AUTHOR'S NOTE: Where did this one come from? Well, I didn't think I had sufficiently closed everything up in "Balance of Power." After all, Tezhra was only a presence in the back of Piccolo's mind at the end of that one. Besides that, none of Goku's family would ever see Tezhra again. I wanted her to be in the flesh, and not simply a presence that Piccolo could ignore. Now, she's a person that Piccolo can ignore. ^^; Anyway, I'll shut up so you can read the fic.

"Rite of Passage"
By: Dariyen Ryuseikyaku

"Gohan, you’re probably just wasting a wish. Tezhra is still alive, at least in some way."

Gohan looked at Piccolo. It had been a hard road gathering the Dragonballs and he wanted very much to bring Tezhra back. Piccolo was right; she was still alive. Her consciousness still dwelt in the Namekian's, fused to it. Gohan thought a moment. Would taking her soul out of Piccolo kill him? He finally spoke up, "I wasn't going to wish her back to life. I was going to wish that her body be brought back and her soul be put back into it. That's not exactly bringing her back to life, it's just bringing her back so that she can live outside you."

Piccolo scowled. "I'm just not sure how Shenlong will separate her mind from mine without injuring one of us."

"I'm sure Shenlong can do it," Gohan replied. "After all, he is the Eternal Dragon." The boy arranged the Dragonballs in front of him, then summoned Shenlong.

The dragon coiled in the air above Piccolo and Gohan, replying in his deep, gravely voice, "What is your wish? I will grant any wish, but it must be only one."

Gohan timidly spoke up, "Mr. Shenlong.....can you bring back Tezhra's body and put her consciousness back in it?"

Piccolo heard Tezhra's voice within his mind. "Piccolo, we will soon be separated once again. Please do not look for me. I will find you when the time is right. And please, remember that I will always...."

Tezhra was interrupted when Shenlong's eyes began to glow red, and he said, "Your wish has been granted. Farewell." With that, Shenlong disappeared, and the Dragonballs flew into the air and scattered once again.

"Where is she?" Gohan inquired, looking around him.

Piccolo replied, "You never specified where you wanted her brought back."

Gohan pouted. "Aw, man! You mean we gotta go find her?"

"Or she has to find us."

"Do you feel any different, Mr. Piccolo?" Gohan meekly asked his teacher.

Piccolo nodded. "Just a bit strange." Actually, he felt oddly empty, and a little bit lonely, but he was damned if he was going to admit that. He'd grown used to having her presence there in his mind, and it had comforted him more than he would admit--even to Tezhra. But then again, he didn't have to, because she already knew that. "Just before she left my mind, she said that she would find us when the time was right. I have a feeling that she'll be back soon."

With his teacher's reassurances, Gohan left the mountain that they had climbed to summon Shenlong. He kept looking around, though, as if he expected her to appear anytime.

In another part of the world, a pair of golden, cat-like eyes opened. Their owner sat up and looked around. "I am...alive...?" Then she remembered what had happened. "Gohan…and Piccolo…brought me back. I promised Piccolo that I would find him." But just as she was about to take to the air, she heard a familiar voice.

"Tezhra...."

The black-haired girl gasped. "No.... L-Lekiizin...?"

The voice spoke again. "Yes, dear sister. I am back as well."

"B-But how...?" Tezhra stammered, still in disbelief.

"Do not worry yourself over that. Come back to me, sister...."

Tezhra's resolve won out, and she declared, "Never! I would rather die!"

Lekiizin's voice chuckled. "Now, now, dear sister. I cannot kill you just yet, but you will join me, whether you wish to or not." In the next instant, Lekiizin appeared in front of Tezhra in a flash of light. The black-haired girl jumped back, a bit startled by her sister's sudden appearance.

"What are you doing, Lekiizin?" Tezhra demanded.

Lekiizin smiled darkly. "Look me straight in the eyes and tell me you will not join me."

Tezhra prepared herself to do just that, then she observed the leaf-green of her sister's eyes darken to cobalt. Just as she was about to wonder about this, Tezhra was hit by a wave of dizziness, but could not look away from Lekiizin's eyes. Then the slit-like pupils of Lekiizin's eyes widened, and Tezhra's will evaporated. "No...," she whimpered, just before her own golden eyes slid closed.

Piccolo was suddenly jolted out of his meditations. He felt a short burst of Tezhra's mental speech in his mind. "No…" he heard her whimper. But he didn't know exactly where she was. With that in mind, he set out immediately to find Goku.

When he arrived at the Son residence, Goku and Gohan were outside, training. Goku caught sight of Piccolo immediately and called a halt. "What is it, Piccolo?"

Piccolo hesitated, then replied, "I know you aren't going to believe this, but I think Lekiizin is back. And I think she's taken Tezhra hostage."

"How do you know that?" Goku asked.

"I heard her voice briefly in my mind. She was refusing something. What, I don't know, but I know that she's not conscious anymore. I can't sense her energy anymore, like I could before. Even the mental link we had is shut down," Piccolo returned.

"And you don't know where she is?" Goku inquired.

"If I knew, do you think I’d be here wasting my time talking to you?" Piccolo growled.

Goku screwed up his face in a look of worry. "I can try to find her." He stretched out his senses as far as they would go. All he could sense was the dizzying rush of ki from people going about their normal, everyday lives. He kept trying, but started to get dizzy from the onslaught of ki he could sense. Unable to draw his senses back, he gripped the sides of his head and collapsed to his knees in agony. A pained groan tore itself from his throat. He concentrated another moment on bringing his senses back into himself.

When he was again cognizant, he found that Gohan was at his side. "Tou-san? Are you all right? What happened? Did you find Tezhra?"

Goku shook his still-throbbing head. "No. I couldn't sense her ki. Let me try one more time." Before his son or Piccolo could protest, he stretched his senses out again, this time concentrating more fiercely on Tezhra's energy signature. He managed to pinpoint it, but something stood in his way.

Just as he was about to get a fix on her location, a powerful voice echoed painfully in his mind, "Do not interfere, vile Saiyan!" After that, he felt a strange power flow into him and his energy mysteriously deserted him. With a frustrated sound, Goku fell on his face on the ground, unconscious.

Tezhra awoke in a familiar place. She got to her feet and looked around "The...dungeon?"

"Yes, sister," Lekiizin's voice replied from behind her. Tezhra spun on her heel to come face-to-face with her evil sister.

"Why have you brought me here?" she demanded.

Lekiizin returned somewhat haughtily, "Why, sister, you are going to help me take revenge for my untimely death. You surprise me, sister. It must be the result of your spirit dwelling within the Namekian for so long. You must have taken his stupidity with you." She turned her back to the fuming Tezhra.

"He is not stupid!" Tezhra denied hotly. "Piccolo is a much better person than you will ever be, Lekiizin! Leave him be! And leave the others, too!" Tezhra was shocked by what Lekiizin said next.

She laughed. "Oh, my dear sister, you know nothing at all. I have already started my plans for revenge. Your dear Saiyan--Goku, was his name?" At Tezhra's nod, she continued, smirking, "Goku has already been dealt with."

"No!" Tezhra gasped. "What have you done to him?" she yelled.

Lekiizin replied, "Be content to know that he has been...sufficiently taken care of. With him out of the way, your companions will have no chance against us."

"I have told you that I will not help you!"

"But you will. And you will do it gladly," Lekiizin returned. "My new powers, obtained through you--and through that vile Saiyan--will assure that." Lekiizin spread her arms wide and let her head fall back, beginning to glow red. Her form blurred, and Tezhra could see the beginnings of....

Wings? she thought. But how.... I never had... Tezhra gasped. No, Lekiizin.... Lekiizin turned her eyes back to her sister, eyes that were now a vivid red. From her eyes shot several lightning bolts of the same color as her eyes at Tezhra. She bolts struck her and she screamed in pain, attempting to mentally contact Piccolo as the power of the bolts lifted her up into the air.

A quiet voice from the glowing form that now held her captive with the lightning bolts instructed, "Do not bother with that Namekian. He will come here when I wish it." The strength of the bolts increased, as did the volume of Tezhra's scream, then Tezhra lost consciousness once again.

