"Count"
Ticking by the time,
To an insomnis nursery rhyme.
Counting stride by stride,
How you're leaning to a side.
Seeming to drown in an abyss,
But your ignorance is blessed bliss.
* * * * * * * * * * *
SHATTERING OF A BROKEN SOUL
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
"Zarbon-san!" Freezer called in a dangerous tone.
"Yes, sir?" Zarbon asked, trying to keep his voice from
shaking.
"Dodoria-san!" Freezer shouted.
"I'm here, sir."
"Ah, yes… I want to converse with you. You deserve to
know that I have a new feeling of anger at the moment. Before you tremble,
realize that I am not angry with you two," Freezer announced.
Zarbon and Dodoria could not help but to breathe enormous
sighs of relief at this news. No one wanted Freezer-sama to be cross with them…
They wondered with obtuse curiosity whom the unlucky individuals were…
"But… I am angry with our little-- monkey
friends… I shiver with this new antipathetic feeling… I shiver with pleasure,
but I do not quite comprehend why…"
"But, sir-" Dodoria interrupted.
"Quiet!" Freezer shouted, lashing his lizard-like tail.
"I_did_not ask you to speak! You are only to listen! Is that clear?"
Freezer growled.
Zarbon and Dodoria bobbed their heads up and down in
fear.
"Gooood… Now to continue… *ahem* now to continue… Oh, forget it!
You've absolutely demolished the dramatic tension! Grrarr! To put it bluntly:
I'm-mad-at-those-blasted-Saiyajins-and-I-need-more-planets-so-make-sure-they-will-be-working-at-least-five-times-as-hard-as-they-are-now!"
As the little alien ruler shouted his orders, veins began
to sprout forth so that they became painfully visible along his neck and
brow.
"'gasp'gasp"
"Sir?" Zarbon asked. "Are you alright?"
"Fine."
"Sir," Dodoria started wickedly. "Do you want us to kill
the royal family? Heheh… There are only two members left and it would
upset the populace greatly! You could even blame it on others to arise internal
conflict!" Dodoria exclaimed with glee.
"Shut up, you dope! I make my own decisions! I need no-suggestions.
Besides, that plan is too easy! No, do NOT kill the royal family!" Freezer
declared. "I like them."
Zarbon and Dodoria tilted their heads in confusion. After
all, it was only a few previous minutes that Freezer had been expressing
antipathy toward the subjects. Freezer's mood swings were frightening.
"Even though they are such a burden, they are quite
amusing, are they not? That idiot king is so easily agitated and
manipulated… And of course, he has that darling little boy… The little
child is the very image if his father, ne? But he will be infinitely
better… he's no coward, as far as I can see… Though a child, strength,
ambition, integrity, courage are all present… say! I wonder…"
Zarbon and Dodoria exchanged worried glances as Freezer's
eyes ignited with ardent delight.
" I wonder… hmmhehhmm……. what it would take… to break
him…."
* * * * * * * * * * *
Bejita
no Ouji stepped under the warm stream of water deriving from the high faucet in
the shower. He lingered under its temptations for longer than necessary before
actually beginning to wash himself. He desperately wanted to bathe before the
slaves arrived. It was tolerable if they insisted on dressing him, but… washing
him?! Ick!
After
about fifteen minutes, the child realized that he had indeed stayed too long…
One easily loses track of time in the shower, I suppose… It was past time for
him to get out! Bejita noticed that he even had wrinkles on his hands
and toes! He slowly reached out and turned to knob to stop the water flow.
Slightly
depressed at having to leave his bath, he started to carelessly step out of the
shower. Just as his foot was about to, supposedly, contact with the usual
smooth, marble floor, he felt a surge of pain! Stumbling clumsily about he
managed to get out of the shower, though he wasn't exactly standing. The
Saiyajin no Ouji lay sprawled out on the floor!
" whimper' I fell! How ungraceful!" the child spat.
He stood up, still in somewhat of a delirium, and looked
about the room in confusion. Where had the maddening pain come from?
"Ah! How could I be so stupid?!" he wondered aloud.
He turned his head and shot a mean glare at his furry,
Saiyajin tail. He hissed. ::Don't get in the way! It *hurts when I step on you!::
The prince paced over and opened
a warming compartment and removed a towel. He couldn't help but grin as he
rubbed the soft, warm attire against his cheek. At least, he thought, no one
was there to watch him behave like such a child. He wrapped the towel around
his small, yet muscular body.
