___Chapter 51___
~~~NOTE- If anyone's been confused by what I mean when Yumcha and Tien are talking about 'sake', it's Japanese rice wine. ~~~
Vegeta was infuriated. They couldn't do this to him!! THEY COULDN'T DO THIS TO HIM!!!!! This was stupid! This was pointless! They couldn't make him do this, he was a KING damnit!
{{Then why are you doing it?}} sneered a voice in the back of his head.
Vegeta was about to open his mouth to growl, but mentally slapped himself, stopping the action as he remembered he couldn't move or speak.
{{You could have done it your way. You didn't have to listen to the brat, the child, or the woman. You could have just taken the dragonballs and killed anyone in your way. But no, you had to play fair, and now you're standing in the middle of some village of idiots like a damned statue and balder than the day you were born!}} the voice yelled, seeming to laugh out that last part.
{{Oh SHUTUP!}} Vegeta mentally screamed in protest, {{Leave me the hell alone! Like I had a choice?}}
{{Yes you did! You had the choice to do this the same way you did it while searching for immortality! But NO, Vegeta's gone soft, he can't even kill a bunch of idiots to get what he wants!}}
---
Gohan sipped his drink politely before setting it down and asking "So, what is this again?"
"It's a tea, made from adjica leaves." answered Takusan as he poured a cup for Oboe, Lute, and then for himself before sitting back down, "It's about the only thing we'll drink besides water, but it's almost never made, except for very special occasions."
Lute glanced down at his cup, eyeing the contents as he said "So, what's the occasion?"
To his left, Oboe face-faulted, startling the child into getting his nose dunked into his cup. The look of pure befuddlement on the emerald-eyed boy's face, compounded by the dripping tea, was too much for Gohan, who promptly cracked up.
"OW, HOT!!!" Lute yelped after taking ten seconds to notice the temperature. He promptly jerked around, grabbing a fistful of Oboe's purple gi to dry his face off, spurring a sudden round of protest from the 'towel'.
Takusan waited till the two were finished bickering before he raised a hand for silence and said "As if my boys and Chui tackling your father weren't enough to alert you to the fact, you're well known around here."
"Oh." Lute mumbled, "Wonder why?" For ten seconds noone spoke, just stared at the child in shock. "Kidding, kidding!" he retorted, waving his arms in the air.
---
His little mind was racing like usual as he patrolled the room, searching for snacks as he went. Suddenly his nose twitched.
{{FOOD!}} it yelled, and he went scampering over the table, grabbing a cookie he'd left sitting there and gobbling it. This procedure was repeated until he'd eaten three cookies, and plopped himself down on the tabletop, waving his tail in happiness while licking crumbs off his fingers.
Then his nose picked up a new scent. It was strangely familiar, yet too different to be anything he knew of...... but then what was it?
Curiosity won over hunger that time, sending the bundle of fur scampering through the hallway into another room.
---
"EEEEEEEKKKKKKK!!!!!!" was the cry that first attracted Kami's attention away, but he didn't have the time to look for the source of all the noise before Bubbles came at him in the form of a fuzzy missile that latched onto his right arm, quivering.
Kami was a little more that surprised, but he hid it well, stroking the hair (which was standing on-end) on the monkey's head until it laid flat, and he unlatched it from him as he asked "What is it, little one?" Bubbles replied by making a little 'ooh' sound and pointing to the pale green shape lying on a cot on the far side of the room, which shifted uneasily as if in reply.
"I'm sorry, Bubbles. He'll be staying in here for a while, there's something wrong with him that has to be fixed" Kami said, as if speaking to a small child. Bubbles gave him a strange look, his eyes saying what his mouth couldn't- he didn't understand how a dead person could get sick, and why would it matter anyway? It's not like they can die again.
"That's where you're wrong." Kami replied, siting the simian on the ground and squatting down next to him before continuing with "You can get sick, and you can die. I know, I know, stop giving me that look, I'm not crazy. I've never seen anyone get sick when they were dead before, but once or twice I HAVE seen them die. It-"
Before the god could continue, Bubbles broke into a shrieking fit, and Kami had to force him to sit still. "Hey, let me finish! As I was saying, it's more a spiritual thing than something physical. Sometimes, when a person dies, their soul is in such a great state of unrest that it shuts itself away from everything and everyone else, refusing to be reasoned or forced to do anything but dwell on that which pains it. And it fades away into nothingness. It's a sad, sad occurrence, but I've seen it happen, as I said. And when that happens, there's no way to bring them back."