Back at the Son residence, Goku had been carried inside the house by Piccolo and let to rest in his bed. He was still alive, but appeared to be asleep...or in a coma. Repeated attempts by Gohan, Chichi, and Piccolo to wake him proved futile, even after a volley of vicious slaps across the face from Piccolo (which, of course, Chichi made several very loud protests over, earning her a very nasty glare from the Namekian). Still, there was no response from the still-unconscious Saiyan. Gohan started to cry. "Tou-san! Please wake up, Tou-san!" When he received no response despite the fervent tugging on Goku's hand, Gohan started crying even harder.

Piccolo turned his back to the scene so that no one saw how Gohan's mood was affecting him. The Namekian blinked quickly, trying to suppress the burning in his eyes. He'd only freely cried once, and he'd been too weak to hold back his tears that time. And when he saw Gohan's face when the boy realized that Piccolo had saved him from Nappa's blast...he hadn't really wanted to hold back his tears. Gohan was now in a similar state and Piccolo had to fight hard not to show how badly he wanted to cry with him.

It was then that Piccolo noticed something odd about Goku. Gray hairs…? Out loud he said, “Chichi, do you remember Goku having that many gray hairs?”

Chichi looked at Piccolo incredulously. “My husband’s about to die, and you’re worried about how many gray hairs he’s got!?”

“No, Kaa-san, he’s making sense,” Gohan interjected. He looked at his father’s face. “He looks older, somehow….” Sure enough, Goku had mysteriously gotten crow’s feet around his eyes, as if he’d already aged ten years in the last few minutes. With a gasp, Gohan realized that his father was aging almost twice as fast as a normal human. “Kaa-san! He’s…getting older too fast! What happened? Tou-san!” he wailed.

Piccolo realized what had happened. He stated flatly, “While he was searching for Tezhra, Lekiizin must have gotten to his ki and must be draining it away as we speak. If we don’t free her hold on his ki, he’ll die. I would think that the chain of events would point to Tezhra being wherever Lekiizin is.”

Gohan protested, “But we don’t know where Lekiizin and Tezhra are!” The implications of this problem finally hit the young boy then, and he turned back to his father, crying with all his heart. Piccolo turned away again, and Chichi ran to Goku’s side and started to cry, too.

Suddenly, Piccolo felt the mental connection with Tezhra pick up on her end. She sent him a very weak mental message. “….Use…the locket….” After that, the mental connection fell dormant again. It was still there, but it was as if something blocked her from speaking to him.

The Namekian was puzzled for all of a nanosecond before realizing exactly what she’d meant. “Gohan, wait. Remember what Tetrei said about Tezhra’s Spirit Locket? He said something about being able to summon her spirit. Open the locket and see what happens.” The boy tearfully obeyed. The next thing he saw shocked them all.

The locket opened, and instead of the usual beautiful panoramic scenes from the alien planet of Interma, they saw a silhouette of Tezhra kneeling. The silhouette got to its feet and faced Gohan. They heard a voice that seemed to come from the direction of the west. “Dear boy…. Is there anyone else with you? I cannot see them. I can…barely see you….”

Piccolo could not speak, so shocked was he at her sudden appearance. His only thought was that she must have grown more beautiful. He scowled at the thought, wondering where it had come from in the first place. He pushed the thought out of his mind and concentrated on what Tezhra had to say.

Gohan replied, “Yes, Tezhra, Kaa-san’s here, and Mr. Piccolo’s here. What happened to Tou-san? Is he gonna die?”

“Yes, if you do not free the hold my sister has on his life force,” Tezhra truthfully replied. “She has also taken me prisoner.”

Gohan made a grim realization. “If…I can call you with this locket, does that mean… you’re dead?” Another tear ran from his eye.

Tezhra hesitated, and Piccolo found himself holding his breath. “The Tezhra you knew is dead, yes. My sister will soon take control of my body. You…will have to fight me to save Goku, I am afraid. But if you do, you must kill me.”

Piccolo interjected, “Kill you? Why? Why would you ask us to kill you?”

“I can hear someone speaking. It is…Piccolo…? Gohan, what is he saying?” Tezhra inquired. “I can only hear you, Gohan.”

Gohan replied, “Mr. Piccolo wants to know why you’d ask us to kill you.”

“I see. Piccolo, my sister and I share a spiritual bond, much the same as the bond you and Kami share,” she said. “If one of us dies, the other one will.”

“But that means that we can’t kill Lekiizin,” Gohan said, defeated, “because you’ll die, too. There’s no way to win.”

Suddenly, Tezhra collapsed to her knees. “I must leave you now. I am too weak…to stay any longer…than I have…”

“Wait! Tezhra, where are you?” Gohan asked quickly.

“I cannot…tell you…because I myself…do not know…. But I can help you…find me in this small way….” Tezhra stretched out her hand towards the locket around Gohan’s neck, and it glowed brightly for a moment. “You…can now…use the Spirit Locket…the same as the…Dragon Radar…. Use it…to find my sister…and…stop…her….” With that, the silhouette of Tezhra closed her eyes and faded away, and the Spirit Locket closed once again.

Lekiizin stormed into a room, her green eyes flashing dangerously, walking to a wall where Tezhra was chained. Tezhra’s head hung in exhaustion. She had resisted all of Lekiizin’s various attempts to break her will. And now, Lekiizin knew that Tezhra had appeared to Gohan in the Spirit Locket. Lekiizin dealt a vicious slap to her sister’s face. “Damn you, Tezhra! Why did you help them?” the fair-haired girl demanded. “We are fighting for our very lives! This world will kill us! Do you want that to happen? Do you want to die?”

Tezhra looked up at her sister and laughed weakly. “I would rather die fighting for what I believe in than to live like an Earth leech. That is all you are. You are no better than the evil Saiyans who destroyed Interma, our home.” That earned her another vicious slap across the face.

“Gh’lanyha!” Lekiizin spat. Even Tezhra flinched at this cruel insult. “I am fighting to save us both! You think only of yourself and that Namek!”

Tezhra argued back with all the strength left in her weakened body, “And you think we should kill the Namekians to survive here? There is another way! The planet that the Namekians are from would sustain us! We need only to ask! Are you too proud to admit that you need someone’s help? You would rather force one to bend to your will than simply ask for the assistance you need!” Tezhra hung her head again, exhausted from her outburst.

Lekiizin stayed silent for a moment. When next she spoke, her voice was quiet. “My dear sister, can you understand nothing? No one will help us therefore we must take what we must have to survive. Even you, my own blood, have deserted me. I will have your assistance whether it be willing or not.” Her voice took on an evil note. “I have devised many forms of torture for your green friend. If you do not help me, I will exploit them.” Lekiizin beamed a mental image of the pain that awaited Piccolo if Tezhra did not agree. Tezhra gasped in horror. “Well, my dear sister, what is your answer?”

Tezhra hung her head, tears of frustration beginning to stream down her face. “I…will help you, Lekiizin,” she agreed, then sobbed, “Damn you….”

“That is more like it, sister,” Lekiizin replied, pleased with herself. “And to make sure that you do not turn against me as you did before….” Lekiizin beamed a suggestion of mental agony, as if all the sorrows in the world had decided that Tezhra would be their victim.

“L-Lekiizin…. No… Stop….” Tezhra cried weakly, trying to fight it. But her body was much too weak, and her mind was in a similar state. With a whimper, Tezhra’s body went lax against her restraints and she lost consciousness again, as her will was broken.

Gohan and Piccolo had done exactly as Tezhra had suggested, and were using her Spirit Locket to home in on her location the same way they’d use the Dragon Radar to find the Dragonballs. The locket had opened of its own accord, searching for Tezhra’s energy. Gohan pointed. “It’s turning my hand that way,” he said. He and Piccolo flew on, coming back to the site that the first showdown with Lekiizin had been. Again, the building was nowhere to be seen.

Piccolo replied, “How do we get in?”

“Um…. Tezhra got Tou-san and I inside last time,” Gohan admitted. “I don’t know how we’re going to get in now.”

