Disclaimer: I strapped it down with leather bonds in Chapter one. (how's that for a disturbing image?)
More jumping, cutting, and pasting! The entrance to this chapter was originally for the 3rd, but then I thought, "I'll make that whole damn chapter a flashback chapter. Hell, it's better than jumping from consciousness to consciousness." Then it turned into 2 chapters. Oh well.
Piccolo would not acknowledge Gohan's inquisition; he refused. Goten wasn't oblivious to the rising hostility, either, and continued his own attempts to convince his big brother to forget about it and go somewhere else. But Gohan would not budge. His friend and martial arts trainer was definitely disturbed about something, and he felt that it was his obligation to do whatever he can to help.
Still, no words seemed to come across. Piccolo only returned to his cave and refused to recognize him. In fact, he didn't even need effort to ignore him; his mind was all ready absorbed into that damned dream. In it, he killed Gohan without remorse. Indeed, that wasn't what bothered Piccolo at all. It was the beginning of the dream. That woman--, he thought, I knew her, didn't I? But I couldn't call up a face... or a name...
Gohan went as far as taking Piccolo by the shoulders and shaking him. Finally aware of his true surroundings, the startled Namekku-sei-jin gave his pupil a bewildered look before he answered. "G-Gohan! What are you doing here?"
"Eh? Piccolo-san, there really is something wrong! I've been here over an hour, trying to get you to talk to me! Don't you remember?"
Piccolo put his palm to his brow and shook his head. "Of course. What the Hell was I thinking?" He took a slow stride out the cave again. "I just... need to clear my head. That's all." A form appeared before him as he rose his eyes towards the horizon. "Masaka..."
The figure, bearing a wide and wicked grin, signaled for him to be quiet.
"Piccolo-san!" Gohan yelled, coming out himself, "Will you tell us what's going on?"
"I've been training too hard. That's all." He turned to face the teenaged Saiya-jin. "Some rest will do well, I suppose. However, I'd still prefer to rest alone."
Gohan looked uneasy towards the situation placed before him. There was definitely something wrong with Piccolo, especially if he had trouble hiding it, and he wasn't sure if he changed his mood so suddenly just to make him think that he was all right so that he would go away. With his conflicting thoughts, he stretched his arms casually behind his head (in the same manner that every Son male tends to do). As he did, he noticed the time that the watch on his wrist displayed. It was all ready 6:37. I've been bothering him for hours all ready, and it's time to bring Goten to Capsule Corp, Gohan thought, Maybe this is a situation that should be left well enough alone. He is the most rational one out of us, anyway. It's not like he's going crazy. "I'll see you later then, Piccolo-san! I think Goten wants to go see Trunks now."
"You think, Onii-san?" Goten laughed in his usual childish mirth when he heard this. Gohan bit his farewell and flew off, with his little brother, towards West Capital, his last errand before he would have to help Chi-Chi with the party decorations himself.
After they had left, Piccolo turned to the being (or lack there of). "What are you doing here?"
"A fine way to greet your father, isn't it? It's been several years since we last had a real talk, hasn't it?"
Piccolo groaned and sat on a rock. "And as far as I can remember, you never came to me while I was awake. Am I just delusional?"
"A bit, to tell the truth. But my appearance here is not without it's purposes. I hope you don't mind getting orders from your old man if it means getting well again."
"Depends on what the 'orders' are."
The old Daimaou nodded. "Of course. First, I have to explain some things to you. Mind you, these aren't pretty. In fact, I'm quite relieved that I'm all ready dead so that you can't kill me. Anyway, to begin with, you have something that we Namekku-sei-jin call 'Hantoparu Ganab Siolofajih'."
"'Mania of Tearing Seams'? What the Hell do you mean by that?"
"It's a condition," he answered, "that arrises when a Namekku-sei-jin merges with one or more other Namekku-sei-jin. It's not common as the conditions for it are rather rare. Unfortunately, you matched into all the necessary variables for it. You see, just merging with that man Neil wouldn't have caused it, but his presence didn't help with Kami-sama-"These words he spat. "-joined you guys. You see, the situation must be rather peculiar, and the spirits between you two is where most of the complications come."
"Spirit. Not spirits. We have only one between us, remember?"
"Ah! That's where you're wrong, my son. I didn't spontaneously create you. You were, more or less, all ready there. I mearly locked away your true spirit somewhere in your mind and replaced it with my own. This way, I am able to contact you and was able to leave information behind, as well as start you off with a good energy boost and a really fast growth spirt."
"So then... this is all stress that I'm experiencing? I thought as much, but--"
"This condition isn't only harmful psychologically, and it can go to much harsher scales." The playful look he had turned serious. "If it isn't rectified, it will become lethal. And it's not a painless demise. Do you know what it means by 'Ganab', son?"
"Seams. I know my native tongue."
