Chapter 57: The Path Continues

Sometime in August Age 797

It was a hot summer. Noca was enjoying just chilling out in the Gohan and Videl's air-conditioned home. It wasn't like he could have really been doing any training at that point. He had a broken wrist and he was under strict instructions from Bulma to rest it until it is properly healed, and the cast can come off. She also made Noca promise to stay away from Vegeta until then because the Prince of Saiyans was always itching for a fight.

Noca didn't like the fact he couldn't really do any sparring, and he was trying his best to avoid actually going into the cities to spend time with his friends, ever since he became the champion he knew he would draw attention. There had already been many reporters and journalists outside Capsule Corp. hoping to see Noca or get to interview him for their TV show, web-series, magazines. Luckily, they didn't know Noca was living in the forest home of Gohan and Videl. This meant Noca was sort of stuck at home, but there wasn't too much of a problem there. He didn't have any worries. He had 50 Million Zeni in his bank account from his tournament winnings.

He also got to spend plenty of time with Pan, and the two were tasked with looking after Rei a lot as well. So, things were reasonably peaceful. Aside from Pan's panic as her time to start at West City University was fast approaching. There were a lot of last-minute things that Pan had to sort out to ensure she was completely prepared for the impending change. The main thing on her mind was what she should do about her living situation. Noca was fully aware of Pan's options and always tried his best to help her come to a conclusion.

Pan's first option, and the easiest one, would be to move in with Bra at Capsule Corp. They were both attending the college together, albeit different courses, but that could prove helpful and fun for the two. But Pan also believed it would be worth trying to get the full college experience and move in with other students. Affordability for all of this was no issue. While Pan got into WCU on her own merit, she had Capsule Corp. there to cover her tuition with a scholarship, and Pan intended to get a job working as an intern at Capsule Corp. tower either way. It was just the living situation, and then what stuff she should take with her.

Through all of this, Noca was starting to come up with his own idea for what she should do, but he wasn't sure how to bring it up. It was a big deal and he was excited about the prospect of it happening, he just worried that Pan wouldn't be ready. Previously, Noca had also suggested Pan move in with Dom, again, he would be attending the same college and looking for somewhere new to live for his time there. But ever since Noca settled on this new idea he stopped bringing that up. Maybe today was the day Noca would finally get the courage to say it.

Pan was going through her wardrobe trying to see what she should get rid of or what she should take with her, and what she could leave at home. Noca was sitting on the bed, his laptop in front of him and he was scrolling through apartments to rent or buy in West City. He looked over to Pan as she frantically went through the wardrobe, throwing some stuff on the floor and other stuff at the end of the bed.

"So… have you settled on an accommodation idea for College?" Noca asked awkwardly and out of the blue. Pan sighed and stopped what she was doing.

"No, I haven't," Pan said, turning around and dropping onto the bed. "I just don't know."

"It's a tough decision, it's a big decision," Noca said, stalling, "But uh… I might have a suggestion."

Pan turned to look at her boyfriend. Noca bit his lip as he looked back at his laptop screen and confirmed in his head that he should just say it.

"Why don't know we both move to West City?" Noca finally suggested. Pan's brow furrowed and she sat up.

"You mean, at Capsule Corp.?" Pan asked, not quite clocking on.

"No, not quite what I had in mind. I was thinking more… I have the prize money, it's a lot, maybe we can get a place together?" He dropped the suggestion, fully out there, and now it was Pan's turn to respond.

"Like, renting or buying?" She asked.

"I was thinking we could put quite a hefty payment down on buying a really good place," Noca said.

"And how will we afford bills and a mortgage?" Pan asked, standing up and pacing. Noca had an answer for that.

"Bulma offered me a job for Capsule Corp. security for their deliveries and stuff, and when higher-ups need to go to meetings and things. That'll pay well. You're planning to get a job, and I still have all of the prize money," Noca explained, showing that he had indeed thought this through. "We could get like a three-bedroom apartment, something that's for our future and also we could rent to Dom, he's still looking for a place."