Bubbles stared up in amazement at the wrinkled, olive face with kind eyes, and babbled on a little more. Kami laughed, replying "Well, I'm glad to see you're so concerned about me! The answer is I don't know. If he died like this, I might not be able to come back, but since it's a rare thing, I'm not completely sure. For some strange reason, I think I probably could be revived still. But that's not the point."
Kami-sama stood, leaning on his staff with one hand as he looked over to the unconscious form on the other side of the room, and continued
"I'm not going to let him die, whether my life is at stake or not. He's still just a child, with his whole life ahead of him, friends and..... family, waiting for him back there. I don't care if he hates me. Not only is it my duty to protect all the life of earth, but in some sort of twisted way, he IS my son."
The little simian nodded, and scampered off outside, where it had finally begun to clear, with more food for thought than he could really comprehend at the moment.
---
The sound of laughter was heard in the background, and Bulma rolled her eyes at the two making it. Turning to the triclops woman beside her, she asked "How come they're so cheerful? Everyone else is miserable in this heat."
Yen just laughed and patted Bulma on the back as she said "It's the sake, Hon, the sake."
Slapping herself for that oversight, she was about to say something when Videl popped her head in the makeshift kitchen, yelling "Hey, less yapping, more cooking! Lunch is in an hour, and I can't serve what I don't have!"
"Huh?" Ranchi asked, "Why am I in an hour?"
Videl bopped her soundly, a sweatdrop appearing on the side of her head as she replied with "Not YOU, Lunch, I mean THAT lunch!", pointing to the food on the table.
"Oh..." Ranchi said, laughing to hide her embarrassment.
"Now, all of you, COOK! These are hungry men, as you all know, you've known them longer than I have, you should be used to cooking enough for a small army!" Videl finished with a 'knowing' smirk, and nodded.
"Hey, waitress!" called out a voice from behind.
"COMING!" she shouted, running off.
Bulma and Yen stared for a few seconds, but without another comment went back to what they were suppose to be doing.
---
The three teens were thoroughly enjoying themselves. Not only had they met their hero, but now they got to watch one of the subjects of their nightmares make a fool of himself.
Another person, only a few wears older, watched the sayian in slight confusion, with a much younger child sitting on his shoulder who shrugged the whole thing off.
Someone who was not who they seemed watched as well, eye-ridges furrowed, but face silent.
A being older than the others stood outside, paying close attention to the prince's closed eyes, and the turmoil unfolding behind them.
And Vegeta himself battled the deamons in his mind.
---
He glanced around at his surroundings, lost in the pure whiteness. "Where AM I..." he whispered to himself, jerking his head up when the sound echoed against the nothingness. A low growl escaped his throat when he couldn't figure out what was causing this, and he was about to just give up and scream when something behind him let out a soft moan.
"Huh?" he asked himself upon seeing the speaker, his antennae perking up at an angle as he mumbled "Neru? What the hell are YOU doing here?"
The other namekian man pulled himself into a standing position, and shrugged. "How am I suppose to know if you don't, you're the omnipresent one, remember?"
Piccolo growled a warning, but Neru just smirked and continued "I'm that stupid 'kid' you fused with and tried to forget about, the one who's always in the way. But now, since you suddenly need h-"
His statement was cut off when Piccolo threw a punch to his jaw, catching him off guard and connecting soundly. "SHUT UP!" he roared, clenching his fists until they bled before he could stop to collect himself, swerving around and turning his back.
Neru just wiped the blood off his lip, chuckling as he said "You ARE one tricky little bastard.... *laughs* Caught me by surprise there..." Standing up, he brushed his antennae out of his face as he lowered into his fighting position and asked "So, it's a spar you want?"
"Shutup." murmured the other namek, but his statement didn't have much feeling behind it. Neru recognized the tone, and stood straight.
"Hey, something's wrong, what is it?"
Piccolo, who didn't have the patience or energy to lie right then, just said "Oboe...."