"Seams, yes, but you know which seams? Though they can refer to seams in welding and whatnot, it's talking about these seams." He pointed to one of the red lines that run on his own arm. "In 'Hantoparu Ganab Siolofajih', the victims have a combination of built up stress and frustration between them, working with the constant desire to be independent again. Normally, such energies wouldn't build up to so much tension, but your situation made this tension too, for lack of a better word, thick to escape from your entity as time passes. Soon, the pressure will be too great on the multiple spirits, and they'll involuntarily move to split from each other. However, because of the state of mind you will be in, and the circumstances caused by your merging with Kami-sama, you won't become seperate entities; you'll, literally, be ripped apart."
Piccolo was silent for a long period. "And how do I keep this from happening?"
"The only solution is to disjoin properly before if happens. The problem with this is that merged, full spirit of mine and Kami-sama's. You knew, even before you did this, that it was permanent. And now, since you merged with him after you merged with Neil, you're all three locked in."
"So, I'm just supposed to sit here and wait for death?!" Piccolo stood quickly, an angered current running in him.
"Now, if that were the case, would I not have instructions for you to clear it up? I still have some more to tell you before we get to that. Getting into the more touchy issues--"
"Like telling me that I'm practically doomed to die a painful death is a comforting one..."
"Well, this is to do with your dream."
A pause. "I'm listening."
"I caused it. Purposely."
"You WHAT?!"
"This is why I'm glad that I'm all ready dead." The elder sighed. "Look, all I did was tell you, after you blew up that van, that you were 'finally stronger'. Consciously, you have no fucking clue who the Hell that is. But, you're subconscious picked it up immediately. This spurred on your little nightmare."
"And why did you do this?"
"You needed some way of blowing off that steam and trying to get back to equilibrium. Unfortunately, it was the best thing I could do at the time without pulling out the last move before you leave."
"'Last move'? 'Before I leave'? Perhaps you should explain these things before you just blurt them out."
"Actually, we should get started on your next phase instead of jabbering on any more about it. It's off to North Capital, my son!"
Old Piccolo did a lot of talking in this chapter. I guess I went off on a psychologist tangent. (I dally in that stuff quite a bit, so it slips in my writing a lot. All hail Freud!!)
To be truthful, I didn't keep up with much more Stephen King than my mom had around. I should say, though his short stories are pretty good, his books and movies can be predictable. So, if it seems anything more like Mr. Horror Fiction Writer of Maine, it's coincidence.
More jumping, cutting, and pasting! The entrance to this chapter was originally for the 3rd, but then I thought, "I'll make that whole damn chapter a flashback chapter. Hell, it's better than jumping from consciousness to consciousness." Then it turned into 2 chapters. Oh well.
I WISH ITALICS WOULD WORK FOR .DOCS!
Piccolo would not acknowledge Gohan's inquisition; he refused. Goten wasn't oblivious to the rising hostility, either, and continued his own attempts to convince his big brother to forget about it and go somewhere else. But Gohan would not budge. His friend and martial arts trainer was definitely disturbed about something, and he felt that it was his obligation to do whatever he can to help.
Still, no words seemed to come across. Piccolo only returned to his cave and refused to recognize him. In fact, he didn't even need effort to ignore him; his mind was all ready absorbed into that damned dream. In it, he killed Gohan without remorse. Indeed, that wasn't what bothered Piccolo at all. It was the beginning of the dream. That woman--, he thought, I knew her, didn't I? But I couldn't call up a face... or a name...
Gohan went as far as taking Piccolo by the shoulders and shaking him. Finally aware of his true surroundings, the startled Namekku-sei-jin gave his pupil a bewildered look before he answered. "G-Gohan! What are you doing here?"
"Eh? Piccolo-san, there really is something wrong! I've been here over an hour, trying to get you to talk to me! Don't you remember?"
Piccolo put his palm to his brow and shook his head. "Of course. What the Hell was I thinking?" He took a slow stride out the cave again. "I just... need to clear my head. That's all." A form appeared before him as he rose his eyes towards the horizon. "Masaka..."
The figure, bearing a wide and wicked grin, signaled for him to be quiet.
"Piccolo-san!" Gohan yelled, coming out himself, "Will you tell us what's going on?"
"I've been training too hard. That's all." He turned to face the teenaged Saiya-jin. "Some rest will do well, I suppose. However, I'd still prefer to rest alone."
Gohan looked uneasy towards the situation placed before him. There was definitely something wrong with Piccolo, especially if he had trouble hiding it, and he wasn't sure if he changed his mood so suddenly just to make him think that he was all right so that he would go away. With his conflicting thoughts, he stretched his arms casually behind his head (in the same manner that every Son male tends to do). As he did, he noticed the time that the watch on his wrist displayed. It was all ready 6:37. I've been bothering him for hours all ready, and it's time to bring Goten to Capsule Corp, Gohan thought, Maybe this is a situation that should be left well enough alone. He is the most rational one out of us, anyway. It's not like he's going crazy. "I'll see you later then, Piccolo-san! I think Goten wants to go see Trunks now."