“Then this trip was wasted,” Piccolo said, scowling. All of a sudden, the Spirit Locket in Gohan’s hand began to glow. A beam shot out of the locket and hit the ground. The ground started to shake.

Gohan smiled. “Tezhra got us in this time, too, Mr. Piccolo.” The elevator appeared above ground, and the two got into it. Piccolo sealed the door tightly. Then the engine began to turn once again, taking the two down to the building underneath the sand.

The two made their way down the chamber in which they had fought Lekiizin for the first time. This time, Tezhra waited for them, and appeared to be in perfect health. Piccolo gasped, expecting to find her in much worse shape than she appeared to be in, perhaps even on the brink of death. He whispered, “T-Tezhra? Are you…all right?”

Tezhra laughed. “Of course I am, Piccolo. What would make you think I wasn’t?”

Gohan replied, “You said you were in trouble, Tezhra.”

“Why would my own sister seek to harm me?” She turned to face the two, then laughed evilly, and it was then that Piccolo remembered what she’d said from the Spirit Locket.

“Gohan, be careful!” Piccolo said. “We’re going to have to free her from Lekiizin’s control somehow!”

Tezhra looked taken aback. “’Control’? My sister simply convinced me that she was indeed right in this matter. No one will help us, so we must take what we need to survive. Do not take it personally. We are the hunters; you are the hunted. It is quite simple.” She smiled cruelly.

Piccolo stood with his mouth hanging open, not believing what she’d just said. It was then that he noticed that, despite her evil smile, her eyes were darkened with sadness and shock, as if she was aware of what she was saying and could not believe it herself. “Tezhra, I know you’re in there somewhere,” Piccolo growled. “Dammit, I didn't think you were so weak as to let your power-hungry sister control you like nothing but a puppet!”

“A puppet?” Tezhra echoed. “Well, let me show you what this little marionette can do, yes?” Tezhra raised an arm and fired a blast of ki from her hand into Piccolo’s chest. The blast was strong enough to throw him into the wall. Gohan gasped, and Tezhra laughed, firing another strong ki blast, this time at Gohan. The blast did the same thing to him as it had done to Piccolo.

Piccolo grunted in pain as he got to his feet. “Fine. If that’s the way you want it….” He removed his turban and cape, and tossed them away, facing Tezhra. “…I’ll fight you.”

“Not wise, my large green friend. You see….” Tezhra placed two fingers at her forehead for a moment, then, before Piccolo could move to avoid it, she pointed the two fingers at him and fired an exact replica of his Makankosappo! Fortunately, the attack was not as powerful, and did not have the same effect on him that it had on Radditz when Piccolo had used it in that battle. It did, however, throw him across the room, making him skid on the polished floor quite a distance. “…Because of our short--but very close--acquaintance with one another, I can now duplicate all of your attacks as well as use my own attacks and magic.”

“Please, Tezhra; don’t do this! We don’t want to hurt you!” Gohan pleaded

Tezhra laughed. “Hurt me? It would benefit you to be more worried about me hurting you, little boy,” she growled, then hurled a ki blast at Gohan. He countered it with one of his own, and the two attacks disintegrated. Apparently, Lekiizin had given Tezhra some of the power she’d taken from Goku. Tezhra, dismissing Gohan as a simple annoyance, turned to the Namekian and attacked him with multiple ki blasts and magic attacks. Most of her attacks found their marks.

Gohan raised his arms above his head. “Masenko—HA!” The ki blast struck Tezhra and knocked her down, giving Piccolo time to get to his feet and fly at Tezhra. She had just gotten to her feet and did not see Piccolo flying at her to attack. She looked up, and there he was, right in her face, swinging his fist. She took a blow directly in the gut and doubled over. A spinning kick to her head sent her flying across the room.

Thinking that Tezhra was down for the count and prepared to attack again, Piccolo did not see Tezhra charging up a magic spell. Suddenly she spun, still on the ground, and from her hand shot a bolt of lightning. The lightning hit Piccolo and paralyzed him. He fell to the ground, struggling to move. Tezhra levitated up into the air and raised her arms above her head, charging a huge ki blast, preparing to strike the final blow on the helpless Namekian.

A ki blast from Gohan shot the attack above Tezhra, causing the ki to explode. She was thrown to the ground. Her magic’s hold on Piccolo was weakened, and he broke free. He ran to attack while she was down, but she surprised him. She kicked up into a handstand and spun on one hand, almost like a dance move, and struck him square across the jaw with her feet. She landed on her feet with her back to the still-staggering Piccolo. She kicked up onto her hands again, this time only supporting her weight long enough to kick out savagely with both feet, hitting Piccolo square in the stomach. He fell onto his backside with a grunt of pain. She rolled on the ground, then stood up, facing him.

A battle shout startled Tezhra, and she spun quickly to see Gohan flying towards her, prepared to attack her. She barely dodged, and he checked his flight to go after her. He got the drop on her-—literally-—by dropping out of the air. His foot hit her squarely on the top of the head, and she fell again. Piccolo and Gohan both moved to attack, but she got to her feet, a ki ball in each hand, and fired the blasts at the two. Both fighters flew away from her and slammed into the wall. Gohan slid down the wall, unconscious, but Piccolo still had some fight left. He struggled to his feet again. Panting, he growled, “I’m not…done yet…. Tezhra, dammit…. I’m not…going to…kill you. You’re being controlled…by your sister….”

Tezhra laughed that evil laugh again, sending chills of fear down Piccolo’s spine. He had to force himself to believe that Lekiizin had made her this way. “If you will not fight me, then I will kill you!” She charged a blast and fired, sending Piccolo into the wall again. This time he did not rise, but he was conscious. He watched Tezhra walk to stand over him. She charged a huge ki blast between her hands, preparing to blast him into the next dimension. Piccolo shut his eyes and turned his head away, waiting for her to strike the final blow….

All of a sudden, the blast died between her hands. Not from something that someone else had done, but as if she had simply lost the will to fight. Piccolo opened his eyes. He heard a strange sound come from over him, and he looked up. Upon seeing Tezhra’s face, with tears streaming down it, he realized that the sound had been a sob. Piccolo struggled to his feet again, understanding what happened. “Tezhra….”

She seemed to snap the rest of the way out of the trance when Piccolo said her name. She looked at him, then turned away, burying her face in her hands, her sobs muffled. He walked over and awkwardly placed a hand on her shoulder. She tore away from him, then fell to her knees, as if her strength had suddenly deserted her.

Seeing her kneeling there, her body shuddering with her sobs snapped something inside Piccolo. He went to her and tried to wrap his arms around her, but she broke away from him again. “No….” she whispered. “D-Don’t t-touch me….”

Piccolo tried again. “Tezhra, listen….”

But she wouldn’t hear him out. She got to her feet and ran from the chamber, the sounds of her sobs trailing behind her. “Tezhra!” Piccolo called after her. He stood there dumbly staring at the door she’d left by. He realized that he didn’t know what to say or do in this situation. He’d never been in a situation like this before. The image of her tear-stained face lingered in his mind, and he felt a river of warmth run down his face. Piccolo swiped at the annoying sensation, and was mildly surprised to find his hand wet. He was crying, he realized. He hadn’t cried since he’d saved Gohan from—

Gohan! He ran over to the boy and checked to make sure he was still breathing. He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt Gohan’s strong pulse. Tezhra would have to wait, Piccolo decided; he had to take Gohan home. Piccolo cringed when he imagined the yelling that Chichi was going to do….

And he wasn’t to be disappointed. At the sight of her son unconscious in Piccolo’s arms, she gasped. “Gohan!” She turned on Piccolo and gave both barrels to him. “It isn’t enough to have my husband dying, but you have to injure my son! What in the world did you do to him?”

Piccolo flinched at this, and a large sweat drop appeared on his forehead. I don’t need this right now, I really don’t. He was about to explain when Gohan opened his eyes and looked up at his face, perplexed. “Mr. Piccolo? Where’s Tezhra?”

