Chapter Ninety-Three: Obsessed And Possessed
In the conservatory upstairsā¦
"Let her go, Zarbon," Raakon said as steadily as possible.
"Not a chance; if you want her to die today, go ahead and attack me," Zarbon sneered.
"Would it make Frieza happy, if you were to kill me?" Tayla asked sharply. "Aren't I the main reason that you bullies came?"
Zarbon glared at the outspoken princess on his shoulder. "You are the main reason, but not the only reason. We were also sent to clear this planet and take out your family."
"Why?" Tayla demanded angrily, raising her dark head up as high as she could. "What has my family ever done to you except defeat you in battle? Why can't you leave us alone?"
"Enough questions," Zarbon told her icily. He turned away from her to look at Raakon. "Well, Astorian Prince, what is your decision?"
"I am not letting you take her away to Frieza," Raakon told him, trying to remain calm. He took a deep breath, deciding with his diplomat's instinct to try to reason with Frieza's Head Commander. "Why do you wish to be loyal to such a creature like Frieza? Why do you want to recruit innocent children to work for him? What makes Frieza so great that you would commit such heinous crimes in his name? Would you want your child or younger sibling to work for a beast like Frieza?"
"There is a generous reward waiting for the capture of your sister," Zarbon told him coolly. "And I intend to collect it. Whether or not I approve of Frieza's activities does not matter."
"It should always matter. How will you explain your actions to Enma Daiou on the day of your death, Zarbon? You will not be able to make such excuses or explanations when you face him in the other dimension. He will hold you accountable for your own actions, Zarbon, not Frieza. Is Frieza so wonderful to you that he is worth spending eternity in hell?"
Zarbon was trying to think quickly on how to counteract Raakon's argument, and while he was thinking, Tayla lifted her bound ankles in the air just above his abdomen. She wasn't sure how much damage she could still inflict now that her wrists were tied up, but she intended to try.
She was not going with Zarbon to Frieza.
She closed her eyes and concentrated, summoning her life force as a backup battery. At least no binding of her wrists could hold back her life force.
Zarbon finally spoke, not paying any attention to Tayla's raised feet, "Frieza will eventually own the entire Rosetta Galaxy, and there will only be two races then: those who serve Frieza and those who oppose him. Those who oppose Frieza will be the first to see Enma Daiou-OW! What the hell-"
He cried out in pain, as Tayla's swift feet rammed into Zarbon's pelvic armor flank for a second time, crushing the metal and jabbing the hard metal into Zarbon's stomach. Before Zarbon could grab her feet, Tayla kicked him in his stomach again, using her life force to help make her feet as effective a weapon as a battering ram. Zarbon couldn't prevent himself from screaming.
Without thinking, Zarbon flung his captive away from him, as he fell to his knees. He had the best armor on him possible, and a child managed to damage him! A child managed to deliver serious harm to him that not even grown warriors at their full potential had been able to accomplish.
Taking advantage of Zarbon's misery, Raakon swiftly pushed past Frieza's Head Commander in order to reach Tayla. With a speed faster than a comet's, he seized his little sister by her waist and yanked her off of the couch, where she had fallen. Raakon hastily pulled her away from a crippled Zarbon and used a tiny ki blast to cut through the ropes binding Tayla's wrists. Tayla nearly toppled over, as all of her ki hit her in full force; she now felt as if a massive energy wave had been shoved down into her and expanded within her petite body. With ease, she yanked her ankles apart, ripping the ropes binding them, as if the ropes were no more than gossamer thread.
"Thanks, Raakon!" she gasped breathlessly, getting readjusted to her full strength.
"No problem," Raakon panted, sweat dabbling on his wide brow. "You did most of the work. Most grown adults of most races couldn't damage Zarbon like you did."
Zarbon finally recovered enough to jump up after Tayla and Raakon, but when he did, his scouter fell off of his head. Before Zarbon could retrieve it, Tayla fired a small ki blast at it, disintegrating it into ashes.
Zarbon growled, "How dare you? Do you know how expensive those things are?"
Tayla ignored him and turned to Raakon. "Do you think that we could take him, or should we go for help?"
"He is a difficult opponent," Raakon told her. "But I think that with the two of us together-OUCH!"
"RAAKON!" Tayla screamed, and her next scream grew louder when she saw what hit her older brother-a red, spiky ball-the same ball that Seductia had implanted into the necks of Bajal and Dirkan. Raakon now had that same horrible scarlet orb embedded in the nape of his neck. His eyes went blank, and a slack, drugged smile formed onto his handsome face.
