Chapter 2

The room was too large for a meal of that size, and the empty space clouded over them, making everything seem almost larger than life. It breathed with the sounds of the clipped clangs of silverware and plates making brief contact here and there. Hushed grunts crescendoed as politely as the animalistic beings could manage before falling on the pathway toward silence again, leaving the massive airspace around them lonely once more. They sat a short distance from the head of the hall, where the light of the torches danced across the regal, poised thrones and cast wispy shadows over the steps before them. Those steps were clothed in a fine red, a few shades lighter than the deep blood of the walls that contrasted with the dark arch of the ceiling. A soldier of Gohan's entered with more food from the closest door and hastily exited, seeing that the dinner was coming to a close.

Or so they had thought.

A voice spoke up, cutting through the smaller conversations occurring around the circular dinner table. "Gohan?"

"Hm," he rumbled and swallowed his food silently. "Yes?" He blinked and turned his head toward the direction of the voice, tuning into the light conversation.

"So what do you think of the strike in Atlas with the third-class rebels?" Chard casually asked, leaning into his chair expectantly. Elery's eyes sparked brighter and she straightened, ready to burst with her tactical opinion on the widely gossiped about, but yet to be dealt with third-class dilemma. The prince and the king shared a wry look, both curious to see what was to come. Almost all the other members of the council looked openly towards the teenager, honestly interested in the young man's answer. However, Beatus seemed to be less than impressed by Chard's question.

"What do you think you're doing, boy?" he croaked testily, sighing with a pointed look at Chard. "The king has already asked young Gohan and Prince Vegeta to finish up. We need not start a discussion that won't be finished in this time."

"I disagree," Elery replied sharply, meeting the eyes of all the council before transitioning into the professional tone expected of her as a councilmember. "I think that the Atlas crisis must be addressed during this meeting. In fact, I'd wanted to mention it earlier. Princess Videl will always be at the top of our priority list, but we need to deal with this situation before it worsens to a point in which all third-class will want to participate in the uprising."

"Your point is valid, Elder Elery." Inger nodded at the female Saiyan before asking, "King Vegeta? What is your verdict?"

"Vegeta's present can wait a little longer. Gohan, my boy, please continue." Amusement lingered in King Vegeta's voice, and he nodded for Gohan to continue.

Gohan felt the pressure to answer swell in his chest after the council had just bestowed him with such an important responsibility. They were forcing the spotlight on him once again.

"Well," he said, pausing to clasp his hands, "if their pride allowed them to begin this strike, they obviously feel like they aren't being heard. I would hear them out soon, and if their reasons are less than honorable, or insulting to Saiyan pride, well..." He stopped to swallow the tension he felt and then finished, "then they should be tried before the king for treason."

The room stilled and the councilmen warily regarded him for a few long moments. Elery narrowed her eyes and her thoughts, usually plainly evident because of the expressions she wore, were now carefully guarded. The rest watched warily, except Beatus, who subtly raised an eyebrow, impressed with Gohan's response.

Then the prince began to laugh. It started slow and quiet, more of a chuckle rather than a laugh, but grew into the loud bark the prince was known for. Chard's face faltered, ashen at the prince's response.

"Well spoken, Gohan," the prince commended, his smirk widening as he regarded Chard.

"And, that is precisely what we will do."

Heads whipped around the table with a snap in recognition of the voice speaking. Even the younger Vegeta was slightly taken aback, though his smugness only increased.

"Your Majesty, with all due respect, he is not a royal nor a council member-"

"Gohan has spoken with wisdom and strategy, Chard. And anyone in attendance at my dinners has a voice to be heard or I would not have invited them."

"You shouldn't be so quick to stir up trouble, Chard. You've been sorely outclassed," Beatus said sending a piercing look at the 27-year-old before eventually shaking his head.

Hesitant, Chard raised a finger and took a breath, a hopeful light dying in his eyes. Mind made up, he sighed and hung his head in defeat, dropping the subject. Inger and Kale, the quietest of the council, looked to one another with silent words alight in their eyes.

Beatus turned his head away from Chard triumphantly and Gohan was just glad to get the focus off of himself.

