The Black Dragon
Volume I
Star Fazed
Chapter Eight – Sweet Denial
By: Juki
Snap,
crunch, snap! He no longer cared what he stepped on nor did he feel
anything at the current state. The overwhelming thought of seeing someone he
had given his heart to disintegrate without a trace, without a chance…as if she
meant nothing, just simply…from the matter that engulfed her, melted her into
nothing, burnt through his chest and seared into his heart. His crystalline
eyes hardened while it cried for him as he searched through where he had seen
her take flight from, where he heard her last words, "There is absolutely nothing
here that you should be worried about." The guiding words of an angel on earth,
sworn to protect all and she simply sacrificed her life by the words of a
friend. As he neared the creek and the clearing, his foot landed on something
soft…warm… His eyes diverted from its teary path above to the dewy grass and
dirt mixed around his bare feet and the folded orange t-shirt and denim on the
ground with a small black sphere in midst of it all. He knelt down as he heard
footsteps behind him as they glanced over his shoulder and onto the neat little
pile of her stolen clothes with a black ball with a star driven out of its
centre. His fingertips stroked the soft fabric and felt heat from it, as if it
had freshly been worn. His fingers descended from the collar of the shirt to
the small sphere which he picked up and heard a gasp from behind.
"T-that's a d-dragon ball." Trunks recognized its unique shape, its smooth
surface, its star positions. He took it from him while Mirai Trunks picked up
the clothing and looked around, sensed around for that source…that had destroyed
his untainted seraph. Bra wept and Marron simply stood in pure shock and
confusion swept across them like a plague. No one knew what happened except for
Bra and partly Mirai Trunks who was too awe struck and hurt to answer.
"We need to leave here…now." Mirai Trunks stated solemnly as he stood up,
"Leave here as fast as we can, whatever that got her…is probably still
lingering around here somewhere." With that, he headed back to the cabin, "Take
whatever you brought here, leave the food, we need to go home, tell Vejita, and
we need to do it as quickly as possible." His calmness frightened Marron and
she followed his instructions without question. Whatever that was left of her
room for it had crumbled from the extreme anonymous blast, she gathered her clothing,
tossed it all in her bag and still in her nightgown, returned downstairs and
sat on the ground as Goten stood in confusion, anger, loathe… He kicked the
sofa and watched as his foot burnt and reddened from the impact and the red
fuzzy sofa collapsed beneath his force. His hands flew up to his face,
"Why…have I not sensed it? Why wasn't I there to save her?" He blamed himself
as he pulled at his hair with his talon-like hands and gave out a cry of
self-loathe. "Why?"
"Goten…" Trunks' hand came over his shoulder, "Now is not the time to blame, we
need to leave, the faster we get home, the faster we'll get a solution." With
that, he handed Goten his backpack, which he had considerately packed for him,
knowing the man might be too broken to do that. Goten snatched it up and put it
on, stood there for a while and watched as Mirai Trunks came down with his
suitcase and together, walked out of the cottage that threatened to shatter to
pieces. Marron climbed onto Trunks' back while Bra, who did not pack but simply
left everything and a little out of it, stayed still as Goten hauled her over
his shoulder. In a frenzy blast of vapour that melted the ground, three
gigantic golden warriors blasted through the night like a trio of shooting
stars in a ravenous race to get home.
"They'll
be back tomorrow, don't worry!" Bulma said as sat two glasses of warm water
down and smiled to her friend and his wife.
Gohan took the glass and thanked her, "I missed her." He said as he turned and
looked over to his wife, "We came as soon as we arrived." He said as he handed
his wife the glass.
"You arrived at 2 in the morning?" Bulma stirred her cup of hot lemon tea while
she looked at them, "Aren't you tired?"
"Oh no!" Videl answered, "It's actually the afternoon in Singapore right now…so
I'm wide awake!" she said, "But I'm sorry that we woke you, Bulma."
"No problem!"
The door bolted open as Trunks practically flew in with
Marron in his arms. Goten laid Bra on the sofa while he walked into the small
den where the loudness of their entrance caught all their attention.
"Back so soon? I thought you'd be back later." Bulma said, but her light
demeanour faulted when she caught onto Goten's expression.
"Where's Pan?" Videl looked for her, "Isn't she supposed to be with you?"
"Gohan, I need to tell you something." Goten simply stated as his fingers
fastened into a fist while his forearm muscles flexed from his clench. Gohan
stood up, picked up on the vibe and followed him to the next room. Looked at
Bra who laid in her pyjamas stained with grass and mud on the sofa, unwavering.
Marron with a large gash over her leg on Trunks' back.
"What's wrong?" He asked, "Where's Pan?"
Goten slammed his fist onto the wall, crumbling it like sand. "She's dead." He
broke to the chase, "Some foreign energy that I've never in my life felt
before…came from the forest…and…annihilated her."
Gohan laughed, "Is this a joke?"
Mirai Trunks stepped in and placed his hand over Goten. "Bra said she had seen
something, woke her up at 1, I followed behind them. I saw Pan stand in the
opening near the creek as a…strong, very strong…intentional blast soar from
behind in a close distance… If I had been in her place, you wouldn't be seeing
me here now." Mirai Trunks said with a broken voice and tears welling up in his
hardened eyes as he tried to remain calm when inside…he was falling apart like
the wall that Goten had punched.
