Chapter Eleven
" Honor is simply the morality of superior men."
H.L Mencken
His pet was not acting normally, and that was a problem. Ever since she had returned from her mission she hadn't been as sickingly chipper. Not that he didn't mind the change, but it was getting in the way of her training. And besides, he had Beerus to deal with in two days; he was walking on a thin line of patience.
Adalina sluggishly dodged a beam of ki, her eyes blank as her mind wandered to a different place. Lately she just felt as if the world was crashing down, maybe it had something to do with encountering that Meredith woman? She gave her the creeps, and made something deep inside of her twist and turn, like a bad omen.
A really bad omen.
It made her feel helpless. Sure, she had held her own against the woman, but that didn't mean she would be strong enough to do so a second time. And then there was this boss of hers, which was probably much stronger than her. If they decided to show up any time soon they would be done for.
Well, maybe not Frieza.
The familiar burn of a ki blast connecting with her shoulder snapped the young woman out of her thoughts,
"Pay attention! I will not have you losing your concentration any longer. You have been like this for the past few days and if you don't start taking your training a bit more seriously I will start keeping you chained up in my quarters until you learn to behave." Frieza spat angrily, his hands on his hips, tail swishing back and forth.
"I'm sorry, I'm just worried about that incident. What if someone much stronger comes next time?" she lightly nursed her shoulder, rubbing a hand over the irritated skin.
The cold tyrant smirked, a menacing expression that the girl had oddly grown use to,
"There is no one in this universe stronger than I. Now, if you're quite done worrying over something so minuscule, then when can resume our training."
Adalina sighed and nodded, taking a fighting stance,
"You're probably right." she agreed, feeling a weight lift from her shoulders.
"Probably? I'm always right." he chuckled a bit and Adalina kind of found it funny too as she smiled.
The two continued their training, at a much quicker pace now that Adalina was actually responding. She dodged ki blasts, and blocked punches when he got up close and personal. Sometimes it made her feel powerful to know that she was basically on par with the tyrant. But if what Zarbon had told her was true, this wasn't even his final form.
The idea made her a little nervous to say the least, that such a strong being could increase his power even more. She hoped she was never on the receiving end of such strength.
She suddenly saw a fist coming straight for her and acted completely on instinct, grabbing his wrist, pulling him forward and sweeping his legs out from under him.
Frieza seemed a little caught off guard, to say the least, as he landed on his bottom with a thud.
Adalina's eyes widened and she repressed the urge to laugh, knowing that would only make him angrier than he already was. She smirked but tried her best to hide it as she extended and arm to him,
"Sorry, I was acting on instinct."
He ignored her hand as he levitated up and back onto his feet, a scowl gracing his features. His tail suddenly swept underneath Adalina's feet, tripping her up and causing her to fall as she flailed her arms,
"Sorry, I was acting on instinct." he replied sarcastically.
Adalina did laugh this time, a sweet tingling sound that he had not yet heard,
"I didn't know you were capable of making jokes." she managed to choke out as her laughter died down. It really wasn't that funny but for some reason she was laughing harder than ever, maybe it was because she hadn't expected it from him.
"Don't expect it to become a normalcy. Now, lets move onto something else." she nodded at his words and stood, dusting herself off. Sometimes he wasn't so bad.
After they had finished training she found herself soaking in a warm bath, as she always did. Her aching muscles relaxed as the water lapped at her skin, easing all tensions. Beerus was coming to 'visit' in two days and she found herself worrying for the Arcosian's safety once more. Frieza did not want her in the room when the God stopped by due to his thin patience.
She knew that he was merely trying to prevent his entire empire from being disposed of but sometimes she wished he would let her handle things, even though it wasn't her place to do so.
She stopped herself.
Why was she worrying over him? He made her life miserable after all, he didn't deserve anything from her. But she was too kind-hearted and had a goal in mind; to change him. If she wanted to change him she would have to put up with him.
And keep him alive.
She shook her head, not allowing her thoughts to go in circles. He would be able to handle the God's temper without her help, as he had done so for years before she came into the picture. Though he did destroy a planet that wasn't supposed to be destroyed.
She sighed and stood from the bath, grabbing a towel and wrapping herself in the garment. Adalina waltzed into their room, grabbing her clothes for the night. She usually changed out in the open as Frieza didn't go to bed until late, after she had already fallen asleep, so there was no way he would walk in.
She was wrong.
The Zandonian had just barely gotten her lacy red undergarments on when she heard the door hiss open. She turned around sharply, her cheeks burning a bright magenta color. Her eyes locked with the tyrant's, his face frozen in a mortified state, cheeks equally as pink.
They stood there in silence for a few moments before Adalina shouted,
"Knock first!"
