Chapter Eight
"...Mrph..." She moaned slightly in her sleep, turning constantly in her bed. She woke with a sudden start, her eyes flashing open. Her eyes closed once more and she brought a hand to her face, rubbing any sleep left out. She then noticed that something different about her hands; she opened her eyes, and saw it--she was wearing dark red gloves.
She sat up with a start on her bed, seeing that she was no longer in her small bedroom in Capsule Corp., but in a lavishly decorated chamber that might belong to a queen, or a princess... She was sitting on a soft, very large bed covered with a silky blue comforter, gold-lined, purple pillows that looked more decorative than comfortable, and all resting in a bedstead of pure gold with posts reaching up to the high ceiling, a white satin canopy draping over and around the posts as if they were curtains.
Where am I...? she asked herself. She stepped out onto the fine granite floor, noticing that she was wearing black high heels and standing up carefully. Oh my God... I can actually stand up in these...? She spun around, seeing that she was just as graceful in these shoes as her favorite boots--what a weird concept!
She walked over to a full-length mirror made of red gold, seeing that she was wearing a slimming velvety red gown, the straps hugging the skin off her shoulders, complimenting the elbow-length red gloves and ebony hair, pulled back into a tight ponytail, a diamond tiara crowning her head. But what was she doing dressed like this?
She walked down the long and beautiful corridor, a nagging feeling tugging at her mind, saying that she had been in this place, before. The floors were made of imperial granite like in the room she was in before, and the walls and columns were made of fine marble, stretching up to the high, cathedral-like ceiling. It was scarily familiar.
A white double-door caught her eye; she put her hands on the brass handles and pushed. The doors revealed a sort of Training Center with what looked like a Gravity machine at the far end of the room. This was beginning to be very familiar, like a place from a dream. But why was it so familiar? She then noticed another door down the hallway. Letting the natural curiosity get the best of her, she let the doors close and go to the other doors, opening them quickly.
These doors led to what seemed to be a large parlor with a dusty portrait hanging over the granite fireplace, red sofas on either side. She closed the doors behind her and walked up to the fireplace, looking up to see the portrait closer. The person in the portrait looked very familiar, but it was covered by too much dust to clearly see who it was. She reached up to touch the portrait with her gloved hand, barely being able to reach the face.
She gently brushed aside the dust from the portrait, gasping at the face she saw. It was the face of a man who looked much like her father, only with darkers skin and a beard and mustache, and he was much bulkier than her father. He fit the description of the late King of Vegeta-Sei, her Grandfather on her father's side. But, if this portrait was here, then she could only be in one place in the whole Universe:
The Saiyan Palace on Vegeta-Sei...
Suddenly, the eyes of her Grandfather began to glow a bright red, and the glass windows burst open, a cold wind rushing through the whole parlor. Vases burst into a million pieces, the doors burst open, revealing a great black cloud, thunderheads forming and lightning striking. She wanted to run, but she couldn't--her legs seemed to be stuck. A face seemed to begin to form in the hills of the cloud, and from that 'face' glowed two red eyes.
Thud! Kinira fell off of her bed and onto the hard floor in her bedroom, breathing hard. She flashed her eyes open, looking around frantically; she was back in her messy, yet large bedroom. She groaned and sat up on the floor and took a deep breath, not understanding what had just happened.
Kinira buried her face in her pale hands, trying to recollect her thoughts, but it was all for naught. What was that? she asked herself. A dream...? ... ...More like a nightmare... There was no use in trying to understand her dream, that she knew--especially on an empty stomach. Kinira grabbed her white cotton robe, sighed to herself, and got up, knowing that she needed to get some sort of sustanance in her system if she was ever to get to sleep again.
When she reached the kitchen, she noticed that someone was already at the refridgerator, getting out everything in sight; she shook her head with a smile, knowing exactly who it was. She walked up behind Vegeta as he turned around to face her, looking a bit surprised. Kinira crossed her arms, "Dad," she said. "You promised me you wouldn't come down here and binge on food anymore."
He paused for a moment. "You want some?"
"Yeah," she said with a nod.
"Get a fork." He set everything down on the table and opened everything up like a buffet.
"You want some tea?" Kinira asked, getting down her favorite blue mug from the cupboard. Vegeta nodded, and she got a black and gold mug out.
Vegeta sat down; there was an akward silence. "... ...It's not like you to be up so late," said Vegeta, trying to start a conversation, Kinira filling the kettle with water.