Pan started to smile as she saw her boyfriend talking about this.

"You've really thought this through, haven't you?" She asked. Noca chuckled and looked to his laptop screen.

"Of course I have, I love you and I want to build a future with you," Noca confirmed, smiling up at his girlfriend as she sat back down on the bed and leaned in to kiss her boyfriend. They shared a quick kiss and afterwards Noca closed his laptop and sat up. "I can probably go and talk to Bulma about it today, I could start as soon as possible, then we can start looking at places."

Pan sat there for second, clearly pondering the idea, but she couldn't think of a single reason why that was all a bad idea and she didn't want to believe it was a bad idea. It wasn't. It was a brilliant idea and she was happy that her situation was practically settled.

"Let's do it," Pan said, smiling and laughing with tears in her eyes. The couple embraced again, and Pan started to kiss her boyfriend again, a bit more passionate this time. Noca felt his hand instinctively reaching down Pan's back. It could have gone further and become more intimate, until something drew them out of it.

"PAN!" A child's voice yelled from downstairs. Pan broke the kiss and cursed as she stood up and rushed to her door.

"What is it, Rei?" She yelled back down the stairs.

"I'm hungry!" The little voice shouted back. Pan sighed and smiled to herself. Noca stood up and walked to the door.

"I'll deal with him, you carry on with your clothes, you'll be there all summer otherwise," Noca joked, blowing a kiss to her as he walked down the hallway. Pan shook her head and went back into the room.

Noca let Rei lead him to the kitchen and the little jumped up into a seat at the table as Noca went into the fridge to find something to feed him. Noca pretend to be looking through for a long time, making Rei impatient.

"Noca, I'm hungry," The boy pleaded, pretending to sulk. Noca poked his head out of the fridge and looked right at the boy.

"What did I tell you before about being patient?" Noca asked, raised both his eyebrows and smirking. Rei crossed his arms and stuck out his tongue. "Yes, that's right, I always say 'sticking out your tongue negates the need for patience.'"

Noca was clearly joking with the boy, but Rei wasn't amused. He was hungry. And he was a Saiyan. A hungry Saiyan. Luckily Noca knew just want to do with a hungry Saiyan. He was one after all.

"Ah, here we go," Noca said as he pulled out a plate of chicken that had been cooked the night before. It was just one of the plates left-over, but it was what Noca was certainly in the mood for. He put the plate on the counter and went back to the fridge, pulling out a single carrot and putting it in front of Rei. "There ya go, eat up."

Rei looked down at the carrot and back to Noca, he looked rather disgusted. Noca was already taking bites of the chicken he had pulled out.

"Well, you didn't say what you wanted," Noca teased. Rei threw the carrot at him and Noca ducked as it went towards the doorway, when Pan walked in. She reacted swiftly to catch the carrot and looked at the two boys with a strict look in her eye. Noca put some chicken down in front of Rei quickly and finished chewing what he had in his mouth and swallowed as Pan walked in a put the carrot away. "Rei insisted on eating a carrot, but I told him he should eat some proper food, thus the chicken."

Noca gave a look to Pan as if to say, 'there's no way you're believing this poor joke' and he was right, she didn't believe it and just smirked, shaking her head and getting herself a water.

"I think I'm going to leave sorting out the rest of my room until later on, I'm a bit hungry too," Pan said as she took some chicken from Rei's plate and winked at him.

"Hey, that's mine," Rei complained, but then Noca did the exact same thing. "Hey!"

"What? It's not our fault, it just tastes better coming off your plate," Noca joked, again.

The trio had a quick lunch and then Pan opted to clear up, Noca having only proper use of one hand. He and Rei stayed at the table until Rei had a question.

"What are you doing when Pan goes to college?" Rei asked, nervously. Noca didn't answer straight away, the question seemed to catch him off-guard. Pan slowed down with the cleaning so she could listen out on the conversation. Noca cleared his throat.