"It's my ship and my room, I don't need permission to go anywhere!" he turned around, allowing the girl a shred of privacy, "Now put some damn clothes on!"
She mumbled under her breath as she hastily pulled her clothes on, blushing furiously the whole way. She could't believe he had seen her half-naked! She couldn't expect him to always stick to the same schedule so it was partially her fault, and- dammit why was this bothering her so much?!
Adalina announced that she was decent and he turned around, both of them still a bit flustered,
"Why are you in here so early?" she asked in an attempt to dispel the awkward tension.
"I finished everything I had to do for the night." he replied, his voice carrying a snippy tone to it.
Adalina sat on the bed and stared at the odd glowing orb that had recently acquired a ring looping around it in a diagonal fashion, the ring that she had retrieved,
"What is that?" she asked calmly, knowing that the tyrant disliked being questioned.
Frieza hesitated, not entirely sure if he should tell her or not. Though, if he was planning on keeping her around for a long time she had a right to know, especially if she was the one retrieving the pieces,
"It's a part of the Galaxy Staff, an artifact that can be used to manipulate the universe in whatever ways the user sees fit. A new piece appears every five years due to the cloaking mechanism that was placed on them when they were scattered." he explained clearly, surprising the young woman, as he usually gave half-answers in a clipped tone of voice.
"I see; why are you gathering these pieces?" she asked, hoping that the answer wasn't what she was expecting.
He smirked, a menacing expression that made her heart sink,
"Do you really need to ask that? I wish to have the entire universe under my rule, and with this I'll be unstoppable."
Her face fell a bit at that,
"Right." she replied half-heartedly. Sometimes she felt helpless, "Have you ever considered not doing such...things?" she phrased awkwardly, trying to avoid using the word 'evil' at all costs, for who was she to decide what was good and what was evil? He was merely wayward and morally-challenged.
He was still standing at the door but had moved to stand before her, hands clasped behind his back like usual,
"Have you ever considered not asking such pointless questions?" he asked smugly, avoiding the subject.
"It isn't a pointless question. I don't want to work for someone with such ill intent." her voice held steady as she questioned him. She wasn't sure why her curiosity had been piqued, but she just felt empty, as if she were lacking any motivation to continue with such a farce.
"You're in the wrong place then. Now if you're quite done with this irritating line of questions, I'd like to go to sleep." he spat, his temper flaring.
"Who's fault is that?" she mumbled.
"Excuse me?"
"It's your fault that I'm even here in the first place! You forced me to work for you, practically making me evil by association. I didn't want this, I didn't want any of this. I'm surprised myself that I managed to put up with it this long. You control people with fear and it's just not right, why can't you see that? Most of the people that work for you didn't have a choice, just as I did not!" Adalina had stood up midway through her rant, standing proudly above the tyrant.
Frieza's face had morphed into a scowl as he glared at her, death in his eyes,
"You're right, you don't have a choice and you never will. You will continue working for me until I am through with you and there isn't a thing you can do to change it. You will not dictate my behavior, I do as I please for the benefit of one person; myself." he growled out, his voice low and cold, "Do not presume to know anything about me, you insolent girl. I have said many times that I am perfectly capable of doing away with you at any point in time, haven't I?"
"Then do it." she said quietly, tears forming in her eyes, "As I said, I'd rather be dead than watch you, who murdered the majority of my race, get what you want and by my hands no less. You megalomaniac." she wasn't sure why she was feeling so overwhelmed all the sudden, maybe everything she had been quietly smothering was finally catching up to her.
Frieza froze and cleared his mind. The girl was visibly stressed out, he could tell. It was obvious that the emotions she had held back in fear of him were finally bubbling over. She had been acting languid ever since she had returned and now he knew why. He took some form of joy in knowing he was the cause of her distress, but knew that she would not function correctly and thus cause him problems if she wasn't allowed time to decompress.
"You will not be training until after Beerus has visited, is that clear? You're of no use to me in this state so I suggest you take this break to fix it." his voice was snappy, but not deadly any longer. He almost sounded understanding.
Almost.
"I'll be back." was all she offered before leaving the room.
Frieza sighed once the door had closed,
"Women." he mumbled. He couldn't figure out the exact reason behind his pet's distress, he knew it was due to her being overwhelmed more than likely; but why? She had been doing well, progressing in her training and happily doing things for him.
Maybe it was because she had realized she was enabling his 'ill intent' by retrieving the ring. Perhaps he should have lied? It would have saved him a headache.
No matter, what's done is done. She'll get over it, she has no choice in the matter.
Adalina walked towards the room of the only person who could help her organize her thoughts on the matter. She only hoped that he didn't turn her away. She knocked on the door to his personal quarters, certain that he had turned in for the night.