“Tezhra’s…under a lot of stress. At least she’s not under her sister’s control anymore,” Piccolo answered.

Gohan jumped out of Piccolo’s arms ecstatically. His enthusiasm waned, however, when he saw Piccolo’s expression. “What’s wrong, Mr. Piccolo? Did something happen to Tezhra?”

“Not…in the way you think. She’s upset because she attacked us. It wasn’t her fault, but she’s blaming herself,” Piccolo replied, the sadness in his voice belying his usual scowl.

“Excuse me,” Chichi interrupted. “One of you tell me what's going on. Now.” She crossed her arms and glared at them. Sweat drops appeared on Gohan and Piccolo's foreheads.

Gohan mumbled, “Um…. You see, Kaa-san, Tezhra's sister was controlling her, and she kind of…attacked us when we went to look for her.” Chichi gasped, and Gohan blurted, “It wasn’t her fault; Lekiizin made her do it!”

“What!” Chichi demanded. “That’s it! Gohan, go to your room.” Gohan pouted, but acquiesced. She turned to Piccolo. “As for you….” She pointed at the door. “…Get out there and find Tezhra! Now! Do you hear me? Lekiizin isn’t just going to let her go! Go! Now!”

Piccolo flinched at the vehemence in Chichi’s voice. “Er…uh…. Don’t you think we should…check on Goku?” he stammered, the sweat drop on his forehead becoming more pronounced. He knew that Tezhra needed time to think things through, and would not welcome his presence. Right now, Goku was in more trouble. He walked into Goku's room. Chichi growled, but just as she was about to follow him, a timid knock sounded at the door. She walked to the door and opened it. When she saw who was behind it, she gasped.

“Tezhra?” The girl lowered her head and nodded. “Come in, come in. Are you hurt? How did you get away? Is Lekiizin still alive? What happened?”

Tezhra chuckled weakly, then counted the answers off on her fingers. “No, I was not hurt. Piccolo freed me from Lekiizin’s control. Yes, my sister is still alive. And I…would much rather not discuss…what happened.” Her head lowered again and she bit her lip to keep from crying again.

But Chichi wasn’t fooled for an instant. “You’re upset because Lekiizin made you attack my son and Piccolo, aren’t you? You blame yourself.”

At this, the black-haired girl's chin quivered, and she nodded. “I’m…so sorry,” she whispered, fighting tears with all her strength. When she got them under control, she looked up at Chichi. “Let me help. I know what happened to Goku. Let me try to save him.”

“Please do,” Chichi replied. “He’s in here. Follow me.”

Tezhra nodded, then followed Chichi into another room. The gold-eyed girl saw the condition Goku was in and gasped. She looked up at the sound of another gasp. Her silver-flecked eyes met the black of Piccolo’s eyes. “T-Tezhra!” he gasped. “I-I….”

There was such a look of pure joy on his face that Tezhra couldn’t have stopped herself from running to him if her life had depended on it. Piccolo hugged her so tightly he picked her up off the ground, feeling her tears on his shoulder. She sobbed, “I’m so sorry. Gods, I’m so sorry. I don’t blame you if you hate me for the rest of your life….”

The scene was so touching that even Chichi started to cry. She never would have thought that someone would care that much about what Piccolo thought, but seeing how upset Tezhra was, she started to believe that maybe--just maybe--there was more to Piccolo than had originally met the eye. Chichi had never seen this side of Piccolo before. Perhaps Gohan saw this side of him, and that was why her son respected the Namekian so much.

“No, Tezhra. I….” He stopped, swallowing the lump that had risen in his throat. “I don’t hate you. You didn’t have any control over what happened. It wasn’t your fault.” He pulled back to look at her.

Tezhra reluctantly released him. “I’m going to help Goku if I can.”

Piccolo nodded, not trusting his voice to speak. Tezhra walked over to where Goku lay on a bed. He looked horrible. His hair was now almost completely gray--white in some parts. His face now had extremely noticeable wrinkles and deep lines. Goku looked like was about sixty years old, maybe older.

Leaning over him, Tezhra placed her hands on his forehead and concentrated on his life force. In her mind’s eyes, she saw Lekiizin’s grip on Goku’s ki, slowly draining the life out of his body little by little. She gathered her own power and wove it into what was left of Goku’s in the place that his ki was fighting the draining. Tezhra’s brows drew down in a frown of concentration. She helped Goku fight the grip, and after a hard struggle, it was broken. With a cry of triumph, Goku sat upright. Tezhra collapsed to her bottom, exhausted. Piccolo helped Tezhra to her feet. Additionally, the cry alerted Gohan, who came running from his room. “Kaa-san, did Tou-san just scream….” He came into the room and gasped, seeing Tezhra, then seeing his father sitting up and his eyes open. Gohan started to cry, first running to his father to hug him, then jumping off the bed and running to Tezhra, who kneeled to hug him back.

“Tou-san! Tezhra! You’re both okay!” Gohan was practically bouncing up and down in his excitement. Tezhra chuckled.

“Be careful, Gohan, or you will give your father a coronary,” she quipped. The occupants of the room laughed, releasing tension that no one realized was there. Then Gohan took the Spirit Locket from around his neck and handed it to Tezhra. “Here.”

“Gohan, what--?”

“I want you to dream a little bit more, Tezhra,” Gohan replied. “Please?”

Tezhra accepted the locket and hung it around her own neck. The design glowed then the bird design was back. “All right, Gohan, I will dream a bit more for you,” Tezhra replied. All of a sudden, Goku pushed himself up out of bed. “Goku! What are you doing?”

“We’ve got to go after Lekiizin,” he replied weakly. But his strength had not yet returned, and he collapsed back on the bed.

Tezhra quickly assisted him. “You must rest now. Your body has not healed from its loss of strength yet, and if you exert yourself too quickly, you will do more damage.” Goku was about to protest, but Tezhra quickly hushed him. “No excuses. We will handle things.” Her voice changed to a soothing tone, and she continued, “Get some sleep.” The words were a sleep spell or sorts that would wear off when Goku was fully healed. Goku fought against the sleep overtaking him, but finally succumbed to it, his eyes sliding closed.

Chichi asked worriedly, “Is he going to be all right?”

“Yes, he will be fine, Chichi,” Tezhra promised. “See that nothing wakes him up. He will awaken when he is fully healed. It should not take long” At Chichi’s nod, she turned to Piccolo and Gohan. “We must find Lekiizin and stop her. We cannot kill her, but there is a way to trap her. The Interma have a way. Come with me. I will tell you on the way.”

Tezhra, Piccolo, and Gohan left, and for once, Chichi didn’t protest that her son was leaving. She knew that her son was in good hands, and that Tezhra would let no harm come to him if she could prevent it. After the trio had left, she turned back to her husband and kissed him gently on the lips then covered him with a blanket. “Get well soon, Goku,” she whispered, then pulled up a chair next to the bed so that she could keep a watchful eye on her husband.

Meanwhile, Tezhra, Piccolo, and Gohan were at the site of the Interma building. “…So, that is how Lekiizin may be trapped,” Tezhra finished. She had told them how, but the problem was going to be actually putting the plan into action.

“Easier said than done,” snorted Piccolo, scowling.

Tezhra glared at him. “Well, I never said it was going to be easy, did I?” The surfacing of the elevator interrupted the further comment she was about to make. All three looked surprised, as Tezhra had not summoned it, and the Spirit Locket had not done it, either.

“She must know we’re here,” Gohan said, scowling.

Tezhra nodded. “That is a very likely possibility. But I suppose we must just see this as the proverbial ‘yellow light’ and proceed with caution,” she reasoned. Realizing that Tezhra was right the two followed her into the depths of the building.

Several minutes of searching turned up nothing. They practically turned the building upside-down and still found nothing. Tezhra entered a room with Gohan following her, then directly behind Gohan was Piccolo. The three stepped into the room, then suddenly the door slammed shut behind them and locked tightly. All three looked around in shock, when an evil laugh came out of nowhere. Suddenly, a person appeared in front of them, two fingers to her forehead, as if she had teleported there with Instantaneous Movement.