"Well then, Kale I trust your dignitarian principles are best suited for the situation. I want you to negotiate. What will you need?" the king delegated, taking a sip of his nearly empty cup and ignoring his son's carnal eating habits to his side.

"Mm," his chest hummed lightly as his thoughts swirled in his mind on the quest. "Two men to stay with me and one first class squad to stay hidden in case of altercation. This shouldn't be messy. I'll have you on standby on my scouter, sire."

"Do you need anyone in specific by your side?"

"No," he responded at ease. "Any guards from Gohan's men will do fine."

"Consider it done then. Gohan, since you're already here we won't have to alert your scouter in the morning over this. Choose Kale's guards and we'll use a small squad of your men over first class, due to the convenience of your presence. I expect your choices to be debriefed and ready by mid-morning tomorrow. I want all of this sorted out by dusk."

"Yes, sire," Kale and Gohan replied in a blend.

"Now, while we're all still here, what other matters can we clean up sooner rather than later?"

"Job specifications for Gohan, here. I personally think he needs future debriefing of his new responsibilities and standards of which he'll be held to," Chard crisply said.

"Gohan's job replacement," Elery declared while raising her hand for attention.

The king scoffed since he'd already addressed the issue but a voice rose.

"She's right."

Elery sent Vegeta a questioning look from across the table, and for a moment his dark eyes locked on her bright ones.

"The sooner he trains someone new, the sooner his full attention is on Videl," he explained.

"Then it shall be done. Sora will take over Gohan's responsibilities as soon as possible. Chard, we can debrief Gohan on his responsibilities now. You know the duties of a day to day guard. After all, your job is to train the best of the best of them. Now, in our residential wing Videl's suite is guarded by mine on one side and the prince's on the other, but she's escaped us both in the past. Your room will be directly across the hall. Since you don't have a partner, like we normally assign, I will allow you to choose your two best men to be your alternate in any moments where you might need to rest. These two will be on limited trust. You escort them in and out of my personal wing if they are needed there. You know them more personally than I do, so you can choose what shifts they will cover for you. Don't keep a pattern. Protect her at the cost of your own life, boy. You have my faith."

"Of course, King Vegeta."

"Now then," the king brusquely cleared his throat, "if that's enough business for one night I want to be out of all of your damned presence. I am done here." As soon as he finished speaking, he stood and his intense stare made it clear that he was waiting for everyone to leave his throne room. "You are dismissed."

Inger rose dutifully, his features relaxed as he addressed his friend and king, beginning the council's meticulous exit. One by one, from one side of the table to the other, each Elder rose silently and solemnly to bow with respect, a fist over their hearts clenched with the strength of their allegiance. When it was Gohan's turn, he snapped up from his seat, his chair abruptly shoved behind him, standing to address King Vegeta.

"I will have your soldiers ready before mid-morning so they may meet with Kale and be prepared to leave upon your say at mid-morning, sire. I am honored by your request of my service. I am grateful, my king." He then bowed fully, his fist, too, over his heart.

"Gohan, you're another son to me. I trust you. My Videl is now your priority. Your life depends on your ability to protect her. Waste no are dismissed."

With a deep breath, he straightened and turned to exit after one last look at Prince Vegeta, who was still seated next to his father, obstinately looking towards nothing in particular.

Prince Vegeta waited until the doors shut behind Gohan and they were alone before addressing his father. He stood and looked his father in the eyes, something only he was allowed to do upon the time to show respect.

"Father."

"Come, son," the king said before stepping away slightly, angling his body towards the exit towards the residential side of the palace. "I have something for you."

Her eyebrows creased unnervingly and her fists clenched tightly as she briskly rushed past the science facility in the palace. Sporadic crashes and bangs filled the air, breaking the peace, and a strong burning scent followed soon afterward. The scientists were probably testing out some new but imperfect training devices, she deduced, but that didn't matter at the moment. Sora was supposed to be in the library...so why wasn't she there? Well, she never actually said she'd be there, but this was Sora! Elery knew her sister well. So where could she be?