Gohan looked between the two in genuine denial, "This is a joke, right? It has
to be." He shook his head, "Where is she hiding?" He looked about them as tears
frosted in his eyes, "Pan?" He pushed passed them, went towards the broken door
and looked around calling her name.
"All we found was this." Trunks pulled out the black dragon
ball from his pocket, "But that wasn't where Pan was standing." He handed the
small black dragon ball to Gohan, the size of a ping-pong ball, and watched as
the older man took it and almost crushed it in his hand.
Videl covered her mouth from overhearing what Mirai Trunks had said, falling
back, she bumped into Bulma's shoulder, whose hand came up and stifled her from
falling. "W-why would it happen to Pan?" she asked Bulma, expecting a wise
answer. "You know, don't you?"
"I-I wish I knew Videl…I-I'm so very sorry…" Bulma stuttered as she embraced
the woman who looked, all of a sudden, far too brittle and old to support such
news. "Twenty-four years…" Videl cried out, "I've raised her for twenty-four
years and now you're telling me it's over?"
Silence drifted over the entire room as Trunks let Marron down onto the sofa.
Vejita descended the stairs, heard every last word of their conversation as
something in his eyes flickered to life. "Give me that dragon ball." The tone
in his voice did not leave much room for a no as Gohan dropped the ball in his
hand while he looked away and simply covered half of his face with his hand and
breathed much more heavier than he used to.
"Let's rationalize." Trunks said calmly, "We have here…a dragon ball." Trunks
motioned to the one in Vejita's hand, "If there's one, there's bound to be
more…could this lead to some sort of a revival?"
"Then what's the point of that blast?" Mirai Trunks shot out bitterly, "Why did
she have to die if it was all because of a dragon ball?"
Trunks furrowed his brows, "I don't know, maybe she was in the way."
"Well, if this culprit wanted the damn ball so badly, why did he leave it
there?" Mirai Trunks narrowed his eyes, "There's probably something far more
deeper than just leaving us a clue that there's another dragon out there."
Bra whispered, "It was Pan…it was her…"
Trunks turned to her, placed his hand on her shoulder, "Yes…Pan…she…"
"No." Bra looked up, "I-I remember now…" She sniffed, "The thing I saw outside
the window…wasn't red…it wasn't a thing…it was a person. It was Pan."
Mirai Trunks looked sharply at her, "Are you telling me that Pan lured you out
by the window, somehow came back into the room knowing you would go to her, and
then went with you to investigate herself outside then commit suicide with a
blast that she never released?" He asked her abruptly, sternly.
"No!" She shouted, tears pouring down her cheeks, "No! That's not what I mean,
I don't know." She lowered her head as she sobbed again and covered her face,
"I'm sorry…"
Gohan collapsed onto the sofa, pushing it back a few feet as he landed on it. "We
need to consult someone else with this…"
"Who then?" Mirai Trunks was getting testy as he turned to Gohan with a
sceptical look.
"Piccolo…" Gohan stated as his eyes unfocused, "He…will know the answer…"
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"It
is here." A solemn voice came, "Just as we have suspected…it is here." The
water riveted from the small ivory fountain as he turned around, "How can we
conquer it?"
"We can't do a thing until it takes up the form…" A younger, more calm voice,
"We must wait, be patient, Piccolo." Dande replied as he paced, "It had taken
the first step, now let the others finish the last six."
Piccolo shook his head fervently, "We can't let it form…it'll destroy
everything. We must take action now."
"By interrupting now, you will only unleash it in an untamed state…let it take
its course…because I can assure you, it knows what we're thinking. It most
probably deliberately made this move to taunt us to do what we know we mustn't.
Don't fall into its mind game."
"Did you not hear? It's power is awesome, Dande. It devoured Pan in its stray
ray, what will it do to our world? Our universe? Our realm?"
"They will come find you." Dande did not reply to the bold statement, "And they
will ask you, Piccolo, for answers." Dande stopped and locked eyes with the
older man, "And you mustn't tell them what you know but simply suggest the idea
of them finding the remainder of the hollow star dragon balls."
"Then tell me, Dande." Piccolo calmed slightly, "How then, can they find them?"
"They will find a way…Bulma…will find a way." He corrected himself as he folded
his hands behind his back and turned towards the fountain, "And I can also
assure you, Piccolo. That will not be the last of Pan…as I am afraid to admit."
"If you think we should just be sitting ducks, Dande. I will not disrupt your
plan, but for me to lie to Gohan, I can not do."
"You will not be lying, Piccolo, you will only be protecting them by shielding
the future. No future is ever determined, it is only in the hands of the
beholder that can decide what the future is."
"I think Mirai Trunks would boldly disagree." Piccolo whipped around as the hem
of his cape brushed across the fountain and caused the image of them talking to
rivet then fade. "He was not brought here for no reason, Dande…but only you
know the answer. I will not ask, I do not want to know. All I want to know now
is…what will happen once it rises?"
"Patience, Piccolo…" Dande stated again, "If I told you now, it will only bring you to your demise."