Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Beneath the Surface ❯ Living a Lie ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter 6: Living a Lie

The legendary Z-fighters flew for 3 and a half hours before they reached the outskirts of Myth City. None of them had really traveled to this part of the Earth, so the scenery along the way kept them entertained on their elongated journey. It was a tad chillier in this area, due to the high altitude in which it was located. The surrounding mountains were beautifully capped with snow, yet lush greens surrounded the immediate area, making for a breath-taking scene.

"Wow," Krillin whispered as the group landed softly in a small clearing about a mile outside the city to take a brief rest before they entered. A large waterfall could be seen and heard from far off in the majestic mountains, and the air smelled as fresh as if today was the first day the Earth lived. A gentle breeze whispered by, carrying with it the faint aroma of fresh flowers, spring water, and dewy grass meshed together in a tingling perfume, and the tint of chilliness that accompanied the high altitude.

"I've never seen a place like this…" Gohan said, with Videl nodding in agreement by his side.

"It is truly one of the more beautiful places on Earth," Piccolo stated. "But now is not the time for site-seeing. We have more important things to attend to. What is Zeusu's address again Trunks?"

"One zero five Ocean Drive. According to this map," Trunks continued, awkwardly shifting the crinkled map as he feverishly unfolded it to keep the information flowing, "it's located south-east of here. So we should just head in that direction." Everyone else nodded and took to the air, but Goku stopped them all quickly.

"I think we should stick to the ground from here," Goku explained, halting everyone in their positions. "Remember what Trunks said last night, there are a lot of those shape-shifters already here. He only had the locations of some of the earlier fleets that arrived. We don't know where the others landed, some are probably here since they have already found the children. Lets not draw attention to ourselves by flying around, this may alert them in some way. I'd rather them not know that we were ever here."

"Good point," Krillin said.

"We should mask our ki then too," Tien added. "Since they have been trained to sense Brolli's energy pattern, they can probably sniff out high levels of ki as well."

"Yes, you are right Tien," Piccolo agreed. "Now would also probably be the time to split up in groups as well. Just everyone make a beeline towards the south-east part of the city and we'll meet up there. Traveling through the city as a pack of strangers will look weird and might trigger alarm as well." The pairing was quick, married couples stuck together, Goten and Trunks teamed up, with Yamcha and Tien going off in one direction, and Goku with Piccolo leading off in another.

"Isn't this great Trunks," Goten said excitedly as he and Trunks made tracks towards their destination.

"What?" Trunks inquired. Yeah this whole mission thing was cool, but he wasn't nearly as excited about it as his elated friend.

"Well being on a mission with you know, the group," Goten exclaimed excitedly. "I mean yeah they always told us the stories of when they traveled together and fought the bad guys, but now we get to be with them. I just think its awesome." Trunks nodded, understanding what Goten was talking about. It was a bit weird now getting the honor of being labeled a Z-fighter now, though they hadn't exactly fought anything with them yet. Back during the battle with Buu, it had really just been Piccolo with them, and he didn't really fight. Yamcha and Krillin didn't fight either, Vegeta and Goku were dead, and Gohan didn't show up until the end. After that, their memories were erased. Something about being inside of Buu…whatever happened after that was hazy.

Myth City seemed to be rather strange. As much as the Z-fighters had hoped they wouldn't be noticed, they stood out terribly amongst the surroundings of this metropolis. It seemed they were among the few that used the sidewalks to get around. Unlike Satan City or West City, these people used their air cars and ground cars to get to every place, even if it was only a short distance away. Speaking of their transportation, it seemed that all the vehicles located in this city were luxury vehicles, top of the line extremely expensive cars. Rarely did public transportation zoom by, it seemed shameful to ride a bus. The people of this city were also very classy dressers. Decked out in the latest expensive fashions, even the waiters and waitresses at the sidewalk cafés were suited up in name brand attire. The Z-fighters were either dressed in gi or their everyday clothes, which made them stand out even more. They looked…poor! Even though Videl came from a family full of money, and Trunks had more dough stacked away in the bank than he could count, they too, looked shabby, even though it seemed normal at home. Money seemed to be the main theme of Myth City.