"You think, Onii-san?" Goten laughed in his usual childish mirth when he heard this. Gohan bit his farewell and flew off, with his little brother, towards West Capital, his last errand before he would have to help Chi-Chi with the party decorations himself.
After they had left, Piccolo turned to the being (or lack there of). "What are you doing here?"
"A fine way to greet your father, isn't it? It's been several years since we last had a real talk, hasn't it?"
Piccolo groaned and sat on a rock. "And as far as I can remember, you never came to me while I was awake. Am I just delusional?"
"A bit, to tell the truth. But my appearance here is not without it's purposes. I hope you don't mind getting orders from your old man if it means getting well again."
"Depends on what the 'orders' are."
The old Daimaou nodded. "Of course. First, I have to explain some things to you. Mind you, these aren't pretty. In fact, I'm quite relieved that I'm all ready dead so that you can't kill me. Anyway, to begin with, you have something that we Namekku-sei-jin call 'Hantoparu Ganab Siolofajih'."
"'Mania of Tearing Seams'? What the Hell do you mean by that?"
"It's a condition," he answered, "that arrises when a Namekku-sei-jin merges with one or more other Namekku-sei-jin. It's not common as the conditions for it are rather rare. Unfortunately, you matched into all the necessary variables for it. You see, just merging with that man Neil wouldn't have caused it, but his presence didn't help with Kami-sama-"These words he spat. "-joined you guys. You see, the situation must be rather peculiar, and the spirits between you two is where most of the complications come."
"Spirit. Not spirits. We have only one between us, remember?"
"Ah! That's where you're wrong, my son. I didn't spontaneously create you. You were, more or less, all ready there. I mearly locked away your true spirit somewhere in your mind and replaced it with my own. This way, I am able to contact you and was able to leave information behind, as well as start you off with a good energy boost and a really fast growth spirt."
"So then... this is all stress that I'm experiencing? I thought as much, but--"
"This condition isn't only harmful psychologically, and it can go to much harsher scales." The playful look he had turned serious. "If it isn't rectified, it will become lethal. And it's not a painless demise. Do you know what it means by 'Ganab', son?"
"Seams. I know my native tongue."
"Seams, yes, but you know which seams? Though they can refer to seams in welding and whatnot, it's talking about these seams." He pointed to one of the red lines that run on his own arm. "In 'Hantoparu Ganab Siolofajih', the victims have a combination of built up stress and frustration between them, working with the constant desire to be independent again. Normally, such energies wouldn't build up to so much tension, but your situation made this tension too, for lack of a better word, thick to escape from your entity as time passes. Soon, the pressure will be too great on the multiple spirits, and they'll involuntarily move to split from each other. However, because of the state of mind you will be in, and the circumstances caused by your merging with Kami-sama, you won't become seperate entities; you'll, literally, be ripped apart."
Piccolo was silent for a long period. "And how do I keep this from happening?"
"The only solution is to disjoin properly before if happens. The problem with this is that merged, full spirit of mine and Kami-sama's. You knew, even before you did this, that it was permanent. And now, since you merged with him after you merged with Neil, you're all three locked in."
"So, I'm just supposed to sit here and wait for death?!" Piccolo stood quickly, an angered current running in him.
"Now, if that were the case, would I not have instructions for you to clear it up? I still have some more to tell you before we get to that. Getting into the more touchy issues--"
"Like telling me that I'm practically doomed to die a painful death is a comforting one..."
"Well, this is to do with your dream."
A pause. "I'm listening."
"I caused it. Purposely."
"You WHAT?!"
"This is why I'm glad that I'm all ready dead." The elder sighed. "Look, all I did was tell you, after you blew up that van, that you were 'finally stronger'. Consciously, you have no fucking clue who the Hell that is. But, you're subconscious picked it up immediately. This spurred on your little nightmare."
"And why did you do this?"
"You needed some way of blowing off that steam and trying to get back to equilibrium. Unfortunately, it was the best thing I could do at the time without pulling out the last move before you leave."
"'Last move'? 'Before I leave'? Perhaps you should explain these things before you just blurt them out."
"Actually, we should get started on your next phase instead of jabbering on any more about it. It's off to North Capital, my son!"
Old Piccolo did a lot of talking in this chapter. I guess I went off on a psychologist tangent. (I dally in that stuff quite a bit, so it slips in my writing a lot. All hail Freud!!)
To be truthful, I didn't keep up with much more Stephen King than my mom had around. I should say, though his short stories are pretty good, his books and movies can be predictable. So, if it seems anything more like Mr. Horror Fiction Writer of Maine, it's coincidence.