Placing her delicate fingertips against her temples, Elery halted herself on the eleventh step down the deep red staircase that connected the upper west wing of the palace to the lower west wing. She closed her eyes and thought, Think, Elery, think! Where could the little squirt have gone?

"Elery?"

The familiar rasp sent a bolt of alarm through the young saiyan woman's every muscle. Her switch had been flipped and she was ready for battle immediately like any normal Saiyan would. Startled, she automatically turned, drawing her elbow back for a right hook. Realizing who it was, she stopped before her fist could connect and took two steps back. She narrowed her eyes and steadied herself, physically feeling the burn of embarrassment and rage at allowing herself to be snuck up on.

"Sorry Elder Beatus. I was a little preoccupied and didn't notice you there. Please forgive my unpreparedness," Elery explained, her voice slightly strained as she tried to force away her worries and new desire to fight. She struggled to meet his wise, ancient eyes and face aged with experience, knowing that she had set herself up for a long reprimanding. Even as an Elite-ranked soldier, she never should have let her guard down, but the offense was doubly worse as she had just been named as Elder.

"Don't bother yourself with such ridiculous thoughts," he scoffed, setting one calloused hand on her shoulder warmly. "Hah, I am not King Vegeta, nor am I the prince! No, Elery, I apologize for startling you. Trust that this incident will be forgotten, young one."

A bout of relief poured over her. "I am eternally grateful, Elder." She bowed her head slightly to show her respect and appreciation. "Has something gone awry that needs my attention? I was about to look for Sora, actually..." she said, drifting off at the end, her eyebrows creasing again.

"No, but there are things you need to be caught up on as an Elder-"

"I've already finished the training though, have I not?" she interrupted as politely as she could. Sora was waiting for her somewhere.

"Yes; that is true. However, what I meant was information regarding..." he paused for a moment and continued gravely, "the princess. There is more to the story than what we'd told the prince and Gohan. That information, though, must be kept from them." His face hardened and he eyed her critically. "The council is trying to deal with this predicament, as is the king, but they, and especially the princess, cannot know. We must look at this objectively, and they would not, and that could endanger the princess. What with your training only just completed, we decided to wait until after the meeting to tell you."

Elery shifted her weight to her other foot and crossed her arms, too, becoming sober in expression. "Yes, I understand completely. Not to worry; I know exactly what my duties are. I no longer live the life I used to, and I know such matters must be kept strictly between the king and the council. Please, though, can I find my sister first and tell her that I'll be home later?"

He sighed."I'm afraid not, but I ran into Gohan and he is taking his orders to debrief Sora as soon as possible quite literally. I expect that she is with him at the moment and that she'll be occupied long enough for us to talk."

"I see." Elery nodded and continued, "Is there anywhere more private you would like to talk, then?"

"Yes; let us continue the descent to the lower west wing and take a stroll around the garden. It is almost always empty at this time of night."

"All right," Elery replied agreeably and turned again, walking beside Beatus.

Together they made their way to the foot of the stairs and took a right down the hallway, where the glass door leading to the garden illuminated the floor with the light within the room. Beatus pushed the door and held it open for Elery, who eagerly entered. The garden was the one place in the castle that felt exuberant, bright, and lively, and Elery felt herself relax in the more natural environment.

Moonlight passed through the transparent steel ceiling and made the water in the small river that cut across the massive room shimmer like a thousand diamonds. Hundreds and hundreds of flowers filled the room with their sweet scent and many exotic trees surrounded the edges of the river, like the protectors of the smaller plants and the water. A long, wooden bridge was constructed over the river and Elery moved toward it, liking the view there. Beatus followed behind her and they stopped when they reached the middle of the bridge. For a moment, it was quiet, as they both watched the beautiful crimson fish dance around and around in the crystal-clear, deep blue water.

"Lovely fish," Beatus commented wryly.

"Um, yes. I'm quite fond of them. My mother used to keep these fish around at our old house," Elery answered absent-mindedly, eyebrows knit together as she wondered where he was going with this. She propped her elbows up on the railing of the bridge to get a better look.

