lady Eboshi was forced to shoot and kill the girl she loved so much as a daughter.

"Both of the spirits lived on. But Laerrus was much more powerful in her deadly arts at a spirit. She acquired the power to summon demons from any living thing. San used a power of the ancients once had to seal her away in Cage's Cave, where she lay dormant since."

"She has been freed." Cell informed.

"I know." Moro acknowledged. "However, she has caused no trouble, and there is no need for alarm."

"When was she freed?"

"That does not necessarily concern me. What concerns me is who freed her and how."

Cell thought for a while.

So, Laerrus and Akimo are twins? And both are resurrections of the Shishi Gami? And if Laerrus looks like Surreal…and if Surreal has the power to cause death and summon demons…

Wait a minute…

Cell drew his finger in a patch of loose dirt the two names in English. He didn't have to look too carefully at the result:

LAERRUS

SURREAL

"Oh my God…" he breathed.

/|\

Rhapsody quickly looked away from the spar at the growing crowd. A few of the training Sans and even a few Battle Masters were gathering around to watch San Rhapsody and San Masquerade do combat. Rhapsody mostly kept on guard with her short sword in hand while Masquerade seemed to suddenly become adjusted to the knife in her hand as though the cold steel blade became a part of her body. Rhapsody also noticed how Masquerade seemed to sense her movement without even looking away from her eyes. Both their eyes remained locked, and Masq could see everything Rhapsody would do.

She jumps foreword…

Rhapsody lunged foreword with her sword in the air, but Masq effortlessly blocked it, and attacked with her free hand, scratching Rhapsody's face. Rhapsody stumbled back a few steps, then gripped her sword tighter.

A lunge…

Rhapsody stabbed her sword foreword, but Masq blocked it with her knife, then danced around behind Rhapsody, and elbowed her sharply in the back. Their eye contact broke, and Rhapsody quickly spun around and punched Masq in the neck. Masq fell backward, but quickly got up and looked back into Rhapsody's eyes.

She waits for me to move…

Masq struck a defensive position, inviting Rhapsody to make the first move. Rhapsody looked the girl up and down.

How strange… she thought …she seems to track my every move and thought. But…only if our eyes are locked…

This is a very fascinating talent she has…If I'm not mistaken, this is the language of the Gods she is demonstrating…the ability to communicate and sense with only eyesight.

Then to defeat her, I must not look at her!

Rhapsody turned her eyes down, looking at Masq's knees rather than her eyes. Masq blinked, then Rhapsody lunged. Masq quickly dodged out of the way, pointing her knife out in front of her. Still keeping her eyesight averted from Masq's, Rhapsody sheathed her sword back at her side, and flexed her hands like a Namekian fighter. Masq blinked a few more times, then started to put her knife away. With their eyesight completely averted, Rhapsody took the vulnerable moment to lunge for Masq and kick her knee into her chest. Masq retaliated as she fell, kicking Rhapsody in the neck before falling on her back.

"Wow…" Masq breathed as she got up. "…you're ruthless, Rhap." Rhapsody smiled, and lent her fellow priestess a helping hand.

"I try not to be." She chuckled. "Shall we continue?"

"Nah." Masq laughed, dusting off her shirt. "That's enough. I don't think I'll ever be as great a fighter as you."

"Oh, don't give up now." Rhapsody scolded, putting her hands on her hips. "You were winning."

"No, I was loosing." Masq shook her head. The crowd began dispersing, and trainees went on with their spars and training. Rhapsody looked into Masq's eyes.

"Masq…Coral…what do you think of psychic powers?"

"Well, it exists." Masq smiled. "Why would you ask?"

"Do you think you can see things…before they happen?"

"No." Masq shook her head. "I don't think I've done that before…"

"Masq…" Rhapsody began to explain, "I think you do have such power. As we were fighting, you knew exactly what I was going to do as long as you were looking into my eyes."