After two hours, the Z-fighters finally gathered together again outside a large archway that read "Welcome to Cannon Park." Located on the other side of the archway, was a whole new world. Perfectly shaped hedges surrounded hilly acres of freshly mowed lush green grass, decorated with sprigs of multicolored flowers perfectly distanced from each other, along with tall, old but handsome looking oak and weeping willow trees. Beyond the park, were the homes. More like the mansions, castles even. Here, the creativity and diversity took flight. It almost looked out of place compared to the rest of the city.

Abstract housing designs jutted forth, but in all reality, the whole scene looked swell. Diversity yes, tacky-ness, none. Perfection seemed to be the theme for this neighborhood, the whole city in fact. Yet, this neighborhood seemed to be the only thing in the city that separated the wealthy from the wealthier. The Z-fighters had passed by many neighborhoods, with nice homes and properties worth several million zeni, but here is where the line was drawn.

"Does Zeusu…live…in there?" Goten gasped, wide-eyed. The only house he'd been in that remotely looked familiar to these homes was Mr. Satan's home. His home would fit it quite nicely with this neighborhood.

"Well," Trunks answered, pulling out the map to survey the directions again. "Here is Cannon on the map, Ocean Drive is a few blocks up from here, so yeah, he does live in there."

"Hmm," Yamcha murmured. "Well seeing as our goal is to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible, just parading around it the richest part of this luxury town is going to attract a few stares."

"Just a chance we will have to take," Goku answered, followed by Piccolo's nod. Trunks handed Piccolo the map and the group followed suit behind Piccolo and Goku for the short walk to the Grishinwa residence. The closer they got, the more the group realized how difficult it would be to actually convince Zeusu's mother that he needed to go with them.

When the Z-fighters finally reached 105 Ocean Drive, it was nothing short of majestic. A circle drive located in the front of the house, laced in cement and stones, with a large water fountain spouting forth white water. The house, mansion even, was totally white. Four stories high and edged in perfectly trimmed hedges and rose bushes. Two giant weeping willow trees lined either side of the house, towering over the mansion as if it were guarding it.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Piccolo asked angrily. "We've got a job to do." Everyone else snapped out of their trance and marched cautiously onto the Grishinwa property. They climbed the short flight of stairs up to the front door and Goku grabbed the brass knocker in the shape of a dragon, and gave three firm knocks on the huge white wooden door.

"Always wanted to knock with one of those things," Goku said with a sheepish smile. A minute passed before a tall butler dressed in black attire finally answered the door.

"Hello," he said in a rather bored tone, his pointy nose rather high in the air, showing his regard towards the new visitors. "What business do you have here, may I ask?"

"We are here to see Miss Grishinwa and Zeusu Grishinwa," Piccolo said from behind Goku, with slight conviction in his voice, aiming to intimidate the snooty butler a bit. "We have important matters to discuss with them."

The butler cleared his throat, but kept his head high as he quickly surveyed the group of people. My what a poverty stricken lot we have here, he thought to himself, disgusted. They don't look like they are even from this city, I've never seen any people dressed down so, with their hair every which way. They probably want money though, figures. "Well the young Grishinwa is due to arrive from school in an hour, I will see if I can find fetch Mrs. Grishinwa or her husband." With that the butler slammed the door in Goku's face.

"Husband…" Piccolo murmured. "Hmm this could pose to be a bit of a problem."

"Why," Goku asked. "he is just Zeusu's step-father."

"But what if he doesn't know that?" Piccolo inquired.

"Oh I see," Krillin said gravely.

"What?" Goku, Gohan, and Goten said in unison, confused.

"Well…" Krillin answered, "what if she told her husband that Zeusu was his son, like, um maybe she cheated…"

"Oh c'mon you guys," Tien said. "That probably didn't happen."

"It sure could have though," Yamcha said dryly, glancing in Trunks direction. Trunks noticed, and blinked innocently, not knowing what Yamcha was getting at. Yamcha just snorted.

"Well this would be a hell of a way for him to find out if in fact she did tell him that," Gohan said. "We had just been expecting to talk to mothers, not mothers and fathers."

"Geez," Goku sighed. "Guess we weren't expecting this."