"I'm not surprised your mother kept them around. These fish are as old as our greatest legends." Beatus slipped a knowing grin over his face as he looked off to the distant regions of the stream below them. "My mother would tell me legends before bed at night when my father was away at war. She was an endearing woman, but my father could never find out such a thing." Elery sighed, lost in her own thoughts of her parents. "Family...hah. I've never even met my father. And my mother...she was always busy when she was alive. She was never one to stay in the home for long. I think that might be why she got us the fish. In all honesty, I kind of took over for her and looked after Sora for most of our younger years," she explained, her eyes taking on a dreamy look as she remembered the past.

"You and your sister are fortunate to have one another. The bond of siblings can be a tightly knit one." Letting his loaded statement fill their atmosphere, Beatus slid his eyes to watch the younger saiyan beside him, a superior look dawning in his knowing eyes.

Elery allowed herself a small half-smile. "Yes, we are. We're also lucky that King Vegeta and Queen Elle thought we were both talented enough to take us in as children after...you know. By then, we were scrambling for food and shelter, living off the streets like ragamuffins. We aren't the only lucky ones, though. I'd say Princess Videl is lucky to have Prince Vegeta. They look like they don't get along, but their arguments are just a way of expressing their love for each other since they're both too pigheaded to show it the normal way." She smiled again, wider this time. "Speaking of which, what did you want to tell me, Beatus?"

"Well, Elery, this is all about a legend."

"A legend?" she asked, kicking a few pebbles into the water, where they slowly sunk to the bottom. Her curiosity was sparked. "The princess has something to do with a legend?"

"Yes, our greatest legend, in fact."

"What?! Are you sure?" Elery asked, turning to face Beatus for the first time during the conversation, green eyes alight with alarm. No wonder Prince Vegeta and Gohan couldn't be told...

"Yes. The legend that our people commonly know to be about the original super saiyan is truly a much deeper tale, but only a few ears are permitted access to the knowledge of truth. As an Elder, the information is yours and yours to guard with your life to the grave." By this time Beatus had turned to square his shoulders to Elery, meeting her flighty gaze with deep honesty. "Do you understand, girl?"

"Well, of course I have to! Even if I didn't, I would have to or be damned for eternity by the king and rest of the council," she reasoned exasperatedly. Taking a deep breath, she turned around and leaned against the railing and said, "It's just...this is just unbelievable. The original legend...some of the Saiyans don't even believe that's true, and for this entire time, the legend was actually recurring? Wow. So...what more is there to the legend that the public doesn't know? And why don't they?"

"It's largely been for protection of the royal family, especially after Videl was born. The secret to the legend was the bond."

"I'm sorry, Elder, but I'm not following you. What do you mean?"

"There is a bond of legend, of this legend, that directly precedes the legendary." Beatus paused to turn towards the pond once more just as a fish an arm's length long floundered above water for only a moment. He sighed taking on the persona of wisdom before turning his head to Elery to continue. "You know that when we mate, a bond of great power is formed between the two mated. The bond of legend is a bond that begins itself with the chosen: the princess and the legendary. There hasn't been a princess born in Vegeta House blood since the legendary. Videl is the first since then. Videl is chosen."

"So, Videl is destined to fall in love with the strongest Saiyan on planet Vegeta, and that Saiyan will become the legendary?" She frowned, trying to make sense of what she was being told. As far as she knew, the only thing that most Saiyans were aware of was that a long time ago there was a Saiyan who was impossibly strong that went rogue and ended up killing thousands of other Saiyans. But that didn't make sense. There was never any mention of any princess. "Wait, what? There has to be more to the legend! What happened to the princess bonded to the original Super Saiyan?"

"The original Super Saiyan was completely bonded to the princess by the time of her eighteenth birthday, though the two never got the chance to mate. The planet was attacked in the middle of the ball in her honor. She gave her life to protect her younger brother, the true heir to the throne. Her mate watched her death with his own eyes. The legend says that he burst with the lights of heaven, receiving all the power of the gods, then killed all evil in her name. The source of his power was the depth of his love for his intended mate. The power of their bond is the origin of the legendary."

"Does that mean that Princess Videl is doomed to face the same fate? And her lover as well? Mmm, I'm not sure what we're trying to do here. Gohan was named as her guard so that people like Frieza would not make that bond with her, wasn't he?"