She shrugged, "I guess I just can't sleep--had a weird dream." She sat down and began munching on rice and dumplings. "But since when do you notice what's like me or not?" she asked mischeivously. Vegeta turned away as Kinira smirked slightly. After another akward moment of silence, she finally spoke. "May I ask you something personal?"
Vegeta's eyes widened slightly at the question, the water in the kettle now sending a whistle throughout the kitchen. "I'll get that," he said, quickly getting up and pouring jasmine tea leaves into the mugs, steam rising as he added the hot water.
Kinira laughed slightly, "It's nothing like that," she said. "It's just that... The dream was... I think it has something to do with Vegeta-Sei."
He turned to look at her, she hadn't asked him about Vegeta-Sei since...ever. He placed the mugs on the table, "What about Vegeta-Sei?" he asked, slightly interested at the thought of his home planet where he had reighned as the Crown Prince.
"What did the palace look like?"
He took a sip of tea, "It's a place indescribable," he said. "Limestone walls and granite floors, six levels high, two towers. Perfectly suited for a Saiyan Prince," he said with a smirk. "Why the sudden interest?"
She was silent for a moment. "... ... ...I think I dreamt about it... I guess it's pretty normal for me to dream of what would've been my home, but there's just one thing that bothers me..." She was silent once more. "I've never been in the palace before..."
Vegeta gave her a questioning look, obviously at a loss for words. Regardless of being a parent for ten years, he was still totally clueless. Perhaps I should have read those stupid books, after all... he thought. "What are you getting at?" he asked.
Kinira shook her head, "Nothing, really. It's just...." Yet again, there was another silence. "...This isn't the first time I've had it. There's this big training center in the palace and then I find this...parlor of some sort. And this person--a man, I think--I couldn't really see his face--there was a painting of him above a mantle piece. Then, the guy's eyes start to glow, and then everything around me starts breaking and this huge cloud with red eyes comes up behind me and I can't even do a thing about it! Uhg!" All of this was said very fast. "I'm not sure what it all means, but it's really familiar. It's like total and complete de ja vu."
Vegeta was silent--the only time he had ever heard of something like that happening was in legend, or what was concieved as legend. When he was a child, he had once heard about pure blood Saiyans having premonitions in dreams, dreams like the one Kinira had just described. They didn't just stop there, of course. First, it was premonitions, and then it began affecting the way they acted; they began getting headaches and whenever they grew angry, objects floated and flew across the room. They lost their voices and their minds--constantly having them being bent and changed. They began moving things with their minds and inadvertantly awakening evil spirits and demons; some demons so powerful that they destroyed entire worlds. He knew that it was extremely dangerous, especially if you didn't know how to control it soon enough. He then thought of where he read it--it was best if Kinira read it, too.
There was another akward silence. "... ... ...I think it's time I gave you something," said Vegeta. "Wait here." He stood up and went upstairs. A few moments later, he came back with an old, large leather book with some sort of red, gold-lined emblem on the cover. The emblem looked very familiar; it was basically made up of a pointy trident, cradled by a large 'U' with points on each end. He handed her the book, "This is for you."
She let her fingers graze the cover lightly before opening the book to reveal the old parchment pages, stained yellow over the years. It was written in the Saiyan alphabet, the first language she had ever learned to read. She looked up at Vegeta, "What's this?"
"To sum it up, it's the first book in a set that tells about the history of Vegeta-Sei. Things like past rulers, landscape, architecture, everything you need to know. This one has the history of the palace in it; I'll give you the rest of the books once you're done with this one." He paused for a moment, "You can read Saiyan, can't you?"
Kinira nodded, her lovely green eyes skimming the pages. "Yeah, it shouldn't be that hard. I'm sure I can translate it--I just hope that I haven't gotten rusty at reading it over the years..."
Vegeta cocked his head and smirked. "You are descended from Royal blood, I highly doubt that you could forget the language of your heritage. Hah--what a fine Princess you would make if you couldn't even read about Vegeta-Sei's history," he joked.
Kinira gave a slight laugh, covering up her nervousness; she looked back to the book. The history of Vegeta-Sei? she thought. This is amazing... This'll be like an early sweet sixteen birthday present! Wow, this'll be more info on Vegeta-Sei than I've ever known, before! Kinira closed the book and noticed the emblem once again. "This is the Royal Seal of Vegeta-Sei, isn't it?" she asked, suddenly surprised on how she knew that so quickly. "Wow," she breathed. "How'd I know that?"
