Arachne, Chapter 3 - Pterinochilus Sjoestedti
"You aren't concentrating," the voice behind me accused softly.
He knew.
Training under my father had let me begin to see a different side of him; I had always known it was there, hiding beneath the surface, but before now, I had never gotten to actually see it. I wonder if he ever shows it off to Mother.
Had my father inquired about my life before now, I could have told him a lie and most likely gotten by with it, and even if he had been able to decipher my bluff, he wouldn't press the issue. He cared, but that didn't mean he was going to inconvenience me by prying. That was the relationship we had—had, mind you. Now he could read me like an open book, and he knew that there was a reason for my sudden interest in training. He just hadn't figured out what it was yet.
I turned slowly and tucked a strand of my aqua hair behind my ear, attempting to "girly" my way out of the situation. Think man troubles, Bra. "You're right, Daddy. I apologize for dishonoring you. Perhaps 300 pushups would serve as an adequate punishment?" I was a little worried that pushups seemed a better option in this situation than talking with my father about the particular issues that were troubling me.
He raised an ebony eyebrow. Nope, I wasn't getting away with anything. Damn, should have gone for 500. "What's going on?" he inquired.
I furrowed my brows, as if trying to figure out what he could be implying. The smart-ass side of myself automatically took over. "We were training, Daddy."
His face hardened almost instantly, and I was sure he was about to take me up on my offer of proper punishment, but instead, he continued to stare at me, his eyelids lowering a bit in speculation. He watched me like that for a moment, then turned swiftly on his heel and called calmly over his shoulder as he headed for the door, "When you're ready to continue our session, let me know."
My head jerked backwards as his words struck me. "But Daddy, where are you going?" He only continued his trek and started down the small ramp. "Daddy?" I asked, knowing he must have heard my earlier question. He turned then, but only to press a button that was to his right and attached to the gravity room. The door hissed, sealing me inside the white sphere. Why had he left so suddenly? I replayed the entire training session in my head. Yes, my performance this morning had been below par, but why would that cause Daddy to walk out on me like that? Maybe…?
That look—those half-lidded eyes conveying a fierce message. I had seen it before, when…
"Daddy…" I whispered, a tear slipping down the side of my face and mixing with the already glistening sweat, and I began to remember something that I had locked away long ago.
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"Absolutely not, Phæra," Nyanko ground out, her red eyes blazing.
Well, if you ever need to know how to get under Nyanko's skin, I think I just found the peeeeeerfect way. "Nyanko, we have to. The last thing we need is another investigation by the IIG." Okay, so technically, the last thing I needed was the Imperial Inquiry Guild sticking its nose in my business again. Hell, last time, I had barely avoided the inspectors, and that had come with the price of letting Nyanko in on what had happened in my past. Bad idea, Phæ.
"Phæra, under no circumstances will I be giving a refund to whoever that man was." She was referring to our recent visitor, the first male to make it out of my chamber alive.
"You have to! If you don't, he'll come back and-and…wait a minute, wait a minute." I dragged my hands down my face, shutting my eyes tightly in order to replay her words in my mind. "Please tell me that you took his name, Nyanko."
"Ohhhh, so now you're interested, huh? Going after him in order to deal out the pummeling, or will you be pursuing other desires tonight?" She threw me a knowing look that was combined with a wink and a sly grin. And in that moment, I thought she'd go nicely with some honey barbecue sauce.
"Did you get it or not?!" I questioned urgently, my anger and slight panic evident this time, as I tried to restrain myself from strangling the cannibal.
"Well, not exactly," she said conversationally.
"What do you mean 'not exactly'?"
"It was a lot of money, Phæra. Who bothers pestering for a name and serial number when there's that much cash?"
"This is not happening. I knew he looked odd. He had to be Saiyan. He had bond marks."
"So he's a strong Saiyan with a bad dye job. I thought we had already established that."
"Nyanko, you idiot, he was an undercover inspector."
"Oh, Phæra, there's no way that he would have just left like that, I mean, not unless he was casing us, seeing how we run things, and then, why bother insisting on y—nooooo," she realized, eyes widening and looking into mine. "Oh gods, they've found you here. And they know I'm harboring you!"
I watched in slight awe, as Nyanko lifted a now shaking hand to her face, and inserted a recently manicured nail between her front teeth and began to nibble nervously. "Just calm down, Nyanko, okay? I'll pack my bags and get out of here tonight. They won't be able to implicate you. Just say I breeched contract and ran."
She looked at me for a few seconds, and then slowly shook her head and removed the nail. "No. You don't have to run. You can just be disguised, or we'll hide you. There are plenty of underground places where you can stay for a while."
"That wasn't in the deal we made. You know I have to go," I said, turning my back to her and walking determinedly out of her office.
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"Where is it? Where is it?" I hissed at myself as I pulled about a ton of forgotten treasures out from under my old bed. Surely it had to be somewhere in here. I mean, there was no way I would have thrown something like that in the garbage…at least, I hoped that I hadn't this time. I let out a frustrated howl as the last place where I thought it could have been turned up no results.