“Lekiizin,” Tezhra hissed.

“Yes, dear sister. It is I,” Lekiizin replied. “Your constant resistance never ceases to amaze me. You may have defeated me last time, but you will not be so lucky this time. Even though you managed to break my hold on that Saiyan, I still have his abilities.” She took her fingers down from her forehead, clasping her hands behind her back. “Well, since I know that you will lose to me, why not get right down to business?” Without further ado, she glowed with power, and charged at Tezhra too fast for her to dodge. Tezhra was slammed into the wall with a sickening thud that made the black-haired girl’s teeth rattle. Piccolo attacked Lekiizin while her back was turned, and the attack hit its mark.

Lekiizin laughed, barely flinching. “You call that an attack?” Lekiizin grabbed the still-dazed Tezhra by the neck and squeezed hard. She pulled the black-haired girl around in front of her, letting her feet dangle off the floor. Tezhra clawed at Lekiizin’s vise-like grip ineffectually, her struggles not loosening the taller girl’s grip. Gohan and Piccolo gasped at this display of Lekiizin’s strength. “Now,” the blonde-haired girl growled, “watch as your precious Tezhra gets the life squeezed out of her!”

Dots swam in Tezhra’s field of vision. If I do not get free, I will suffocate, Tezhra thought wildly. In a last-ditch effort to free herself from the vice-grip around her neck, she kicked out viciously at Lekiizin, hitting the girl in her exposed abdomen. Lekiizin grunted in pain and doubled over, dropping Tezhra. The black-haired girl hit the ground, gasping for air. While Lekiizin was still down, both Piccolo and Gohan attacked her with their strongest ki attacks, throwing her against a wall. Lekiizin got to her feet quicker than expected.

She clapped. “I applaud your efforts. But this battle is between you and I, Tezhra.” With that, Lekiizin charged two enormous blasts, one in each hand and fired them—one at Piccolo, and the other at Gohan. The blasts were too fast for either one of them to dodge, and both fighters were tossed into the wall so hard that their backs made dents in the metal. Both the fighters were still conscious, but unable to fight.

Tezhra gasped and ran over to Piccolo. “My Gods…. Piccolo, are you all right?” She cradled him in her arms, supporting his upper body. “Piccolo?”

His weak voice reached her ears, “Yes…. I’m…fine…. Go fight your sister.”

“This is all my fault. I should never have suggested that Lekiizin and I come to this planet. It was my idea to begin with. I am so sorry, Piccolo,” she whispered tearfully.

He looked her in the eyes. “The only thing…I regret…is that I can’t…help you now. This is your…battle….” His eyes closed, and he passed out from his injuries.

For a moment, Tezhra stayed where she was, holding Piccolo against her and crying into his shoulder. Then, her resolve finally won out, and she wiped her tears away. She gently let Piccolo’s fainted body lie back, then got to her feet and faced her sister squarely. “Lekiizin,” she said quietly, “if you want a battle, then a battle you will have.” Tezhra got into a fighting stance.

Chichi had fallen asleep waiting for Goku to wake up. Her arms were folded on the bed next to her husband, and her head was lying on her folded arms.

Goku’s eyes fluttered open and he looked around. He caught sight of Chichi and smiled broadly. The smile froze on his face when he remembered the dire situation that his friends were in. He gently shook Chichi’s arm. She woke with a start and looked up. “Goku? Do you feel all right? Are you okay?” She noticed that Goku’s hair was now back to its original black, and the wrinkles were gone from his face.

“Yeah, I’m fine….” His expression firmed. “…But if I don’t go after Piccolo, Gohan, and Tezhra, we may be a person or two--or three--less.” Goku got out of bed and told Chichi, “I’ll be back in a little while, Chichi.” For some reason unknown to him, he had an overwhelming urge to hug her, which he did.

“Be careful, Goku,” Chichi replied.

He smiled his trademark grin and said, “Aren’t I always?” The look Chichi sent him spoke volumes. Goku sweat dropped and scratched the back of his head. “Eheh…. I’ll be careful.” With that he left the house, stopping to grab a few senzu beans that he and his wife had been saving for just such an emergency. Then he took to the air, pinpointing his son’s ki. He shot off in the direction that Gohan’s ki came from as fast as he could, sensing that the boy’s ki was weakening.

Thud!

Tezhra had just been thrown face-first against the wall yet again by one of Lekiizin’s magic spells. She picked herself up off the ground and spat out the blood that filled her mouth, then faced her sister again, preparing to go down fighting. Lekiizin threw a ball of fire at her, and the black-haired girl narrowly avoided it by rolling sideways and slightly forward, putting Lekiizin in her swinging range. Tezhra jumped to her feet and performed a jumping roundhouse kick, dodging a fireball aimed rather low and causing her foot to strike Lekiizin across the side of the head. While Lekiizin was still staggering, Tezhra slammed her fists one at a time into Lekiizin’s stomach repeatedly, almost too fast to follow. She ended with a vicious punch to the blonde girl’s stomach that had the entire weight of Tezhra’s body in it, which sent Lekiizin flying across the room. Tezhra had closed the distance in an effort to attack before her sister could recover, but Lekiizin charged a fast ki attack and shot it into the black-haired girl’s face.

Before Tezhra could recover, Lekiizin charged a huge flaming ball of ki, using both her elemental magic and the ki she’d stolen from Goku. The blonde-haired girl fired it at Tezhra before she could avoid it. Upon hearing Tezhra’s telltale cry of pain, she thought the fight was over, and charged another large blast, a large enough blast to strike all three fighters-—Tezhra, Piccolo, and Gohan-—dead.

Suddenly the door was blown open. Lekiizin was so shocked that she let the blast die in her hands and stared incredulously at the force that had ripped through a door made by “Interma Elite,” the best metalworkers in the universe, like it had been wet paper.

When the smoke cleared, Lekiizin saw Goku, scowling fiercely, on the other side of the now ruined door. Goku stepped into the room and found his son and his comrades lying on the floor in various stages of unconsciousness, and his scowl deepened. So shocked was Lekiizin at his display of strength that she didn’t even move to attack him as he woke his comrades and gave them the senzu beans he’d brought along in case something like this happened. In a few moments, all four of the fighters stood in front of Lekiizin, all in fighting stances.

Tezhra piped up, “Fight us all, sister, if you are not afraid.”

“I am not afraid of you,” Lekiizin laughed. She placed one foot in front of the other and clenched her hands into fists. To Goku, she said, “Is this familiar to you? Kaio-Ken!” A yellow aura surrounded her like flames.

Goku was flabbergasted. “She knows the Kaio-ken? How?”

“She learned it from you, along with several other techniques, while she had a hold on your ki,” Tezhra answered. “She also knows some of your other abilities: Kamehameha and Zanzoken. She also knows how to fly as you all do, and can use Instantaneous Movement. This will not be an easy battle.”

“You are quite right; it will not be easy. You will not defeat me, not even if you all attack me at once,” Lekiizin replied. “I will kill you all.” The blonde-haired girl charged her copy of Goku’s Kamehameha and fired it. With her newly acquired power, and the power of the Kaio-ken adding to it, the beam was large enough to hit all four fighters and throw them into the wall several feet away. They struggled to their feet one by one. Lekiizin took to the air, and Goku, Gohan, and Piccolo followed her.

Tezhra could do nothing but watch, as she did not have the ability to fly. Inside this metal room, there was no wind that she could manipulate. Being at this disadvantage made Tezhra angry, as there was nothing she could do to help her friends. Her magic was not as strong as Lekiizin's had been the last time that they had fought. It would do next to nothing to her sister now, being as powerful as Lekiizin was. The most Tezhra could do was fire the occasional spell to distract her sister as the others battled her.