Vegeta laughed, "Of course you know what the Royal Seal looks like; only a fool wouldn't." he said proudly. "Everything owned by the Royal Family had this emblem on it. Not only is it the symbol of the House of Vegeta, but it is the legacy of the ancestors, your ancestors."
Kinira suddenly became nervous, now feeling as if the weight of the world had just been dumped on her back. She knew that being a Princess was supposed to be a huge pile of responsibility, but this was the first time she had ever, ever felt the weight of the Saiyan race on her shoulders. She had always thought that she did, though. Little did she know that bearing the weight of an elite race of fighters felt much different than she had thought. Still, it did give her a sense of pride in her heritage, even more so. She finally smiled and said, "I'll keep it forever."
~*~*~*~
Videl lay awake in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She couldn't sleep, not since that girl had shown up two weeks ago, and had given the media that DVD of the Cell Games. She had just recently watched it; never before had she been so ashamed, especially since she realized that the whole relationship with her father was nothing but a lie.
The girl from the fire and the fight was the same girl from the Cell Games, she was there with her father and friends. They were obviously all together in one group, the way they fought together. Her father was a joke compared to that girl and her father. Especially that one fighter they called Goku, someone that her father had mentioned before, claiming that he was nothing but a magician who used light tricks. No way that they were light tricks, she had seen the damage that was done by them--it was anything but light tricks. But if they weren't light tricks, what were they?
One thing that especially stuck to her mind was the way that she could see her father cowering in the corner, behind the rocks where the damage was scarce. She couldn't believe that her father, the 'once great' Hercule, was nothing but a con artist. All Hercule did was make excuses to the fans and brag as if he were truly the strongest--it was disgusting.
Then, there was the way that that girl fought with such energy and passion, her father right by her side. Her father was amazing--pure brute strength and confidence, it was obvious where she got her fighting talents. One thing she didn't understand, though, was how her hair could turn from black to yellow--was it some sort of level that humans could reach when they got strong enough? No, she thought, no way that she and the others were all human; there was just no way.
Then, near the end of the battle, Cell seemed to bloat up and prepare to explode. The one fighter, the one they all called Goku, simply smiled, touched his forehead and said farewell to his son, and disappeared with Cell. Everyone seemed totally shocked--and when she listened in on what they were saying, she learned that he had teleported away from the earth and sacrificed himself for them, for all of them.
Videl had almost teared up at this part--it was so noble. All had seemed to be well after that, but it was far from over. Not too long afterward, Cell had come back--he had regenerated himself. Everyone was already tired, especially that girl's father, who was badly injured by one of those 'light tricks' that Cell had done right after he had been regenerated.
That had done it; the girl went wild with a flurry of attacks, that were anything but light tricks. They seemed to be pieces of her own energy, her life force; what ever it was, it was doing quite a bit of damage to Cell. Goku's son, who was called Gohan, took this advantage to fire one of those 'energy blasts' at Cell, which took it's toll, but it just wasn't enough. And, instead of continuing to fire, the girl had jumped in and added her own energy to the 'energy blast.' And, then, Cell exploded--for good.
Her extra bit of energy had done it; it was because of her that Cell was destroyed. Not Hercule, not Gohan, her; the girl that they called Kinira. It was all unbelievable, especially the fact that the Gohan from the Cell Games and the Gohan from her high school were one and the same. Now she knew everything, everything all in one night. That Kinira girl was right, she was the true victor of the Cell Games, she was, and always will be.
Videl grew suddenly angry at the thought of the way her father's empire going to ruins, even though it was just a facade... All these years, she had lived in riches and luxury and pride, now it was all gone in an instant--an instant that had happened seven years ago. Tomorrow morning, the media that had once thrown themselves at her father's feet would tear his pride and reputation into shreds right in front of the public's eyes, and tell the real story--the one that told of the way her father had--instead of fighting--cowered at Cell's feet and run away like a frightened little rabbit while the other fighters stepped up and fought to the death, literally. And what was even worse, a week from tomorrow, the day of the World Martial Arts Tournament, the real Cell Games would be aired, right in front of the whole world.
What made her even angrier was the fact that it was taken by a little girl named Kinira; she sneered at the name. That Kinira girl was tearing away at Hercule's dynasty, and she wasn't even older than her! But now she wasn't a little girl anymore, and neither was Videl. She was older, Kinira was older, both of them were older. Now, Videl wasn't a little girl anymore, and she could do something about the shame Kinira would cause her family; even though Kinira was obviously stronger than her, she knew that she would never sleep again until she had fought Kinira--no matter how useless it was...