"Worried about her, aren't you?"
"If you must know- yes. Her and Lute."
Neru just smiled, and putting his hand on the shoulder of the person who'd become his other half, said "You're not the only one, ne?"
Piccolo still refused to turn, but let his arched shoulders droop, and replied in his earlier monotone "And you would care why..."
"Long story, don't bother yourself with it." he said softly "Let's just say we go way back."
Piccolo's head jerked around, onyx eyes wide, and he was about to scream something profane when Neru yelled out "Hey, hey, not like that, not like that!!!", waving his hands. When Piccolo's features visibly calmed, so did Neru, but he wasn't out of the woods yet.
"Then how DID you know her? If I'm not mistaken, you weren't alive when she was on Namek."
"Actually, I was, and it's not Namek, it's Nameksei."
"Whatever. Explain."
---
"Just SHUT UP, for the love of god, shut up!!" Vegeta's mental incarnation screamed, collapsing to his knees and clamping his hands over his ears, trying to shut out the voices in his head. But they refused to be silenced.
{{Oh, really?}} laughed one, only visible as a shadow with cruel eyes so much like his own, {{Look, the prince is begging, BEGGING!}}
Cruel dark laughter, which also echoed as his had so many times, broke out as the second shadow responded {{Yes, the prince has truly fallen, he's not even worthy of the name 'sayian' anymore! He's a blind pathetic fool who can't kill a bunch of idiot pacifists, defy a woman, beat a third-class warrior, raise a prince, save his best friend, protect his people, or anything else! All he can do is wallow in self-pity!!}}
Vegeta only huddled closer to the ground, shaking violently. These beasts were echoing his every doubt and fear, and anxiety, all the things he'd never told anyone, all those things he'd locked up inside and ignored, forgotten, made himself forget. He didn't remember dying, but, as he thought, {{This must be what Hell is like...}}
---
Gohan bit his lip quietly, still staring out the window at Vegeta. He'd already been standing there for an hour, one-third of the set time, and hadn't moved. Damn, you had to stare to make sure he was breathing. Only his closed eyelids fluttered softly, and that's what disturbed the kid. It was as if his eyes were jerking around inside them, after phantoms only visible to him. Not to mention that his aura was nuts. The normal royal purple sheath had ragged holes in it, which kept getting ripped down further, like something was attacking it. The halfling swallowed nervously, which did not go unnoticed by his small companion.
"Gohan-san, what is it?" he asked, perking his head up to try to see out the window. Gohan laughed, picking the child up on his knee and saying-
"You're a short namek, aren't you? I noticed that the other kid you were with earlier, the one in red, was a good three inches bigger than you were."
Lute sighed, and after looking around to make sure noone was listening, said "Anocha said I'm not going to grow quite as big as Anoco, but that height doesn't matter- she's short too!"
Laughter broke from his lips when he thought of the 6'11 woman as 'short', but then his head reminded him that it WAS short for a namekisan-jin, though only by an inch.
---
Takusan watched the closed eyes of the sayian-jin, taking in their frantic pace, his mind's eye keeping a close watch on the failing aura surrounding him, as it was the only way to keep track on the battle going on inside his head.
As long as Vegeta did not give up, the aura would hold up, Vegeta would not move, and he would win this fight. But if he did, the aura would crumble, and he would fall, loosing.
The elder mentally thanked Hiku for his insight earlier- although the task seemed stupid, it was perfectly formulated for a test of sayian endurance. The three hours spent without moving gave them too much time to think, and having lost their hair, their confidence takes a hit. So in that time when there was nothing to distract them, they would experience severe mental trauma that would test the strength of their soul severely. If they could hold out that long, they deserved the dragonball.
He laughed slightly to himself, proud of the thought his son had put into the idea. Then his antenna twitched, and he glanced up at the sky to see the positions of the suns.
Time up. And-
Vegeta was still standing.
~~~NOTE- In one of Neru's statements he says 'ne'. That's not a typo, it's just a little word I like using that means the same as 'right' would at the end of a sentence.