"No!" Tayla choked out. "Not you too!"
Raakon suddenly cried out happily, "Where is my true love-the woman of my dreams?"
He was not talking about Natala.
"Hahahahaha!" Seductia laughed triumphantly, as she appeared behind Raakon. To Tayla's further horror, Diamonique had joined Seductia, and the Gemstarian fighter was furious.
"Your brother is going to pay for what he did to me, and I know that he knocked me out!" Diamonique fumed. She turned to Seductia, "Seductia, I want you to order that man to kill himself."
"Not yet," Seductia said defiantly. "I want to have some fun with him first."
"This isn't the time for games!" Diamonique hissed. "Make him self-destruct or something! I want him dead!"
"He could be useful to us, Diamonique," Seductia told her former trainer calmly. "We now have three powerful Clan of Chloe fighters on our side. Do you really want me to kill off someone who would be useful just because he knocked you out for a bit? You've suffered no permanent damage."
Diamonique was about to snap at Seductia, but then thankfully, logic set in, and she was forced to see that Seductia was right. "Oh, fine; the Astorie can live for now. At least make him get Tayla or something."
"Now that I will do," Seductia purred. She leaned over and whispered into Raakon's ear in a caressing tone, "What is your name, darling?"
"Prince Raakon Chloe, my sweet dream!"
"Raakon, darling, I want you to recapture Princess Tayla immediately."
"Whatever you say, my sugar-love!"
Tayla knew then that she had to flee. Even she didn't stand much of a chance against three powerful Elite officers and a possessed brother who had received his Awakening long before she had been born.
Tayla had to decide quickly as to what she would do. Should she try to flee upstairs or downstairs? Upstairs, she could sense her Nama's ki, but she could also sense the ki signatures of Bajal and Dirkan. She could also sense Gorna's ki, and a strange powerful ki that was unfamiliar to her. Downstairs, she might have some help, but she could not sense any ki signatures of her family or friends at the moment-at least no one who was above the labyrinths.
She decided then to take her chances upstairs. Nama and Gorna might need her help.
She quickly used a ki blast to blow a hole through the ceiling, and she soared up into it before Zarbon or Raakon could grab her.
"After her!" Zarbon ordered the other three, and Seductia sent Raakon up the hole after Tayla.
On the rooftop of the castleā¦
Gorna and Captain Ginyu were facing off against each other with punches and kicks. Ginyu had thought about switching bodies with her, but he had already decided that he did not want to be trapped in the body of an ugly woman like Gorna Chloe. Plus, being in a woman's body would ruin his sex life, what little sex life that Ginyu had.
Ginyu socked Gorna hard in her right cheek, but Gorna managed to stab Ginyu's thigh with her sword. Ginyu then used his horns to ram Gorna, and she fell backwards, with her sword pulling out of Ginyu's injured thigh. While she was stumbling, Ginyu fired a minor ki blast at her hand, forcing her sword out of her fist. Before Gorna could retrieve her sword, Ginyu rammed her again, this time with one of his horns stabbing Gorna's broad shoulder. Gorna screamed out in pain, as aqua blood burst forth from his shoulder, spraying Ginyu's face.
Ginyu was now showing no mercy, especially after Gorna had called him the "worst dancer that she had ever seen" and claiming that she had seen small children with more grace and style. Ginyu didn't like having anyone insult his poses, whether friend or foe.
The body-changing captain then fired a powerful ki blast at Gorna, a blast powerful enough to knock her off of her large feet, shoving her into the wall of a castle turret. Gorna cried out, as her body crashed into the turret, and the wall of the turret suddenly collapsed around her. Dust and debris and rocks and bricks rained down upon the hapless Astorian princess. Before Gorna could escape, a giant brick hit her on her head, knocking her out. She fell into blackness, unconscious, knowing no more. Her eyes fell shut, and her head slumped over.
"Sweet dreams!" Ginyu shouted at her. He did his elaborate Dance of Victory, twirling and pirouetting like a prima ballerina. His ridiculous victory dance also included walking upside down onto his hands and using his hands to dance along the stones of the roof. While he was dancing, he was debating as to whether to finish Gorna off once and for all while she was helpless. Before he could decide, however, a huge ki blast shot out through the roof behind him, and Shalila Chloe emerged, followed by Dirkan and Bajal in hot pursuit.
