Chapter Sixty-Six: Beginning of The Takeover
"You two ladies try to resist us, and you're dead," Dodoria told Hazel and Natala.
Caline pressed against Natala, her pale head buried in Natala's soft bosom. She and Natala clung to each other; neither one of them were warriors. They were both terrified of the three horrible men that had crawled in through their window. Aurora began to cry, and Mantros clung to his mother, trembling. Hazel snapped at Bhodie angrily:
"You bastard! These monsters killed our crewmembers and our friends! How could you betray me, the others like this?"
Bhodie smirked. "Simple, baby, remember that I always told you that I would do anything to survive? Well I did, and now I'm an Elite officer in Frieza's forces. Relax, Hazelnut, I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you; we can pick up where we left off. Your hubby is probably going to croak in this battle anyway."
"You beast!" Natala hissed angrily. "All of you are beasts! Bhodie, or whatever you're name is, you are worst than a beast, you are a traitor! If my husband was here, he'd give all of you what you deserve!"
Dodoria slurred, "Well your mate isn't here, is he?"
Balair pushed past Dodoria to reach Natala and Caline. He boldly took a lock of Natala's nutmeg hair in his thick fingers and began to stroke it.
"Take your hands off of my hair!" Natala cried out. "I am a married woman!"
Balair grinned. "And that's supposed to deter me!"
"Leave her alone!" Hazel ordered.
Balair laughed. "You want to be next, little one? Maybe I should have some fun with you first. It's not every day that I get to screw the wife of an Intergalacticpol Police Chief!"
"You touch me, and you're dead!" Hazel shouted. "That goes for touching Natala and the kids too!"
"Oh, I'm not interested in brats," Balair purred, "Except for maybe this little white girl with the pale hair. I'm claiming both of these females as my own." He inclined his head towards Natala and Caline to claim "ownership."
"Hey, I wanted the lady as well!" Bhodie protested, meaning Natala.
"Relax, Bhode, I'm letting you have the dark-skinned one that you tried to bed before," Balair told him.
"You're not claiming either one of us," Natala snapped. "We are not livestock or land! You touch any of us, and you'll regret it!"
Balair then boldly squeezed Natala's buttocks. "I touched you, woman, now what are you going to do?" He then yanked a terrified Caline out of Natala's arms before Natala could stop him. Caline screamed, as Balair hoisted her into the air. "Hmmm…cute little girl you are! Don't know if you could survive what I've got planned for you, sweetness, but I'll be gentle if you behave yourself."
Caline began to cry. "Please let me go!"
Balair chuckled, as he slowly licked Caline's white neck. Caline trembled like a leaf in a violent thunderstorm, as the tears cascaded down her face. What had she done to deserve this? First Alberm, and now this monster…she must have been placed under a curse from the moment she had been born.
"Let her go now!" Natala screamed at him.
Balair looked at her contemptuously. "Who's going to make me? You?" He then began to slide his large, red hand under Caline's dress, up towards her inner thighs.
Natala then threw herself upon Balair, punching him ineffectively with her small fists. One of her fists managed to hit his yellow eye, and that time she managed to hurt him. Balair cried out and threw Caline onto the bed. He then seized Natala and slammed her into the wall hard, causing her to dislocate her shoulder.
"Run, Caline!" Natala shrieked. A frightened Caline scurried off of the bed towards Hazel.
"Manny, 'Rora, you both go with her!" Hazel ordered her children.
Before anyone could stop them, Caline had gathered Mantros and Aurora together, holding their hands with her own. The children quickly made it to the door, and Caline flung it open. Dodoria chased the children to the door. Caline ushered the smaller children out of the bedroom before her, but before she could escape, Dodoria swiftly seized her by her hair, pulling it hard.
Caline shrieked in pain, as Dodoria slammed the door shut. Dodoria continued to drag her by her hair back towards the others, as Caline struggled helplessly to get away.
"Let her go!" Hazel screamed, knocking off a lamp off of the nightstand and raising it at Dodoria. Bhodie deftly snatched it from her before she had a chance to use it as a weapon. He threw it to the other side of the room.
"Wouldn't want you to do anything rash, Hazelnut," Bhodie told her with a wink. "It might cost you your life."
Balair, by this time, had Natala's slender throat in his meaty hand. He smiled evilly at her.
"That was a mistake, sweetness, a mistake that you will dearly regret. When I make you my woman, I'm going to have to hurt you, but it will be fun for both of us. Just ask the other Astorian woman that I took prisoner-what was her name, Furla, Fayla, oh, slip of the tongue, Dodi, what was her name?"
Dodoria cracked, "Balair, is your brain getting soft? Her name was Farla, Farla Chloe, that Astorie woman that you insisted on making your personal whore. Her hubby was Princess Tayla's brother-"
"Tayla's brother?" Natala wheezed; it was hard for her to talk with Balair's fingers around her throat. "Was-was his name, Jaypros? Jaypros Chloe?"
"It was a Jay something," Balair told her, forgetting for a moment that he was planning to hurt her. "Yeah, it was Jaypros, now that I think about it. Jaypros Chloe was stupid enough to think that he could stop me from screwing his wife, Farla, who is my concubine now. She's great in bed, knows how to please a man; her hubby sure was lucky. Her stupid hubby tried to fight both Dodoria and me, but Dodoria killed him, crushing his spine and neck! Good thing too. Didn't need that weakling prince trying to foolishly fight me for my woman."