After a while, Goku and the others appeared to be losing. Goku used his own Kaio-Ken then fired his Kamehameha at Lekiizin. She fired her own version of it, and effectively pushed his attack back towards him. Repeated power-ups with the Kaio-Ken proved useless, and he was slammed into the wall. After struggling to his feet, he was infuriated to see Lekiizin attacking Gohan. The boy wasn’t quick enough to avoid her, and was pummeled repeatedly by ki attacks and magic attacks. Piccolo was swept aside like so much dust when he tried to stop Lekiizin from attacking. With a shout of rage, Goku blasted into Super Saiyan 3 and flew to attack Lekiizin. But even this was not enough. As he swung his fist to attack the blonde-haired girl, she dodged and fired a ki blast into his face that sent him flying back.

Goku realized that he would have to use his speed to his advantage. He flew to Lekiizin just as she had gotten through with an attack that slammed Piccolo into the wall again. She attempted to hit him with a ki-blast, but he moved to avoid it. Before she could recover her strength, Goku attacked, sending his fists into Lekiizin’s gut repeatedly. She fell from the air. As luck would have it (or perhaps Goku had planned it), she fell right into Tezhra’s range. No sooner did Lekiizin regain her footing than Tezhra ran to get speed and jumped into the air with a thrusting kick followed by four very odd kicks in which she used Lekiizin’s head to push herself back into the air. She concluded the maneuver with a roundhouse kick, flipping Lekiizin over to land face down with a thud on the ground.

After a bit longer of being on the receiving end of Goku and Tezhra’s team attack method, Lekiizin put up a barrier around her that was strong enough to deflect any attacks from them. Her gaze shifted from Goku to Tezhra. She looked at them a moment more before replying in her evilly quiet voice, “Now, now, sister. These odds are unfair. But, since I doubt that any of you will be holding back any power, neither shall I.” Her body began to glow a bright red and she was lifted into the air. The four fighters watched as Lekiizin’s body began transforming.

Lekiizin’s body lengthened, her arms became more muscular, and her fingers became claw-like. Her legs seemed to melt together, then curled like a serpent’s tail. Her hair became fuller and thicker. This new form dwarfed all four of them. The four fighters could have stood on each other’s shoulders and not reached even to Lekiizin’s waist. Then the glow seemed to be drawn into her eyes, and Lekiizin stopped glowing. Tezhra gasped at the creature that stood—or rather, levitated—before them.

The shiny, black, serpent-like tail was in three huge coils underneath it. From the tip of the tail grew a long, silver, wickedly curved blade that insinuated a frozen fire. The underside of the tail was red as blood and some of the joints on it had miniature claws that dripped some type of greenish-yellow fluid. Every time the fluid dripped on the ground, it hissed and smoked.

Its upper body still resembled Lekiizin—barely. The skin on Lekiizin’s upper body now had a dark purplish hue to it. Her eyes glowed red and had no visible iris; the catlike pupils that she’d had in her human form reached from her upper eyelid to her lower eyelid. Her blonde hair was now white, and was twice as long as her body. The mass of hair fell around her, concealing her now-bare upper body.

Lekiizin’s upper body was much more muscular, and massive, black bat-like wings grew vertically from her shoulders. The wings had crimson webbing between the black finger-like extensions. Wickedly gleaming claws grew from the top of the wings as well as from each of the finger-like extensions that maintained their shape, both sets of claws dripping the same fluid as the claws on her underbelly. Lekiizin’s arms were almost twice as big, her muscle mass having increased nearly ten-fold. Her fingers were now clawed digits, and her fingers and fingernails were indistinguishable from each other.

“L-Lekiizin….” Tezhra whispered. “What evil have you given yourself to?”

Piccolo and Gohan had regained their footing and stared in amazement at the demon that Lekiizin had become. Piccolo whispered, “What the…Hell is that…?”

Tezhra had tears streaming down her face. She said, “This…is an evil form. Sometimes, if we are strong enough, Interma may change forms. The change is not permanent. Her power has exceeded her human form’s capacity.” Lekiizin left no more time for talk as she slithered to attack the four. Already weakened, they stood no chance of defeating her now.

As the demon beat the four senseless, Tezhra noticed that Lekiizin held back strength whenever she had to hit the black-haired girl. Of course! Tezhra realized. If I die, she dies. A plan began to hatch in her mind. I hope it will not come to that. I do not wish to leave this world yet. And...Piccolo.... I could never leave him. Tezhra came out of her reverie to see Piccolo slammed into the wall with such force that it made a very large dent in the wall. He slid down the wall with a groan of pain and collapsed in a heap on the floor. He did not rise, and did not appear to be breathing. Tezhra ran to him.

Piccolo was breathing, but very shallowly. When Tezhra helped him into a sitting position against the wall, it seemed to rouse him a bit and he looked up. “Tezhra….”

“Shh…. Do not try to speak. You are injured very badly,” Tezhra replied. “We will have no chance against her. Lekiizin is too powerful. If I could attain my second form, we might have some hope of dealing with her, but I do not have the power to do that.”

“You…helped me…at the last battle with…Lekiizin. Let me help you…in this one. I may be able to help you attain your…second form,” Piccolo said.

Tezhra shook her head tearfully. “You do not have the energy to do that. And you may not survive the removal of the energy required.”

“We’re all…going to die if…I don’t…help you. It’s the only…way,” Piccolo insisted.

“No, Piccolo. I cannot….”

He interrupted, “You have to…do something, otherwise your sister’s going…to kill us all, Tezhra.” He smiled weakly. “Don’t…worry about me. I’ll be…fine.”

Tezhra hugged the Namekian gently, so as not to injure him further. “Piccolo…” she whispered in his ear, “I love you…”

His eyes widened in shock, then he scowled, “Just…get in there…and fight…”

She sat back and smiled, then placed a gentle kiss on his lips. He started, but he made no move to stop her. Tezhra sat back once again and said, “All right. Give me your hand.” Piccolo did as she instructed. Their hands glowed a golden color, and the Namekian felt himself getting weaker. For a moment, he panicked, but Tezhra told him, “That is the spell. Let it work.” He relaxed, and Tezhra felt her power increased, but she had to stop before she had quite enough energy. “I cannot take any more power from you.”

“Why…not…?” Piccolo asked.

“If you die during the transfer, we will both die,” Tezhra replied. Before Piccolo could comment, Goku was thrown against the wall similarly.

Even Goku had to admit, “Son of a… We’re not going to beat her…” It was then that he sensed a raised power level. His eyes followed his senses, and lit upon Tezhra, who was now radiating a dull golden glow to his senses. “Tezhra? What’s…”

She quickly made her way over to him. “There is no time. I need a bit of your energy to attain my second form. I have taken some from Piccolo, but I could not get all of the energy I need to make the change,” she said.

Goku nodded and offered her his hand. “Do it.”

Tezhra took the proffered hand and repeated the procedure of taking some of Goku's energy, as well. Unfortunately, it left Goku in a similar state that Piccolo was in. With all the energy she needed, she faced her sister, leaving the two wounded fighters at the wall. She glanced back at Piccolo, seeing him collapse to the floor again. Her heart clenched, but she resolutely turned back to her sister, who was beating Gohan into the floor.

“Lekiizin….” The blonde-haired girl stopped beating Gohan up and looked towards the sound of her name, finding Tezhra standing in front of her. Tezhra stepped back from Lekiizin and closed her eyes, beginning to glow a dark blue color. She levitated off the ground, the glow beginning to getting brighter. Lekiizin gasped. Tezhra’s body lengthened, too, and her stature changed slightly. Her hair also became fuller, but not by much. Her body became more streamlined and much less bulky than Lekiizin’s now was. Wings began to sprout from the center of her back. Then the glowing stopped, and Tezhra’s second form was revealed.

Tezhra's new form was as different from Lekiizin as night and day. Much to Lekiizin’s surprise, the wings on this creature didn’t appear to be made out of anything but a jointed, gold-colored metal extension that touched the ground. Then Tezhra stretched the wings straight out and several metal “feathers” snapped into place in a line down them, each one pointing at the floor. The wings looked like they should have been on the back of a robot. The rest of Tezhra’s appearance coincided with that, however. Her hair was still black, but reached to her waist, and she appeared to be wearing golden armor of some type. The armor covered her arms and hands very closely, as if it had grown from her skin. However, the armor stopped under her breasts and left a lot of her abdomen, which now appeared to be tattooed with strange dark blue designs, visible. Over one side of her face was a metal quarter-mask that only covered her left eye and reached a little past her cheekbones. Her right eye also had no iris and the pupil went from her top eyelid to her bottom eyelid the same as Lekiizin’s did, but instead of the red color, Tezhra’s eyes were glowing a dark blue color.