*****

"Madame," the butler said, bowing as he entered the large entertainment area where Afurodite Grishinwa and her husband Marusu were watching television. "There are a group of visitors outside that would like to see you. A rude looking bunch I might add, should I just tell them to leave? They look a little low on cash, maybe they will be asking for money?"

"Probably not though," Afurodite said dryly, giving her husband a "he really gets on my nerves sometimes" look. She got up and trekked across the large room to the hallway the butler was standing in. She walked past him and headed down the long corridor, decorated in burgundy carpeting and dim lighting, to the foyer were the front door was located. The butler hurried behind her, trying to keep in step.

"They specifically asked to speak with you and Zeusu, which is strange," he said as he walked behind Mrs. Grishinwa. She suddenly stopped, and the butler almost ran into her. Her heart skipped a beat, then started pounding wildly in her chest.

Oh Kami, she thought fearfully, a whole group of people, looking for me and my son, what if they have found out? Afurodite walked slowly to the door, afraid of what would show if she opened the door. What if they have come to take my son from me? She cautiously opened the door, and then put on a fake bright smile. "Hello," she said happily. "What can I do for you all today?" She took a few seconds to review over her visitors, and decided that it was strange that these people were all together. Adults, young boys, and a green guy, hmm what were they up to?

"Well since we've been informed that Zeusu isn't here," Piccolo answered, "we would like to talk with you about your son."

"What about him, is he in trouble?" Afurodite asked worriedly. They almost seemed like the police or FBI undercover, except for the young ones. What the hell is going on, Afurodite asked herself.

"Yes, he is," Piccolo answered. Afurodite gasped.

Zeusu in trouble, good grief, Afurodite thought to herself. "What did he do?" she asked Piccolo, since he seemed to be the one in charge. She then stared at Piccolo for a brief second. He looked vaguely familiar, then she surveyed the lot again, the purple-haired boy looked familiar as well, along with the short man, the man with three eyes, and the man with the scar on his face. Even the man with the spiky black hair looked a little familiar, but different somehow. What in the world is going on here…

"He didn't do anything wrong," Goku said, giving Piccolo a rest. "But he is being followed and might be kidnapped soon if we don't help him."

"Oh my," Afurodite gasped. "Come in and have a seat, tell us all about it." Afurodite led her guests back into the entertainment room where her husband was still watching the television. Along the way the Z-fighters ooed and awed at the interior. The ceiling was at least one hundred feet high in the foyer, dome shaped, white walls and black marble floor. Once they exited the foyer though, they were led down a dark hallway, the dark carpeting in contrast to the light walls, and dim lighting, seemed almost out of place with the rest of the house. Why all the darkness?

"Honey," Afurodite called out to her husband, "we have some visitors that have some things to discuss with us about um…our son." Marusu quirked a graying eyebrow and tore his attention from the movie he was watching to get a glimpse of the guests his wife had invited into their home. He, along with his wife, were actually a little older than most parents who had children at Zeusu's age. The sudden feeling of deja vu washed over him when they each entered the room. Some faces he could not recognize, but some…yes he knew those faces, well. What were they doing here? What did they have to do with Zeusu?

"Those fighters," Marusu softly said. "Those fighters from long ago, in the Cell games, I know its been ages but I will never forget that, especially you," he said, pointing to Piccolo. "And you," he said, nodding towards Trunks. "Where are the blonde fellows?" Goku, and Gohan raised their hands. Goten almost did, but then realized he was referring to a time before he was born. "It was you, wasn't it?"

"What?" Goku asked.

"You, who saved us from Cell, not Mr. Satan. Yet he won the Martial Arts tournament, but you guys left, for…something," Marusu racked his brain trying to remember, but to no avail. Truth is, he and his wife took Zeusu to the tournament as a gift for his eighth birthday. They were among the unfortunate souls that lost their lives in Vegeta's blast, so his memory was messy at that point. None of the Grishinwa's even knew they died. "Something must be terribly wrong if you are here."