-
Oh, and you might have noticed that I alternate between calling Vegeta prince and king. Technically, he's a king, with his father dead and he the only heir, but it's just too strange calling him that after he's been a prince so long. Ciao ~~~
~~~NOTE- If anyone's been confused by what I mean when Yumcha and Tien are talking about 'sake', it's Japanese rice wine. ~~~
Vegeta was infuriated. They couldn't do this to him!! THEY COULDN'T DO THIS TO HIM!!!!! This was stupid! This was pointless! They couldn't make him do this, he was a KING damnit!
{{Then why are you doing it?}} sneered a voice in the back of his head.
Vegeta was about to open his mouth to growl, but mentally slapped himself, stopping the action as he remembered he couldn't move or speak.
{{You could have done it your way. You didn't have to listen to the brat, the child, or the woman. You could have just taken the dragonballs and killed anyone in your way. But no, you had to play fair, and now you're standing in the middle of some village of idiots like a damned statue and balder than the day you were born!}} the voice yelled, seeming to laugh out that last part.
{{Oh SHUTUP!}} Vegeta mentally screamed in protest, {{Leave me the hell alone! Like I had a choice?}}
{{Yes you did! You had the choice to do this the same way you did it while searching for immortality! But NO, Vegeta's gone soft, he can't even kill a bunch of idiots to get what he wants!}}
---
Gohan sipped his drink politely before setting it down and asking "So, what is this again?"
"It's a tea, made from adjica leaves." answered Takusan as he poured a cup for Oboe, Lute, and then for himself before sitting back down, "It's about the only thing we'll drink besides water, but it's almost never made, except for very special occasions."
Lute glanced down at his cup, eyeing the contents as he said "So, what's the occasion?"
To his left, Oboe face-faulted, startling the child into getting his nose dunked into his cup. The look of pure befuddlement on the emerald-eyed boy's face, compounded by the dripping tea, was too much for Gohan, who promptly cracked up.
"OW, HOT!!!" Lute yelped after taking ten seconds to notice the temperature. He promptly jerked around, grabbing a fistful of Oboe's purple gi to dry his face off, spurring a sudden round of protest from the 'towel'.
Takusan waited till the two were finished bickering before he raised a hand for silence and said "As if my boys and Chui tackling your father weren't enough to alert you to the fact, you're well known around here."
"Oh." Lute mumbled, "Wonder why?" For ten seconds noone spoke, just stared at the child in shock. "Kidding, kidding!" he retorted, waving his arms in the air.
---
His little mind was racing like usual as he patrolled the room, searching for snacks as he went. Suddenly his nose twitched.
{{FOOD!}} it yelled, and he went scampering over the table, grabbing a cookie he'd left sitting there and gobbling it. This procedure was repeated until he'd eaten three cookies, and plopped himself down on the tabletop, waving his tail in happiness while licking crumbs off his fingers.
Then his nose picked up a new scent. It was strangely familiar, yet too different to be anything he knew of...... but then what was it?
Curiosity won over hunger that time, sending the bundle of fur scampering through the hallway into another room.
---
"EEEEEEEKKKKKKK!!!!!!" was the cry that first attracted Kami's attention away, but he didn't have the time to look for the source of all the noise before Bubbles came at him in the form of a fuzzy missile that latched onto his right arm, quivering.
Kami was a little more that surprised, but he hid it well, stroking the hair (which was standing on-end) on the monkey's head until it laid flat, and he unlatched it from him as he asked "What is it, little one?" Bubbles replied by making a little 'ooh' sound and pointing to the pale green shape lying on a cot on the far side of the room, which shifted uneasily as if in reply.
"I'm sorry, Bubbles. He'll be staying in here for a while, there's something wrong with him that has to be fixed" Kami said, as if speaking to a small child. Bubbles gave him a strange look, his eyes saying what his mouth couldn't- he didn't understand how a dead person could get sick, and why would it matter anyway? It's not like they can die again.
"That's where you're wrong." Kami replied, siting the simian on the ground and squatting down next to him before continuing with "You can get sick, and you can die. I know, I know, stop giving me that look, I'm not crazy. I've never seen anyone get sick when they were dead before, but once or twice I HAVE seen them die. It-"
Before the god could continue, Bubbles broke into a shrieking fit, and Kami had to force him to sit still. "Hey, let me finish! As I was saying, it's more a spiritual thing than something physical. Sometimes, when a person dies, their soul is in such a great state of unrest that it shuts itself away from everything and everyone else, refusing to be reasoned or forced to do anything but dwell on that which pains it. And it fades away into nothingness. It's a sad, sad occurrence, but I've seen it happen, as I said. And when that happens, there's no way to bring them back."
