A/N: Lots of dialogue this chapter. Thank you to gokuspasm (feel free to stalk away), Renol (Thank you, I'm always afraid that I'm going to write him very out of character, so I'm glad that that's not the case), Chihuahua Face (Thank you so much!), and Gindorf091 (Thank you!)
Fun fact: Chapter titles and the story title are from the song Lions from Lights.
Chapter 3: Stand Me at the Head of the Crusade without a Remedy
It was unusually quiet for an apartment building and walking inside had revealed a grimy interior, possibly because the landlord was terrible at upkeep. All the things Elyse never noticed were glaring at her now. She was starting to wonder what he must think of her to live in such a run down area. The blood started rushing to her cheeks and she bit the inside of her lip. Walking right behind her Raditz was like a towering giant. The warrior had started feeling out the different ki levels as soon as she had ushered him inside, there was no telling what kind of opponents were behind all those closed doors. Following the small woman up a couple flights of stairs, they went to the last apartment at the end of the hallway. Fumbling with her keys, she realized it had been quite some time since she had anyone come up to her apartment, let alone a man.
Opening the door and flipping on the light switch, the tiny apartment was illuminated with fluorescent lighting. Raditz watched her as she tossed the bag she was carrying on the couch and walk into the galley kitchen. He staid standing, looking around the apartment. All the seating was overstuffed and covered in black cloth. The wood flooring looked like it had seen better days and a small television sat in the corner of the room. The walls had a lot of different pictures, some in black and white and others in color. Looking at the closest ones he noticed there were pictures of Elyse with other people, in all likelihood they were probably family. They were all smiling which struck him as odd. The portraits that he had seen when he was younger were of the royal family and he portraits never held one smile.
"Would you like some tea? Maybe some sake?" The tea pot had whistled as she took it off the stove top and poured herself a cup.
"What's sake?" Elyse walked over to the couch and set her tea cup on the side table. When she walked by him, her sugary scent filled his nostrils. He closed his eyes for a moment before returning to reality. Pulling out a small cup she poured him a drink.
"Sake is a rice alcohol. I can warm it up for you if you like, that is if you're cold from the rain."
Raditz wasn't cold, in fact he rarely ever got cold. It wasn't in the nature of his people to get cold easily seeing how their body temperature was higher than an Earthlings.
"However you serve it is fine." He sat down in the overstuffed recliner and waited on her to serve him his drink. Handing him the cup, he took it from her and took a sip. He let the liquid roll around on his tongue before letting it go down his throat. It was surprisingly not bad. Elyse sat down on the couch and curled her feet under her.
"I'm surprised you aren't at least a little cold, I know I am." She wrapped her hands around her tea cup and took a drink.
"I forget how delicate the human constitution is." He sneered at her before taking another drink. Elyse raised her eyebrow and took another drink.
"The human constitution? What are you then?" Her tone was light, but he knew that he had blew it. Bulma had told him that he needed to keep his background a secret because people would ask too many questions. He never worried because it wasn't like he knew anyone outside of their group, but now it was different.
Looking at him she could tell that he was serious. Repeating herself she asked, "What are you?" Raditz downed his drink, shooting it back. "If you tell anyone, you will die." Setting her cup back down she put her hands up in mock surrender. Laughing nervously she told him that she wouldn't tell anyone.
Watching his reaction was like watching a stone. His face gave nothing away. "I'm from a destroyed planet called Vegeta-sei. I am called a Saiyan, but there are so few of us that there will be nothing left to tell of us in several decades." There was no emotion on his face, but the anger and sorrow was inflected in his voice.
Elyse's head tilted to the side. "How did your planet get destroyed?" There was a moment of silence.
"A tyrant named Freiza blew it to smithereens." Raditz gave no more detail after that. Looking out the window, he saw that the rain poured even harder.
"It's lucky you have your brother then. I couldn't imagine being the only one left one my family, let alone the entire human race." Elyse tried to cheer him up, but it had the opposite affect.
"My brother is no Saiyan. Even though he has the same blood coursing through his veins, he is a soft hearted Earthling."
She was confused by his statement. "How is he different from you then? And why is it so bad to be one of us?" To tell the truth, she felt insulted that he kept referring to humans as weak and soft.
"Onna, do you always ask so many questions?" Her cheeks flared red again, but this time in anger.
"Do you always answer a question with a question?" Her arms were crossed across her chest. Raditz pinched the bridge of his nose; he had no idea that this woman would get so annoying. He huffed out a perturbed sigh.
"If you interrupt me I will stop and you will not got your answers, got it woman?" Elyse quickly nodded her head in agreement. "When I was a boy I was already out on missions, fighting in the name of Freiza to keep peace between our planet and him. I was off planet at the time Kakarot was born and sent to Earth. Our planet was destroyed shortly after."
"But why would he be sent here as a baby?"
"Because he was on a mission to destroy Earth's inhabitants so we could sell your planet off to the highest bidder." Elyse gasped in horror.
"You really did that?"
"I did as I was told. I come from a warrior race who lusts for blood and battle, it makes no difference to me as long as I'm alive at the end of the day."
"So what makes your brother different?" Raditz leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes.
"His space pod malfunctioned and he crash landed. Kakarot hit his head and everything that had been preprogrammed was erased. At some point a human male found him and raised him as his own." When he opened his eyes again he saw that Elyse was on the edge of her seat, her eyes wide at his tale. She was absolutely fascinated and wanted to hear more.
"When did you get to Earth? It must have been a long time after your brother was sent here if you guys grew up without each other." Raditz sat in silence. He didn't want to reveal any more about himself than he already had. He stood up abruptly and started to the door. Elyse panicked.
"Did I offend you? I'm sorry if I did, but I can't help but ask quest-"
"Another time." His hulking hand enclosed the door handle, opening the door to the hallway. Coming up behind him she clasped her hands to her chest.
"At least let me walk you out." Raditz acquiesced and let her lead him again. Once outside Elyse stood under the awning while he walked out in the rain. Looking up and down the street he started to float up into the air.
"You can fly?" Her voice rose to almost a squeak.
"See you another time Onna." He powered up and flew up higher into the air, he grinned as her voice screeched after him.
"You stupid jerk! You better come back again and answer my questions!" Soon he was too far away to sense her power level as he got closer and closer to his brother's home. Not wanting to draw attention to himself, he just went to his bedroom window and opened it. He crept into the dark room and rose his ki to dry his clothes off. Sniffing the air he smelled his brother's mate's cooking. Dinner would be soon and of course he was expected to join. A couple knocks rapped on the door.
"Enter." His brother's spiky hair entered the room before he did.
"I noticed you just got home. Is everything okay?" If there was he certainly wasn't telling Kakarot.
"No." He took his shirt off and replaced it with something sturdier that would withstand his training. He stilled as he felt his brother getting nearer. Goku gave a quick sniff around his brother, smelling sugar and sweat. He started grinned like an idiot and nudged Raditz in the ribs.
"You saw that girl again didn't you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Raditz pushed passed his brother to go to the dining area.
"You do to, you sly dog." He kept grinning as he went after his older brother.