Sorry I missed my mark by a day. This chapter needed extra attention!

To AnonymousDBZFan,

You are the BEST. I kick myself every time I go over my self-imposed word count for a chapter, so it's the most wonderful thing to hear that you didn't want it to end.

This was indeed the most cathartic chapter to get out. All the secrecy, all the vagueness leading up to that moment could finally be aired and all revealed. I am blown away by your response to Marenna. I laughed out loud when I read that you were relieved to hear from Zhernobog! Wow, that's saying something, lol. Thank you!

Marenna was certainly a slow evolution. I took my inspiration from the actual Slavic goddess of winter and death Morana, but I didn't originally intend for her to be the antagonist. At the time, I didn't KNOW who the antagonist for this story would be. I just wrote, and Marenna ended up filling the role. While Morana is neither good or bad, she was undoubtedly feared in her time.

The biggest leap in writing this story compared to my first one was all the OC's. I find OC's intimidating to write not only because they're ground up, but there has to be a balance struck so they don't overshadow the established characters. At the end of the day, we read fanfiction for the characters we know and love (and I know this fanfiction is already a stretch because I refer to Vegeta as "Touketsu" throughout the entire thing).

The OC's should propel the story and be just interesting enough to like. I firmly believe that no character should be annoying, even the villains. You should love hating them, it came to developing the OC's, I asked myself what is it about my fav character (Vegeta) that 'I' liked most? WHY did he become my favorite?

I first fell for Vegeta when he died on Namek, because he revealed a side of himself I'd never seen. It was surprising, intriguing, and moving, and his death sealed the deal. My intrigue for him increased through DBZ and DBS because he showed himself to be multifaceted, and he continued to sporadically show hidden aspects of himself. He was always evolving and surprising me. I concluded that it's change that helps make a character interesting, whether it's for good or ill.

So, I applied that to my OC's. The princesses were predators that became allies, Zeygorn revealed himself to be as villainous as the Inimicus, and Marenna went from protector to adversary. She had the best of intentions, but she also went about her goals in a sneaky way. She carried a lot of guilt and shame (both over her addiction and for her husband's actions). She hid these perceived flaws, and they ultimately came back and blew up in her face.

Absolutely you called it: Zeema is love, Likha is lust, and Kuma is resentment. While I occasionally referenced their embodied attitudes in their speech, they are still their own gals. They DEFINITLEY handle themselves better than their mother, but that was something I wanted to underscore: they only have to contend with one powerful emotion. Pulled in different directions by 4 of them, (love, lust, resentment, and anguish), Marenna is less than sane now.

AnonymousDBZFan, I'm floored by your review, and I'm glad I could give you an unexpected turn (even if the turn was a bit dark, lol). Thank you endlessly for your devoted readership and your supportive comments! I so love hearing from you every time. Hope you enjoy this chapter, and I'm sorry it's a bit late!

A Knight

Encased in its crystalline coffer, the effigy hovered over the blood-red silks covering the canopy bed. A steady stream of rose-colored energy was blasting it like a laser, cracks spidering out around it. The magically conjured prism had been weakened on the inside by the princesses' remotely cast Spell of Wasting, but it wasn't broken.

"Damn it. Come on, come on!" Likha hissed through grit teeth. She was kneeling on the mattress, Bra's pale, limp body cradled in one arm. Likha never thought this magic would actually be stronger than their mother's barrier spell. It was as if all the same, impenetrable magic was concentrated into a small box.

She'd tried grabbing the entire thing to work on getting it out later, but the floating prism was anchored to the very atmosphere. Unable to budge it an inch, she'd been working feverishly to free it. Finally, the steadily fracturing prism exploded into tiny, sparkling fragments that disappeared in the air. The effigy fell to the bed, and Likha snatched it up.

Touketsu skid to a stop in the darkened and eerily quiet halls of the palace, the aqua fires of the torches on the walls casting somber light. He sniffed for Bra's scent as he fanned his senses for her tiny ki. "Where is she?" he muttered as Nappa and Raditz jogged to a halt behind him. The palace was huge; he wasn't getting a read. "Damn it, I can't find her!"