"Yes, something is," Piccolo said. The others took seats in the comfortable furniture located in the entertainment room except Piccolo. He preferred to stand. "I'm not exactly sure how to tell you both this, so I will just tell you. Zeusu is being hunted by a power hungry lord from the depths of the galaxy, hunted for the power he possesses within himself. We have come to take him back with us, and train him to protect himself, and help us fight this tyrant off. This lord wants to take your son and possess him, then use him to help take over the Earth, and other worlds when he is finished here. I know that may sound like bullshit to you, but hear us out. The truth is, Zeusu is the son of Brolli, the legendary Super Saiyajin from Planet Vegeta. This lord, Iriyoku is his name, also plans to bring back Brolli, and two other children that he spawned, to aid him in his quest for power." Piccolo took this moment to pause, trying to read the reaction of Zeusu's parents. They both looked fairly surprised, but not in the way he thought they would. Strange, Piccolo thought.

"A…what, a super what?" Afurodite stammered.

"A saiyajin, like my sons and I," Goku answered. "Trunks too, as well as his father, who is not with us right now. A Super Saiyajin is what makes our hair turn gold."

"You say Zeusu can make his hair change colors?" Marusu asked hesitantly.

"Well it wouldn't make too much difference," Afurodite said with a small laugh, "his hair is already blonde."

"So let me get this straight," Marusu said, gathering himself. "Zeusu has those special powers that I saw you guys have at the Cell games, and he can be strong like you guys, but someone is coming to try and take him away from us? Well as much as I would love to believe all this, well it would be honored to have a son that would be of such caliber, and it is an honor that you guys think that its our son, but I think you've got the wrong kid. I mean, don't get me wrong, I do believe you, that you're searchin' for some kid that has this power to protect him, but our Zeusu is well, he's just a kid. He doesn't have power like that, at least I haven't seen it."

"Well he wouldn't have a reason to have that kind of power right now," Krillin said, surprising the Grishinwa's with his sudden participation in the conversation. "He has never really been attacked or threatened in a way that would bring it out of him. But believe us, its there, inside your son, and no other."

There was silence for several minutes, Afurodite and Marusu nervously glancing back and forth between their guests and each other. The Z-fighters on the other hand, were quite confused by their reactions and behavior. Why were they acting nervous? It seemed that Marusu was aware that Zeusu was not his son before hand, which was a good thing, but still, both parents' behavior was unexpected. They seemed to buy everything they were told, but were still apprehensive about turning their son over to the Z-fighters. Why?

"I don't think we can let Zeusu go with you," Afurodite finally said.

"Why?" Yamcha asked, again startling the Grishinwa's.

"Well you don't have much choice," Piccolo said in a low voice, trying to discourage any resistance. "He has two choices, us or them. They will take him away no matter how many times you tell them no, they might even kill you in the process, and he wont be able to defend himself because he hasn't trained. Iriyoku will train him once he has him, and make him a formidable fighter, but for the wrong side."

"But…" Afurodite stammered, tears beginning to glisten in her eyes. Her husband rubbed her arm as she tightly clenched the corners of her shirt, stretching it out of shape. "But he'll find out…if he goes with you." She then turned to her husband. "He'll find out Marusu, he can't." Her voice broke, but she quickly tried to gain her composure. "I'll admit," she said, once she calmed down a bit, "that when the butler said you all had come looking for me and Zeusu, I thought you were a band of social workers that had found out our little secret."

"Social workers?" Goten asked. The rest of the Z-fighters looked at each other in confusion. What the hell was this woman talking about?

"Yes, social workers. But I see that you're not. The thing is, Zeusu is not really my son." Small gasps could be heard. Marusu looked down at the floor. Sure, they knew that Marusu wasn't Zeusu's father, but if Afurodite wasn't his mother…

"What are you talking about?" Piccolo asked, deciding to take a seat after all.

"Well it was going to come about sooner or later," Marusu said, holding his wife's hand, "but we weren't expecting it to come up like this. You might as well know the whole story though." Marusu nodded to his wife, indicating for her take over.

"When my husband and I married, we wanted to have lots of children," Afurodite began. "We tried for many years, and I got pregnant three times, but three times I miscarried early into the pregnancy. So finally we decided to visit a specialist and see if there was anything that could be done about this. He gave me some fertility drugs, and again, I got pregnant. Though getting pregnant wasn't the trouble, it was carrying the baby to term that seemed to be impossible for me." Afurodite's voice broke again, but again, she was strong and continued on with her story. "So I am pregnant again, fourth time, and the doctor confined me to bed rest. He told me that I was almost to weak to have a child, and that any strenuous activity or stress would cause me to miscarry again. So there I lay, pregnant and dormant, but I went five months this time. For the first time, I watched my belly grow. It hadn't gotten extremely big, but I definitely looked pregnant, and I was happy for the first time in years. Then, my mother died."

