Author's Note:-
This is my very first real King Piccolo fic. No Frikiza, no Demonic Love, no AUs, no nothing. Just my headcanon insight into classic KP.
I was really holding back on writing this, for a long time. I thought of all of this headcanon towards the end of Demonic Love, and I always planned on writing it into a fic that I planned to start after I finished Living With Demons, but... LWD is on hold for now and I'm not sure when I'll resume it, so finally after holding back on this for months, I've decided to release it. Which is ironic, you'll see why :)
Anyway, I used a style for this that I don't normally use for fanfics, so I'd really appreciate your feedback if you have the time. Thank you in advance! I hope you like this :)
"Please, you have to…" On a distant, murdered planet once known as Namek, and once a meadow of wildlife and scenery comparable to that of Earth, the desperate plea of a father rang through the dried, barren land of a world that was dying, as he tried in vain to talk his child into his only chance of survival.
"No." The child answered stubbornly, folding his arms in protest. "I don't want to."
"That doesn't matter." Katas replied. "You have to –"
"I said no!" The child screamed, with the kind of anger that would make Katas flinch if he hadn't seen it a few times before. This child wasn't a typical Namekian youngster. Katas loved him dearly, and in return he was well and truly loved by his only offspring, but… there was more to it than that. His son had a dark side to him; it was an… 'evilness'. Katas hated using that word. That was a word the elders had assigned to it. Katas preferred 'naughty'. His son wasn't evil, far from it. He was sweet, and caring, and so affectionate and loving… but he had a temper. Sometimes. It was rarely seen, but when it was… it could be disturbing. Katas blamed himself; he'd been naughty as a youngster, and he suspected that this child had inherited his naughtiness from him. Katas could hardly blame the child, in that respect. But… there was something off about him all the same. Katas had managed to keep it under control, and he was confident that with proper guidance and enough love this child would never be any harm to anyone – in fact, he could even be kind enough to become the next guardian of the world. … If the world wasn't dying. If Katas could be there for his son's entire life, to guide him, and to love him, and to keep the darkness in his soul at bay… but he couldn't be. A vicious change in the climate was killing the Namekian race one by one. They were evacuating the children, to guarantee the survival of the species… but it was no guarantee. Nobody really expected the children to survive, on distant planets so far from their parents and their homes. Nobody knew what danger awaited them, but it was almost a certainty that the children wouldn't be able to handle it. … Still. If they stayed here, they were guaranteed to die. Katas wouldn't let that happen. He had to give his son a chance to survive, no matter how small it was… but unfortunately, his child didn't see it that way. He could be so stubborn when he wanted to be. "I'm not leaving!" The child screamed, his eyes glowing fiercely as his own stubbornness summoned the often-suppressed badness that lay within him. "This is my home!"
"You'll have a new home." Katas said. "Much nicer than here. Planet Earth –"
"No!"
In a sudden switch of emotions the child dove onto him, and clung desperately onto his father, burying his face against the soothing warmth of Katas's frame. "Please…" He sobbed. "I don't want to leave you."
"My child…" Katas uttered. He looked down at the boy, who was staring back with tear in his eyes. His wide, innocent eyes… The badness wasn't there anymore. It was never there for long. It was conquered all too quickly by Katas's love. Now the boy just looked like a frightened child, one that didn't want to leave his father.
"I promise I'll stop being bad." The child whimpered. "You don't have to send me away, I… I know sometimes I yell, but –"
"That's not what this is." Katas chuckled. He wrapped his arms around the child and pulled him into a hug, tenderly stroking his warm hand along his son's back. "You think I would send you away just for throwing a tantrum?" He smirked. "It's much more fun to ground you."
"Please." The child replied, snuggling against his father. He sniffed back his tears and closed his eyes. "I'll go if you come with me. Can't you come with me?"
"They need me here." Katas replied, and at that very moment, his heart broke. Of course… He wanted to go with his child, of course he did. He didn't want this, not at all. He didn't want to be separated from him, not even for a second. But… Katas was one of the strongest adults here; there were so few of them left…. It was up to the adults to make sure that when the weather changed, there would still be a world for the children to come back to. The weather would turn, eventually. The drought couldn't last forever. The children would have a home here, if they survived long enough on those other worlds…
"No!" The child screamed, and all of a sudden he erupted into a terrible tantrum. He started to fight against Katas's arms, thrashing so violently it almost caused Katas injury. "I'm not going!" He roared. "I'm not leaving you! You can't make me leave you!"
"My child –"
"No!"