"Come back here!" Dirkan growled at her. "My sweet Seductia insists that I kill you to please her, and that's what I'm going to do! Stop!"
"That's right! Seductia wants us to kill you! Now stop, so that we can please our ladylove!" Bajal ordered his grandmother.
Once all three of them were on the rooftop, Dirkan and Shalila began to swordfight, with Dirkan trying to stab Shalila every chance that he had. Shalila leapt up and down and back-flipped repeatedly in order to prevent Dirkan from stabbing her. She was thankful that she knew all of Dirkan's moves, but while that knowledge helped, it did not help to know that Dirkan had always been as fast with a sword as she was. She and Dirkan were evenly matched when it came to sword fighting.
Shalila back-flipped again away from her persistent opponent/husband, and her small body crashed into Ginyu, who was annoyed at having his long Dance of Victory interrupted. "Hey!" he growled. "You two take that somewhere else! I just won a battle 'gainst some Astorie woman, and I'm celebratin'! Go away!"
Shalila paled, as she ducked away from Ginyu, and she hoped that whichever "Astorie woman" was involved was not dead. She paled worse than ever when she felt the faint signal of Gorna's ki.
*Sweet Kami* she thought. *Gorna, I hope that you are okay. Hang on; don't give up. *
Dirkan then roared, "I'm through playing with you, Shalila Chloe! I'm going to blast you into oblivion! Seductia will be obeyed!" And with that, he fired up for his Tri-Force attack to aim at his wife.
"TRI-FORCE!" he cried out, aiming the deadly attack in Shalila's direction.
Shalila's eyes widened in genuine fear, for although she could have dodged Dirkan's Tri-Force attack, Dirkan could also telekinetically maneuver that particular ki attack in any direction he wanted, as long as the ki blast did not hit a target. Dirkan could have his Tri-Force attack chase her about indefinitely, and the Superior Gran took a quick glance in Ginyu's direction.
Perhaps Dirkan could still help her after all, although he didn't know it yet.
She flew in the air towards a puzzled Ginyu, as Dirkan's Tri-Force attack changed directions in order to chase her. She then leapt at the dismayed captain and seized him by both shoulders. In a move similar to one used in leapfrog, she flipped over Ginyu's shoulders, as if she were an experienced gymnast on a vault. She landed gracefully onto the ground, but then she flipped again off of the roof and over the castle wall.
Having no chance to escape, Ginyu screamed as Dirkan's Tri-Force attack shot at him and smashed into his body. The ki blast shoved Ginyu backwards off of the rooftop and into the air. Ginyu felt his body burning and charring, as the Tri-Force attack sent him soaring through the air and crashing into a chalky cliff near the castle.
Ginyu's roasted body slid down the white, dusty side of the cliff until it fell into a stream filled with rapids. He fell against two of the rapids, and his head hit one of the rapids while his back crashed against another. Ginyu fell unconscious, as his body toppled off of the first two rapids that he had fallen onto and into the rushing water of the stream.
His body continued to ride against the speedy currents of the rapid filled stream until it finally washed upon the banks beneath the same cliff where Dirkan had sent the body-changing captain to his near-demise. Ginyu was now barely alive and out of the war. He lay facedown upon the muddy banks and did not emit so much as a groan.
Back at the castle, Shalila was now hovering near an open window, hoping that Dirkan and Bajal would not find her for a few minutes. Through the window, she cried out when she saw Raakon pouncing upon Tayla before Tayla was able to escape to the next floor above.
Shalila noticed the red sphere in Raakon's neck from afar, and she realized that he was now also under Seductia's spell. Raakon had seized Tayla by her left wrist, and he was trying to grab her right one. Tayla kept moving and struggling away from Raakon to keep him from grabbing her free wrist.
Shalila wasted no time in breaking the window open with her swift foot and dashing inside after Raakon. Tayla was now kicking at Raakon's legs to make him free her.
"Let me go, Raakon; you don't know what you're doing!" Tayla cried out.
"Let her GO!" Shalila ordered her possessed grandson, as she flipped through the room several times and then flew into the air. She landed a punch onto Raakon's ear, and a surprised Raakon quickly released Tayla.
Raakon merely fell backwards, but he made no effort to attack Shalila, since Seductia had not ordered him to do so. He just tried to steady himself, and when he did, he made another attempt to pursue Tayla and capture her for Seductia.
