Chapter 25
… Somewhere in space …
"I warned you Whis!" Lord Beerus exclaimed in annoyance. "I told you to ditch this idiot!" Lord Beerus motioned over his shoulder to none other than Goku travelling behind him. "But NOOOOOO! Why listen to your destroyer?" Whiz simply smiled patiently as Lord Beerus vented his anger.
"I don't know… I still don't get it!" Goku exclaimed in frustration. "All this thinking is making my head hurt!" he whined. "Can't you explain it to me just one more time Lord Beerus?"
"You said that the 2nd time!" Lord Beerus answered. "All your head is good for is head budding in a fight!" He spat at Goku.
"Aaah, come on! Pretty pleassseeee!" Goku begged.
"For the love of-" Lord Beerus started, then looked at Whiz. "Whiz, why don't you try and explain it to this brainless meat bag?"
"Hey!" Goku said offended. "That's not very nice Lord Beerus! You know I can hear you right?"
Whis chuckled before taking over from Lord Beerus. "Why don't you tell me what you do understand Goku? And we'll go from there."
"Mmmh… well let's see…" Goku gripped his chin concentrating hard, Lord Beerus and Whis waiting in suspense. "I know who this Zamasu dude is and there's a chick called Judith…" Both Lord Beerus and Whis had a huge sweat drop on their foreheads.
"Chick? Really?" Lord Beerus eyed Goku from the corner of his eye. "You really do lack etiquette, don't you saiyan?"
Goku continued as if he didn't hear Lord Beerus's remark. "And there's that old timer Kai dude and something about a Grand Priest or a Grand Minister or something and…. Yup, that's it!"
"WWHAAAATTTT!?" Lord Beerus and Whis shouted in unison as Whis caught a speed wobble, temporarily taking them off course.
"Are you serious Goku? Whis asked. "Were you even paying attention to anything Lord Beerus said?"
"I totally was! But then I got confused." Goku replied innocently.
"Hopeless." Was all Lord Beerus said.
"Well I guess I will have to work with that." Whis sighed. "At least you can remember their names." Whis paused as he formulated the story. "Zamasu, as you know, is the Supreme Kai in training for Universe 10. He is heralded for his fighting abilities but he also has a strong desire for what he calls 'divine justice' and it overshadows his mind and makes him forget what his role is as a Kai, namely creation." Whis glanced back at Goku who had a serious expression on his face, listening contently. "Judith, the 'chick' you were referring to, was orphaned when she was 5 years old by a fellow Kai named Demasu."
"Oh yeah!" Goku said. "But why was that again?"
"Maybe you shouldn't interrupt saiyan." Lord Beerus scolded.
"Sorry!" Goku laughed nervously.
"Uh-um." Whis cleared his throat. "As I was saying…" he looked over his shoulder at Goku annoyed. "Demasu believed that mortals were unworthy of life and evil reincarnate, much like Zamasu's believes. Thus, when Demasu discovered a child had been born that was half mortal and half deity.. he was outraged… to put it lightly."
Goku interrupted again. "How was it that a child could be half mortal and half deity?"
"That's easy saiyan." Lord Beerus said boredly. "Aren't you married and have offspring of your own? Judith's mother was human and her father was a god."
"A destroyer god to be precise." Whis corrected.
"Whoa!" Goku said amazed. "She must have been wicked strong!"
"Strangely enough…" Whis answered. "… she wasn't. What she was, was some something different all together, something more dangerous. Valek, that was her father's name, soon discovered that Judith had a great darkness lurking within her… a darkness that grew with each passing day, a 'hunger' you might say, and it soon became apparent what her true nature actually entailed." Whis explained.
"And what was that?" Goku asked excitedly before Lord Beerus dealt him a hammer blow on top of his head.
"Stop interrupting saiyan!" he screamed at Goku "One more word and I swear I'll shrug you off and not even look back!"
"Ow Lord Beerus! Not cool!" was all Goku said nursing the enormous lump that had appeared where Lord Beerus's fist had connected.
"Judith was a reaper of souls." Whis said undeterred by the commotion. "As a Kai, Demasu's entire existence revolved around creation and more importantly, creating pure souls. The older Judith got, the more she was consumed by the darkness and her hunger grew. Her mother, Eliza, discovered that the more souls Judith consumed or 'reaped' the less the darkness grew. The purer the soul, the greater the effect. I'm sure even you can deduce what that meant." Whis glanced back at Goku.
"I sure can." Goku said solemnly, still rubbing his head.