"I…guess you're right." Masq shrugged. "I seem to always know how people are feeling and what it is they want…"

"Such a power existed long ago, back when the Shishi Gami still lived. It was the language of the Gods, to speak through the eyes. That's why the ancient gods never spoke a word, they had a language beyond human comprehension. They say the eyes are windows to the soul…well, Masq, you have the power to see exactly what's on the other side of those windows."

"Whoa." Masq gasped. "You mean it?"

Rhapsody nodded.

"It's unique for a human to have this ability. No one is born with it, you must learn it. It is possible for humans to speak the ancient language, but it takes so long to master. How did you get this ability?"

"I dunno…" Masq admitted, putting a hand behind her head. "I've always been able to do that, as far back as I can remember. I seemed to know what others wanted and how they felt…when I looked in their eyes…"

Rhapsody smiled.

"Fascinating…" she whispered. Then she patted Masq's shoulder. "Now, don't give up the spar on me. Let's keep going. You're move."

/|\

Cell watched Masq and Rhapsody from where he stood, next to Moro-sama. With his extra-sensitive hearing, he managed to hear every word of their conversation. He began to see Masquerade in a new light.

She can sense feelings and needs by looking into someone's eyes?

That explains much…

He remembered back to the forest a year earlier, when he and Masquerade first met…

… … …

"No! Please!" the girl pleaded, starting to cry. "I know where the androids are!"

"Huh?!" Cell gasped, stopping in his tracks. The girl looked into his eyes with her watery blue ones.

"I know who you are, and I know what you want. If you let me live, I can take you to the androids!"

"How do you know about the androids?"

"I can take you to them, just don't kill me."

"…"

He had absolutely no idea what to do. He was taken off guard. Had she run into Piccolo or one of the others? No…they wouldn't flat out tell a stranger about the androids and himself. Becoming fearful in his curiosity, he decided to believe the girl for now. That is, if she was telling the truth and did know about Androids 17 and 18.

"Where are the androids?" Cell demanded, glaring into her horrified eyes. A few tears ran down her face as she answered.

"Son Goku's house."

"Why would they go there?"

"I don't know!" The girl screamed, squeezing her eyes shut and turning away from him. "They just are! There, I told you! Please don't kill me!"

Cell couldn't help but grow suspicious. Still, a bad lead was better than no lead at all. He took a few steps towards her, and carefully moved his tail towards her neck. He held her head still with one hand, and the very tip of his tail ever so carefully pricked her skin and she squeaked through her clenched teeth in pain.

"Relax." Cell insisted. "I'm not going to kill you…"

"Wh…what are you doing?" she groaned. He could hear sleepiness in her voice.

"Just relax." He soothed. "I'm injecting a tranquilizer in your blood. You will be asleep for a few hours. And by the time you wake up, we will be at Son Goku's house and we will see if what you claim is true."

The girl then closed her eyes and fell limp. Cell gathered her and flung her over his shoulder. A quick detour to the west wouldn't hurt him, and he could cover more ground looking for the androids. And even if she was lying to save her skin, he could absorb more human energy along the way, since the west was very heavily populated.

He began running westward, believing with ever stomping step that the girl was most likely lying.

… … …

She wasn't lying… Cell realized. It was San Masquerade…and she was telling the truth…She had a feeling the androids would go to Son Goku's house because he was still alive in that time line, and they wanted to kill him. She sensed all of this by looking into my eyes, and discovering everything about me, hoping it would save her from certain death…

So why can't she remember that happened?

Could something in the tranquilizer have caused her to lose some of her memory?

Hmmm…

Cell lowered his head in thought. So, he and Masquerade have met before, but both were entirely different people. He was a killer on the run, and she was a normal city girl. Both were still very young, with no knowledge of love and romance…

Or was she?