Shalila then flew at Raakon and punched him hard in the back of his head. Raakon fell to the floor facedown; Shalila was sorry that she had to hit him, but she had no choice now but to knock him out.
When Raakon's body hit the floor, his head fell to one side, and Shalila quickly looked him over, making sure that she had done him no permanent damage. She hadn't, so she just let him lay there for now. Raakon was now unconscious, along with Gorna and Ginyu.
A shaky Tayla dashed into her Nama's open arms, and Shalila pulled her close into a tight embrace. Tayla trembled and shook while she tried not to cry too much, as her grandmother checked her over, feeling her for broken bones or sore areas. Tayla had no broken bones, although Shalila was sure that she had plenty of bruises.
Finally, Tayla reluctantly looked up at her grandmother, and Shalila cried out when she saw Tayla's scarred face. Trying to remain calm, she drew her finger lightly along Tayla's bloody, jagged scar. "Who did this to you, child?" she asked worriedly.
"Di-Diamonique," Tayla whispered hoarsely. "She slapped and clawed me twice when I refused to speak to her. I thought that she was going to rip my whole face apart. I was tied up, Nama, and I couldn't stop her."
Shalila kissed Tayla's forehead fiercely, trying to keep her anger at this unmet Diamonique under control. When Tayla further told her grandmother about Diamonique's hideous words, Shalila wanted to break the Gemstarian beauty's neck. She and Tayla found a bathroom, where Shalila wetted a washcloth and began to clean Tayla's face.
"She'll pay for this, dandelion, I promise you Seven Moons Oath," Shalila vowed, as she tenderly tended to Tayla's facial wounds. "And don't worry about this scar, dandelion, for it will not last forever. In fact, I have a few little friends here in my pocket that will make that nasty mark fade away into nothing."
"Caline's roses," Tayla whispered.
Shalila smiled, as she sat on a vanity stool, having Tayla stand up. The Superior Gran pulled out the head of a blue Calmagian rose from her pocket, and she tore off several of its petals. She lightly dabbed the oily rose petals along Tayla's scar, and within ten minutes, Tayla's scar began to fade away, and within twenty minutes, she had a perfectly smooth face again with no scars or marks whatsoever.
"Thank you, Nama," she whispered.
"Thank Caline and her roses," Shalila said softly, standing up. She and Tayla embraced each other again, as if they never wanted to let each other go again.
"I was afraid that you had turned yourself in to Frieza for real," Tayla confessed tearfully. A few salty drops slid down her now perfectly smooth face.
Shalila smiled, drying Tayla's tears away with her thumb. "Now you know better than that, dandelion, although the others thought for a while that was what I was doing as well. I am so glad that you are safe, my dear. You know that I would never abandon you, no matter what."
"I-I know, Nama. Nama will you promise me something else?"
"What would you like, my dear?"
"Promise me Seven Moons Oath that you'll live forever."
Shalila laughed softly. "Tayla, you know that no one can make that sort of a promise."
"Okay, well at least promise that you'll live long enough for me to become a Great-Nama."
Shalila laughed again. "How about until you are just a Nama? That I can realistically promise, child; you know that I am not that far away from being a hundred years old."
"That I can agree to," Tayla told her, and Shalila made her promise to her.
Shalila then became somber, as she drew Tayla onto her lap. She then whispered into her granddaughter's ear, as Tayla settled herself down onto Shalila's lap, "Maybe I can keep that first promise to you after all, dandelion."
"How? Do you know someone that can grant you immortality?"
Shalila chuckled. "I wish, my dear. No, I don't, and I won't live forever in this dimension, but I can live forever in your heart if not in this life. You've had some training in sorcery while at Kami Orchida's, right?"
"Yes, Nama."
"And anyone who's had sorcery lessons knows that just because you can't see something doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. So this is what I can do: if you will swear Seven Moons to keep me in your heart forever, then I'll swear Seven Moons to stay with you forever, even after I pass on to the next dimension. How does that sound?"
"I can do that," Tayla said solemnly.
Shalila kissed her forehead again, and they both made their vows.
Just as they were about to rise again, they felt the haunting ki signatures of two men that they had once been able to trust and rely on, but now had to avoid.
"Dirkan and Bajal are here," Tayla whispered in fear. "They are in the same room now as Raakon."
Shalila reached for her sword and pulled Tayla behind her. "Tayla, get ready."
Tayla nodded quickly. She did not relish having to fight against her brother and beloved guardian, but she was wise enough to know that she had no choice. Survival and freedom took place over past loyalties.