Natala shook, looking at the pink, spiky warrior was grinning proudly. "Are you Dodoria? You killed Jaypros?"
Dodoria chuckled. "He deserved it too. The little prick prince bit my hand; he had good teeth, I'll give him that. But now he's in the other dimension."
"Poor Raakon," Natala whispered out loud, without realizing it. "My husband will never see his brother alive again." A tear slid down her cheek for Jaypros and Raakon.
Balair said thoughtfully, "So you have a husband named Raakon?" He looked at Natala slowly, as if he were seeing her for the first time.
Dodoria jumped in. 'This Raakon wouldn't happen to be Raakon Chloe, would it?"
Natala looked towards Dodoria. "Why do you ask? What have you done to him?"
Dodoria laughed. "Is he the same Raakon Chloe who nearly killed me in the Battle of Chloe? Well, guess what, baby? He's now a diamond statue. Diamonique, one of our comrades, turned him into one."
"That's impossible!" Natala shrieked. "Not unless this Diamonique is a Gemstarian!" She had learned of the Gemstarians from her husband. (Neither she nor Raakon knew that the diamond attack effect could be undone; both of them had heard that it was irreversible.)
Dodoria chuckled. "She's a Gemstarian alright, and she turned Raakon into a gem! And there's no way to reverse the effect. Your hubby will forever remain frozen in time!"
"You're lying!" Natala screamed.
"It's true, baby," Bhodie added. "Rocky is now a rock, literally."
Balair said triumphantly. "So that means you may as well call yourself a widow, sweetness, 'cause your mate is as good as dead!"
Natala screamed, "NO!" And then she collapsed, dangling in mid-air, sobbing hard and loud. "Not my husband! No! I shouldn't have let him fight! I should have told him that I didn't want him to go! How could I have been so foolish? RAAKON!" She began to cry wildly, her lovely cinnamon face turning red.
She was a widow now, essentially, alone once again. Natala hadn't felt this desolate and alone since her parents and brothers had died during the Battle of Chloe. Her whole body shook; how was she going to go on without the only man that she truly loved? The tears cascaded down her smooth cheeks, as she remembered her husband's kindness, his devotion to peace and tolerance, his mostly nonviolent manner. Raakon had been the kindest, most compassionate, most peaceful man that she had ever met, a man who could never kill without cause, a man who had always tried to use violence as an absolute last resort, a man who had tried to teach others the painful lessons that he had learned. She knew that some people had called him a pacifist, but Raakon had been no weakling; he had always stood up for what he thought was right, even when it could have cost him his life.
And then she thought of his protectiveness towards her and their children. He had almost always been there for them, and he had been so gentle and supportive of whatever they had chosen to do. He had always loving towards them, especially her, and he was not easily angered. He had always been willing to give almost anyone the benefit of the doubt.
She had loved waking up to him every morning and falling asleep besides him every night. Each time she had awakened or fallen asleep, his arms had always been around her, holding her close, with her cinnamon-nutmeg head resting on his still strong, muscular chest. Her husband had kept himself in good shape, even though he had not fought in many battles as of late; Dirkan had insisted that he keep up with his training, even though Raakon had no longer been an official warrior.
She had always felt safe with him, no matter what. And now he would never return to her.
Her sobs grew louder and louder until Balair slapped her face hard.
"Shut up!" he screamed at her. "I can't stand a female whining! Your hubby is dead, woman, so shut up and get over it! You're mine now, so stop whining!" He pulled her against him and whispered, his tone instantly becoming seductive. "You don't need a weakling like him, sweetness, when you have a real man like me to take his place."
Natala made the error of slapping Balair hard across his face. Balair roared with fury and threw her onto the bed, repeatedly slapping her several times and sharply biting her breast with his razor sharp teeth.
"Stop it!" Hazel screamed. She picked up the nightstand, a green hardwood oak-like table with three thick legs and bashed it over Balair's back before anyone could stop her. The nightstand crashed into his spine, but it did not break any bones; it broke into five pieces.
"You whore!" Balair roared, after shaking the broken table pieces off of him. "You have some nerve for a weakling woman! Bhodie, come get this slut of yours before I murder her!" Bhodie made a grab for Hazel then, but Hazel sharply slapped him across his face. Bhodie responded with full force (he had slowly regained his energy a while back), seizing Hazel by her slender brown arms and throwing her to the floor.
"Stop it!" Caline cried. "Leave them alone!"
"Shut up, brat!" Dodoria snarled. "Or I'll-OUCH!" Caline had sunk her tiny teeth into his meaty hand. He threw the small girl across the room towards the window, where Caline hit her white-gold head hard on the windowsill. Caline's body slid to the floor, and she passed out. A thin crack could be seen threw her thin, pale hair, a crack that oozed amber blood resembling honey. Caline's eyes were closed, and she was barely breathing, barely alive.
Natala and Hazel screamed in horror when they saw the innocent child lying against the wall.
"SOMEBODY HELP US PLEASE!" they both screamed. "HELP!"
Natala stopped screaming when Balair slapped her face hard again. "Shut up! And I mean it! One more sound out of you, woman, and I will order Bhodie to kill your friend, and Dodoria will kill that brat he threw across the room." Balair turned to Hazel, growling, "And as for you, Human woman, if you try to fight us anymore today, both this woman and the brat will perish. And if the girl resists us when she comes to, both of you will die. I can easily find another whore. To put it simply: if any of you three ladies fights us or tries to escape, the other two will die automatically."