This Takashi she once mentioned…

And she lied to me about where she got the crystal dagger. She said her father gave it to her before she came to the mountain, but she came here six months ago. And it was a year ago when I attacked her city and killed her family. Six months ago, her father wasn't around. A man named Takashi… gave the crystal dagger to her a year ago

There was a small conversation about the dagger he overheard a few days ago between Masq and Miaka…

… … …

" 'Crystal dagger?' " Miaka wondered with a sly smile. "Who gave it to you?"

"Oh, an old boyfriend of mine. I don't like him anymore."

"But crystal daggers are a bonding." Miaka explained. "If he gave it to you, then he had every desire to marry you."

"He changed his mind, let's just leave it at that."

… … …

Takashi was…an "old boyfriend?"

And I killed him?

No wonder why Masq was so upset when she mentioned him. He had probably proposed to her, and then he left her.

But why did she lie?

To forget about him? To forget about what I did to him?

Suddenly, he heard strange cawing sounds in the air. He and Moro-sama looked up at the setting sun. They could see large shadows and silowetts of gigantic birds flying their way, and Cell could see people sitting on the backs of the birds. He narrowed his eyes.

"Ravens?" he asked Moro-sama.

"They are coming!" she realized in alarm. She quickly stood up, and howled loud and long so that the mountain could hear her call of warning. Her howl rang heavily with the word "danger!" The training priestesses on the battleground stopped what they were doing, first looking up at Moro, and then at the coming attack from the west.

"Oh no!" Rhapsody panicked. "Too soon! They came sooner than expected!"

Masq was horrified. She wasn't sure what to do.

Look at all of them! This army is a lot bigger than the dragon army is!

We can't fight them all!

/|\

Many of the priestesses who either panicked or felt they couldn't do any good quickly left the Battle Field to go protect the cities and villages. Priestesses armed with bows and arrows, along with cloth slingshots and rifles, aimed their weapons at the sky, at the approaching ravens. Wolves stood on the ground, ready to take out any falling fliers. Moro-sama watched from inside her den, her puppies by her side. Cell was with her too, ready to come out at a moments notice. He wanted to be out with the attacking priestesses, but Moro forbade it, believing the true reason the ravens came was because of Cell.

The riders of the ravens began loading their bows and rifles. A select few had laser guns with them. They aimed at the vulnerable wolves and their priestesses, waiting for the word from their high priest. The armor clad high priest didn't hesitate to give his command.

"Fire at will!" he called through his veil of red cloth. All the priests fired what they had: arrows, rocks, or lasers. The wolf clan was completely bombarded. Priestesses were speared by the arrows, knocked unconscious by the rocks, or sliced in half by the lasers. A brave few tried shooting back, knocking one or two of the massive army out of the sky, but that didn't even cripple the armada of birds. Some of the ravens dove at the priestesses so that their riders could get better shots at the women and wolves. Priestesses found these stupid souls easy prey for their arrows.

"Lasers?!" Cell blinked. "Where did they get lasers?! Aren't they primitive like you?"

"I believe the raven clan is more exposed to the outside world than we of the wolf clan." Moro theorized, gritting her teeth. "They have the technological advantage." She wanted to leave the den and run into the fight. She could see Suzaku-sama, the leader of the raven gods, and his high priest Sir Hironobu among the fighting ravens. She wanted to go bite their heads off…but she had to protect her cubs.

"Cell…"

"Yes, Moro-sama?"

Moro hesitated before giving the order.

"Kill every single one of those ravens and their priests. For our survival, you must understand."

Cell only gave a nod, then flew out of the den and into the battle.

/|\

Masq strung an arrow into a bow, and fired a shot randomly into the air. She was protecting Ghen, pelted by arrows and on the ground bleeding. He begged her to run away, but she refused to abandon her friend. She loaded another arrow, and took more careful aim. At the moment, only Ghen's life mattered. Not her own life, not Moro's, not her friends, not even Cell seemed to matter. She had to protect Ghen, even if it meant her death.

