For once, I actually have a few comments to make.
The last chapter might seem reminiscent of another chapter to another story, but to ease your fears, I am not stealing any ideas. I've had this stage of the story written down for nearly five years. It's a coincidence, and nothing more…though it's a cool coincidence, I must add.
And yes, the Kami-Piccolo relationship is more uncle/nephew, but Kami has called Piccolo his son before, and my take on the situation is that it changes. It wouldn't be a very interesting story if everything was canon. But I do appreciate the information.
And without further ado, the chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ. I own the Seer, the demons' realm, and the mentioned serums and chemicals.
Chapter Sixteen
"Kami said you might know what is wrong with me," Piccolo said as Master Roshi closed the door. "Start talking."
"My, a bit rude, aren't we?" the old man huffed as he sat down in the chair Krillin had only recently vacated. "Are you ever polite, Piccolo?"
The Namek ignored his comment. "First of all, he was not sure if the ki I tapped into was my life force, and he said you could identify the difference between that and normal ki." He waited for the Turtle Hermit's answer expectantly, scowling when it did not come right away. Master Roshi glared right back at him.
"Are you quite finished with your display of temper?" he snapped. "I have better things to do with my day than playing question-and-answer with you, Piccolo. Give me a minute to organize my thoughts."
Goku's eyebrows raised perceptibly. Those 'better things' the old man talked about were probably his magazines, but still…not only did he sound intelligent, but he was aggravating someone who could vaporize him with a gesture! Master Roshi had almost always been afraid – or wary – of Piccolo, but this…this was almost amazing!
"Well," the old man began after a few minutes, "it all depends on a few things, like color and how you felt using it. If your ki attack turned some shade of red, or even purple, then you were putting your life-ki into it. And if the center of your body began to hurt badly, that would be it, too. But it all depends. You certainly look like you've been draining yourself. And when Gohan brought you in here, we could barely identify you by your ki. At least that's what Krillin told me." He stopped there and took a deep breath, before looking down the length of the bed and right at Piccolo.
The Namek looked thoughtful. "Sounds about right," he said finally. "There's still something I want to know, but it's nothing I can't handle. The other thing Kami couldn't figure out is why I'm not healing." He spat the name out as if it was distasteful. And it was, to him.
Master Roshi opened his mouth to answer, but Goku interrupted him. "If I might," he said quickly, "I think I know what the answer to this one is. It might be that 'G' serum they sprayed on us. You, Piccolo, you're a Namek – "
"I know that," Piccolo interjected angrily.
" – and I'm a Saiyan. I don't have your regenerating ability. Maybe that serum was made to counter that? It would only target whatever gave you that ability, and it would block it somehow. That would make sense, since I'm healing just fine."
Piccolo actually laughed a bit, the gravelly sound startling the other two men. "For once, Son Goku, I think I have to agree with you. It does make sense." Then he was calm and acting like himself again. "But it goes farther than this," he continued, "and that's why the two of you are in here. Between the two of you, you know what is wrong with me, and that it goes past overtaxing my strength and ki." He glanced quickly at Goku, and the Saiyan saw the ghost of concern – and fear? – in his eyes. Goku had never known Piccolo to be openly afraid of anything, except when he had realized Frieza was still alive on Namek, before Goku had reached the Super Saiyan transformation.
Master Roshi looked over at him as well. "I think I should start off by telling you two how you got here. Mmm. From what I heard, you two, Tien and Gohan went out after you right after Goku's ki dropped so dramatically. Tien ran across one of the aliens who came and, ah, disposed of him. The alien had been muttering something about 'tainted', but then again, part of his skull looked like it had been cracked. So it was a mercy killing, really."
Goku and Piccolo exchanged glances.
"But that's not a big part of your story. Tien grabbed you, Goku, and Gohan grabbed you, Piccolo, and they both flew over here. Krillin says that's what happened there, and that he and Yamcha and Chiaotzu had flown up to meet them. Gohan kept calling your name, Piccolo, and he nearly panicked because you weren't answering." The Turtle Hermit chuckled. "He's still too young for this. He didn't realize that you weren't going to be answering him for a bit. But from what I heard, you were bleeding pretty heavily. Krillin told them to bring the both of you here, saying something about Chi-Chi not wanting blood all over her floor. Goku, they set you down on the couch and sent Chiaotzu off to the Lookout for some senzu beans. Piccolo, Gohan carried you up here with Krillin and Yamcha. Krillin had to tie the bandages on you."
"Yeah, I watched'em change the bandages yesterday," Goku added, frowning. "You should see yourself. Don't you feel anything?"
