Disclaimer: Chapter 2.

Heh… that lime warning in the last chapter? It was a lie. Actually, I put it there earlier because I was planning a lime (actually, I was originally planning a lemon), and then I changed my mind later for a different idea, forgetting about the warning in the process. No, that wasn't really a lime; it was just suggestive. My disclaimer was misleading (oh noes!).

"Atsarute-sama?" Dr. Arufuredo frowned and sat back down. "You're wondering about her?"

Goku nodded and sat down. Gohan followed. There was an awkward silence before Gohan decided to break it.

"Atsarute-san has something strange on her… Well, that's not exactly right. It's more like… something's following her. Her shadow seems heavy, especially when Piccolo-san is nearby, and Otou-san says that he's noticed it too… And neither of us thinks that it could possibly be a good sign."

"A heavy shadow…" Arufuredo repeated, leaning forward onto the desk and folding his hands before his face.

"I also noticed," Goku jumped in, "the sound of something breathing coming from Atsarute's shadow. It was much louder when she still had that talisman in her throat, but it quieted so much when she got rid of it that I thought it was gone, so I assumed it had to do with the curse. But lately, I've noticed that the sound is still there."

The scientist looked ahead thoughtfully for a few moments before responding. "There's a lot to consider here… and it seems to tie in with some other things that I've been doing research in."

"It does?"

"Yes…" He closed his eyes. "I'll have to bring this up along with some of my findings with Piccolo-sama later. He entrusted a task to me to do some research, and I've used it as a supplement to my study in particular aspects of Puroeriun culture. And this new information that you've brought me… might connect with some of it." He didn't stop speaking long enough for the two to respond. "I find it strange that you decided to come to me about this, though. Why didn't you go to Atsarute-sama or Piccolo-sama?"

"Because you're the person nearby her we know the best," Gohan answered, "and we thought that it's best that Piccolo-san and Atsarute-san didn't know about this yet. Are you really going to bring this up with Piccolo-san?"

"I am, but not with Atsarute-sama. I'm sorry, but the way things look… even though I agree that Atsarute-sama shouldn't yet know about what's been discovered… we might need to solidify all of our knowledge on the subject. You're right: it can't possibly be a good sign. It seems that something dangerous has been brewing."

He remembered Neil suddenly. "And it seems that it's already doing some damage."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Piccolo didn't even hear from Atsarute for a week or two after the binding ritual. Afterwards, she left the base forthwith to go do some surveying on another planet… but not before beating the shit out of all three men for embarrassing her by chasing her through her own halls. Even Sanatoasu was subject to her wrath… after all, even though he was much stronger, women have more stamina regarding these activities. All three men were pretty much left helpless, despite that they outnumbered her and surprised her by initiating the "attack". This is where sex and fighting seem to vastly differ, no matter how competitive or cooperative the subjects may take either.

Atsarute's anger was superficial at most, and they knew that. After all, after she thoroughly made certain that they wouldn't be able to raise themselves from the floor when she left, she chuckled and shook her head. Although there seemed to have been a spot more annoyance in her voice when she opened the door to a crowd of her men, all with eyes set awkwardly to the door. She barked at them to scatter, which they quickly did, and left.

So, Piccolo wasn't worried originally about not seeing Atsarute. After all, there were many intervals of time when they wouldn't have any contact with the other for whatever reason.

Funzen's forces were on the move, as were Komugiko's, and Piccolo had to work on covering the battle lines. His most recent battle was tiring; whereas a one-on-one fight might last a few hours, a battle between armies would last days, sometimes longer, and would require incredible endurance and willpower of the soldiers. And these battles were beginning to get longer and longer as Komugiko and Funzen solidified their own forces. When he returned, he was going to complain half-heartedly to Atsarute about not sending any forces to aid him, but, strangely enough, he wasn't able to get in contact with her.

It was almost a month before he did see her, and he had to go through a lot of trouble to do so.

Atsarute looked up at him sharply from her desk when Piccolo barged into her office. "What the Hell are you doing here?"

"I just heard that you're excluding my army from a large scale clash with Funzen and Komugiko's forces… that include both Funzen and Komugiko in the ranks." Piccolo stared back at her with just as much ire. "You know very well that they've been getting more powerful! Don't you think that you should use all the help that you get in this situation?"

"Tch." She turned her head from him. "And you're supposed to be adept at strategy. You should know that bringing more soldiers in than necessary is wasteful, even harmful, in certain situations. This happens to be one of those situations."

"I've seen what the odds are in this battle, Atsarute!"

"Then you should already know that you're help isn't needed. There's going to be another strike on a planet closer to Katatsu-sei. You should focus on that instead."

"But not all of my attention is required to suppress that strike. I can easily divide my forces; it's not like I have a lack of soldiers."

"Split your forces if you want, but you're not marching into my battlefield. Got it?"

"Atsarute, you have to take this seriously."

"I am taking this seriously! I always take possible casualties very seriously." Atsarute shouted back at him. She finally stood, sneering, and pointed to the door. "Get out of here immediately, Piccolo. We have nothing else to discuss, and I've got work to do."