In the conservatory upstairsā¦
"Let her go, Zarbon," Raakon said as steadily as possible.
"Not a chance; if you want her to die today, go ahead and attack me," Zarbon sneered.
"Would it make Frieza happy, if you were to kill me?" Tayla asked sharply. "Aren't I the main reason that you bullies came?"
Zarbon glared at the outspoken princess on his shoulder. "You are the main reason, but not the only reason. We were also sent to clear this planet and take out your family."
"Why?" Tayla demanded angrily, raising her dark head up as high as she could. "What has my family ever done to you except defeat you in battle? Why can't you leave us alone?"
"Enough questions," Zarbon told her icily. He turned away from her to look at Raakon. "Well, Astorian Prince, what is your decision?"
"I am not letting you take her away to Frieza," Raakon told him, trying to remain calm. He took a deep breath, deciding with his diplomat's instinct to try to reason with Frieza's Head Commander. "Why do you wish to be loyal to such a creature like Frieza? Why do you want to recruit innocent children to work for him? What makes Frieza so great that you would commit such heinous crimes in his name? Would you want your child or younger sibling to work for a beast like Frieza?"
"There is a generous reward waiting for the capture of your sister," Zarbon told him coolly. "And I intend to collect it. Whether or not I approve of Frieza's activities does not matter."
"It should always matter. How will you explain your actions to Enma Daiou on the day of your death, Zarbon? You will not be able to make such excuses or explanations when you face him in the other dimension. He will hold you accountable for your own actions, Zarbon, not Frieza. Is Frieza so wonderful to you that he is worth spending eternity in hell?"
Zarbon was trying to think quickly on how to counteract Raakon's argument, and while he was thinking, Tayla lifted her bound ankles in the air just above his abdomen. She wasn't sure how much damage she could still inflict now that her wrists were tied up, but she intended to try.
She was not going with Zarbon to Frieza.
She closed her eyes and concentrated, summoning her life force as a backup battery. At least no binding of her wrists could hold back her life force.
Zarbon finally spoke, not paying any attention to Tayla's raised feet, "Frieza will eventually own the entire Rosetta Galaxy, and there will only be two races then: those who serve Frieza and those who oppose him. Those who oppose Frieza will be the first to see Enma Daiou-OW! What the hell-"
He cried out in pain, as Tayla's swift feet rammed into Zarbon's pelvic armor flank for a second time, crushing the metal and jabbing the hard metal into Zarbon's stomach. Before Zarbon could grab her feet, Tayla kicked him in his stomach again, using her life force to help make her feet as effective a weapon as a battering ram. Zarbon couldn't prevent himself from screaming.
Without thinking, Zarbon flung his captive away from him, as he fell to his knees. He had the best armor on him possible, and a child managed to damage him! A child managed to deliver serious harm to him that not even grown warriors at their full potential had been able to accomplish.
Taking advantage of Zarbon's misery, Raakon swiftly pushed past Frieza's Head Commander in order to reach Tayla. With a speed faster than a comet's, he seized his little sister by her waist and yanked her off of the couch, where she had fallen. Raakon hastily pulled her away from a crippled Zarbon and used a tiny ki blast to cut through the ropes binding Tayla's wrists. Tayla nearly toppled over, as all of her ki hit her in full force; she now felt as if a massive energy wave had been shoved down into her and expanded within her petite body. With ease, she yanked her ankles apart, ripping the ropes binding them, as if the ropes were no more than gossamer thread.
"Thanks, Raakon!" she gasped breathlessly, getting readjusted to her full strength.
"No problem," Raakon panted, sweat dabbling on his wide brow. "You did most of the work. Most grown adults of most races couldn't damage Zarbon like you did."
Zarbon finally recovered enough to jump up after Tayla and Raakon, but when he did, his scouter fell off of his head. Before Zarbon could retrieve it, Tayla fired a small ki blast at it, disintegrating it into ashes.
Zarbon growled, "How dare you? Do you know how expensive those things are?"
Tayla ignored him and turned to Raakon. "Do you think that we could take him, or should we go for help?"
"He is a difficult opponent," Raakon told her. "But I think that with the two of us together-OUCH!"
"RAAKON!" Tayla screamed, and her next scream grew louder when she saw what hit her older brother-a red, spiky ball-the same ball that Seductia had implanted into the necks of Bajal and Dirkan. Raakon now had that same horrible scarlet orb embedded in the nape of his neck. His eyes went blank, and a slack, drugged smile formed onto his handsome face.