"Well, I think I'm going with her to West City, so we can live together," Noca explained, hoping that Rei, even though he was a child, would understand. The boy wasn't sure to make of it, but he did look a little disappointed.

"So, I'll be alone?" He questioned softly, getting a little upset.

"What? No, you won't be alone," Noca said as he moved over to sit right next to Rei. He put his arm around him in a hug. "I'll still visit you all the time and we'll still play with your toys and games, and stuff. I'll just be living with Pan."

"Yeah, and you can visit our place when we have one, and you'll have your own room," Pan said, turning away from the counter and joining the conversation. Noca looked up to her and smiled.

"I'll miss you both," Rei mumbled, sombrely. Pan gave him a hug and kiss on the head to help make him feel better.

"And we'll miss you too," Pan said, "But the of us aren't going to forget you just because we're in a different city and you'll still have Goten visiting with Valese and Alexa."

"Yeah, and don't worry, Rei. When you visit us, I'll make sure to stock up on carrots," Noca joked, trying to lighten the mood again. Pan chuckled but Rei was offended by the thought of vegetables. He glared up at Noca. "They're good for you. Now come on, Pan has got some things to do so why don't we can play in the lounge."

Rei got excited again and jumped up, guiding Noca away, leaving Pan in the kitchen. She stayed at the table and started to think about the prospect of no longer having days like these. Just chilling at home with Noca, with Rei. Having girly days with her Mother, sparring with her Father in the woods and by the lake. It was the house where most of her memories had been made. She was sad to be leaving and nervous for the next stage of her life. But she would have Noca by her side all the way and that made her happier than anything possibly could.

That evening, Noca went off to see Bulma at Capsule Corp. He decided not to fly there though. He didn't want to be spotted by the media and instead used Instant Transmission to get there. He wasn't sure why he didn't use that method of transportation more, but it was sometimes more fun to fly places. He arrived in the Brief residence, behind Vegeta in a hallway as that was the power signature that was most clear for him to spot. The Prince stopped and turned around to see Noca standing there.

"Oh, hey Vegeta, fancy seeing you here," He joked, awkwardly. Vegeta raised a brow.

"Why are you here? You've been forbidden to train," Vegeta said, seeming pretty annoyed about that fact. Noca chuckled.

"Yeah, sorry about that, I'm here to see Bulma actually," he said, trying his best to walk away from the Prince after that. He headed down the hallways towards Bulma's lab.

"Come speak to me in the Gravity Room afterwards," Vegeta called out before walking away. Noca swallowed, nervous about what the Prince would want with him. Noca pushed that out of his mind and went to speak to Bulma. That conversation went well, he would be starting the job soon, and Bulma was excited for his and Pan's decision.

Following the instruction of Vegeta, Noca went to see him next, not letting Bulma know that he was doing so. Noca arrived at the Gravity Room and stepped in to see Vegeta was still just wearing plain clothes, not his armour. This wasn't about training, at least not right that second.

"What are we doing next?" Vegeta asked. Noca's brow furrowed and his eyes darted around the room.

"Uh… what?" Noca questioned, completely lost.

"We still have a lot of training to do. A lot of preparation for whatever is coming for us. And there is still that journey," Vegeta continued. Noca began to understand. "What is the next step, once you're healed?"

"I don't have a plan, I wasn't expecting to go into space like tomorrow or anything," Noca explained. "I'm about to start an important part of the next step of my life with Pan, I'm not thinking about jumping on ship and blasting off out there again."

"Have you forgotten what we were doing? It wasn't a vacation! We need to find out more about this Kuyato!" Vegeta said, practically yelling at Noca. The young man was taken aback and stepped forward.

"Hey, I haven't forgotten. I know there's looming power or whatever, but there's nothing we can do by jumping on a spaceship and hoping someone will point us in the way of this guy. Ok. I don't know what to do. So, I'm just going to live my life and once I'm healed, yeah, we can spar, we can train, but I have a life that I really want to live peacefully. Even if for a little bit." Noca went off on one, clearly showing that he didn't want to be pushed around by Vegeta. "We're allies in this. We're family. And I won't forget about what needs to be done, but until I know what the next step there's nothing we can do."