Piccolo actually felt a little startled. He expected Atsarute to be stubborn, but he didn't expect her to be so petulant to his suggestion, even his presence. Something in the back of his mind flashed that she might have been more bothered by the binding ritual than he thought, and a horrible dread settled in the wake of his surprise.

And his stillness only seemed to make her angrier. "I told you to get out of here! Do I have to call some of my men to escort you off the base?"

He clenched his jaw, furrowed his brows, and turned quickly, leaving anon.

The female general sighed and looked back down at her plans. These preparations were giving her a headache… she knew that if she allowed Piccolo's forces to fight as well, she wouldn't have to do so much detail work in the strategy, as there would be less to worry about. But allowing Piccolo's forces to enter was unacceptable…

She was already having a hard time finding a strategic way to isolate her men from her side during the battle.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Dr. Arufuredo intercepted Piccolo after the Namek had taken care of the strike, which took but a few hours to stop and clean up. By this time, Atsarute was already knee-deep into the battle that she'd been planning that morning.

"Piccolo-sama," the doctor began, "I've compiled some unsettling information regarding Atsarute-sama—" Piccolo tensed up. "—Goku-san and Gohan-san have discovered some unusual behavior in her… or rather… in her shadow."

"Her shadow?"

"They report that, to them, it seems heavy. At least, that's the term that they used. And Goku-san reported that it breathes as well." He paused for a moment. "He theorized that it had something to do with the curse, since it was breathing much more loudly before you removed the talisman."

"Breathing…" Piccolo thought for a moment. "Sanatoasu once mentioned something about hearing another person breathe… Is there some sort of connection, do you think?"

"I'm not sure," Arufuredo shook his head, "but I've actually found a verse in that folk song you gave me that correlates somewhat with this." Arufuredo pulled from the side a mass of papers, and handed Piccolo one with a stanza circled in red:

Dead breath is the thing

that can only be carried by pure water

Live breath is the thing

that can only be carried by white water

The end begins, the beginning ends

Full circle for the ancestors to us

"This is a particularly unusual stanza, since most of the song speaks of raiding towns, killing people, and taking money," Arufuredo added.

"'That can only be carried by pure water'…" Piccolo repeated aloud. "'Pure'… Perhaps… because Gohan, Goku, and Sanatoasu are all pure-hearted? That's why they can hear it?"

"That may be it," Arufuredo agreed, "And I've also thought that it might have something to do with Neil-san, so I visited him not long ago. He gave me accounts of a formless aggressor being the cause of his ailment, and he offered me a warning for you."

"A warning, huh?"

"He said, 'If Atsarute tells you to stay away, do as she asks, even if you think she could get killed. If you come near, she'll definitely die anyway.' He didn't really explain what he meant, but he wanted me to tell you."

Piccolo went silent for several minutes. Arufuredo spoke again. "In any case, whatever this thing is, it's dangerous. We'll have to figure out what it is immediately. It's already attacked Neil-san, and it might be preparing to move against Atsarute-sama. The breathing… Goku-san said that the breathing quieted substantially when she got rid of the talisman. We could start there."

"How did she get the curse in the first place, anyway? It was uttered by a man that she killed, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, from what I've heard, it was from a particularly strong general that she defeated in battle about half a year before we found her as a 'walking fiend', and you were a 'catalyst' because she claimed to have somehow seen your death after his defeat and the psychic link left her vulnerable to his curse. His name was… General Buritz." A slight shock appeared in Arufuredo's eyes, and he removed his glasses to rub his temples.

"What is it?"

"I just remembered… that he was Funzen's father."

"…What?"

Arufuredo replaced his glasses. "And the main stanza of that song talks about a dying man's breath being one of the most dangerous things. But it can't be the curse! You took care of that!"

"Yeah, when I disconnected the talisman, I—" Piccolo haulted and clenched his fists. "—Fuck, no."

"You did disconnect it, Piccolo-sama! I witnessed her cough it up, along with your acquaintances from Earth. It's not a problem anymore."

Piccolo felt himself go cold, and he shook his head slowly. "I took care of the talisman that was augmenting the curse, but that's it. The curse is still there!"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The armies were fully underway with the battle. There was an obvious advantage of one side over the other, that being in Atsarute's army favor. The soldiers were focused and already too dulled by the drug of bloodshed to do anything but fight. And they certainly couldn't take time to focus on anything else.

It was easy for Atsarute to separate herself from them.

Funzen curled his mouth and licked his lips, and his wife beside him made a confident smirk.

"You were right," the queen said, "about her coming out alone. Even my peering into the stream couldn't have predicted this."

"I suppose you could say that my father left me more than an army," Funzen said proudly, and the pair stepped out before Atsarute.

Atsarute glared at them solidly before dropping into stance without a word.

Komugiko extended her sword before her. "You will finally meet your end here, demon!" Funzen expelled some ki, and the spikes on his armor churned about maliciously. Atsarute mentally remarked that if these two procreated, Komugiko would not birth a person, but a crusade, given the looks of these two as they stood before her.

Funzen's eyes narrowed as his smirk stretched. "The spirits are on our side this time, Atsarute."

Hmm… -scratches head- I'm making things move a lot… The climax is soon… I think it'll be the next chapter…
Hmmm….
.-walks off-