She fired the bow, and she hit a high priest. His raven squawked in alarm, diving after its follower. It grabbed the priest in its talons, and carefully lowered him to the ground where he cried out and lay in pain. The raven glared at Masq in absolute hatred. Masq glared back, loading another arrow. The raven flapped its wings and lunged at her with an angry screech. Masq suddenly panicked, not knowing what to do.

She couldn't see its eyes! They were on the sides of its head!

She turned to run…

…but the raven grabbed her shoulders in its talons and began to lift her into the air. She started screaming in fear as she was lifted higher and higher into the sky, kicking and flaring her arms. The raven looked down at her.

"You shot Sir Hironobu!" he screeched. "You will pay, wench!"

"Put me down!" she pleaded.

"You had better put her down." Another voice angrily ordered. The raven stopped in mid-flight, flapping its wings to keep balance. Before him hovered the most feared man in the world, with his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed in anger.

"It's Cell!" the raven squawked, then said more calmly, "But why would you care for this girl?"

"Put her down." He ordered. "That is the last time I will say it."

"Very well." The raven nodded. "I have a matter to settle with you, Mr. Cell." Suddenly, he let go of Masq and she tumbled to the ground below. Cell fanned out his wings and dove to catch her. The raven cawed out an order, and another flyer dove after Masq. Both Cell and the chasing raven flew after the falling priestess. The rider of the raven pointed his laser gun at Cell, and shot him in the shoulder. Cell stopped in mid dive, hovering and holding the wound to his shoulder.

It hurts!

This is impossible! How could a human weapon hurt me?!

The rider of the raven caught the falling Masq, and flew away with her. Cell began to chase after them.

"SAN!" he called to her. Masquerade looked past the rider, and stretched out a hand to him.

"SERU!" she called in fear. The rider put a hand over her mouth, and continued flying on. The first raven Cell talked to flew beside the android.

"I am Suzaku." The raven introduced. "The leader of my clan. We have a matter to discuss with you, Mr. Cell. It is a matter of great importance."

"I can kill you right here and now!" Cell shouted at him angrily. "And I think I will."

"If you must kill me," Suzaku began, "now is not the time or the place. You don't want anything bad to come to your beloved priestess San Masquerade, now would you?"

Cell blinked.

"How do you know who she is?"

"A little bird told me." Suzaku cawed in amusement. "If you do anything rash, my clan would love nothing more than to kill her ever so slowly and painfully. There have been talks…about eating at least one priestess alive."

"…" Cell remained silent in anger and disgust. If he found one scratch on her, then the raven gods would be going the way of the boar gods! He continued flying foreword, but not as fast as he intended to go. The raven carrying Masquerade soon disappeared into the east.

"Are you willing to listen to me now, Mr. Cell?" Suzaku asked.

"What do you want?" Cell asked in cooperation.

/|\

Masquerade was taken to the very base of the mountain, where Singing Mountain and the Mountain of the Tatara were joined in a narrow pass. She could see a huge camp of primitive houses made from wooden poles and covered in thin animal hides. Several raven priests and their giant birds roamed the campsite. The whole area was about the size of a village. The raven that was carrying her landed in the very middle of the site, where Masq was thrown from the saddle to the ground. The raven immediately stomped his foot down on her back, pinning her with its talons. Masq could only lift her head and look around.

A crowd was already gathering, human and raven alike. She breathed in and out heavily in tension. What would happen to her? What were their intentions? Did any of the wolves know she was here? She felt helpless, but tried not to show it. Her mask helped her hide her fear. The crowd thickened instantly on word of a prisoner. Many of the raven worshipers were male. She didn't see very many women.

All the raven priests were human, in primitive fashions of the Muromachi period. Many of the priests had their faces hidden with thief-styled mouth and nose covers, only their eyes and hair showed. Some wore hoods to cover their hair, and those were the high priests. The ravens were almost the size of wolves; the birds were slightly bigger.