"We have no choice," Hazel whispered. "Natala…"
Natala weakly nodded. She had little strength left to fight anyway, and she could did not want anything to happen to her Aunt Hazel, or poor little Caline. The child had already suffered more than enough.
"That's more like it, ladies," Dodoria told them, scooping up Caline and throwing the unconscious girl over his broad shoulder.
"Can't you at least release her?" Natala asked shakily. "She is just a little girl, and she can't do anyone any real harm."
"She has a big mouth for a small brat," Dodoria replied. "And that's more than enough to cause us trouble. Besides, I believe that my pal, Bali, wants to have some fun with her, don't you, Bali?"
Balair chuckled. "Maybe, but I think that I'll take a more experienced woman for right now. Keep her though anyway. Right now, I want to try this Astorie woman out, to see what has kept Prince Raakon Chloe so interested in her all these years. He must have been one lucky Astorie prince."
"C'mon, Bali, Zarbon has ordered us to take this castle over; you'll have to have your fun later," Dodoria told his friend. "Once we take this castle, this strongpoint, then we can have fun with some of the women here."
Balair grumbled. "Fine. Bhodie, go find something to tie these three ladies up with."
Hazel wondered softly, whispering, "What are we going to do now?"
Natala closed her eyes and silently prayed.
Another bedroom, three floors down….
"Leave us be, please," Steak shakily ordered the Calmagian guards surrounding him, Crystalis and Pork. Steak had Crystalis carry Pork to the bedroom that he had been sharing with his oldest son, Ham. Steak and Ham had stayed behind to help protect the castle should Frieza's forces try to invade there.
Steak knew that Crystalis worked for Frieza; he knew that there was a chance that the girl could kill him on the spot. But Steak had seen something in the Espican girl's eyes; there was something there that he suspected was not entirely evil. He believed that the girl was more scared of her enemies than they were of her. The brown giraffe-like creature was trembling, scared for herself and genuinely worried about her friend, his son, Pork.
She helped Steak tuck Pork into bed, while they waited for the Calmagian guards to bring the royal physician. Crystalis sat on the edge of the bed, shaking. She looked at Pork's father and said fearfully, "I-I don't want him hurt; I don't want to hurt him; he's my friend."
Steak nodded; oddly enough, he did not fear this strange creature, this brown and green minion who only wanted to save her friend.
"I am not going to hurt you," he told the girl, as he sat down next to her. "What is your name?"
"Crystalis Wisteria-Hondas of planet Espica."
"I know that you have done wrong in the past, having worked for Frieza, and I know that my boy here has probably killed for him, as well. Did they force him to do so?"
"He-he thought that his family was dead," Crystalis whispered. "He didn't think that there was anything left for him, so he joined up, with some persuasion. He considered us, me, Commander Chestra, a few other people, his only family because he thought that you and his brother and sister had perished. Please don't hate him, please. He has killed, yes, but it's not entirely his fault; if he hadn't, they would have killed him. He didn't think that he had anything left, so he agreed to work for them and do what they wanted him to do. Then he realized what they were having him do was wrong, but it was too late; he couldn't back out, he had to go on and take those lives. But he's not evil, truly. Please don't hate him, don't hurt him."
"How can I hate him?" Steak asked, astonished. "He is my son, my boy. Whatever he has done to survive, I can forgive him for. What about you, my dear? You don't seem to be so evil yourself. How did you wind up do these horrible things for a living?"
Crystalis whispered, "Same reason as him; I did it to survive, to live, although I probably don't have much to live for. My people are extinct; I am the last of our kind that I know of. Slave traders captured my family and I from our home planet and sold us to the horrible Sistrai! They were so cruel, so vicious, and so merciless!" Her voice shook with sobs, as she continued, "There were seven of us, you see, my Pakati (papa), my Makati (mama), and my three sisters and one brother. Sistrai men are so mean, so nasty, and our Sistrai masters raped my makati, my sisters, and me over and over! They called us cruel names, saying that that as ugly as we were, we were lucky that any man would want us at all." Crystalis' body shook hard, and Steak gently patted her shoulder. He did not consider this strange girl to be a threat. Crystalis took a few moments to calm down before she continued:
"They put restraining collars on our necks to prevent us from absorbing their powers; we can 'copy' the powers of others just by touching them, and we can read minds with complete accuracy. They killed Pakati and my brother, Hystali, and then after realizing that we couldn't bear them children, they killed my sisters and sold me to Frieza. Lord Frieza was mean too, and so were Commander Balair and Commander Dodoria and the others, but they did not rape me. Frieza was going to have me killed because I was too weak physically to be of much use, but Commander Chestra saved me. She already knew that I could read minds, see, and she learned of my Espican ability to 'copy' the powers of others when I accidentally blew up one of the moons near a planet belonging to Lord Frieza, using her power of telekinesis. She convinced Lord Frieza to let her train me, for she thought that my power-copying ability would come in handy. She was training Pork at the same time that she was training me, and we grew to be friends. Princess Journa became my roommate once we were both promoted to Mid-Elite, and she's not too bad; she's much more sociable than the Saiyan men are. She's not so stuck-up and arrogant as her brother, Prince Vegeta is. He scares me something fierce, but he stays away from me pretty much 'cause he knows I can 'borrow' his powers. Balair had started leaving me alone too, even though he would hurt me, if he could. I fear all Sistrai."
"I fear Sistrai too," Steak admitted. "Particularly that horrid one called Balair. I believe he murdered my wife, Poultry."