"No!" Tayla choked out. "Not you too!"
Raakon suddenly cried out happily, "Where is my true love-the woman of my dreams?"
He was not talking about Natala.
"Hahahahaha!" Seductia laughed triumphantly, as she appeared behind Raakon. To Tayla's further horror, Diamonique had joined Seductia, and the Gemstarian fighter was furious.
"Your brother is going to pay for what he did to me, and I know that he knocked me out!" Diamonique fumed. She turned to Seductia, "Seductia, I want you to order that man to kill himself."
"Not yet," Seductia said defiantly. "I want to have some fun with him first."
"This isn't the time for games!" Diamonique hissed. "Make him self-destruct or something! I want him dead!"
"He could be useful to us, Diamonique," Seductia told her former trainer calmly. "We now have three powerful Clan of Chloe fighters on our side. Do you really want me to kill off someone who would be useful just because he knocked you out for a bit? You've suffered no permanent damage."
Diamonique was about to snap at Seductia, but then thankfully, logic set in, and she was forced to see that Seductia was right. "Oh, fine; the Astorie can live for now. At least make him get Tayla or something."
"Now that I will do," Seductia purred. She leaned over and whispered into Raakon's ear in a caressing tone, "What is your name, darling?"
"Prince Raakon Chloe, my sweet dream!"
"Raakon, darling, I want you to recapture Princess Tayla immediately."
"Whatever you say, my sugar-love!"
Tayla knew then that she had to flee. Even she didn't stand much of a chance against three powerful Elite officers and a possessed brother who had received his Awakening long before she had been born.
Tayla had to decide quickly as to what she would do. Should she try to flee upstairs or downstairs? Upstairs, she could sense her Nama's ki, but she could also sense the ki signatures of Bajal and Dirkan. She could also sense Gorna's ki, and a strange powerful ki that was unfamiliar to her. Downstairs, she might have some help, but she could not sense any ki signatures of her family or friends at the moment-at least no one who was above the labyrinths.
She decided then to take her chances upstairs. Nama and Gorna might need her help.
She quickly used a ki blast to blow a hole through the ceiling, and she soared up into it before Zarbon or Raakon could grab her.
"After her!" Zarbon ordered the other three, and Seductia sent Raakon up the hole after Tayla.
On the rooftop of the castleā¦
Gorna and Captain Ginyu were facing off against each other with punches and kicks. Ginyu had thought about switching bodies with her, but he had already decided that he did not want to be trapped in the body of an ugly woman like Gorna Chloe. Plus, being in a woman's body would ruin his sex life, what little sex life that Ginyu had.
Ginyu socked Gorna hard in her right cheek, but Gorna managed to stab Ginyu's thigh with her sword. Ginyu then used his horns to ram Gorna, and she fell backwards, with her sword pulling out of Ginyu's injured thigh. While she was stumbling, Ginyu fired a minor ki blast at her hand, forcing her sword out of her fist. Before Gorna could retrieve her sword, Ginyu rammed her again, this time with one of his horns stabbing Gorna's broad shoulder. Gorna screamed out in pain, as aqua blood burst forth from his shoulder, spraying Ginyu's face.
Ginyu was now showing no mercy, especially after Gorna had called him the "worst dancer that she had ever seen" and claiming that she had seen small children with more grace and style. Ginyu didn't like having anyone insult his poses, whether friend or foe.
The body-changing captain then fired a powerful ki blast at Gorna, a blast powerful enough to knock her off of her large feet, shoving her into the wall of a castle turret. Gorna cried out, as her body crashed into the turret, and the wall of the turret suddenly collapsed around her. Dust and debris and rocks and bricks rained down upon the hapless Astorian princess. Before Gorna could escape, a giant brick hit her on her head, knocking her out. She fell into blackness, unconscious, knowing no more. Her eyes fell shut, and her head slumped over.
"Sweet dreams!" Ginyu shouted at her. He did his elaborate Dance of Victory, twirling and pirouetting like a prima ballerina. His ridiculous victory dance also included walking upside down onto his hands and using his hands to dance along the stones of the roof. While he was dancing, he was debating as to whether to finish Gorna off once and for all while she was helpless. Before he could decide, however, a huge ki blast shot out through the roof behind him, and Shalila Chloe emerged, followed by Dirkan and Bajal in hot pursuit.