~*~*~*~
"Wow..." Kinira breathed in amazement, letting her leg swing freely from the high tree branch she was perched on, her back leaning against the strong trunk. She turned the page gently and began reading to herself. "... Vegeta Zolkien Leiko Rinalldi Sei XVII was not only a great ruler, but a scholar as well," she read to no one but herself. "Being the great scholar he was, he had a natural gift for science. Therefore--with the influence of Touffle technology style--he combined the knowledge of both races and invented the first Scanner. Hmm..." She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Whaddaya know? I guess intelligence runs in the family!" she said proudly, thinking of the straight 'A's she had had since the third grade.
"Hmm... If he was the seventeenth... Then that would make him my... fifth--no, sixth generation grandfather--uh... I think..." she mumbled to herself. "I guess that would make my dad the... twenty-fourth...? Wow--I never thought that he had such a long name... But maybe he's in here, somewhere?" she thought aloud.
Kinira began flipping through the book in an attempt to find her father, skimming the pages. She then stopped when she saw a name in the book that looked extremely familiar. "... ...Kinira...?" She immideately began to read the page. "Lady Kinira of Isthmea was one of the most famous Saiyan women in history," she read. I'm named after a famous Lady from history...? ...Very cool, she thought as she kept on reading. "With her name meaning 'Little Sun and Stars,' she became fascinated with Vegeta-Sei's three suns and many constellations, regardless of how much outside influences told her to get her head out of the stars and marry. Being a non-conformist, naturally stubborn Saiyan girl, she rebelled against the will of her parents and continued to study the stars in secret. And, while doing so, she met a Saiyan prince who was equally enamored by the stars.
"This prince was the youngest out of five brothers and sisters, who had already married and begun their lives as proud diplomats and rulers. The prince, who was named Ayame, was an excellent fighter, and--on the day of his greatest fighting competition--went to see Lady Kinira before the tournament. He found her in her private quarters in the highest room of the tallest tower on her estate. He took her hand and swore by the Royal Seal that he loved her more than life itself, and after the tournament they would be wed.
"This did not impress Lady Kinira at all; this had all happened to her before in passed relationships. When she told him that she knew that he would never truly love her, he became very angry. His words were passionate and heart-felt: 'What are you saying? Of course I love you! I shall prove it--every victory I have shall be dedicated to you, and only you.' You would think that any other woman would jump at this proclamation, but Lady Kinira was certainly not any other woman.
"Her words were very different: 'No! You do not truly love me, you never shall. You are simply saying this for your own selfishness and pride. What better way to increase your already extreme reputation than to 'declare' your love in the place of victory. No, Prince Ayame. If you love me, truly love me, than you shall prove it to me by losing every match you fight!
"This was a very difficult thing to do--as the Saiyan pride runs deep. However, Prince Ayame overcame his pride and simply stood in one place while he took every punch thrown at him. He was just about to be knocked out of the ring, when a time-out was called by a servant for Lady Kinira, who had been watching the whole time with her other servants. She spoke gently to Prince Ayame, telling him that if he truly loved Lady Kinira, that he would not take another hit. Prince Ayame then jumped up and won every match he came up against, and then married Lady Kinira soon after." Kinira closed the book and hugged it to her chest, deciding that she had done enough reading for the night. "I had no idea that history could be this cool...!"
"Kinira! Kinira Sei!" yelled a young voice from the ground. She looked down to see that it was the girl they called Videl, her fists clenched and her eyes hard and angry.
Kinira smirked, "Ah, it's the spawn of baka-boy!" She narrowed her eyes, "You need saving, again?" You could almost see the venom dripping from her tongue. "I'm not your personal servant, Spawn. I told you that I wasn't gonna save your ass, again."
"I didn't come here for that!" she shouted, outraged. Videl stared up at Kinira, her teeth clenching. How she sat there on that tree branch, as if on a throne; as if her blue pajama top and shorts, white cotton robe and gray socks were queen's robes. It made her disgusted to think that a girl as young as she would throw her father and family out of their beautiful mansion with a flick of her wrist.
"What are you looking at, Spawn? What do you want here?" spat Kinira. Videl was shaking madly in pure rage, using all of her strength to stop from jumping up and strangling Kinira. Not that she could really do it, though. Kinira was impossibly strong--but Videl didn't care. She just wanted a fight.
That was it; Videl had snapped with those last words. Kinira was going to pay. "I WANT YOU DEAD, YOU SICK LITTLE WHORE!!!"