Crystalis decided not to tell him that Balair had raped and tortured Poultry before he killed her. She had learned this after temporarily gaining Pork's superb Meatian hearing abilities, and she had heard Balair brag about his harming Poultry to Dodoria. She took a deep breath and sighed.
"What's going to happen to us now? What will happen to him? Will they kill him because he worked for Frieza?"
"No," Steak assured her firmly. "I won't allow it, for Pork is my son. I don't believe that it's too late to save him. And I don't believe that it's too late to save you. Do you really want to continue what you have been doing? I don't think that you do, my dear."
Crystalis hung her head down and whispered, "They will kill me, if I don't; I have no choice. No one can protect me, or would even want to."
Steak placed a fatherly arm around the Espican girl's shoulders. "We will, my dear. If there were a way that you could change your ways, would do so? Do you want to continue to harm others?"
Crystalis didn't reply, but she finally shook her head. "I-I don't want to kill anymore, but are you sure that it's not too late for me?"
"It's never too late," Steak softly told her. "As long as you are still alive, you always have another chance to make things right. You can't change the past, or the things that you did then, but you can start anew. If you want to switch sides and join us, I will see that you are helped; the Superior Gran of Astoria is a good friend of mine."
"The Astorians will not want me among them, not after what I did. I was one of those sent to capture Princess Tayla Chloe."
Steak's position did not change. "I am aware of that, my dear; the Astorians can be vengeful, but they are not unforgiving. If they have seen that you truly mean to change your ways, I am certain that they will allow you to join our side. No one is perfect, not even they, and I am sure that they will give you a chance, if you allow them."
Crystalis slowly nodded, and she was about to speak again when her scouter beeped. She then heard Head Commander Zarbon's voice saying, "Attention, all fighters: our plans have changed. Instead of fighting throughout Calmag at this time, we will simply seize the royal castle and take all of the occupants inside hostage, including the Calmagian royal family and the non-fighting Astorian people. We will demand that Princess Tayla be turned over to us in exchange for releasing the hostages. Of course, we do not intend to spare anyone, for our Lord Frieza has ordered the planet to be cleared, but this method will ensure that we have Princess Tayla and not have her killed in the fighting. Commanders Balair and Dodoria have already been apprised of the plans, and they are now beginning our takeover plans. They are currently inside the castle, as we speak…"
Crystalis barely kept herself from shrieking, and Steak had grown pale. His superior Meatian hearing had heard the entire conversation.
"Crystalis," he told her as steadily as possible, "you stay here. I have to go warn the others, for I have heard everything."
"Wait!" she told him. "I will go with you. After the harm that I helped to cause, the least that I can do is help you to warn the others."
"I appreciate it, Crystalis," Steak told her, "but it might be more dangerous for you now at this point, if this Zarbon and the others succeed in taking over. Besides, Pork can't be left alone; he needs you, he knows you. I will do what I can. Just stay here and lock the door; do not answer it unless it's the doctor or me. He already knows that you are here."
Pork murmured in his sleep, "Crysti? Crysti, are you there?"
Crystalis took his hand and held it. "Yes, Pork, I'm here."
"Don't leave me, Crysti, please."
"I won't," Crystalis promised, as Steak crept out the door. There would be time to get reacquainted with his son when things were settled.
A third bedroom, one floor up…
Veal and Lelina began to creep downstairs to warn the adults of what had happened in Hazel and Gohan's room. Veal had heard the terrified screams of Natala, Hazel, and Caline, and she had heard the evil voices of Balair, Dodoria, and Bhodie. Veal and Lelina decided to go for help, so they crept downstairs towards the meeting hall, where they knew some of the adults were.
They found Lelina's Great-Aunt Toria and Aunt Marya quietly talking near the lavatories. "Aunt Toria, it is more dangerous out there than it is in here," Marya told Toria.
"I know, my niece," Toria told her. "And it will not be safe here for much longer either, for dark forces plan to overtake this castle. Marya, I must find your sister, Tayla; she is the only one whom I have taught to reverse the spell that the evil Gemstarian woman, Diamonique, has cast upon many people. Time is running out for them, for if they remain diamond statues for more than thirty-six hours, they will remain in that form forever."
"Does Tayla know this?"
Toria sighed and shook her head. "I just learned the reversal spell myself not too long ago. I taught it to Tayla on the way to Calmag. But I read about the spell further in the Book of Universal Sorcery Based On Ki Power that Kami Orchida had Tayla study out of, and there was a passage that was overlooked-oh, my Kami!-that explained about the time limit on that spell."
"How much time do we left?"
Toria moaned, "Ten hours, I believe. I felt the first victim being crystallized yesterday. I have to go now."
Veal and Lelina had joined them by then. "We're coming with you, Great-Aunt Toria," Lelina said firmly.
Toria looked at the girls thoughtfully. "Veal will go; I need her hearing capabilities. Lelina, you must stay here and help Marya warn the others. You know as well as we do that Frieza's forces plan to take us captive. You and your aunt must help get as many people out of here as possible. Thankfully, this horrific snowstorm should be clearing up soon, but there will be much ice."
Lelina was scared to be the one chosen to stay in the castle, but she only said bravely, "Yes, Great-Aunt Toria, we will do what we can." Her voice trembled, as Toria gently patted her shoulder.
"I know that you are afraid, Lelina, but all of us are in peril now, and each one of us must do our part. Be as strong as you can, for even the mightiest among us can be fearful at times. Don't give up." She kissed Lelina's brow gravely, as she and Veal left to sneak out of the castle.