The room was silent. Videl was grasping Gohan's hand in a death grip, not enough to hurt him, but communicating to him that she was so thankful nothing like that had happened to them when she got pregnant with Pan. Trunks and Goten stared at the floor, unwilling to make eye-contact with Afurodite. The other fighters looked solemn, feeling the Grishinwa's pain.

"I was devastated, and depressed," Afurodite continued. "It was too much for me. As much as I tried to block it out so that I could save my baby's life, I could not. I was very close to my mother, and had spoken with her often during my pregnancy. She kept me optimistic. But she did not tell me of her illness, trying to spare me, to keep me stress free so that I could have my baby, but her time came before she was ready. I was totally shocked, and tried to, as I said, put it in the back of mind, but I couldn't take it. I lasted another month, then lost our daughter." Videl's hiccup interrupted Afurodite's speech.

"They told us it was a girl," Afurodite whispered, her tightened throat kept her from emitting anything louder than that. "But I was just too weak. It wasn't meant to be. Anyway, years passed, at the time I was about 25, so about 10 years passed, before we met…her."

"Her?" Goku asked.

"Yes her, Zeusu's mother. She was a beauty. Long, golden hair, bright blue eyes, but pale, miserable looking. She was beautiful yes, but she was a wreck when we saw her. It appeared that she had just given birth to him, but, she was trying to kill him!"

"What?" Piccolo asked, stunned himself.

"Yes, we had decided to take an evening stroll by the sea in Greek Town, the city we formerly occupied, and we saw her, attempting to toss him over a bridge to drown in the desolate sea below. She was crying hard, hair all about, red face, she was a mess. She seemed to not be able to go through with killing the child, yet she wanted to so badly. Here we are, having miscarried four times, not able to have children, being tossed around by the adoption system, wanting children of our own so badly, and here is this woman, effortlessly making life, and just as eager to take it away. So I ran to her, begging her to stop, to reconsider. I couldn't just let her slay this child, he couldn't have been any more than a few hours old. He wasn't even cleaned off. I told her if she didn't want him, to let me have him, and take him home. She refused, said that he needed to die, that we was a spawn of evil or something, but I wouldn't hear of it. We ended up paying her a lump sum of money to let us take him. She was still reluctant to give him up, but we finally persuaded her. We ended up taking them both home with us, cleaning her up, then she went on her way without a second glance. Haven't heard from her since."

"Hmm," Piccolo murmured. "That's awfully strange that she would want to kill him so badly."

"Yes I know," Afurodite agreed. "But she never did elaborate on that, and Zeusu has been a perfect angel. I mean sure he got in trouble some when he was younger, but like normal kids do. He was a good kid, still is, so I really have no idea what she meant."

"But the thing is," Marusu said, "is that we haven't told him any of this. He doesn't even know that we are not his real parents. We don't want him to find out like this."

"Were you ever going to tell him," Yamcha asked.

"I suppose so," Afurodite answered sadly. "Someday, but it wasn't going to be today. My goodness we've always treated him like he was ours. He is ours! Always will be, but we might lose his trust if he finds out, or something. If there was a way that we could let him know all this but leaving out the part where we aren't his parents then…" Suddenly, Afurodite stopped, wide-eyed.

"Brolli!" Krillin said, jumping up in defensive stance.

"I sense it too," Gohan said, feeling the all too familiar aura vibrate through the room. But no, it wasn't Brolli. A young boy, about Trunks height, entered the room. He had blonde hair, and blue eyes, but Brolli's face no mistaking that. He looked just like him, almost as Trunks looked just like Vegeta minus the hair and eye color. There stood, Zeusu, glancing around curiously at these strange visitors gathered in his house. He had only caught the end of Afurodite's statement, but it didn't make much sense to him.

"Mom, Dad, what's going on?"