Some of the giant birds dipped their heads low to look at Masq, clicking, clucking, and squawking to each other in a language Masq couldn't understand. She gnashed her teeth at them as one dared to move its beak closer to her face. Some seemed amused of their captive. Two of them were talking in English to each other.

"So frail…"

"So scrawny…the wolf people have much less muscle than our priests."

"I suppose Moro isn't training her warriors very well."

"That is likely."

Masq growled at them, and the ravens backed away in surprise. Others cawed loudly in laughter as they walked away.

Then, the riding priest that took her captive jumped from his steed and shooed it off her. With a repulsed squawk, the raven took its foot off Masq, and the priestess started to stand up. The raven priest helped her up, then slid her mask off her face.

"Hey!" Masq objected, trying to drop her clay mask over her face and hide. The priest kept a firm grip on Masq's wrist, and looked at her carefully. After studying her face intensely, he looked to three high priests and nodded at them.

"It's her." He said through his mask. All three priests nodded, and one stepped foreword to Masq. Her captor walked away as the high priest approached her.

"San Masquerade, I presume?" the high priest spoke. Masq narrowed her eyes at him.

"So what if I am? Who wants to know?" she snapped. The high priest slid his hood over his shoulders, revealing a full brush of black hair. Then he tugged the cloth past his nose and mouth, letting it rest under his chin. Masq could see his face. He was a rather old man, in his forties or fifties, with soft black eyes and darkened skin from the sun. Something about him reminded her of someone.

"I am Sir Marcus Madrid." He introduced. "A high priest of the raven clan. You have earned quite a reputation for yourself…they call you the Cell girl."

Masq blinked, not revealing any information. So, Marcus continued.

"We admire your courage and strength, taking the most dangerous man in the world under your wing…pardon, I'll use a better expression…paws. The wolf people have very strong and brave women."

"And the ravens have very foolish and stupid men." Masq retorted. Many of the raven priestesses laughed while the ravens clicked their beaks at her. She made no thoughts of taking that remark back.

"Very brave women." Marcus nodded. Then he smiled. "We have taken an interest in this situation, and we want to use it to our advantage. You see, a year ago, Cell killed many of our people. Thousands of families were torn apart, many more lives ruined or lost. We wanted to seek revenge for our dead when we heard of the Cell Game, but our supreme elder, Suryo Gami, stopped all of us from entering in the tournament. I have also come to an understanding that Cell did not come to your mountains at all."

"The wolves are more well known than any other god today." Masq informed.

"True, true…" Marcus nodded, "I guess you could say that we are jealous that all the gods suffered losses from Cell except for the wolves."

"We suffered too!" Masq snapped at him. "He killed our families that lived off the mountain! He killed every member of my family!"

"…Yet you decided to care for him anyway?" Marcus raised an eyebrow.

"Are you not a Mononoke?!" Masq snapped again, angrier. "Can't you put the past behind you, birdbrain?!"

"To forget the mistakes of the past is to die in the future." Marcus preached.

"To dwell in the past is to die in the present!" Masq shouted her own knowledge at him.

Marcus blinked a few times in surprise, then quickly tried to think of the proper retort. Before he could even begin to sum one up…

"Just tell me what you want with me!" Masq demanded, reaching for her knife. Marcus spied the knife, then gave out a loud trill from his tongue. Two ravens quickly lunged for Masq, grabbing her arms in their feet, and raising her a couple feet above the ground. Marcus sprang foreword, and snatched the knife from Masq's hand. Disarmed, and defenseless, Masq was dropped to the ground. She quickly got back up, staring Marcus in the face. "Just tell me…"

"There isn't much to explain." Marcus smiled at her. "You're just a puppet in a little plot to be rid of Cell once and for all."

"What?!" Masq gasped. She didn't know what to except first, that she was a puppet or that Cell was in danger.