I lay back on the bed and searched the crevices of my already overloaded brain. How was I supposed to remember something that had happened nearly fifteen years ago? I was just a kid then, and granted, I was a fast learner, but that didn't mean that I could instantly recall something that had occurred when I was practically a toddler.
"Trunks, if you and Goten don't play with me, I'm going to give Daddy that video tape of you and Goten impersonating him." I was raised on two very important principles. The first being that money could buy almost everything and the second being that incriminating evidence would get you everything else.
"Save it for another time, Bra," Trunks said, patting me on my aqua top, "Goten and I are already stuck with hardcore training sessions for the next three weeks, thanks to someone," he eyed Goten, "asking Marron how she liked her new tattoo." They had branded Krillen's daughter after getting her sloshed at a frat party that she shouldn't have been attending in the first place.
Goten gave his sheepish grin, and once Trunks was finished with his stare-down, they both exited the huge living room.
I angrily stomped from the room, trying to think of something to do. I ended up in the library and started tearing the place apart, trying to find some kind of entertainment that was worth my time. I pulled out book after book after book. "The Andromeda Strain, read it. War and Peace, snore fest. Kama Sutra, one of Trunks's picture books."
My eyes finally fell upon a thick book whose title I couldn't read. I lugged it down, my Saiyan strength actually doing me more good than harm for once, and slammed it on a nearby table. Then, I sat and opened it. "What? What's wrong with this thing? The pages are all blank! What a rip off!" I shut up the book and heaved it over the edge of the table. I nodded my head, as if to let the book know that it deserved what it had gotten and started from the library, only to stop as I passed the new mess of crumpled papers and blinding. On the floor, covered by said mess was a small slit of triangular metal. I gingerly pulled it from its oppressor and examined it. It was black in color, with some kind of dark red stain partially covering it, and golden flecks at all of the points. A small hexagonal section was cut out of the middle. It appeared to be some kind of computer disk.
Elated to have made this discovery, I fled the library, and headed for the labs. Once there, I immediately began cleaning and reconfiguring the disk so that it could be accessed. All in all, the adjustments only took a few short hours, and then, the hologrid began to play the single file that was on it.
I was watching the blinking hologram, when my father walked in from the training session, swiping at his face with a towel and downing a bottle of water. I didn't really pay attention to him until I heard the bottle fall, sending its contents splattering over a surge protector that led to Mom's favorite mainframe. An electric current propelled itself through my father, and he jumped away, landing on the dry floor beside my stool and leaving him twitching slightly.
I waited a few beats. Once the spasms had subsided, I asked quietly, "Daddy, are you alright?"
He focused in on me and nodded before jumping to his feet. He looked around confused for several seconds, then his eyes fell on the still-playing hologram.
"I love you," a voice whispered.
His eyes dilated, and shadows clouded his eyes, creeping by slowly.
My brows furrowed at this. "Daddy?"
"Where did you find this?" he asked harshly.
"It—it was in the…the library," I stuttered, not sure what I had done wrong. "I'm sorry, Daddy. I didn't know it was yo—"
He cut the rest of my apology off by holding up a hand. "It's okay."
"It is?"
He nodded in response, not really looking at me.
"Then…can I…?" I trailed off.
"Out with it."
"May I keep it, Daddy?"
He watched me then, for a bit, and the shadows disbursed. He nodded again. "Yes, Bra."
I had watched it everyday after that. But then I started to grow up, and I watched it less and less, until I stopped watching it at all.
I opened my eyes again and sat up, blinking away the few tears that I hadn't realized I had cried. "This isn't proper Saiyan behavior," I told myself.
Where had I gotten that from?
I shook my head and stood. I knew where the disk was now, and soon I would have my answers.
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A whorehouse may not be your idea of a sanctuary, but by my standards, it had been doing a damned fine job of keeping me safe for the past two years. And now, I was being forced out of it. Sure I could try staying on and endangering the other workers, and likely causing Nyanko's death, but it wasn't exactly something I had been fantasizing about. Loyalty means a lot to us Saiyans, and if it's better to be loyal to some than betray all. I had betrayed the people of my world. Nyanko had taken me in and allowed me to stay on even after she had found out whom I really was. According to her, all of the ladies had a story; mine was simply the worst.
I sighed as I finished up my packing, checking for the fifth time that I had my box of saved cash. Running wasn't high on my list of things to do, but dying a slow and excruciating death wasn't either. Besides, I had been banished from the planet. Technically, I was following the law. Self-justification always helps in these situations. I picked up my two large bags, and headed for the lobby. Nyanko was waiting for me.
"It'll be boring around here without you," she commented.
"Probably," I agreed.
She smirked at that. "I'll miss you."
I chuckled. "You mean you'll miss receiving my superb meals."
"That too. Know where you're going?"