"As a destroyer, Valek had no qualms in feeding his daughter all the souls she desired." Whis continued. "Her mother simply turned a blind eye. As a parent, I'm sure you will do anything to keep your children safe. Needless to say, Demasu soon devised a plan to rid the multiverse of this soul eating child. He knew he would never be strong enough to defeat Valek in combat, but the Kai paired with Valek, would be child's play."
"So he killed his fellow Kai?" Goku asked in disbelieve, immediately shielding his head should Lord Beerus decide to clobber him again.
"Indeed he did Goku." Whis said lightly. "Thus he removed Valek from the picture and was free to destroy the child as Eliza would pose little to no threat at all." Whis paused a moment before continuing. "What Demasu did not take into account was the fact that even the Kais are overseen by one far greater than any destroyer or themselves and even they must abide by the natural law." Whis glanced at Goku who was still concentrating profusely. "It will be useful to know that Valek also had an attendant, my brother Fizz. Demasu had tracked down Judith and found her on Planet Venera. He made short work of Eliza and was about to kill Judith when the Grand Minister intervened. Fizz had informed him of Valek's demise. Lord Beerus was tasked to destroy Demasu, which he did with ease and would have dispersed with Judith as well, but…" Whis stopped momentarily. "… but the Grand Minister stopped him before he could destroy her as well."
"He should have let me end her then and there." Lord Beerus remarked bitterly.
"The Grand Minister had no bias toward the child, and so he took her out of pure curiosity, like a laboratory animal or test subject." Whis continued, ignoring Lord Beerus. "The Grand Minister watched over her, but much to his surprise, she soon became more than just a specimen to him. For 19 earth years she lived with us, the Grand Minister, Lord Beerus, Vados, Fizz and myself. She was treated as our equal and then inexplicably on the morning after her 24th birthday, she simply did not wake after her night's rest. We tried everything to wake her-"
"Even stole one of my alarm bombs…" Lord Beerus offered.
"- but nothing worked. She had gone to sleep and just had not woken up. I believe you humans call it 'going into coma'." Whis finished.
"Are you still following saiyan?" Lord Beerus asked, a warning look on his face.
"You bet ya!" Goku said smiling broadly.
"The Grand Minister was perplexed. He kept her in a safe room in Lord Beerus's palace, the one place he knew she would be safe." Whis explained.
Lord Beerus interrupted. "And she took a nap I was envious about." He looked at Goku over his shoulder. "She was 'out' for 750 years…"
"WHAAAATTT!? How old is this chick? She must be ancient!" Goku exclaimed.
"Please show some respect sayin!" Lord Beerus scolded. "Stop referring to her as a 'chick'! She's not some feathered poultry!"
Whis continued speaking . "And then, just like that, she woke up one morning, remembering nothing. We would only later discover that she would fall into a deep sleep which would last 750 years and then wake up on the same day. The day that Zamasu turned 779 and came of age."
"Now this is what I don't get." Goku said, scratching his head. "Where does Zamasu fit into her whole story?"
"How familiar are you with the origins of the shin-jin Goku?" Whis asked.
"The oranges of the what-what?" Gou asked, seriously confused.
"Honestly Whis." Lord Beerus said to his attendant. "You should know by now not use such big words when talking to this punch-happy fool."
"I'm sure you've noticed that all of the Kais are of the same race?" Whis cautiously asked Goku, fearing his answer.
"Uuuuhm, not really… But now that you mention it, they do all look the same." Goku answered.
"Yes saiyan. Usually when they look the same they often belong to the same species." Lord Beerus remarked sarcastically.
Whis, secretly relieved that Goku at least noticed they look the same continued to explain. "All Kais belong to a race known as the shin-jins and unlike destroyers who become divine, shin-jins are 'born' divine, and I'm using the word 'born' here simply to illustrate that they come into being."
"But if they aren't born, then how can they exist?" Goku asked puzzled.
"Oh boy." Lord Beerus sighed.
"This might sound strange to you Goku but try to keep an open mind." Whis warned before continuing. "On the sacred plant of Kaioshin, normal shin-jins are born from the fruit of a sacred tree called the Kaiju tree."
"WHAAATT!?" Goku exclaimed again, almost letting go of Lord Beerus's shoulder in the process. " You're saying that somewhere out there, there's a planet where Kais grow on trees like apples?!" Goku asked incredulously.
"It's far more complicated than that Goku." Whis said, frowning at Goku's reaction. "But for your mind to understand it, your overly simplified view will suffice."
"Awesome!" Goku yelled.