"You two ladies try to resist us, and you're dead," Dodoria told Hazel and Natala.
Caline pressed against Natala, her pale head buried in Natala's soft bosom. She and Natala clung to each other; neither one of them were warriors. They were both terrified of the three horrible men that had crawled in through their window. Aurora began to cry, and Mantros clung to his mother, trembling. Hazel snapped at Bhodie angrily:
"You bastard! These monsters killed our crewmembers and our friends! How could you betray me, the others like this?"
Bhodie smirked. "Simple, baby, remember that I always told you that I would do anything to survive? Well I did, and now I'm an Elite officer in Frieza's forces. Relax, Hazelnut, I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you; we can pick up where we left off. Your hubby is probably going to croak in this battle anyway."
"You beast!" Natala hissed angrily. "All of you are beasts! Bhodie, or whatever you're name is, you are worst than a beast, you are a traitor! If my husband was here, he'd give all of you what you deserve!"
Dodoria slurred, "Well your mate isn't here, is he?"
Balair pushed past Dodoria to reach Natala and Caline. He boldly took a lock of Natala's nutmeg hair in his thick fingers and began to stroke it.
"Take your hands off of my hair!" Natala cried out. "I am a married woman!"
Balair grinned. "And that's supposed to deter me!"
"Leave her alone!" Hazel ordered.
Balair laughed. "You want to be next, little one? Maybe I should have some fun with you first. It's not every day that I get to screw the wife of an Intergalacticpol Police Chief!"
"You touch me, and you're dead!" Hazel shouted. "That goes for touching Natala and the kids too!"
"Oh, I'm not interested in brats," Balair purred, "Except for maybe this little white girl with the pale hair. I'm claiming both of these females as my own." He inclined his head towards Natala and Caline to claim "ownership."
"Hey, I wanted the lady as well!" Bhodie protested, meaning Natala.
"Relax, Bhode, I'm letting you have the dark-skinned one that you tried to bed before," Balair told him.
"You're not claiming either one of us," Natala snapped. "We are not livestock or land! You touch any of us, and you'll regret it!"
Balair then boldly squeezed Natala's buttocks. "I touched you, woman, now what are you going to do?" He then yanked a terrified Caline out of Natala's arms before Natala could stop him. Caline screamed, as Balair hoisted her into the air. "Hmmm…cute little girl you are! Don't know if you could survive what I've got planned for you, sweetness, but I'll be gentle if you behave yourself."
Caline began to cry. "Please let me go!"
Balair chuckled, as he slowly licked Caline's white neck. Caline trembled like a leaf in a violent thunderstorm, as the tears cascaded down her face. What had she done to deserve this? First Alberm, and now this monster…she must have been placed under a curse from the moment she had been born.
"Let her go now!" Natala screamed at him.
Balair looked at her contemptuously. "Who's going to make me? You?" He then began to slide his large, red hand under Caline's dress, up towards her inner thighs.
Natala then threw herself upon Balair, punching him ineffectively with her small fists. One of her fists managed to hit his yellow eye, and that time she managed to hurt him. Balair cried out and threw Caline onto the bed. He then seized Natala and slammed her into the wall hard, causing her to dislocate her shoulder.
"Run, Caline!" Natala shrieked. A frightened Caline scurried off of the bed towards Hazel.
"Manny, 'Rora, you both go with her!" Hazel ordered her children.
Before anyone could stop them, Caline had gathered Mantros and Aurora together, holding their hands with her own. The children quickly made it to the door, and Caline flung it open. Dodoria chased the children to the door. Caline ushered the smaller children out of the bedroom before her, but before she could escape, Dodoria swiftly seized her by her hair, pulling it hard.
Caline shrieked in pain, as Dodoria slammed the door shut. Dodoria continued to drag her by her hair back towards the others, as Caline struggled helplessly to get away.
"Let her go!" Hazel screamed, knocking off a lamp off of the nightstand and raising it at Dodoria. Bhodie deftly snatched it from her before she had a chance to use it as a weapon. He threw it to the other side of the room.
"Wouldn't want you to do anything rash, Hazelnut," Bhodie told her with a wink. "It might cost you your life."
Balair, by this time, had Natala's slender throat in his meaty hand. He smiled evilly at her.
"That was a mistake, sweetness, a mistake that you will dearly regret. When I make you my woman, I'm going to have to hurt you, but it will be fun for both of us. Just ask the other Astorian woman that I took prisoner-what was her name, Furla, Fayla, oh, slip of the tongue, Dodi, what was her name?"
Dodoria cracked, "Balair, is your brain getting soft? Her name was Farla, Farla Chloe, that Astorie woman that you insisted on making your personal whore. Her hubby was Princess Tayla's brother-"
"Tayla's brother?" Natala wheezed; it was hard for her to talk with Balair's fingers around her throat. "Was-was his name, Jaypros? Jaypros Chloe?"
"It was a Jay something," Balair told her, forgetting for a moment that he was planning to hurt her. "Yeah, it was Jaypros, now that I think about it. Jaypros Chloe was stupid enough to think that he could stop me from screwing his wife, Farla, who is my concubine now. She's great in bed, knows how to please a man; her hubby sure was lucky. Her stupid hubby tried to fight both Dodoria and me, but Dodoria killed him, crushing his spine and neck! Good thing too. Didn't need that weakling prince trying to foolishly fight me for my woman."
Natala shook, looking at the pink, spiky warrior was grinning proudly. "Are you Dodoria? You killed Jaypros?"