"Come back here!" Dirkan growled at her. "My sweet Seductia insists that I kill you to please her, and that's what I'm going to do! Stop!"
"That's right! Seductia wants us to kill you! Now stop, so that we can please our ladylove!" Bajal ordered his grandmother.
Once all three of them were on the rooftop, Dirkan and Shalila began to swordfight, with Dirkan trying to stab Shalila every chance that he had. Shalila leapt up and down and back-flipped repeatedly in order to prevent Dirkan from stabbing her. She was thankful that she knew all of Dirkan's moves, but while that knowledge helped, it did not help to know that Dirkan had always been as fast with a sword as she was. She and Dirkan were evenly matched when it came to sword fighting.
Shalila back-flipped again away from her persistent opponent/husband, and her small body crashed into Ginyu, who was annoyed at having his long Dance of Victory interrupted. "Hey!" he growled. "You two take that somewhere else! I just won a battle 'gainst some Astorie woman, and I'm celebratin'! Go away!"
Shalila paled, as she ducked away from Ginyu, and she hoped that whichever "Astorie woman" was involved was not dead. She paled worse than ever when she felt the faint signal of Gorna's ki.
*Sweet Kami* she thought. *Gorna, I hope that you are okay. Hang on; don't give up. *
Dirkan then roared, "I'm through playing with you, Shalila Chloe! I'm going to blast you into oblivion! Seductia will be obeyed!" And with that, he fired up for his Tri-Force attack to aim at his wife.
"TRI-FORCE!" he cried out, aiming the deadly attack in Shalila's direction.
Shalila's eyes widened in genuine fear, for although she could have dodged Dirkan's Tri-Force attack, Dirkan could also telekinetically maneuver that particular ki attack in any direction he wanted, as long as the ki blast did not hit a target. Dirkan could have his Tri-Force attack chase her about indefinitely, and the Superior Gran took a quick glance in Ginyu's direction.
Perhaps Dirkan could still help her after all, although he didn't know it yet.
She flew in the air towards a puzzled Ginyu, as Dirkan's Tri-Force attack changed directions in order to chase her. She then leapt at the dismayed captain and seized him by both shoulders. In a move similar to one used in leapfrog, she flipped over Ginyu's shoulders, as if she were an experienced gymnast on a vault. She landed gracefully onto the ground, but then she flipped again off of the roof and over the castle wall.
Having no chance to escape, Ginyu screamed as Dirkan's Tri-Force attack shot at him and smashed into his body. The ki blast shoved Ginyu backwards off of the rooftop and into the air. Ginyu felt his body burning and charring, as the Tri-Force attack sent him soaring through the air and crashing into a chalky cliff near the castle.
Ginyu's roasted body slid down the white, dusty side of the cliff until it fell into a stream filled with rapids. He fell against two of the rapids, and his head hit one of the rapids while his back crashed against another. Ginyu fell unconscious, as his body toppled off of the first two rapids that he had fallen onto and into the rushing water of the stream.
His body continued to ride against the speedy currents of the rapid filled stream until it finally washed upon the banks beneath the same cliff where Dirkan had sent the body-changing captain to his near-demise. Ginyu was now barely alive and out of the war. He lay facedown upon the muddy banks and did not emit so much as a groan.
Back at the castle, Shalila was now hovering near an open window, hoping that Dirkan and Bajal would not find her for a few minutes. Through the window, she cried out when she saw Raakon pouncing upon Tayla before Tayla was able to escape to the next floor above.
Shalila noticed the red sphere in Raakon's neck from afar, and she realized that he was now also under Seductia's spell. Raakon had seized Tayla by her left wrist, and he was trying to grab her right one. Tayla kept moving and struggling away from Raakon to keep him from grabbing her free wrist.
Shalila wasted no time in breaking the window open with her swift foot and dashing inside after Raakon. Tayla was now kicking at Raakon's legs to make him free her.
"Let me go, Raakon; you don't know what you're doing!" Tayla cried out.
"Let her GO!" Shalila ordered her possessed grandson, as she flipped through the room several times and then flew into the air. She landed a punch onto Raakon's ear, and a surprised Raakon quickly released Tayla.
Raakon merely fell backwards, but he made no effort to attack Shalila, since Seductia had not ordered him to do so. He just tried to steady himself, and when he did, he made another attempt to pursue Tayla and capture her for Seductia.
Shalila then flew at Raakon and punched him hard in the back of his head. Raakon fell to the floor facedown; Shalila was sorry that she had to hit him, but she had no choice now but to knock him out.