"The bond chooses, not the beings themselves. We only have our one legend to go off of, so a lot of things we cannot be sure of; we're merely taking every precaution we can think of. From what we know, both partners will be Saiyans, however the fear of the ultimate power falling into Frieza's hands is a real one. Though there would be hardly anything for us to do if Frieza were chosen, because our princess would love him. We'd either have to betray our people to protect Videl or betray our heir to protect our people."

"True, but that exposure could lead to a bond being formed. Say, if Princess Videl truly loved Frieza...what choice would we have to make?" Elery asked solemnly, letting her eyes drift back to the water again.

"King Vegeta would be forced to choose between his daughter or his people. The masses would refuse a treaty with the Cold Empire, so Videl would either be stripped of her title or killed as soon as possible." Beatus' voice dropped with every added word, the weight of his statement physically dragging his pitch.

Elery clenched her fists, trying to contain the emotion she felt at hearing that. "That is awful. Ridiculous...It's not fair." She laughed wryly and her hands dropped loosely at her sides again. "Then again, life isn't always fair..." Her voice faded as her thoughts swept her mind into a place and time far, far away from the palace garden.

"Though I have my own personal suspicions, as does the king." A small smile finally seemed to rise out of the lost depths of wisdom in the elder saiyans countenance.

"Oh?" Elery quirked an eyebrow at what the seasoned Saiyan could possibly mean. "So, you have someone in mind, then."

"You heard the king with your own ears. He thinks she's already in love. I mean, we all saw Vegeta's tantrum over the poor boy's identity. King Vegeta obviously thinks that the bond has already begun to make headway within his daughter. Which could only mean-"

"That her bondmate is already here!" Elery said, her voice rising in volume as she unleashed the apprehension she felt inside. She became rigid and rose her eyes toward Beatus again.

"Yes, but even then there could be danger. If the bond has begun the princess' bondmate is to become the next legendary - the last of which decimated a significant percentage of our race in pure fury." Despite his dark words, his eyes seemed to glaze over in awe, automatically responding with reverence to the foretold power.

Deep in thought, Elery raised a few fingers to her lips before finally saying, "Dangerous, yes, but such power could be used to our advantage. If that power could be tamed and controlled, you know what that could mean." She gave Beatus a calculated look. "Frieza could be stopped, and our great Saiyan race can finally be freed from the shackles he's imposed on us. We would be safe from other threats as long as the legendary lived, too. As for who that is, you think it's Gohan, don't you?" She let out a quickly widening smile after letting loose that thought that had been nagging her for a while.

Beatus let a smile of pride descend upon his features before they slowly turned into a knowing look that made Elery turn even more curious than before."Very good, Elery. You're exactly right. Now, I expect that your sister has been freed from her commander and is most likely looking for you. I've kept you much too long, but until next time Elder..." Beatus let his grin slide to one side as he abruptly turned away from the dumbfounded girl one-third his age and left her to her own presumptions.

Elery stared at the elderly Saiyan for a few seconds before shaking her spiky hair. Quickly, she ran after him to the entrance, her boots leaving small imprints in the lush grass. When she caught up to him, she placed a hand on his shoulder, gaining his attention. "Thank you for the talk, Elder Beatus. I'm glad that I'm all caught up now and for your great words of wisdom. I only wish we could have met under different circumstances..." Her shoulders slumped at the heavy, veiled words that came tumbling out of her mouth. "Until next time then. I must get back to Sora now."

With that, the 24-year-old half-smiled and rushed past her elder, raising her hand hastily as she parted the scene. She raced up the stairs, three or four steps at a time, deciding that she should try and check the library again, as that was their unspoken, agreed-upon meeting place. A breathless laugh left her lips at the image of her sister curled up in the palace library surrounded by books. She'd probably have to drag her out.

Elery reached the top of the stairs effortlessly and headed towards her little sister.

A/N: This was brought to you by Tina and Jordan. Hope you enjoyed the new characters. We'll see more of Gohan, Videl, and Vegeta in the next chapter. Let us know what you think! Thanks.