Dodoria chuckled. "He deserved it too. The little prick prince bit my hand; he had good teeth, I'll give him that. But now he's in the other dimension."
"Poor Raakon," Natala whispered out loud, without realizing it. "My husband will never see his brother alive again." A tear slid down her cheek for Jaypros and Raakon.
Balair said thoughtfully, "So you have a husband named Raakon?" He looked at Natala slowly, as if he were seeing her for the first time.
Dodoria jumped in. 'This Raakon wouldn't happen to be Raakon Chloe, would it?"
Natala looked towards Dodoria. "Why do you ask? What have you done to him?"
Dodoria laughed. "Is he the same Raakon Chloe who nearly killed me in the Battle of Chloe? Well, guess what, baby? He's now a diamond statue. Diamonique, one of our comrades, turned him into one."
"That's impossible!" Natala shrieked. "Not unless this Diamonique is a Gemstarian!" She had learned of the Gemstarians from her husband. (Neither she nor Raakon knew that the diamond attack effect could be undone; both of them had heard that it was irreversible.)
Dodoria chuckled. "She's a Gemstarian alright, and she turned Raakon into a gem! And there's no way to reverse the effect. Your hubby will forever remain frozen in time!"
"You're lying!" Natala screamed.
"It's true, baby," Bhodie added. "Rocky is now a rock, literally."
Balair said triumphantly. "So that means you may as well call yourself a widow, sweetness, 'cause your mate is as good as dead!"
Natala screamed, "NO!" And then she collapsed, dangling in mid-air, sobbing hard and loud. "Not my husband! No! I shouldn't have let him fight! I should have told him that I didn't want him to go! How could I have been so foolish? RAAKON!" She began to cry wildly, her lovely cinnamon face turning red.
She was a widow now, essentially, alone once again. Natala hadn't felt this desolate and alone since her parents and brothers had died during the Battle of Chloe. Her whole body shook; how was she going to go on without the only man that she truly loved? The tears cascaded down her smooth cheeks, as she remembered her husband's kindness, his devotion to peace and tolerance, his mostly nonviolent manner. Raakon had been the kindest, most compassionate, most peaceful man that she had ever met, a man who could never kill without cause, a man who had always tried to use violence as an absolute last resort, a man who had tried to teach others the painful lessons that he had learned. She knew that some people had called him a pacifist, but Raakon had been no weakling; he had always stood up for what he thought was right, even when it could have cost him his life.
And then she thought of his protectiveness towards her and their children. He had almost always been there for them, and he had been so gentle and supportive of whatever they had chosen to do. He had always loving towards them, especially her, and he was not easily angered. He had always been willing to give almost anyone the benefit of the doubt.
She had loved waking up to him every morning and falling asleep besides him every night. Each time she had awakened or fallen asleep, his arms had always been around her, holding her close, with her cinnamon-nutmeg head resting on his still strong, muscular chest. Her husband had kept himself in good shape, even though he had not fought in many battles as of late; Dirkan had insisted that he keep up with his training, even though Raakon had no longer been an official warrior.
She had always felt safe with him, no matter what. And now he would never return to her.
Her sobs grew louder and louder until Balair slapped her face hard.
"Shut up!" he screamed at her. "I can't stand a female whining! Your hubby is dead, woman, so shut up and get over it! You're mine now, so stop whining!" He pulled her against him and whispered, his tone instantly becoming seductive. "You don't need a weakling like him, sweetness, when you have a real man like me to take his place."
Natala made the error of slapping Balair hard across his face. Balair roared with fury and threw her onto the bed, repeatedly slapping her several times and sharply biting her breast with his razor sharp teeth.
"Stop it!" Hazel screamed. She picked up the nightstand, a green hardwood oak-like table with three thick legs and bashed it over Balair's back before anyone could stop her. The nightstand crashed into his spine, but it did not break any bones; it broke into five pieces.
"You whore!" Balair roared, after shaking the broken table pieces off of him. "You have some nerve for a weakling woman! Bhodie, come get this slut of yours before I murder her!" Bhodie made a grab for Hazel then, but Hazel sharply slapped him across his face. Bhodie responded with full force (he had slowly regained his energy a while back), seizing Hazel by her slender brown arms and throwing her to the floor.
"Stop it!" Caline cried. "Leave them alone!"
"Shut up, brat!" Dodoria snarled. "Or I'll-OUCH!" Caline had sunk her tiny teeth into his meaty hand. He threw the small girl across the room towards the window, where Caline hit her white-gold head hard on the windowsill. Caline's body slid to the floor, and she passed out. A thin crack could be seen threw her thin, pale hair, a crack that oozed amber blood resembling honey. Caline's eyes were closed, and she was barely breathing, barely alive.
Natala and Hazel screamed in horror when they saw the innocent child lying against the wall.
"SOMEBODY HELP US PLEASE!" they both screamed. "HELP!"
Natala stopped screaming when Balair slapped her face hard again. "Shut up! And I mean it! One more sound out of you, woman, and I will order Bhodie to kill your friend, and Dodoria will kill that brat he threw across the room." Balair turned to Hazel, growling, "And as for you, Human woman, if you try to fight us anymore today, both this woman and the brat will perish. And if the girl resists us when she comes to, both of you will die. I can easily find another whore. To put it simply: if any of you three ladies fights us or tries to escape, the other two will die automatically."