I nodded. "It's probably better that you don't." The truth was, I had no idea which galaxy to head for. The empire had been expanding rapidly, as of late, and since it wasn't likely that I would evade the outer patrols, I wasn't too worried that I'd have to make the decision anytime soon.
Nyanko nodded as well, and pressed a thick envelope into my free hand. "Money," she explained, "and a few contacts on the outer edges."
"Thanks."
She dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "Go on. Every moment counts now."
"I'll see you later, Nyanko," the promise slipped from my lips before my mind could catch it. I smiled and exited through the door.
As soon as the air lock on the door that was now behind me hissed, I leaned against the cool metal. I rested like that for a while, trying to come up with a legitimate reason for staying. It wasn't until I heard a snapping sound somewhere in the distance that I opened my eyes and pushed away from my haven. The surrounding area consisted of a dense wood to my left and open land to my right. I sighed again and headed into the woods.
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I slipped the disk into the one of the hologrid drives. When the partially transparent image popped up, all of the air in my lungs was dispelled, and I sat there dumbstruck, not believing what I was seeing. I'm not sure how long I remained in that position, but the next thing I knew, someone was speaking.
"I can't remember the last time I saw you watching her."
I didn't bother turning. "Who is she, Daddy?"
"It doesn't matter; she's gone."
"Daddy, it does matter," I pleaded. "Was she your mate or something?"
"Who she is…was," he corrected himself, " is of no consequence to you."
I turned then, letting him see the emotion in my face. "I have to know. Please."
"She was the last Saiyan queen, Bra."
That was unexpected. My expression must have conveyed my shock because my father's face became gentler. "Your mother?"
"Yes."
"But that can't be true. She can't be your mother."
His eyes narrowed. "Why not?" he challenged.
Did he know what I knew? "I've seen her before, Daddy."
"You have watched this many times."
"But it was somewhere else. And she wasn't the queen. She's…she's…" I didn't know how to explain it. I didn't know how to tell my father that this woman had been playing the lead role in all of my dreams, dreams that had changed my whole being. I didn't know how to tell him that if they were the same woman, then she wasn't the queen. For the first time since I had brought this whole mess upon myself, I regretted my wishes, and I regretted that the answers I was finding were going to hurt the one person who I thought I could never wound. And for the first time, I let myself loose control, and succumbed to the darkness that was pounding in the back of my head.
"Bra?" I heard a voice ask from far away.
I blinked a few times, my vision blurring, and I had this undeniable urge to let my eyes roll back into my head.
And then finally, I reached that darkness, and for just a little while, silence took over.
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At this rate, the execution crew wouldn't need to bother themselves with me, considering that my heart was making a very strong attempt to abscond from my ribcage, where it belonged. I had gotten into darkest part of the woods before I heard a loud attack cue shouted by a man. Apparently, the team had been following me since I had stepped outside of Nyanko's. I had been running for nearly half an hour, non-stop, even though I hadn't heard or seen any sign of them.
After about ten more minutes of running, I stopped to rest for a minute, hoping that my organs would all return quickly to their proper positions. I gulped in breath after breath, making a futile attempt to calm myself as well. This little chase had done nothing to improve my spirits, as far as the journey ahead was concerned. Hell, stealing a decent ship alone was enough trouble in itself. You'd think that escapes might be a little easier. Most people are in favor of some kind of freedom. Shouldn't they be going out of their way to make attaining mine easier? I began to wonder why I hadn't just left the galaxy in the first place. I could have gone anywhere. But, Vegeta was my home, and I belonged there. Plus, there was the added chance of meeting Mienai in space. I was now a killer in control, but I had had a connection with Mienai, and I worried that his death by my hand would either be far too hard or much too easy.
I dragged my sleeve across my brow, took one last breath, and took off again. This time, however, I didn't get very far. In fact, I had only taken two steps when I was slammed into from behind and propelled into the ground. For a moment, I was stunned, and then I was gasping for air and turning my head, trying to expel the dirt and dry leaves from my throat. My attacker flipped me over onto my back, keeping me pinned to the ground.
"So, we meet again," a voice rasped in my ear.
I struggled to open my eyes, my adrenaline draining at an alarming rate. My body was getting ready to surrender, and I had no choice in the matter. I focused on the familiar face, but something was different. I was sure I knew that voice, and I must have met this man before, but something wasn't quite right about him. I was conscious of hearing someone say "no," and it sounded like me, but I wasn't aware of having spoken. Then, there were other voices, at least four more, but I couldn't make out what they were saying.
And then, there was nothing.
Shad here. I know this isn't one of the better/more packed chapters, but you can let me know what ya think, good or bad: ya know, just give an explanation. We have to get through this stuff to get to the other.
Sorry for an excessive update time. I PROMISE to try to get one out sooner this time. We're about to go on summer break, so hopefully I'll have time to work on my projects.
Thanks to all of those who took the time to review the last chapter!
Oh yeah, to the reviewer who asked (and anyone else who's curious), I place Bra around 17-19 age wise. Phæra is probably a few years older than that.