The door hissed open and a mildly disheveled Zarbon greeted her,
"What could you possibly want?" he snapped.
"I need to talk to you about something." the way her voice shook made him actually look at her. She looked defeated with her tear-filled eyes and fallen expression.
"Come in." he stepped away from the door, allowing her a space large enough to walk through.
She didn't bother looking at his room in detail, merely noting that it was nicely decorated in shades of coral and green. He gestured for her to sit in one of his chairs as he occupied the other.
"What's on your mind?" he questioned lightly. The two were on mutual terms and he felt no need to be hostile towards her any longer, especially because she was quickly becoming more powerful than even he or Dodoria. He respected her.
"How did you come to work for Frieza?" she mumbled meekly, twiddling her thumbs in anticipation of the answer.
Zarbon sighed a bit at that. He had been wondering when the girl would crack and start asking him such things,
"My planet was set to be purged and I was offered an ultimatum; join him or be killed like the rest. I didn't have a death wish and I still do not, so I agreed. Over the years I suppose I've just gotten use to my duties."
"But how?" she quietly protested, "How can you live with yourself knowing that you're taking the lives of innocents?"
He smirked lightly,
"I never claimed to be a saint." his expression grew suddenly serious, "Look, you need to stop pursuing this naive dream of yours. I'm no fool, I can see what you're trying to do and it won't work. I've know his Lordship far longer than you have and I know how he ticks, he is not an easily swayed man. "
Adalina sighed heavily,
"I realize that, but I'm not going to give up on him. Maybe it's selfish of me, but this is the only thing I have now," she gestured widely with her arms,"I want to fix him. I don't want to live in fear anymore. I want to be happily content keeping the peace. " she shook her head, unable to continue her train of thought.
"I understand your sentiment, but it's a lost cause. My advice? Endure it. Just do as he asks without question and maybe one day when he no longer has use for you, he'll allow you to go."
She scoffed at that,
"You really think that? He won't ever let me go, I'm far too valuable, so he says. And even then, he wouldn't let me go, he would kill me and you know it."
Zarbon didn't know what else to say. She was absolutely right, his Lordship was not one for mercy or any emotion of the sort and would kill her the second he had no use for her, just to ensure no one else could use her either. Perhaps the girl wasn't as naive as he thought? She was definitely overly optimistic, but maybe that was how she was choosing to cope with her situation.
"Adalina, do as you please, I will not stop you. But do understand that I won't save you either, should your plan go awry at any point in time."
She smiled, a bittersweet expression showing how helpless she truly felt. She didn't care though, she would ignore her own judgment and continue on her quest. She had to, for her own sanity, and for the safety of the universe.
"I think I'm gonna go to bed. Thank you for talking with me, I appreciate it."
"Warn me next time." was his snarky reply.
As she walked back to her shared room with Frieza she suddenly felt nervous. They had ended on bad terms and she wasn't sure if he would be mad or not. She reasoned that apologizing was in her best interest given the situation.
The door hissed open and she was greeted by the tyrant's ruby red eyes, glaring at her from his position on the bed. He was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the mattress, as if he had been expecting her.
The door closed behind her,
"Look, I'm sorry. Lets forget any of that happened." she timidly suggested.
The tyrant narrowed his eyes,
"It's certainly not the first time something of that sort has happened to me, though you are the first to survive after such a rude onslaught." his words were laced with venom, a warning.
Adalina took a seat next to him, on her side of the bed,
"I understand. I'll control my outbursts from here on out." there she went again, apologizing when it should really be the other way around.
"A wise decision." he replied smoothly, his lips curling up at the edges.
She sighed and settled herself under the covers as he followed suit,
"Good night." she murmured.
Frieza didn't reply; he never did.
After a while her steady breathing reached his ears, the sound almost soothing. He had nearly cursed himself earlier when he had tried to sleep without her and found that he could not. He enjoyed having someone sleep with him, though he would never admit it. The tyrant was slowly lulled into a deep sleep, content and comfortable with the woman sleeping beside him.
A/N: I lied, no Beerus action this chapter. I actually had it written in but it just didn't blend well at all, so I split it into two different chapters. You guys might get lucky, as in, I might update twice this week. Now, here's the thing though, you can't expect it to be a constant thing. I am a member of the marching band and it is currently kicking my butt, and I'm also trying to get into the Navy, so my hands are a bit full at the moment. However, our season is over in November I do believe, so after that I'll see about maybe updating more frequently, until then you'll have to be content with one chapter per week. And I have the time-skips worked out. I will be skipping five years at a time, and doing 2-3 chapters per time-skip. I will make sure I include any important character/plot developments. After the time-skips that will put us at about the time where Vegeta and Nappa head to Earth, and then the action will begin.
Next Chapter: Beerus Visits, for realsies.