Krillin had done a very thorough job of wrapping him up, Piccolo thought as he finally looked over the damage he had incurred. He hadn't noticed it before – a large mistake on his part – but he hadn't been worried about it at the time. He had been more preoccupied with the outcome of the battle and with his location than he was with his injuries. So he glanced down and repressed a shudder. His gi top was gone – understandable, since it had been in tatters by the end of the battle – and in its place were heavy bandages, wrapped about his stomach. His wrists and forearms were wrapped in blood-soaked cloths, the damage done by the sword still not healing. His right shoulder was also covered with gauze, and he thought there might even be something wrapped around his head. He couldn't tell.
Great, he thought sourly. I look like a damned mummy.
"That's the story," the old man said. "You did seem a bit feverish a few days ago, but it looks like that's all cleared up. Have I answered your question?"
"You have, but Goku has not. I'd rather speak with him alone." Piccolo turned the full force of his piercing gaze on Master Roshi, and the old man gave in to the demand.
"As you wish," the Turtle Hermit said before he left the room.
The silence remaining in the room was thick enough to cut. "So," Goku said after a moment, "let me get this straight. You tapped into your life force to come up with enough ki to kill Kadrin, and you can't regenerate anything because of that 'G' stuff. Am I right, so far?"
"You are." The Namek shifted his gaze to the Saiyan. "But there is more to it than that, and that is why I wanted to speak with you alone. The others cannot hear it just yet."
Goku felt the blood drain from his face at that statement. What could be so terrible, so frightening, that the rest of the Earth's defenders could not know about it? "Why is that?" he asked, his voice pitched higher than normal. He was nervous, and both of them knew it.
"They would probably try to kill me."
It was not the statement itself that made the Saiyan suppress a shiver, but the way in which it was said. So matter-of-factly was the tone, as if Piccolo expected nothing less from the Earthlings. He'd said it with a straight face, too. The Namek was accepting it as a truth, when in fact it wouldn't even be an option with the other men.
"They wouldn't, Piccolo," Goku said, "unless you killed someone yourself."
"And who's to say that I won't?" Piccolo snapped back. "You have no idea how close you all are to disaster right now, with me in your presence. What Kami neglected to tell you and the humans is the combined effect of the serum and the use of my life energy. He did not tell you that my body is unable to repair itself, and how the little ki I have left to me is being drained by my injuries and by my core itself, trying to replenish its lost life force! Kami told me that my own body is rebelling against me, and that I must fight back."
"Or else what?" Goku pressed, both fascinated and shocked that Piccolo, for some reason he didn't care to learn, was trusting him with this information. It was no small burden, either, and it had never been easy for the Namek to warm up enough to others to share anything of this magnitude. Well, this was different, he supposed, and somebody else had to know about it.
True to his observation, Piccolo was silent for half a minute, waging an inner war with his mind and upbringing, debating if he should uncover the problem for all to see. He did speak at last, but quietly, and Goku strained his ears to hear the fateful words. "I would die."
Once more it seemed as though time had come to a screeching halt for Piccolo. He watched, interested, as the expression on Goku's face slowly shifted from questioning to disbelief to horror and back to disbelief. The man's mind was obviously overloading, he thought.
Goku's mind raced in the stunned silence. Dying? Piccolo? He could remember his first impression of the other warrior, back at the last Tenka'ichi Budokai. Swift, deadly, and virtually unstoppable. Nearly unbeatable. This recent bit of news clashed sharply with the man's mental image of the Namek, so incongruous that it didn't register until a few seconds later. "You what?" the Saiyan yelped, loud enough that Oolong looked up from trying to extinguish the flaming meal downstairs.
Piccolo clamped his hands down over his ears and grimaced. Goku began rattling off sentences as soon as they were formed in his brain, and the gibberish he spoke nearly made the Namek smack him. "What do you mean you're dying you can't be you're not that bad it's just a fight what about a senzu did you try a senzu you can't be dying we can't wish you back how is it even possible it's crazy are you sure that – "
"Be quiet!" Piccolo bellowed, effectively cutting off the Saiyan's jumbled train of thought (and speech). "Whether you think it's possible or not is irrelevant. I can feel it happening even now, and nothing you can say will do anything to help. So stop with the sentiment."
Goku's eyes opened wide with concern. "But – "
"No," the green man interrupted again, holding up a hand to silence him. "I don't want your sympathy or your condolences. That isn't why I asked you to stay. I must tell you more about what is to come, and its danger."
"What do you mean, danger?" Goku asked. "If your body is having a tug-of-war between your life and your regeneration, how can that harm us?"