When Raakon's body hit the floor, his head fell to one side, and Shalila quickly looked him over, making sure that she had done him no permanent damage. She hadn't, so she just let him lay there for now. Raakon was now unconscious, along with Gorna and Ginyu.
A shaky Tayla dashed into her Nama's open arms, and Shalila pulled her close into a tight embrace. Tayla trembled and shook while she tried not to cry too much, as her grandmother checked her over, feeling her for broken bones or sore areas. Tayla had no broken bones, although Shalila was sure that she had plenty of bruises.
Finally, Tayla reluctantly looked up at her grandmother, and Shalila cried out when she saw Tayla's scarred face. Trying to remain calm, she drew her finger lightly along Tayla's bloody, jagged scar. "Who did this to you, child?" she asked worriedly.
"Di-Diamonique," Tayla whispered hoarsely. "She slapped and clawed me twice when I refused to speak to her. I thought that she was going to rip my whole face apart. I was tied up, Nama, and I couldn't stop her."
Shalila kissed Tayla's forehead fiercely, trying to keep her anger at this unmet Diamonique under control. When Tayla further told her grandmother about Diamonique's hideous words, Shalila wanted to break the Gemstarian beauty's neck. She and Tayla found a bathroom, where Shalila wetted a washcloth and began to clean Tayla's face.
"She'll pay for this, dandelion, I promise you Seven Moons Oath," Shalila vowed, as she tenderly tended to Tayla's facial wounds. "And don't worry about this scar, dandelion, for it will not last forever. In fact, I have a few little friends here in my pocket that will make that nasty mark fade away into nothing."
"Caline's roses," Tayla whispered.
Shalila smiled, as she sat on a vanity stool, having Tayla stand up. The Superior Gran pulled out the head of a blue Calmagian rose from her pocket, and she tore off several of its petals. She lightly dabbed the oily rose petals along Tayla's scar, and within ten minutes, Tayla's scar began to fade away, and within twenty minutes, she had a perfectly smooth face again with no scars or marks whatsoever.
"Thank you, Nama," she whispered.
"Thank Caline and her roses," Shalila said softly, standing up. She and Tayla embraced each other again, as if they never wanted to let each other go again.
"I was afraid that you had turned yourself in to Frieza for real," Tayla confessed tearfully. A few salty drops slid down her now perfectly smooth face.
Shalila smiled, drying Tayla's tears away with her thumb. "Now you know better than that, dandelion, although the others thought for a while that was what I was doing as well. I am so glad that you are safe, my dear. You know that I would never abandon you, no matter what."
"I-I know, Nama. Nama will you promise me something else?"
"What would you like, my dear?"
"Promise me Seven Moons Oath that you'll live forever."
Shalila laughed softly. "Tayla, you know that no one can make that sort of a promise."
"Okay, well at least promise that you'll live long enough for me to become a Great-Nama."
Shalila laughed again. "How about until you are just a Nama? That I can realistically promise, child; you know that I am not that far away from being a hundred years old."
"That I can agree to," Tayla told her, and Shalila made her promise to her.
Shalila then became somber, as she drew Tayla onto her lap. She then whispered into her granddaughter's ear, as Tayla settled herself down onto Shalila's lap, "Maybe I can keep that first promise to you after all, dandelion."
"How? Do you know someone that can grant you immortality?"
Shalila chuckled. "I wish, my dear. No, I don't, and I won't live forever in this dimension, but I can live forever in your heart if not in this life. You've had some training in sorcery while at Kami Orchida's, right?"
"Yes, Nama."
"And anyone who's had sorcery lessons knows that just because you can't see something doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. So this is what I can do: if you will swear Seven Moons to keep me in your heart forever, then I'll swear Seven Moons to stay with you forever, even after I pass on to the next dimension. How does that sound?"
"I can do that," Tayla said solemnly.
Shalila kissed her forehead again, and they both made their vows.
Just as they were about to rise again, they felt the haunting ki signatures of two men that they had once been able to trust and rely on, but now had to avoid.
"Dirkan and Bajal are here," Tayla whispered in fear. "They are in the same room now as Raakon."
Shalila reached for her sword and pulled Tayla behind her. "Tayla, get ready."
Tayla nodded quickly. She did not relish having to fight against her brother and beloved guardian, but she was wise enough to know that she had no choice. Survival and freedom took place over past loyalties.
