Chapter 23

… Judith's mind …

It was one year later and the adult Judith was inside Lord Beerus's sleeping chamber. Her 6 year old self had snuck in, knowing it was off limits, especially when Lord Beerus was taking a nap.

The older Judith had watched when her 5 year old self had woken up with a splitting headache, hours after the Grand Minister had constructed his prison for her memories. She watched as the Grand Minister spin a flawless web of lies around her. He would raise her, treat her as his own, Whis and the other guide angels were her siblings and Lord Beerus's planet was her playground…

Whis had now entered and was watching the 6 year old Judith with disproval.

"Judith. Get down from there!" Whis had said sternly. The girl merely smiled down mockingly at him from where she balanced on top of its head.

"Make me!" she challenged him playfully. Even back then she was already stubborn as hell.

"I am warning you. If I have to come up there, I will tell Lord Beerus that you ate all his pizza… and you know how much he loves his pizzas…" Whis threatened.

"Mmmmh…pizza…." Lord Beerus had mumbled in his sleep, causing the 6 year old Judith to giggle.

"He is so qute Whis!" Judith said mockingly. "I want a kitty-cat too."

"If you knew what I know, you surely would not want one of your own to look after." Whis had said in a hushed tone.

With a shove, Judith glided down the snake's back and landed swiftly on her feet before running toward Whis and jumping onto his chest.

'Just like a cat.' Whis had thought ironically as he held her small body securely. He had grown fond of this small irritating child.

"What do you know that I don't know?" Judith asked quizzically.

'Oh no! She heard that? What have I done!' Whis's thoughts had screamed. 'Now she will never shut up about it!' He carried her out of the chamber. All the while the 6 year old Judith was nagging at his ears. "Pleeaassse Whis! Please tell me! Is it a secret, 'cause I am really good at keeping those! Pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty please!"

"Oh please Judith." Whis had begged after an hour of whining. "I am begging you to stop! Tell me what I can do to just make you stop?" He was just about ready to start pulling the hair out of his head. 'Fizz never has to put up with this…' he thought bitterly.

The adult Judith watched as her smaller self secretly made a fist pump before she exclaimed: "If you play a game with me, I promise not to ask you about it ever again!" She rarely, no scratch that, she never had anyone that would play with her, and now her big brother was somehow forced into doing something with her… 'Best day ever!' her childish mind yelled and she nearly screamed as her excitement threatened to boil over…

"Okay…" Whis sighed. "What do you want to play, you little pest?" he asked feigning excitement. Judith ignored the 'pest' part, he was always calling her that if she really annoyed him.

"How about that game you and Lord Beerus usually play when he's not sleeping!? It looks like so much fun!" The 6 year old Judith was bobbing up and down.

"You want to fight?"Whis asked surprised.

"Yeah, okay, sure, if that's what it's called. You can teach me!" The little Judith yelled excitedly.

"Absolutely not!" Whis exclaimed seriously. "It is not becoming for a lady to engage in such physical altercations Judith." He sounded almost offended that she would even suggest such a thing.

Judith watched as her 6 year old crossed her small arms in anger and mumbled: "Now I know why Fizz always says you have a silver spoon stuck up your-"

… Fast-forward 10 years …

"May I ask you a question father?" the adult Judith was now watching her 16 year old self address the Grand Minister.

"Off-course child." He always called her child, the adult Judith noted.

"I have been experiencing… unusual feelings of late…" The adult Judith wanted to die, guessing where this was going and judging by the Grand Minister's unnerved expression and bright red cheeks, he also wished the ground would swallow him. The 16 year old Judith continued obliviously: "I have pondered this question for some time…" The adult Judith started to wish she could forget this memory again… "If I take everything that I have read into consideration and accept the assumption that you are my father…" Both the adult Judith and Grand Minister held their breath. "Then where is my mother?" They both let out their breath in a relieved sigh, neither one of them wanted to experience 'The Talk'.

"Why would you ask this now?" The Grand Minister questioned as the adult Judith wanted to hit him over the head.

"Your never talk about her… and I can deduct from my reading that in order for a female to conceive a child, she and a-"

"LET me stop you right there!" The Grand Minister exclaimed, once again a shade of bright red. 'What kind of books has she been reading?' the Grand Minister had thought. "Your mother…" the Grand Minister said weighing each word, knowing he was on dangerous ground, "… loved you more than anything. More than life itself." The Grand Minister walked toward the 16 year old and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Please trust that I will answer all your questions when the time is right, but for now, take solace in knowing that she would have done anything and everything to keep you safe." The 16 year old Judith stared at her feet. "As for your other questions…" The Grand Minister said, once again very nervous, "I will ask one of your sisters to discuss them with you."

The younger Judith had picked up on the tone of nervousness in his voice and gave him a knowing smile before answering him almost sadly. "Thank you father." The adult Judith watched as her younger self considered pushing her luck. "May I at least know her name?"

The Grand Minister stiffened slightly before answering in a strained voice: "Her name was Eliza." And he purposefully stomped off.

… Planet Venera …

Fizz had given up watching Judith and had taken a seat on the couch opposite her. He decided that he would page through the book she had asked him to bring which was called 'Herodotus.'