"We have no choice," Hazel whispered. "Natala…"
Natala weakly nodded. She had little strength left to fight anyway, and she could did not want anything to happen to her Aunt Hazel, or poor little Caline. The child had already suffered more than enough.
"That's more like it, ladies," Dodoria told them, scooping up Caline and throwing the unconscious girl over his broad shoulder.
"Can't you at least release her?" Natala asked shakily. "She is just a little girl, and she can't do anyone any real harm."
"She has a big mouth for a small brat," Dodoria replied. "And that's more than enough to cause us trouble. Besides, I believe that my pal, Bali, wants to have some fun with her, don't you, Bali?"
Balair chuckled. "Maybe, but I think that I'll take a more experienced woman for right now. Keep her though anyway. Right now, I want to try this Astorie woman out, to see what has kept Prince Raakon Chloe so interested in her all these years. He must have been one lucky Astorie prince."
"C'mon, Bali, Zarbon has ordered us to take this castle over; you'll have to have your fun later," Dodoria told his friend. "Once we take this castle, this strongpoint, then we can have fun with some of the women here."
Balair grumbled. "Fine. Bhodie, go find something to tie these three ladies up with."
Hazel wondered softly, whispering, "What are we going to do now?"
Natala closed her eyes and silently prayed.
Another bedroom, three floors down….
"Leave us be, please," Steak shakily ordered the Calmagian guards surrounding him, Crystalis and Pork. Steak had Crystalis carry Pork to the bedroom that he had been sharing with his oldest son, Ham. Steak and Ham had stayed behind to help protect the castle should Frieza's forces try to invade there.
Steak knew that Crystalis worked for Frieza; he knew that there was a chance that the girl could kill him on the spot. But Steak had seen something in the Espican girl's eyes; there was something there that he suspected was not entirely evil. He believed that the girl was more scared of her enemies than they were of her. The brown giraffe-like creature was trembling, scared for herself and genuinely worried about her friend, his son, Pork.
She helped Steak tuck Pork into bed, while they waited for the Calmagian guards to bring the royal physician. Crystalis sat on the edge of the bed, shaking. She looked at Pork's father and said fearfully, "I-I don't want him hurt; I don't want to hurt him; he's my friend."
Steak nodded; oddly enough, he did not fear this strange creature, this brown and green minion who only wanted to save her friend.
"I am not going to hurt you," he told the girl, as he sat down next to her. "What is your name?"
"Crystalis Wisteria-Hondas of planet Espica."
"I know that you have done wrong in the past, having worked for Frieza, and I know that my boy here has probably killed for him, as well. Did they force him to do so?"
"He-he thought that his family was dead," Crystalis whispered. "He didn't think that there was anything left for him, so he joined up, with some persuasion. He considered us, me, Commander Chestra, a few other people, his only family because he thought that you and his brother and sister had perished. Please don't hate him, please. He has killed, yes, but it's not entirely his fault; if he hadn't, they would have killed him. He didn't think that he had anything left, so he agreed to work for them and do what they wanted him to do. Then he realized what they were having him do was wrong, but it was too late; he couldn't back out, he had to go on and take those lives. But he's not evil, truly. Please don't hate him, don't hurt him."
"How can I hate him?" Steak asked, astonished. "He is my son, my boy. Whatever he has done to survive, I can forgive him for. What about you, my dear? You don't seem to be so evil yourself. How did you wind up do these horrible things for a living?"
Crystalis whispered, "Same reason as him; I did it to survive, to live, although I probably don't have much to live for. My people are extinct; I am the last of our kind that I know of. Slave traders captured my family and I from our home planet and sold us to the horrible Sistrai! They were so cruel, so vicious, and so merciless!" Her voice shook with sobs, as she continued, "There were seven of us, you see, my Pakati (papa), my Makati (mama), and my three sisters and one brother. Sistrai men are so mean, so nasty, and our Sistrai masters raped my makati, my sisters, and me over and over! They called us cruel names, saying that that as ugly as we were, we were lucky that any man would want us at all." Crystalis' body shook hard, and Steak gently patted her shoulder. He did not consider this strange girl to be a threat. Crystalis took a few moments to calm down before she continued:
"They put restraining collars on our necks to prevent us from absorbing their powers; we can 'copy' the powers of others just by touching them, and we can read minds with complete accuracy. They killed Pakati and my brother, Hystali, and then after realizing that we couldn't bear them children, they killed my sisters and sold me to Frieza. Lord Frieza was mean too, and so were Commander Balair and Commander Dodoria and the others, but they did not rape me. Frieza was going to have me killed because I was too weak physically to be of much use, but Commander Chestra saved me. She already knew that I could read minds, see, and she learned of my Espican ability to 'copy' the powers of others when I accidentally blew up one of the moons near a planet belonging to Lord Frieza, using her power of telekinesis. She convinced Lord Frieza to let her train me, for she thought that my power-copying ability would come in handy. She was training Pork at the same time that she was training me, and we grew to be friends. Princess Journa became my roommate once we were both promoted to Mid-Elite, and she's not too bad; she's much more sociable than the Saiyan men are. She's not so stuck-up and arrogant as her brother, Prince Vegeta is. He scares me something fierce, but he stays away from me pretty much 'cause he knows I can 'borrow' his powers. Balair had started leaving me alone too, even though he would hurt me, if he could. I fear all Sistrai."
"I fear Sistrai too," Steak admitted. "Particularly that horrid one called Balair. I believe he murdered my wife, Poultry."