Bubbles stared up in amazement at the wrinkled, olive face with kind eyes, and babbled on a little more. Kami laughed, replying "Well, I'm glad to see you're so concerned about me! The answer is I don't know. If he died like this, I might not be able to come back, but since it's a rare thing, I'm not completely sure. For some strange reason, I think I probably could be revived still. But that's not the point."
Kami-sama stood, leaning on his staff with one hand as he looked over to the unconscious form on the other side of the room, and continued
"I'm not going to let him die, whether my life is at stake or not. He's still just a child, with his whole life ahead of him, friends and..... family, waiting for him back there. I don't care if he hates me. Not only is it my duty to protect all the life of earth, but in some sort of twisted way, he IS my son."
The little simian nodded, and scampered off outside, where it had finally begun to clear, with more food for thought than he could really comprehend at the moment.
---
The sound of laughter was heard in the background, and Bulma rolled her eyes at the two making it. Turning to the triclops woman beside her, she asked "How come they're so cheerful? Everyone else is miserable in this heat."
Yen just laughed and patted Bulma on the back as she said "It's the sake, Hon, the sake."
Slapping herself for that oversight, she was about to say something when Videl popped her head in the makeshift kitchen, yelling "Hey, less yapping, more cooking! Lunch is in an hour, and I can't serve what I don't have!"
"Huh?" Ranchi asked, "Why am I in an hour?"
Videl bopped her soundly, a sweatdrop appearing on the side of her head as she replied with "Not YOU, Lunch, I mean THAT lunch!", pointing to the food on the table.
"Oh..." Ranchi said, laughing to hide her embarrassment.
"Now, all of you, COOK! These are hungry men, as you all know, you've known them longer than I have, you should be used to cooking enough for a small army!" Videl finished with a 'knowing' smirk, and nodded.
"Hey, waitress!" called out a voice from behind.
"COMING!" she shouted, running off.
Bulma and Yen stared for a few seconds, but without another comment went back to what they were suppose to be doing.
---
The three teens were thoroughly enjoying themselves. Not only had they met their hero, but now they got to watch one of the subjects of their nightmares make a fool of himself.
Another person, only a few wears older, watched the sayian in slight confusion, with a much younger child sitting on his shoulder who shrugged the whole thing off.
Someone who was not who they seemed watched as well, eye-ridges furrowed, but face silent.
A being older than the others stood outside, paying close attention to the prince's closed eyes, and the turmoil unfolding behind them.
And Vegeta himself battled the deamons in his mind.
---
He glanced around at his surroundings, lost in the pure whiteness. "Where AM I..." he whispered to himself, jerking his head up when the sound echoed against the nothingness. A low growl escaped his throat when he couldn't figure out what was causing this, and he was about to just give up and scream when something behind him let out a soft moan.
"Huh?" he asked himself upon seeing the speaker, his antennae perking up at an angle as he mumbled "Neru? What the hell are YOU doing here?"
The other namekian man pulled himself into a standing position, and shrugged. "How am I suppose to know if you don't, you're the omnipresent one, remember?"
Piccolo growled a warning, but Neru just smirked and continued "I'm that stupid 'kid' you fused with and tried to forget about, the one who's always in the way. But now, since you suddenly need h-"
His statement was cut off when Piccolo threw a punch to his jaw, catching him off guard and connecting soundly. "SHUT UP!" he roared, clenching his fists until they bled before he could stop to collect himself, swerving around and turning his back.
Neru just wiped the blood off his lip, chuckling as he said "You ARE one tricky little bastard.... *laughs* Caught me by surprise there..." Standing up, he brushed his antennae out of his face as he lowered into his fighting position and asked "So, it's a spar you want?"
"Shutup." murmured the other namek, but his statement didn't have much feeling behind it. Neru recognized the tone, and stood straight.
"Hey, something's wrong, what is it?"
Piccolo, who didn't have the patience or energy to lie right then, just said "Oboe...."