The
slaves hadn't yet arrived… they seemed to be running late… Feeling a miniscule
twinge of boredom, the child hopped onto the countertop and opened another
small compartment. He removed from it a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste. He
then occupied himself by thoroughly cleaning his teeth.
*Hmmmhmmmhm* (humming)
After he was finished brushing, he flossed. Still, no
slaves had arrived.
:: Wonder what their problem is?! Hmph! Well, it's
not like I need them or anything… ::
He looked at the mirror. It had steamed up due to the hot
shower. He reached a tiny hand up and rubbed a clear spot on it. Bejita stared
at his reflection.
^Look at
you! You look just like him!
Do I?
Bejita examined his dark eyes, unruly hair, and suggestive angular features…
My
hair is darker.
^Soo?
Does that make any difference?
*I
like how ya look!
Huh?
Who's that?
^Don't
pay attention. It's the kid.
*Hey!
Why're ya bein so mean?
::So… a third has joined,:: Bejita thought. He then thrust his bangs back to reveal his forehead. Upon observation, he discovered a developing 'widow's peak'…
I-I
do… don't I?
^Told you so! And you'll
grow up be juuuuuuuuuust like him! Heheh... That is… if you get the chance!
NO! I'm not like him!
^Yes.
No!
^Yes!
NO!
^YES!
"NO!"
Bejita balled his hands into fists and threw them against
the mirror. Shards buried themselves into his flesh upon impact. Pieces flew this
way and that… but the child just kept pounding and pounding as hard as he
could. He ignored the excruciating pain that rummaged through him like an
electric surge.
"NO!"
He did not cease the fruitless pummeling until the entire
mirror was nothing more than thousands of broken glass fragments…
"gasp'huff' gasp" Bejita breathed heavily before falling backward
off of the counter and collapsing in a heap onto the cold, marble floor.
* * * * * * * * * * *
What?
It's… raining? Who—What?
"Wake up…Come on," Nappa mumbled as he gently patted Bejita's cheek.
Nappa had been leisurely passing
by when he heard, what sounded to him like shattering glass, and then a
'thump', as if someone had fallen. He had decided to check things out. What he
found was an unconscious prince with bloody hands, and glass shards scattered
about.
"Wake up," Nappa whispered as he twisted a wet rag over
Bejita's forehead, letting cold droplets splatter onto his skin…
It's
not raining?… I'm—oh~
"groan~"
:: He's coming to! :: Nappa thought.
Bejita's
vision focused in on a giant kneeling over him.
"Huh? ~wha? Who-are you? ~" the child mumbled slowly.
"What're you doing here?!" He sat up abruptly. "These are my private
quarters!"
"Shhh. Calm down, little Ouji-"
Bejita stiffened at the words… "little" Ouji… How
disrespectful!
"Address me with proper respect, slave!" the appalled
youth demanded.
"Oh! But of course, Ouji. – But let's get one
thing straight--- slave? I think not! I am Nappa: ranked Elite service.
And I'm here on my own accord. I heard some noise, and –being the loyal soldier
that I am--, stooped in to check on things. Who knows? I thought. Maybe
there were intruders or assassins…"
Bejita
scowled in disgust at the –jolly--- man/giant. He could tell that this Elite
was just exaggerating quite a bit with the loyalty business.
Pah! 'Own accord!' It should be duty! The man was nosy, and that's the
only reason he stopped by!
"Well… you can be sure that I'm—grateful for your –assistance!"
Bejita stated sarcastically.
"Mmm, Ouji?"
"Huh?"
"Why is there broken glass lying everywhere?… and blood?"
Nappa questioned.
The prince felt his face flush in profound embarrassment.
"Uh…um… none of your business! …I just slipped,
that's all! …off of the counter…"
"Mmmmhmmmmm…. Okay," Nappa agrred.
"Are you mocking me?!" the small Ouji asked,
temper beginning to rise.
"Oh, no! Of course not!," Nappa replied in
a fake voice. He then stood up and bowed a graceful bow to signify his
statement.
The big
man bent very far over, and Bejita discovered that his head was within reach.