"Now, once in every few million years, the Kaiju tree bares a very rare golden fruit. The seed of this fruit is 'born' as a Supreme Kai. Now usually, a golden fruit only contains one seed, but as we discovered, the fruit that bore Demasu contained two seeds."
"Do you see where this is going saiyan?" Lord Beerus asked, amused at Goku awestruck expression. "You better explain Whis." Lord Beerus said after Goku did not respond.
"The day Lord Beerus destroyed Demasu, the second seed of the golden fruit came into being as Zamasu."
"Ooooooooh…" Goku said. "So Zamasu is actually a born Supreme Kai and not just a plain old normal Kai?" Goku asked, surprising both Lord Beerus and Whis.
"Well what do you know?" Lord Beerus said in a monotone voice. "He actually can use that stuff between his ears."
Goku giggled childishly before he said. "Yeah… but I still don't get it. If Zamasu is already a Supreme Kia, why is he an apprentice?"
"Because no-one knows Zamasu was already 'born' a Supreme Kai except for the Grand Minister, Lord Beerus and myself." Then as an afterthought Whis said. "I suppose you should also be added to that list now."
"So why not just leave them be?" Goku asked. "This Judith chick- I mean lady!" Goku quickly corrected himself, narrowly escaping another devastating blow from Lord Beerus. "Well she seems to be chilled and isn't stirring up to much trouble and Zamasu is one of the good guys, right?"
"Yes, well." Whis said. "This is where it gets a bit complicated."
"Aaaah man! It's only getting complicated now?!" Goku exclaimed incredulously.
"Yes." Whis chuckled. "You see Goku, because Demasu and Zamasu was 'born' from the same fruit, it only stands to reason that they have similar personality traits and sentiments. Demasu hated mortals, as do Zamasu, even though it makes up only part of his heart. Judith on the other hand was born to be a reaper of souls, the darkness inside her is far more profound and dangerous that you realize. Her very nature is death, even though she doesn't realize it yet. The part of her that is human has given her the capacity to experience emotions, otherwise she is nothing but pure emptiness, evil, death personified."
Goku turned blue in the face, goose bumps all over his body at the thought. Death in a human body… Goku shuddered.
Whis continued. "Somehow, Judith and Zamasu fell in love, despite being at complete odds with each other." Whis sounded sad as he continued speaking. "It is rather tragic that it is also their profound love for each other that is their undoing…"
"Sorry Whis… But I don't follow." Goku said seriously.
"Think about it for a moment Goku." Whis said patiently. "Zamasu, a god of creation, falls unequivocally in love with death itself…" Whis stared ahead as they started to near Planet Venera. "Unknowingly, they had sealed their fate that night they consummated their love."
"How do you know all of this Whis?" Goku asked.
"It has happened before." Whis said flatly.
"Like an alternate reality?" Goku asked.
"No." Whis answered. "Like history that keeps on repeating itself every 800 years. The story of Zamasu and Judith plays out again and again, always with the same outcome: the destruction of their universe."
"So it's happened more than once?" Goku asked incredulously.
"Off-course." Whis replied. "We used to have 21 universes, we're down to 14… this is the 7th time we've had to deal with this situation."
"WHAA… So why doesn't the Grand Minister just let Lord Beerus destroy Judith when he destroys Demasu? Wouldn't that solve all the problems?" Goku asked.
"Yes." Whis answered. "But I don't know if the Grand Minister would ever allow Lord Beerus to erase Judith, even if it meant destroying the multiverse."
"But why?" Goku asked.
"Put yourself in the Grand Minister's shoes. Would you be able to stand by, allow and even watch as one of your children gets destroyed? Imagine if it was Goten…." Whis looked over at Goku, who now had an understanding look. "Despite her nature Goku, the Grand Minister grew to love her and I might say so have Fizz, Lord Beerus and I."
"Hold on just a second Whis!" Lord Beerus yelled. "What is this 'love' you are talking about? You know full well I harbour no feelings for that girl!" He said, not convincing either Whis or Goku.
"Whatever you say Lord Beerus." Whis said with a sigh, before continuing. "As the darkness grows inside of Judith, the more powerful and unpredictable she'll become. She will eventually loose herself to it, drunk on power." Whis sounded almost bitter. "Neither she nor Zamasu know it yet, but she will be the death of him. She is literally consuming his soul without her even realizing it and she has been doing so since they bound themselves to each other."
And then Whis added sadly: "She can never love anyone, despite her capacity to do so. And if she truly loves them; she will ultimately kill them. That it the price she must pay for the sins of others... the sins of her parents."