Her lower body was covered similarly in armor of the same color as the rest of the armor she wore. The armor on her lower body rode low on her hips and did not cover her legs, which were also tattooed with the same strange dark blue designs. Tezhra wore metal boots that reached to her knees and had many strange designs in white on it, as did the entire suit of armor she wore. In her right hand was a lance, like those that were used in jousting tournaments during the middle ages. The handle was pure white, perhaps of mother of pearl; the attacking portion matched Tezhra’s armor. “Now…” Tezhra said, her voice soft, but full of quiet power. “As you said before, this battle is between you and I. Attack me now, Black Serpent of Dosgah Evesh.”

A demonic voice, as if there were many people speaking at once, came from Lekiizin’s mouth. “Then I will, Tezhra, Angel Knight of Graeshda. And I will capture you.” Lekiizin swooped to attack Tezhra, claws out and ready to scratch her. Tezhra took to the air, jumping over the serpent creature and landing behind Lekiizin. She quickly turned and thrust the point of the lance she held into the serpent’s underbelly. Lekiizin roared in rage, flipped her tail out quickly, and hit Tezhra in the arm and throwing her back a bit. The blade on the end of Lekiizin’s tail made a small nick in Tezhra’s armor.

Lekiizin saw the blue-black blood dripping from her underbelly and growled again in rage. She swooped to attack Tezhra again, getting a solid punch in the face and a slap with one of the black-haired girl’s metal wings. Lekiizin’s wing shot out as she turned from the force of Tezhra’s blows, the claw catching Tezhra and ripping a line down her exposed side. Tezhra hissed in pain, her flesh smoking from the fluid on the claws, but she was not injured.

Lekiizin looked at her in shock, sure that the poisonous substance on her claws would have killed Tezhra. This state of shock allowed Tezhra to attack the serpent viciously with her lance, wounding it several times. Lekiizin turned back on her sister, whipping her tail viciously across her face, the blade cutting Tezhra’s face several times. Tezhra managed to extricate herself from Lekiizin’s attacks, blocking a few with her lance and crossed arms. The serpent tail wrapped around the lance in Tezhra’s hands, trying to pull the weapon out of her hands. The Angel Knight fought the serpent’s grip on her weapon.

Goku, Piccolo, and Gohan had since regained consciousness. Gohan gasped at seeing Tezhra’s new form. “Wow!” the boy commented. “She looks really pretty.”

Before he could stop himself, Piccolo replied, “Yes, she does. She’s even more beautiful than she was before.”

Goku looked at Piccolo strangely. “What did you say, Piccolo?”

A very large sweat drop appeared on Piccolo’s forehead when he realized what he had said. “N-Nothing,” Piccolo stammered. “I d-didn’t say anything.”

Goku looked unconvinced, but didn’t press the issue. The three watched the battle between good and evil raging in front of their very eyes. When Lekiizin tried to pry the lance from Tezhra’s hands, Gohan started to run forward to help her, but Piccolo held him back. “No, Gohan. This is her battle,” he said. “Besides, you were getting your butt kicked earlier,” he continued, with the ghost of a smile. Gohan pouted, then playfully stuck out his tongue, but didn’t interfere with Tezhra and Lekiizin’s battle.

Lekiizin went after Tezhra again, this time catching her off balance and wrapping her tail around the black-haired girl’s wings. Tezhra struggled, not able to get free. But what Lekiizin didn’t expect was for Tezhra to retract the metal “feathers” of her wings. Still, Lekiizin kept hold of her wings. Then Tezhra allowed them snap down into place again, piercing Lekiizin’s tail several times. Lekiizin roared in pain then let go of Tezhra’s wings. But before Tezhra could attack again, Lekiizin had swung her tail at Tezhra with all her might, throwing the black-haired girl into the wall. Tezhra made a very large dent in the wall from the impact. Lekiizin was attacking her repeatedly before Tezhra could move away, slashing with the claws on her wings, hands, and underbelly, leaving scratch marks on the black-haired girls face, stomach, legs—basically any exposed part. Some of these scratches were quite deep. Lekiizin then wrapped her tail around Tezhra’s legs and swung her around, then let go of her, letting her fly across the room and hit another wall.

Piccolo ached to help her, but he knew that there was nothing he could do. Lekiizin was just too powerful. He watched Tezhra be thrown around the room. When Tezhra hit the wall the second time, he watched her back arch and her face grimace in pain, then watched as she collapsed in a heap against the wall. Piccolo scowled. Lekiizin raised her arms into the air and chanted, “By my Interma blood…”

“Oh, man…” Goku remarked. “If Lekiizin gets her in that, we’re dead.”

Lekiizin continued, “I place this seal upon you by blood bond, and by my power, Angel Knight! May your powers be forever trapped between the dimensions! Be gone!”

Tezhra cried out in pain as Lekiizin’s version of the “Rite of Passage” ritual attempted to seal her powers—as well as her body—in an orb of Lekiizin’s black power. Tezhra fought with her whole being, attempting to fight back the black orb. But despite her best struggles, the orb closed around her, sealing her powers and making her body curl into the fetal position within it.

Lekiizin laughed in triumph just before the spell completed, and for an instant, her concentration was broken. That tiny instant allowed Tezhra to regain her own concentration, and with a guttural cry in her native language, she broke free, the imprisoning orb shattering like fine crystal exposed to a high-pitched sound. Lekiizin’s laughter died abruptly, and she was in shock that Tezhra would break free of the magic orb.

The fight continued. Tezhra attacked Lekiizin with all her strength, and a little of her magic. She powered her fists up with her holy power and struck Lekiizin repeatedly. Lekiizin’s skin began to blister from the repeated contact of holy energy. The lance stabbed; the wings slashed and beat on Lekiizin's body. Within minutes, through Tezhra's newfound will to win, Lekiizin flew across the room from the force of a particularly vicious attack from the black-haired girl. Lekiizin slammed into a wall and slid down it, lying in a heap on the floor.

Tezhra flew into the air, glowing with the power she had called to perform the "Rite of Passage" spell that would trap Lekiizin. She stretched her wings out, the stretched her arms out, reciting the following:

"Interma rite, I call you now In fulfillment of Interma vow This evil force to seal away, Never again to tarnish day. I call upon the sacred power To help me in this darkest hour. For your help, I now beseech To grant me what is out of reach!"

Lekiizin managed to get her strength back just as Tezhra said the last words. The serpent-demon roared in anger and moved quickly to attack her, the blade on her tail readied to slit Tezhra's throat. In the middle of the summon, there was no way for Tezhra to avoid the attack aimed at her throat. But something stopped Lekiizin in mid-attack, as if an invisible barrier had sprung up between the two sisters. A white orb circled the two, then absorbed into Lekiizin. Her body glowed white, and her shape began to shrink. Soon, the glowing stopped, and the fair-haired woman now appeared in the form that she'd been in before she turned into her second, much stronger form. Lekiizin fell to the ground, her power drained away. "Tezhra! Stop this at once! This may kill us both!"

Tezhra continued the spell, whispering to her sister, "So be it." A series of very small white orbs circled Lekiizin, joining together in a line. The orbs grew to encompass the fair-haired girl within a single, large white orb. Lekiizin's body was forced into the fetal position and the orb held her there for a moment. Tezhra sent more energy to the orb and shouted, "Away with you now, evil one! I cast thy great evil into the Fires of Dosgah Evesh by the power given unto me by the holy might of Greshanilan, the Keeper of Graeshda!" The orb brightened. Tezhra threw all the energy she had into it. The orb disappeared in a bright flash of light, and Tezhra's scream could clearly be heard in the maelstrom of the light and sound of the spell ending. Faces flashed through Tezhra's mind, a million people that she knew, but they drifted past too quickly for her to recognize. Finally, her vision went black.