Piccolo growled at the man's naivety. Apparently the man's intelligence came in spurts, or perhaps it was his 'stupidity' that did. Either way, it was getting on his nerves, and he couldn't afford the extra tension. "Because I will not be able to control my ki. It's like a battle, where free ki arcs across the field. That is what will happen to me." He narrowed his eyes before continuing. "I might end up channeling ki into a vessel it should not occupy, like one of you. It would be no different than attacking with a highly concentrated ki ball."
The Saiyan felt his mouth drop open, and he hastily closed it. "You're kidding, right?"
"You'll wish that I was by the time this is over," came the growled response.
Goku looked away from the Namek briefly. When he glanced back, Piccolo's eyes were closed, and his lips were pressed tightly together. He chose to say nothing, a wise decision on his part. His ally looked weary, exhausted. There were lines near his eyes that had not been there before, or had they? Had he not noticed the other man's physical state until now? Or could this all have just happened? Goku wasn't sure. Piccolo was an expert at hiding his emotions and true physical state. He wouldn't have been surprised to discover that Piccolo had been hiding it all along.
He was surprised when Piccolo spoke again.
"It's an odd feeling, this 'illness'," the green man said softly. "It's a fire, burning inside…scorching. It's already happening, the dizziness, the pain, the fever. Is there a reason to hang on? For this?"
Piccolo opened his eyes and looked straight at him. It was so uncharacteristic of him! Goku thought. He never said anything like this! Something had to be wrong with him for Piccolo to be acting like this. In his eyes Goku could see pain, bitterness…and sadness? Sadness? Why would he be sad? was the thought that crossed the man's mind, but he mentally shook himself and thought better of it. He'd have good reasons to be, Goku berated himself. He's been alone all his life, and now when he's got people he can call friends he's faced with the possibility of leaving them. He never had the chance to be a child. He was never tucked in at night. He never ate chocolate. He never had a teddy bear. He had a psycho for a father. Boy, I could go on with this forever! But why is he sad now? It's almost like he wants to – hey! "You aren't going to die now, Piccolo," Goku told him sternly. "Gohan would never recover if I had to tell him that his mentor and friend just gave up."
The emotions in the Namek's eyes turned to something more familiar to the both of them: anger. "Do you think it is merely about 'giving up', Son Goku?" Piccolo hissed, balling his hands into fists. The gesture was not lost on the Saiyan. "What if I was to tell you that I am tired of the rage and fear the people you call friends feel toward me? What if I was to say that I am tired of being thought of as my sire? I will not be accepted, but I will not be ignored!"
It was about as close to being a spoken longing for friendship as Piccolo would ever come, and Goku knew it. "You are part of our group now, you know," he said quietly. "It shows. Krillin doesn't run from you any more, that much I've seen. And Tien talks to you. They aren't that afraid of you now."
Piccolo snorted in disgust. "Your wife would rather see me dead."
"She'll cope." Goku gave him the classic Son grin, complete with the hand behind the head.
An expression that could have passed for a smile crossed Piccolo's face for an instant, but it faltered in the next as a stray thought (or was it? he wondered later) crossed his mind. But you could have been stronger. If you hadn't needed to hide, you would have been able to train in the open, without fear or hindrance. The problem you have now, you could have solved by killing them all years ago. Then you could have left, and none of this would have happened. It is their fault you are not as strong as you should be. Kill them now.
It was Goku's turn to watch as Piccolo's face ran a brief gamut of emotions before he slammed down his concealing barrier again. Was he confused? he wondered. "If nothing else, I'll be here for you if you need me," he said. Then he ducked his head in embarrassment. What was he thinking? Too open! Piccolo would scowl at him and tell him he was acting like a human child. He wouldn't accept an open declaration of friendship, would he? Never, the Saiyan told himself. With his face a pink color, he looked back up at the Namek.
"I might need to take you up on that," Piccolo replied, his amusement evident in the tone of his voice. Then he became serious again. "Now go, before your taskmaster comes looking for you."
"All right," Goku said as he stood up. "Try to rest up a bit. You know what to do if you need me." With some difficulty he limped his way to the door and stopped in the frame. "Okay?" He turned his head back to catch Piccolo's response.
"Scram," the green man spat.
Goku chuckled as he left the room and shut the door behind him. He walked as quietly as he could down the hallway, musing about their conversation…and he yelped in surprise as Bulma began yelling at him to come down and eat lunch, even though it was unidentifiable – burned to a crisp in the bottom of the baking pan.
Well, he thought hopefully, maybe they'll order out.
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As always, let me know how this chapter was. I appreciate your time.
~Dreamwraith