Crystalis decided not to tell him that Balair had raped and tortured Poultry before he killed her. She had learned this after temporarily gaining Pork's superb Meatian hearing abilities, and she had heard Balair brag about his harming Poultry to Dodoria. She took a deep breath and sighed.
"What's going to happen to us now? What will happen to him? Will they kill him because he worked for Frieza?"
"No," Steak assured her firmly. "I won't allow it, for Pork is my son. I don't believe that it's too late to save him. And I don't believe that it's too late to save you. Do you really want to continue what you have been doing? I don't think that you do, my dear."
Crystalis hung her head down and whispered, "They will kill me, if I don't; I have no choice. No one can protect me, or would even want to."
Steak placed a fatherly arm around the Espican girl's shoulders. "We will, my dear. If there were a way that you could change your ways, would do so? Do you want to continue to harm others?"
Crystalis didn't reply, but she finally shook her head. "I-I don't want to kill anymore, but are you sure that it's not too late for me?"
"It's never too late," Steak softly told her. "As long as you are still alive, you always have another chance to make things right. You can't change the past, or the things that you did then, but you can start anew. If you want to switch sides and join us, I will see that you are helped; the Superior Gran of Astoria is a good friend of mine."
"The Astorians will not want me among them, not after what I did. I was one of those sent to capture Princess Tayla Chloe."
Steak's position did not change. "I am aware of that, my dear; the Astorians can be vengeful, but they are not unforgiving. If they have seen that you truly mean to change your ways, I am certain that they will allow you to join our side. No one is perfect, not even they, and I am sure that they will give you a chance, if you allow them."
Crystalis slowly nodded, and she was about to speak again when her scouter beeped. She then heard Head Commander Zarbon's voice saying, "Attention, all fighters: our plans have changed. Instead of fighting throughout Calmag at this time, we will simply seize the royal castle and take all of the occupants inside hostage, including the Calmagian royal family and the non-fighting Astorian people. We will demand that Princess Tayla be turned over to us in exchange for releasing the hostages. Of course, we do not intend to spare anyone, for our Lord Frieza has ordered the planet to be cleared, but this method will ensure that we have Princess Tayla and not have her killed in the fighting. Commanders Balair and Dodoria have already been apprised of the plans, and they are now beginning our takeover plans. They are currently inside the castle, as we speak…"
Crystalis barely kept herself from shrieking, and Steak had grown pale. His superior Meatian hearing had heard the entire conversation.
"Crystalis," he told her as steadily as possible, "you stay here. I have to go warn the others, for I have heard everything."
"Wait!" she told him. "I will go with you. After the harm that I helped to cause, the least that I can do is help you to warn the others."
"I appreciate it, Crystalis," Steak told her, "but it might be more dangerous for you now at this point, if this Zarbon and the others succeed in taking over. Besides, Pork can't be left alone; he needs you, he knows you. I will do what I can. Just stay here and lock the door; do not answer it unless it's the doctor or me. He already knows that you are here."
Pork murmured in his sleep, "Crysti? Crysti, are you there?"
Crystalis took his hand and held it. "Yes, Pork, I'm here."
"Don't leave me, Crysti, please."
"I won't," Crystalis promised, as Steak crept out the door. There would be time to get reacquainted with his son when things were settled.
A third bedroom, one floor up…
Veal and Lelina began to creep downstairs to warn the adults of what had happened in Hazel and Gohan's room. Veal had heard the terrified screams of Natala, Hazel, and Caline, and she had heard the evil voices of Balair, Dodoria, and Bhodie. Veal and Lelina decided to go for help, so they crept downstairs towards the meeting hall, where they knew some of the adults were.
They found Lelina's Great-Aunt Toria and Aunt Marya quietly talking near the lavatories. "Aunt Toria, it is more dangerous out there than it is in here," Marya told Toria.
"I know, my niece," Toria told her. "And it will not be safe here for much longer either, for dark forces plan to overtake this castle. Marya, I must find your sister, Tayla; she is the only one whom I have taught to reverse the spell that the evil Gemstarian woman, Diamonique, has cast upon many people. Time is running out for them, for if they remain diamond statues for more than thirty-six hours, they will remain in that form forever."
"Does Tayla know this?"
Toria sighed and shook her head. "I just learned the reversal spell myself not too long ago. I taught it to Tayla on the way to Calmag. But I read about the spell further in the Book of Universal Sorcery Based On Ki Power that Kami Orchida had Tayla study out of, and there was a passage that was overlooked-oh, my Kami!-that explained about the time limit on that spell."
"How much time do we left?"
Toria moaned, "Ten hours, I believe. I felt the first victim being crystallized yesterday. I have to go now."
Veal and Lelina had joined them by then. "We're coming with you, Great-Aunt Toria," Lelina said firmly.
Toria looked at the girls thoughtfully. "Veal will go; I need her hearing capabilities. Lelina, you must stay here and help Marya warn the others. You know as well as we do that Frieza's forces plan to take us captive. You and your aunt must help get as many people out of here as possible. Thankfully, this horrific snowstorm should be clearing up soon, but there will be much ice."
Lelina was scared to be the one chosen to stay in the castle, but she only said bravely, "Yes, Great-Aunt Toria, we will do what we can." Her voice trembled, as Toria gently patted her shoulder.
"I know that you are afraid, Lelina, but all of us are in peril now, and each one of us must do our part. Be as strong as you can, for even the mightiest among us can be fearful at times. Don't give up." She kissed Lelina's brow gravely, as she and Veal left to sneak out of the castle.