Cautiously, he reached out and closed his thumb and index finger on a few slim
strands of hair…
'PLINK'
"OW! GYAAA! WHY YOU BR---- sweet, dear, little
boy!" Nappa exclaimed.
Bejita put on his best 'cute face', making his eyes seem
unusually large.
"Whatsa matter, Nappa-san?" he asked
timidly, holding up the dislodged strands of hair. "I was only helping
you…"
"Helping?!"
"Uh-huuuuuuh… I saw six gray hairs on your head…
so I graciously removed them for you!" the Ouji squealed in a kiddish
voice. "Ooops! I forgot!! The rule… y'know… for every gray hair you pull
out, two grow back in its place! Ha!"
"What?! Wha--" Nappa stared in disbelief at the rude
prince. "I—do—NOT—have gray hair!"
The child Ouji continued ranting, paying little attention
to the steaming giant that stood before him.
"I know!!" the boy shouted.
"…"
"If two more grow back for each of those, I'll pull them
out!! And if more grow for those, I'll pull those out!! And then
I'll have to pull out the next and next!!" Bejita smirked in satisfaction and
slapped his fist into his hand. "OW!~!!!!! My HaNdS!"
* * * * * * * * * * *
"Hold still," Nappa commanded.
"But~ it~ HURTS!" Bejita exclaimed.
Nappa grabbed a roll of bandage tape from the medical kit
he had found in a cabinet and commenced in wrapping the young prince's hands.
The final process was beginning at last…
"At least the hard part's over… My prince, if I can say
so, you shouldn't have screamed when I was cleaning the fragments out; it isn't
befitting," Nappa advised.
"Well… it ~hurt! And it still HURTS now, DAMMIT!"
Bejita yelled in frustration.
"Shhh… If you wouldn't have lodged them so deep, I wouldn't have had to use the
painful tweezers… Besides, you need to learn how to endure pain-…"
"I AM enduring PAIN!" Bejita snapped.
Nappa
sighed. The prince was far more obdurate than even he had expected. The
child was far more stubborn than the other Elite children he'd met… And even
far more stubborn than the child Elites that he personally trained!
"All done," Nappa announced and patted the prince's
wrist.
"'All done' GEEZ! Don't treat ME like a baby! I am
the Saiyajin no Ouji!" Bejita shouted and stood up with a raised arm. One hand
gripped his now loose towel that dragged the floor.
:: yeah,yeah… What a conceded little thing! :: Nappa
thought.
All of a sudden, Bejita turned around with an
uncharacteristically innocent expression plastered to his face.
"Hey, Nappa-saaaan! I wonder if you'll be all gray or BALD by the time I'm through
with you!" He yelled cheerfully.
:: That's it! :: Nappa thought. :: THAT'S IT! :: "BALD?! Why, youi rude, arrogant--- child!!!!!!"
Bejita stifled a giggle. The big
man sure was easy to agitate! He had a short fuse; he was easily angered! Best
of all, he looked really funny when his face turned all red!
"Child? Is that the best you can do?" the child
asked sweetly.
"GURRRRRRRAAAAAHHH!" Nappa screamed. His face turned
crimson with anger and he fled from the room in frustration.
:: Well… that was interesting :: Bejita thought as
he carefully dressed himself.
Soon
after, the child Ouji was climbing under the warm covers of his humongous bed.
He was still amused at the recent show of events.
* * *
Elsewhere, Nappa was still frustrated with the
recent happenings.
:: I don't plan to cross paths with that brat ever
again! :: he thought. :: What a disrespectful youth! ::
* * *
It was only as the young Saiyajin no Ouji began to stride
into a peace of slumber, that a peculiar question formed itself from his mind: "Why
did the slaves not arrive?"
* * * * *
"Count"
Ticking by the time,
To an insomnis nursery rhyme.
Counting stride by stride,
How you're leaning to a side.
Seeming to drown in an abyss,
But your ignorance is blessed bliss
Author's Note: I own nothing, but my opinion, don't
sue me.
Sorry, it's been a while. I've
had tons of stuff going on! Ugh! Oh, the frustration! That was kind of short, but
did you enjoy it? I want your opinion: should I include Nappa more? Or exclude
him? Well, the next saga is about to kick, in starting next chapter. You will
discover why Bejita does not trust "friends"… What do I mean? Read to find out!
Oh by the way, 'insomnis' is a Latin term that means 'sleepless'. Ja ne!