Vegeta stood in silence, arms folded. He stared down at the ground and turned his back on Noca.

"Fine," he uttered. Noca knew that was the best he would get from the Prince, and he may as well consider this situation a win. The young man turned and left the GR and soon used Instant Transmission to get back home to Pan.

That night the couple sat up until late, together, looking at apartments for sale in West City. Looking at a few that they would list down and make bookings to view as soon as possible. They wanted to ensure they were getting a place right for when Pan would be starting at WCU at the beginning of October. It was exciting and it was the next big step in their relationship.

Epilogue

Somewhere out in space, a ship was blasting its way through the vastness at a brilliant pace, heading towards Earth. It probably wouldn't get there for some time, probably a few months, maybe longer, but it would be soon. At the front of the ship, AIR-3N was piloting the ship with Niku sat alongside him. Niku pressed a couple of buttons and stood up as Airen continued to pilot the ship. The larger alien walked back past another control unit where the Namekian, Surto was sat. Deep in thought. Niku placed a hand on his shoulder and they nodded to one another.

Niku headed back towards the living quarters and saw that Talia was sitting in her room cleaning her blades. Niku stood in the doorway.

"You need anything to eat?"

Talia stopped and looked up.

"You know what? Yeah, I'm starving." She stood up, holding both blades and held as she did the action to sheathe them, they both entered inside two small red portals, disappearing.

"I'll never get used to that," Niku mentioned as the two of them walked off down the hall together. "I wish I could store all my weapons in a different dimension, that way Airen wouldn't touch them."

The two of them joked continuing down the hall to get some food.

Meanwhile, somewhere else in space, a portal, exactly like the one that Talia had opened to put her swords inside, opened up on a barren wasteland of a planet. The portal sparked and opened up very small, put a grey hand with sharp nails poked through and as more of the arm came through the portal grew larger. Finally, a full body was able to step through and the portal returned to a smaller size.

The figure that had stepped through was rather tall. He was wearing an armour that certainly made him look big a strong. He was grey-skinned, the armour was black with silver, and heavily battle-worn. He wore a long dark, blood-red cape that was torn at the bottom. He was bald, with a big black beard, that was greying. His eyes were a piercing yellow and he also had fanged teeth which were showed when he smiled and chuckled. His last couple of defining features, the devil-like horns on his head, one of which was broken, and also the large great-sword that was sheathed on his back.

The big man looked around the location and took out a small dagger and took it to his hand. He didn't wince when he sliced across his palm and watched as the blood started coming out red but soon turned black. He smiled and started laughing to himself again.

"I am still bound to you, my Lord, Kuyato," The man, or should I say Demon, spoke with a deep voice. He laughed out loud, the sound echoing around the wasteland. He then turned back to the portal as it opened up a lot wider, revealing a huge army of practically faceless demons in another realm. "We have returned."

To Be Continued… in DRAGON BALL AG: A PROMISE OF NIGHTMARES

There is is, the final chapter of this arc and this saga. With just a little hint (and reminder) and what's coming. I feel like a lot of what I did in this chapter was brief but I have to admit that I didn't really want to drag anything out for the last chapter, there wasn't a need to, so this is just a little bit of fluff. I hope you enjoyed this story, my longest story to date.

Please leave a review if you would like to.

Also, about the next story. Yes, it will be called Dragon Ball AG: A Promise of Nightmares but it definitely won't see the light of day this year. I can't give any sort of time-frame at this point because I haven't started writing it, and I'm toying with how I'll release chapters in future. I'm not sure if I'll continue to do weekly/bi-weekly or if I'll change up to where I post chapters as I finish them, that might be a much longer process.

Either way, please let me know how you would prefer me to release chapters in the future. No matter what, I still love working on this story.

Thank you for reading.

Next Time... DRAGON BALL AG: SAGA 7 - A PROMISE OF NIGHTMARES