"So, until that task is carried out…" Marcus suggested, "…we have a guest that wanted to meet you, San Masquerade. I think you would like to meet with him too. He can explain everything."

/|\

Under the threat of killing Masquerade, Cell had no choice but to follow Suzaku. However, before he did, he ordered Suzaku to recall his army from the fight or the android wouldn't be going anywhere. Suzaku agreed, ordering his army to retreat. Cell turned to follow the retreat, looking down at the wolf priestesses below. San Rhapsody was looking up at him with confused and frightened eyes. Cell pointed in the opposite direction he was going, the way Masquerade was taken. Rhapsody regained herself, and nodded in understanding. With that cleared up, Cell flew after the army, and the battle was over.

Cell followed them to a conquered town where people loyal to the wolves were driven out or killed. The raven clan had made it one of their bases as they began to take over the mountain. Cell landed next to Suzaku, at the entrance to the town, and they both walked in together. The injured high priest Hironobu was immediately taken to the town hospital. Suzaku watched them.

"Your Masquerade did that." He pointed out with a wingtip to Cell as Hironobu was taken away on a deer hide stretcher. Cell watched, then smiled.

"I'll congratulate her when I see her again." He chuckled. Suzaku stared at him.

"If you see her again." He corrected. Cell looked at the giant raven angrily. The damned bird was at least two feet taller than Cell, and he hated looking up at something taller than him.

"What do you mean 'if?' " Cell demanded. "What are you going to do to her?!"

"I have no control over my people when it comes to their personal wishes." Suzaku admitted. "I told them not to harm her until I got what I wanted from you. However, they are not very trustworthy. I am not sure what your Masquerade's fate will be after this meeting, Cell."

Cell began to grow angry. Moro-sama told him to kill all the ravens and their priests, and if they hurt Masquerade he would do it in an instant. He had the power…

"What is it you wanted from me then?" Cell demanded. "Let's get this over with."

"Yes, let us." Suzaku agreed, stopping in the center of a crossroad. "Mr. Cell, can you recall how many people you killed last year?"

Cell pretended to think back for a moment.

"I lost count around one million…" he answered sarcastically.

"200,934." Suzaku corrected. Cell raised an eyebrow in surprise.

No kidding? Is that for those who I killed in the present alone? Who was keeping count?

"Of those 200,934 are many of my followers and people." Suzaku explained. "We have been contemplating our revenge on your for so long, even after you died we vowed to have our revenge."

"I angered you that bad, Suzaku-san?" Cell asked, not really caring. He just wanted to get Masquerade out of the enemies' hands before they could hurt her.

"You angered us all." Suzaku cawed, spreading out his massive wings. Other ravens cawed in agreement. Cell looked around, noticing the huge crowd of ravens and their priests and priestesses. There must have been hundreds of them altogether.

"Huh." Cell huffed, not impressed. "You don't say. That's interesting."

"And now that you're here…" Suzaku concluded, "…revenge can finally be ours."

Cell was appalled, and it showed on his face.

"You brought me here to kill me?" he growled. "You're the size of a house, and twice as thick!"

The ravens walked towards him, closing in on him. Cell didn't bother to look around him, he just kept his gaze on Suzaku, who was slowly becoming angered. The giant raven lowered his head to Cell so that its beak was almost touching Cell's nose. Cell didn't flinch, blink, or move.

"And now, my children and people can rest in peace, knowing that their murderer has been laid to rest by us, and that our hands and claws are stained in your blood."

"This is a good thing?" Cell wondered, hearing the ravens around him caw and clap their beaks together in a chomping motion. He could see their surprise attack coming from a mile away, and their intimidation process wasn't working at all. He wasn't worried about picking a fight with them, he was more worried about Masquerade.

Would she be alright?

To be continued

END OF EPISODE BONUS!!!