She opened her eyes to a soft, glowing light and warmth. Where am I? She noticed that she could not speak with her mouth and looked around. There was a beautiful skyscape all around her, and she panicked for a second. I'm dead? A voice echoed in her mind.

"No, you are not dead. You have done nothing that you should die. But as an Interma, you will be unable to live upon Earth. You must become something else…and for that, your Interma body must die. But your soul will live, and I will provide it with another body…. For I am Greshanilan, the Holy Keeper of Graeshda…."

Tezhra felt her body dissolving, but not painfully. Her soul flew from the rapidly dissolving flesh, and she felt the sensation of entering a strange type of warmth. This must be the body that Greshanilan chose for me… Tezhra thought. She felt as if she had lost something valuable that she would never get back, and yet she felt as if she was gaining more substance; as if she was getting heavier. Her body dropped out of the floating state it had been in.

The room lit up with a bright light, and Piccolo shielded his eyes from it to avoid getting blinded. He heard Tezhra scream and strained to see past the light. Then the light disappeared, and Tezhra was nowhere to be found. "Tezhra?" Piccolo called. There was no answer. He walked to where the metal floor was scorched a bit from the power of Tezhra's spell. Piccolo couldn't sense her anywhere. "Tezhra!" he called a bit louder. The realization of what had just happened hit him then. Tezhra was gone. He whispered, "No…. Tezhra…." That's when he realized why he'd felt the way he had around her, why he'd felt so happy when she'd told him earlier that she loved him. It was because he loved her. Dammit.... I never got to tell her.... And now...she'll never know how I feel....

Gohan started to cry. Goku walked up behind Piccolo and began, "Piccolo…. I know how you felt about her…."

Piccolo whirled around. "What do you mean?" he demanded with a scowl.

"You love her," Goku replied simply.

"Oh? And what makes you say that?" the Namekian retorted with a snort of laughter. He was still intent on hiding his feeling from other people.

Goku sighed. "One look at your face was all I needed to see." The quickly reached out before Piccolo could move and swiped at the area under the Namekian's left eye. His hand came away wet. "You see?"

Piccolo growled, then angrily swiped at the tears running down his face. His scowl disappeared in the next instant, though. "Dammit…. Why…?" He let the tears fall as they wished, some of them splashing onto the scorched metal floor beneath him.

Gohan replied, "Mr. Piccolo, I'm sorry. I don't think we can wish for her to come back again, either. We made that wish once already. It'll be too late when we can." The boy started to cry even harder. "It's all my fault! If I hadn't wished her back to start with, Lekiizin would have never come back, and Tezhra wouldn't have had to die again. Not like this…."

Piccolo turned again and walked to the crying boy. He hesitated a moment, then knelt in front of Gohan and hugged him tightly. Gohan hugged the Namekian back, still crying his eyes out. Goku sighed once again. "No, Gohan. If it was anyone's fault it was Lekiizin's. She didn't have to turn into that demon. Matter of fact, she didn't have to attack us again in the first place, but she did. Tezhra had to counter Lekiizin's evil, and maybe this was the only way to…" A burst of power from somewhere interrupted Goku. "What the--?"

A light formed in the place where Tezhra had been standing, and Piccolo let go of Gohan quickly and whirled about. Gohan dried his tears and watched the light from where he stood. The glow brightened and widened, then dropped a figure out of it. The figure fell onto the floor with a small grunt, landing on her hands and knees. Piccolo recognized the person instantly.

"Tezhra!?" he demanded in shock. She looked up. Indeed it was Tezhra. Piccolo raced to where she was and helped her to her feet. For a moment, he didn't say anything--he couldn’t--then he embraced her tightly, tears running down his face. "Tezhra, I--I…love you…"

The black-haired girl smiled. "I know. I knew that before I was brought back to my physical body by Gohan's wish. You and I--we are the same in spirit." She pulled back to look at him, a smile on her face.

That's when Piccolo noticed her eyes. They were no longer cat-like gold with sliver flecks. Now they were a rich chocolate brown, and the pupils were round, like a human's eyes would look. "Tezhra…. Your eyes…"

She nodded. "Yes. To survive on this planet, I had to become something else. I should be thankful that Greshanilan chose a human form and not an animal form." Tezhra laughed briefly at this before continuing. "I have lost all of my powers, but I give them up gladly, if it means that I will not have to part with you, Piccolo."

He looked skeptical. "Are you sure you're making the right decision? I don't expect you to choose me over being yourself."

"Yes, I have made the right decision. To be oneself does not require that they retain their powers and abilities. All that it requires is for one's soul to remain the same. Besides," she continued, her smile turning slightly mischievous, "I have retained all of my physical fighting abilities. I will not be a burden to you. I may even defeat you again in combat."

"Not likely," Piccolo sneered, but there was no sting in his tone. He stayed silent a moment more, then hugged her tightly once again. All of a sudden, the building started to tremble violently. "W-What the…?"

Tezhra shouted over the noise, "This building will collapse in a short while! Without the power of at least one Interma, this building cannot stand! My sister is trapped, and I am now human, so there is no one here to maintain it! We must go quickly!" Tezhra led the way through the building's twisting corridors, finally bringing the group to the elevator. But there was one thing she had forgotten. "The elevator cannot be used. No one has the power to activate it!"

Gohan asked fearfully, "You mean…we're gonna die down here?"

"No," Tezhra firmly replied. "I will not let my friends die." Her eyes flickered gold for a moment, and the elevator started working. "Get in, quickly!"

The four got into the elevator and made it to the top of the sand just as the building started to collapse under the desert. Goku, Gohan, and Piccolo flew to safety in the air. All had forgotten that Tezhra no longer had any true powers. She could not run from the scene of destruction fast enough, and started sinking into the weakened sand. "Help!" she screamed, hoping that her voice was still loud enough for them to hear.

The group had gone a distance away when Piccolo noticed that Tezhra was no longer with them. Piccolo turned around and yelled back to his comrades, "I'm going to look for her!"

When he arrived at the site of the building's collapse, he saw nothing. Then he saw two dark-skinned fingers sticking out of the sand. He gasped and landed on the sand, hoping that the sand was stable enough for him to stand on. He started to dig, hoping that Tezhra was still alive after the pressure and loss of oxygen. After a moment, he dug her out. She was pale, and her lips were blue. A quick check revealed that she wasn't breathing. Piccolo breathed into her mouth, pinching her nose shut. "Dammit, Tezhra," he growled, "I almost lost you once. I'm not going to lose you this time." He continued to perform rescue breathing.

Suddenly, Tezhra coughed, then gasped a breath of air. Piccolo supported her upper body as she struggled into a sitting position. "I'm sorry, Tezhra," he said. "I forgot for a minute that you couldn't fly anymore."

"It is all right. I quite understand," she replied. "Please, just get me out of here, away from this place. There are too many memories here of my sister and I…of happier times…." A tear slipped its way down her face.

Piccolo nodded. "I know what you mean. I'm sure Lekiizin wasn't always the way she ended up." He gently picked her up, then flew back into the air, where Goku and Gohan were waiting for him.

"Is she all right, Piccolo?" Goku inquired.

The Namekian nodded. "She looks like it."

Eyeing his friend squarely, Goku said, "You know, Chichi's gonna kill us both if you don't bring her back by just one last time, Piccolo."

Tezhra laughed, and Piccolo sweat dropped. "You're right, Goku. Well, I suppose we'd better get going, then," he said. Under his breath, he mumbled, "I am not looking forward to this…." He scowled.

Tezhra laughed, the only thing she could really think was, Gods, it's good to be alive....

[fin]

"Rite of Passage" copyright 2001 by "Dariyen Ryuseikyaku." The characters "Tezhra," "Lekiizin," the "Interma," and all other original concepts are the property of the webmaster. Please do not reproduce this story in any form without prior permission.

DBZ characters copyright Toei Animation and Akira Toriyama. Used without permission; no rights reserved. And I'm NOT making any money off of this. ^_^

Back to Fics

Email Dariyen