Fizz sighed as he said loudly: "Mankind truly are primitive beings…" He glanced over the top of the book at Judith, who was still not showing any signs of coming to. "Well Herodotus, my friend, continue your journey through the histories of Libya."

… Judith's mind …

The adult Judith stood alone with her 20 year old self on a balcony outside Lord Beerus's house slash temple slash domain, when the Grand Minister joined them.

"Your mind is far afield child." The Grand Minister remarked.

"Yes." The 20 year old Judith answered.

"What is it that trouble's you?" he asked.

"Lately, I have been considering my role in this life, my purpose as it were." The adult Judith was somewhat taken aback by her younger self, after all, how many 20 year olds muse of their greater purpose?

"What has brought about this train of thought?" The Grand Minister asked, a faint hint of concern in his voice.

The 20 year old Judith said nothing for a while, but only starred at one of the moons orbiting Lord Beerus's planet. "I have been observing Whis, Vados and all of the other angels…" The Grand Minister immediately picked up that she had not personified the angels, but he waited patiently for her to continue. "They all have a specific purpose, a duty toward each of their destroyer gods, safe for you and Fizz off-course." The Grand Minister watched her closely. "Aah! It is so difficult to explain, but I guess the best way to put it is that I feel… incomplete… like something's missing…" The 20 year old Judith continued looking at the moon, her face betraying nothing, but her hands were balled into fists, "… like someone is missing…" Both the Grand Minister and the adult Judith gasped in unison, fortunately her younger self did not notice their reaction, but merely said in frustration: "Uh! It's maddening!"

It was quiet for some time before the Grand Minister broke the silence. " Child, you and I have often talked about the flow of all of life's energy." The 20 year old Judith turned to face him. "Think of it in this way: All of life's energy flows in a perfect circle." The adult Judith's mouth had gone dry and she felt her legs cemented to the spot. Those words… his words… she had heard them resounding in her head not hours ago in the shower. "You can never be whole unless you find your centre, Judith."

The 20 year old Judith looked at him seriously. "But when will I find my centre father? This feeling threatens to consume me! I want to start living my life, know where I'm heading." The younger Judith sounded tired.

"Patience child." The Grand Minister said. "Think of your frustration and suffering as the price the multiverse asks you to pay in order to reveal your path to you. I can assure you, that when you find your centre, all these retched feelings that seems so overwhelming to you now, will seem like fleeting insignificant specs compared to happiness you will experience."

The 20 year old Judith merely sighed.

… Fast-forward 4 years …

"I am telling you; something is wrong." Whis said to Fizz. The present Judith watched as they were seated around a large table. Whiz, Fizz and Vados were all watching her suspiciously. The present Judith watched her past self and noticed that she seemed to be a bit flushed.

"Are you alright Judith?" Vados asked.

"She's fine." Lord Beerus answered in his gruff voice. "Probably just flustered because she is getting all the attention while the destroyer over here is starving…"

Whis, Fizz, Vados and Lord Beerus waited for Judith to reply to Lord Beerus's sarcastic remark with a witty one of her own, as she never failed to do, but this time, there was no retort.

"I think you're right Whis. Something is terribly wrong." Lord Beerus said seriously to his attendant.

The present Judith watched herself as she spoke. "Well, I'm so sorry to have inconvenienced you Lord Beerus." She tried weakly to think of something to follow up with, but her mind had gone blank. "I'm not feeling like myself at all." She looked at Whis. "Please excuse me. I need to go lay down." She was still busy speaking when she got up. She hurried out of the room toward her chamber. The present Judith had to jog to keep up and watched as her past self, collapsed face first onto her bed, breathing heavily.

Whis entered only a second later. "What's going on Judy?" he asked, knowing she hated that particular nickname. Although he was teasing, his voice held some concern.

The past Judith rolled onto her back and both Whis and the present Judith was taken aback by the redness of her usually yellow eyes. "I- I'm not sure Whis." She said weakly. "I feel… odd. Not sick… more off-balance…" she closed her eyes, trying to keep her breathing steady. "Perhaps Lord Beerus was correct that I am worried about his stomach…" she tried some humour, but she felt so empty…

Whis sighed. "Very well. I suppose you may be excused from the company… even if it is your birthday party…" Whis was still kneeling next to her when the past Judith fell into a deathlike sleep.

It was her 24th birthday.

… Planet Venera …

Fizz had long since given up on Herodotus and was watching 'God-Tube', his staff was projecting the image in a large greenish bulb.

Judith stirred again and weakly opened her eyes only to slam them shut again as a splitting headache ripped through her skull. "Mmmh-ooooww…" she moaned softly.

Fizz, who had not noticed Judith coming to her senses, nearly fell off the sofa at the unexpected sound. "Judith?" He asked cautiously, he had no idea what to expect. "Judith, can you hear me?" he asked again.

"SSsssshhhhh." Judith said weakly. "Stop shouting… it feels like my head is going to explode." She managed.

Fizz was somewhat relieved that she seemed to still be herself, but then she spoke again and he felt his heart stop.

"You know, you were right. Whis still has that silver spoon stuck up his a-."