"Worried about her, aren't you?"
"If you must know- yes. Her and Lute."
Neru just smiled, and putting his hand on the shoulder of the person who'd become his other half, said "You're not the only one, ne?"
Piccolo still refused to turn, but let his arched shoulders droop, and replied in his earlier monotone "And you would care why..."
"Long story, don't bother yourself with it." he said softly "Let's just say we go way back."
Piccolo's head jerked around, onyx eyes wide, and he was about to scream something profane when Neru yelled out "Hey, hey, not like that, not like that!!!", waving his hands. When Piccolo's features visibly calmed, so did Neru, but he wasn't out of the woods yet.
"Then how DID you know her? If I'm not mistaken, you weren't alive when she was on Namek."
"Actually, I was, and it's not Namek, it's Nameksei."
"Whatever. Explain."
---
"Just SHUT UP, for the love of god, shut up!!" Vegeta's mental incarnation screamed, collapsing to his knees and clamping his hands over his ears, trying to shut out the voices in his head. But they refused to be silenced.
{{Oh, really?}} laughed one, only visible as a shadow with cruel eyes so much like his own, {{Look, the prince is begging, BEGGING!}}
Cruel dark laughter, which also echoed as his had so many times, broke out as the second shadow responded {{Yes, the prince has truly fallen, he's not even worthy of the name 'sayian' anymore! He's a blind pathetic fool who can't kill a bunch of idiot pacifists, defy a woman, beat a third-class warrior, raise a prince, save his best friend, protect his people, or anything else! All he can do is wallow in self-pity!!}}
Vegeta only huddled closer to the ground, shaking violently. These beasts were echoing his every doubt and fear, and anxiety, all the things he'd never told anyone, all those things he'd locked up inside and ignored, forgotten, made himself forget. He didn't remember dying, but, as he thought, {{This must be what Hell is like...}}
---
Gohan bit his lip quietly, still staring out the window at Vegeta. He'd already been standing there for an hour, one-third of the set time, and hadn't moved. Damn, you had to stare to make sure he was breathing. Only his closed eyelids fluttered softly, and that's what disturbed the kid. It was as if his eyes were jerking around inside them, after phantoms only visible to him. Not to mention that his aura was nuts. The normal royal purple sheath had ragged holes in it, which kept getting ripped down further, like something was attacking it. The halfling swallowed nervously, which did not go unnoticed by his small companion.
"Gohan-san, what is it?" he asked, perking his head up to try to see out the window. Gohan laughed, picking the child up on his knee and saying-
"You're a short namek, aren't you? I noticed that the other kid you were with earlier, the one in red, was a good three inches bigger than you were."
Lute sighed, and after looking around to make sure noone was listening, said "Anocha said I'm not going to grow quite as big as Anoco, but that height doesn't matter- she's short too!"
Laughter broke from his lips when he thought of the 6'11 woman as 'short', but then his head reminded him that it WAS short for a namekisan-jin, though only by an inch.
---
Takusan watched the closed eyes of the sayian-jin, taking in their frantic pace, his mind's eye keeping a close watch on the failing aura surrounding him, as it was the only way to keep track on the battle going on inside his head.
As long as Vegeta did not give up, the aura would hold up, Vegeta would not move, and he would win this fight. But if he did, the aura would crumble, and he would fall, loosing.
The elder mentally thanked Hiku for his insight earlier- although the task seemed stupid, it was perfectly formulated for a test of sayian endurance. The three hours spent without moving gave them too much time to think, and having lost their hair, their confidence takes a hit. So in that time when there was nothing to distract them, they would experience severe mental trauma that would test the strength of their soul severely. If they could hold out that long, they deserved the dragonball.
He laughed slightly to himself, proud of the thought his son had put into the idea. Then his antenna twitched, and he glanced up at the sky to see the positions of the suns.
Time up. And-
Vegeta was still standing.
~~~NOTE- In one of Neru's statements he says 'ne'. That's not a typo, it's just a little word I like using that means the same as 'right' would at the end of a sentence.
-
Oh, and you might have noticed that I alternate between calling Vegeta prince and king. Technically, he's a king, with his father dead and he the only heir, but it's just too strange calling him that after he's been a prince so long. Ciao ~~~