Katas's eyes widened as his son burst from his grasp and hovered in front of him, his ki suddenly skyrocketing in a way that it never had before. The child's aura was so strong he was glowing; his eyes burning fiercely as he became engulfed in his own anger. Katas let out a sharp gasp, horrified at how powerful a tantrum this was. The child had never done this before. Never. He was really angry…
"Pi…" Katas choked. "Piccolo!"
"I'm not going!" The child roared, glaring viciously at Katas. "You can't make me leave you!"
"Okay!" Katas gasped, holding his hands up in surrender before the child could do any real harm. "It's okay! Fine! You'll stay here!"
"You promise?" The boy demanded.
"Yes!" Katas nodded. "I… I promise."
"… … Okay."
The child powered down, and he steadily lowered himself to the ground. Still crying even through his anger he sniffed, and as he came to his senses a look of innocence once again formed upon his young face. "Daddy!" He whimpered, and dove into Katas's arms. "I'm sorry!" He sobbed, his small body suddenly filled with regret. "I – I didn't mean to lose it…"
"Ssh." Katas soothed, placing a warm hand on the boy's head. "I know… I know. It's alright." He smiled slightly, comforted by the friendly warmth that was not emitting from the boy. The goodness had returned… of course. He was much more good than bad. Even that horrific outburst had soon been conquered by Katas's love. Under Katas's supervision, the bad would never rule for long.
Katas closed his eyes, and tried not to focus on a troubling thought that had been plaguing him ever since the evacuations had started. What would happen when Katas wasn't there…? Without Katas to help him contain his dark side, and with all the evil influences there could be on Earth, what would the child become…? He was Katas's only offspring. He was his little… "Piccolo…" Katas smiled, and placed a tender kiss on his son's head. It wasn't his real name. It was just a little nickname Katas had made up for him. It meant 'Otherworld' in the Namekian language, and Katas had been using it since the day his child had hatched. It could be inferred as bad… some of the elders had remarked that the 'evil' within this boy was from the Otherworld. But… Katas didn't mean it like that. The Otherworld had two sides, and Katas used this nickname to mean the good one. In truth, the boy had always felt like such a blessing to Katas, so much so that Katas was sure he couldn't possibly have come from the mortal world. He had to be a gift from the other side. "My little Piccolo child." Katas whispered. "What am I going to do with you…?"
"Nothing." The boy answered feebly. "Don't send me away."
"If you feel so strongly about it…" Katas uttered. "Then fine. You'll stay here, with me."
"You promise?" Piccolo whimpered.
"Yes." Katas said. "I promise." He hugged the child again, and planted another kiss on his head. "Now, go to sleep. We're migrating tomorrow."
"Again?" Piccolo groaned.
"Yes." Katas replied with a smirk. "Sorry, but we have no choice. The water's run out here, maybe further north we can find some… The elders are quite hopeful of that."
"Okay…" Piccolo mumbled softly, relaxed by the tender warmth of his father's arms and the gentle stroking on his spine.
"Ssh…" Katas soothed, grazing his fingers along his baby's back. "Sleep, my child."
"Mm…" Piccolo replied quietly, steadily realising how drained he was from his sudden rise in ki. He'd never done that before. He'd never felt that angry. It had been so tiring… He shifted his position to get more comfortable in Katas's arms, and he closed his heavy eyes. "Y…" He grunted, using his last ounce of strength to make his father repeat it once more. "You… promise…?"
"Yes." Katas whispered. "I promise, my baby… you'll stay here."
"Mm…" Piccolo barely formulated a response, already half asleep. Katas started to rock gently, guiding his child off into slumber, and he began to hum a soft lullaby, the same one he'd sang to Piccolo every day since he was born. Only… this one was different. This one was the last one. Katas hummed softly, more sincerely than he ever had. He felt the warmth of his son's small body, memorising the way it felt in his hands. He savoured the child's smell, and the sound of his breathing… He was careful as he hummed. He couldn't let Piccolo know that anything was wrong, and so Katas used all his might to keep his grieving out of his voice as he sang the soft lullaby, allowing only a few small tears to escape his closed eyes. That promise had been broken before it was even made.
XXXXX
"Katas, are you sure about this? It's not too late to go back…" Deep into his rest, the young Piccolo was disturbed by the sound of voices. He ignored it at first, reluctant to awaken from his sleep.
"I have to. He'll die here." Hm…? Wasn't that… his father's voice…?
"You know, the elders don't even want to save him. He isn't pure."
"Neither was I."
"Yes… but you had your father to guide you. What will happen to him –"
"I don't know, Guru! But what do you want me to do, let him die here? He's my child!" Yeah… that was father…
"F…" Piccolo grunted, slowly slipping into consciousness.