About Singing Mountain: Princess Mononoke

In 1997, the Japanese anime movie Princess Mononoke (created by Hayao Miyazaki) aired in Japan, and became the nation's highest grossing movie ever, beating E.T. This was short lived, when Titanic aired in theaters. In 1999, Mononoke came to America, dubbed by Miramax and bringing great talents such as Billy Crudup, Gilian Anderson, Billy Bob Thorton, Minnie Driver, and Jada Pinkett Smith. Since it aired the same time as the Pokemon Movie did, Mononoke became a "box-office disappointment," but to anime fans, it became a classic creation among Akira and Ghost in the Shell.

The story of Princess Mononoke centers around a warrior named Ashitaka, a man seeking a way to cure a deadly scar on his arm. His travels take him to a mountain to the west where a battle between the humans and the Gods was taking place. The Gods, gigantic beasts that are residents of the mountain, are fighting the humans for the right to live on the land. Among these Gods is the wolf clan, Moro Gami (or Moro no Kimi), her two sons, and a human girl named San. When San and Ashitaka meet, the destinies of the humans, Gods, and the forest around them, change forever.

For those who have never seen this movie are missing out on a great story and fantastic animation. 10% of the movie is computer animated, the rest used with state of the art animation technology. The storytelling style is unique and the music is rich and beautiful. I'm not kidding when I say this is one of the best animes ever made, and I'm especially not kidding when I say the dub is better than the Japanese version. For those who've never seen Mononoke, the video and DVD are available in stores. For those who have seen it, I hope you're enjoying Singing Mountain and the backstory I'm putting in it. This column talks briefly about Mononoke and its tie in this fanfic.

The Gods of the Mountain

In Princess Mononoke, only four Gods were seen: the wolves, the boars, the apes, and the Shishi Gami (AKA the Forest Spirit). There is mentioning of other Gods, although we do not know who or what they are. We do get the overall attitude of the war from the Gods point of view from the ape tribe. They mention that the humans find ways to beat the Gods and destroy the forest. They are on the verge of giving up, and do not think that San and the wolf tribe is helping any.

In order to write Singing Mountain, I had to study the strange way of life on the mountain of the Gods, and predict the future of that world. What would it be like today if it hadn't changed? My most important question was "Who were the other Gods?" Well, I was looking at a Chinese zodiac a friend brought me one day, and I couldn't help but notice how similar the animals in Mononoke were to the animals of the zodiac (Boars, monkey=apes, dog=wolf, etc). So, I began to create Gods based on the Chinese zodiac, based on their forest status. I couldn't create rooster Gods, so I transformed them into Ravens. I also mentioned tigers, snakes, and dragons. So, with my system of Gods in place, I put them on certain locations on the DBZ map, using the DBZ age as the time the story would take place, at least six thousand years after Mononoke.

In the Mononoke movie, we are given the attitudes of each of the Gods, and those, too, were reflecting on the Chinese zodiac! The wolves were intelligent and kind hearted, the boars were war-like and hot headed, the apes were followers and jumped to conclusions easily. I didn't have a zodiac book handy while writing the story, so I based each God's personality on the traits of the animal. The dragons were just like the boars, hot-headed and war-like, but I also made them stupid (no offence to any dragons out there. I'm a boar, BTW). The ravens are primitive, ruthless, and cowardly. The two we don't get to meet in this story are the snakes and the tigers, so I didn't really put much thought into them.

During the DBZ timeline, I determined that the boars were extinct (they were all wiped out in Mononoke), and the apes disappeared while refusing any contact with humans. The wolves lived in peace with the Tatara people, while making the women their priestesses. The ravens formed a pact with the endangered Emishi people in the far east, and lived with them in peace. The dragons lived with a humanoid peoples that could breathe underwater, and had colonies under the ocean waves (mer-folk, you could say). It is never mentioned, but the tigers and the snakes live peacefully with humans in the southern jungles where they are hardly ever seen.

So, the societies were formed and packed solid after thousands of years. Could anything change that? Perhaps the story line of Singing Mountain could…