Videl jumped up on a lower branch and jumped up again to reach Kinira. Swish! With a swipe of her hand the branch on the tree broke and fell to the ground. She landed and spun around to fight Kinira, but she was nowhere to be seen. She looked up at the sound of laughing; Kinira was still in the tree, sitting on the same tree branch. Videl hadn't aimed close enough to the tree; she had only broken off half of the branch.
"Looks like you need to work on your aim, Spawn!" she said, laughing hysterically.
"SHUT UP!!!" yelled Videl. "COME DOWN HERE AND FIGHT ME NOW!"
Kinira laughed even harder, nearly falling out of the tree, "You--HAHAHAHAHA--You've got to be kidding! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!" She fell out of the tree, laughing even harder, her fists pounding on the ground.
Videl sprinted up to Kinira and kicked her hard in the ribs while she was down; she just kept on laughing as if Videl hadn't even done anything. She began kicking her wildly, but it was like she was tickling her instead of doing any harm.
Pow! Videl was suddenly knocked back hard into the side of the Capsule Corp. building. She fell to the ground like a broken rag doll. She heard the faint sound of feet coming toward her over the pounding of her head, "Two words, Spawn," said the voice of Kinira. "Pa-thetic." Videl forced herself to look up, blood flowing freely from her arms and knees, cuts and scrapes all over her cheeks. "I've told you once and I'll tell you again," said Kinira. "You shouldn't fight battles that you aren't ready for." She turned away and started walking back to the entrance.
She stopped at the soft sound of sobs coming from behind her, she turned around to see that Videl was crying, leaning on her bruised elbows. Videl looked up with teary blue eyes, "Why...?" she whimpered. "Why are you doing this to me...my father...? Why...?"
Kinira shook her head. "It's not what I'm doing to you," she said softly. "It's what your father has done to me."
"You there! Intruder!" yelled one of the many guards around Hercule's estate. "Stop now or I'll fire!!!"
Every guard visible raised their guns at her. "Let's just hope that you guys are good shots, or Spawn'll be toast," she said, cockily.
A silence fell over the dark courtyard, window lights and stars being the only light. Kinira sighed in frustration, "You know, Spawn!" she yelled over the darkness. She groanded, How dense can these bakas be...? "Videl?"
"V-Videl...!" yelled a guard. "What have you done to Videl?!!!"
Kinira rolled her eyes. "She came looking for me and tried to fight me--in turn, I kicked her spoiled ass," she said. "Now, I demand that you let me in and let me see Bak--er--Hercule, right now."
She flinched at the lights all coming on at once, lighting up the whole courtyard, seeing that it was littered with guards. She saw out of the corner of her eye that a door opened to reveal a sleepy-looking Hercule. He jumped when their eyes met, "... Wh-What have y-you d-d-done to Videl?!!!" he yelled, pointing shakily to the girl on the spiky-haired Princess's back.
Kinira rolled her eyes and groaned, "Let me in, and I'll explain the whole thing."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Whoo-Hoo! I'm finally done with this chapter! So? What'd you think? I know, I know--I'm on a bit of a Videl bashing spree, but it fit into the story line! Don't worry, though, I plan to get it all balanced out in the end! Just look for the next chapter, alright? Thank you!!!
Next time on The Kinira Chronicles: Hercule gets the shock of his life; the same girl that had deafeated Cell so many years ago has come back for revenge! His greatest fear comes true--the demise of his empire. Can the Saiyan Princess control her temper and wait until fighting in the World Martial Arts Tournament to beat him to a pulp? (Tch--really!)
Also! Kinira kicks it into high gear at the World Martial Arts Tournament! But--wait--there's an age limit? At fifteen, she can only compete in the children's division?!
Kinira: "What?! THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!! I DEMAND THAT YOU LET ME COMPETE IN THE ADULT DIVISION!!!"
Whoa! Calm down, Kinira--just look at what day the tournament falls on.
Kinira: Huh? Well, the day of the tournament is on-- Huh? What is it, Rochelle? ... ... ...? ...WHAT?!!!"
That's right, Kinira! The day of the World Martial Arts Tournament is not only the day you will humiliate Hercule with that DVD of yours, but it's also the day that you'll turn Sweet Sixteen!
Kinira: "Really?! OH MY KAME!!! I totally forgot that it was my birthday!!! Hey--this means that I can compete in the Adult Division!!! Whoo-Hoo!!!"
That's right! Kinira's Sweet Sixteen party at the WMAT--how suiting for a Saiyan! Stay tuned and see the ultimate birthday party! Find out, next time on The Kinira Chronicles!
~Kayli