"I know… I'm sorry."
"It's alright… just open the door, would you?"
"Katas… He'll never forgive you for this. You do know that, don't you?"
"I don't need him to forgive me. I just need him to live."
"Father…?" Piccolo mumbled sleepily, and was about to open his eyes when a pair of warm arms soothed him back into slumber.
"Ssh…" Katas hushed. "It's alright, my child." Piccolo felt like he was moving… Was Katas carrying him…? "Ssh, ssh. Go back to sleep. I'm just getting things ready for tomorrow…" He was being put down again… on a bed. Was it his father's bed? "You have a big day tomorrow. You need your sleep." A warm hand on his head… a tender squeeze of his hand… It was enough to send the child back into sleep. "I love you, my child." Katas's words became more distant as Piccolo returned to his peaceful slumber. "Please don't forget. I love you."
"L… love… too…" Piccolo couldn't even speak the words, nowhere expect in his own head. He was far too sleepy, too taken by dreams. He didn't even hear his father moving away.
XXXXX
It was only a few hours later when the young Namekian awoke from his sleep. Something didn't feel right. For some reason, he felt… very far away.
"Father…?" He mumbled sleepily, steadily stepping into consciousness. "Katas…?" As he awoke his eyes began to focus, his vision becoming clearer… Where was he? This wasn't his house. It wasn't the tent they'd been sleeping in as they migrated from place to place in search of water. Where was he…? And where was Katas? "Father?" Piccolo repeated, with a small note of fear in his voice. He felt unnerved. This wasn't right… Something was seriously wrong here. He sat up in bed, placing his hands on the duvet. "Fa –" He stopped when he felt something. Paper…? He looked down, to see a note under his hand. What…? Who was that from? He didn't want to read it. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he knew what was going on… but he denied it so much that he read the note anyway, secretly praying it wouldn't confirm his deepest fears.
"I love you, my child…" Was one of the two things that stuck out the most. That, and… "If I survive, I'll come for you." No… no!
"You promised!" Suddenly enraged, the child screamed at the top of his lungs, his ki skyrocketing even greater than before. "You promised you wouldn't send me away! Arrgh!"
He went into a frenzy; his ki spiralling wildly out of control, his eyes alight with such anger he looked like evil itself. This was the true extent of his darkness. It was the evil from Otherworld, and it could not be contained. He desperately flung himself around the travelling spaceship in which he was now confined. He created chaos everywhere; in mere seconds the entire ship looked as if it had been hit by a tornado as the child's powerful, uncontrollable emotions manifested themselves into great bursts of energy that attacked everything nearby. "No!" He roared, plunging his entire body into the wall of the ship in an attempt to break it down. "Katas!" Piccolo screamed. He pushed all the might in his body into his fists, and mercilessly hurled them into the wall. He ignored the pain of his own shattering bones; he ignored the blood that was dripping from his clenched fists as he tried in vain to break out of this terrible place. "Let me out!" He wailed, tears spilling from his glowing yellow eyes. He'd never felt like this before. He'd never felt such fear, such anger, such loneliness… and all at the same time, in a vile mix of emotions that threatened to destroy his very being. "Katas! Katas!" He cried at the top of his lungs, his voice remaining completely unheard despite how loud he was. "Let me out!"
Hiss! With a vicious flinch, the encaged King Piccolo awoke from his recurring nightmare. It had plagued him for many years; longer than he cared to remember. That horrifying nightmare about entrapment, being confined in an isolated place with no hope of breaking out… It was too vile a thought to think. He growled out his distress, his annoyance at once again having nothing more than disturbed slumber. All he wanted was a decent rest… Perhaps he would get it, after some leisurely spilling of human blood. Hm. That was fun… Murder was always a fun crime to commit.
"Children." He grunted, still half-asleep as he reluctantly crawled from his slumber. "My creatures… come." He looked around, suddenly irritated by the lack of response from the army of demons he had raised. Where were they…? Where was he…? It was so dark. So dark, and so isolated… Oh. Oh… no. No no! Not here! He remembered now – his creatures weren't here! He was sealed away in this… this prison! "No!" King Piccolo roared, his ki soaring so greatly it sent a titanic wave cascading through the ocean, emitting from the submerged rice cooker in which he would be eternally contained. "Let me out!" He screamed at a volume that could shatter mountains, but from his chamber at the bottom of the ocean not one note of his anger could be heard. "Let me out, you bastard!" He snarled with such ferocity it could split a man in two; his yellow eyes glowing so demonically, and with such callous venom that he looked well and truly like a creature born from the evilness of Otherworld. "Let me out!"