"Maybe Likha and Bra made it out? Zeema offered.

"Yeah, maybe," said Kuma. "We may have bought them enough time while we were at the arena. "Likha, are you at the Necropolis?"

"I'm not there yet!" Likha sent back.

"What?! What have you been doing?!" Zeema exclaimed.

"I really had to work to get the effigy freed, ok?"

"Mother's after you two," she sent to Likha. "Get to the Necropolis and try lifting the Suspension Spell from Bra. Touketsu's with us. If you think it's safe enough, wait for him." Kuma turned to the others. "We're heading to the east exit of the palace. From there we'll escape to the Necropolis and meet Likha and Bra."

"Why don't we just blast our way out?" asked Raditz.

Kuma hesitated. "…We're unable to use our power for pure destruction. I mean…we can, but we first have to weaken-"

"Allow me," Raditz smiled with all the gloating confidence of a man offering to open a pickle jar. He aimed at the ceiling. "KYAAAHH!" He blasted a hole through the vaulted ceiling. They all looked up, not at the sky, but another hallway.

"What the hell?!" Nappa exclaimed.

"Marenna," Touketsu growled. "She can manipulate the palace."

"I thought she was going after Likha," Kuma murmured before turning to Touketsu. "She is the palace. She anticipated what we were going to do and decided to just trap us all in." Touketsu's brows drew together when he remembered what Marenna told him during their first spar.

"My power is not confined to a form."

"…Damn it," he breathed.

"Keep moving!" Kuma shouted as she and Zeema took off. "We have to beat her at her own game." The group rounded a corner and balked. It opened out into the Volkfangr arena. Kuma threw out a blast of green magic, and the scene shattered before them like glass to reveal another hallway. They all hesitated for only a moment before racing after the princess, Raditz smirking a little in admiration.

They followed the youngest sister, and every now and then she dashed apart another false direction, though it was hard for the men to tell in the winding, nearly identical hallways of the palace. They turned another corner and stopped when they were met with an army of Marenna's attendants, all formidable male samurai.

A black anthropomorphic wolf was at the lead, and from the opposite direction another army led by a white wolf charged up. The Saiyans and the princesses were trapped between them. "Capture Touketsu and the princesses," commanded the black wolf. "Kill the two Inimicus." From both sides, the armies charged.

Each facing an army, Kuma and Zeema got in front of the Saiyans and threw up protective barriers. The sisters each relying solely on their own magic, they were compromised. The samurai slashed their katanas repeatedly at their shields, the disseminated power of Marenna's magic among the warriors nonetheless making an impact. The princesses were straining to hold them back.

Between the two sisters, Touketsu, Nappa, and Raditz flashed eager grins at each other. "Let them in," Touketsu commanded. "We'll take care of them."

"What?!" Zeema exclaimed as she looked over her shoulder.

"NOW!" all three men thundered at her.

"Eep! Ok, ok!" Zeema said.

"Crazy Saiyans." Kuma muttered. Letting down their walls, the princesses dissipated into snow flurries and flew up to the vaulted crystalline ceiling. The samurai attacked.

Touketsu went Berserker while Nappa and Raditz went Super Saiyan 2, and they met their foes head-on. One after the other the samurai were felled, their bodies turning either to supernatural snow or soil. The men soon found themselves standing in what was left of their adversaries.

"Heh, too damn easy," Nappa snorted as he drove a fist into his palm.

"Don't get cocky, Nappa," Touketsu growled. "They'll be back. Girls!" he shouted up at the snow whirling above them. "Let's get mov-"

The soil and snow sped past the Saiyans' feet. The snow took to the air before spinning downwards like a tornado to meet the whirling soil straining up to meet it. Dark particles collided into light, the resulting vortex sucking in the screaming, insubstantial snows that were the princesses. The whirling particles began taking on a form, the quickly manifesting creature standing over the men. Its bleached skull breached the vaulted ceiling of the expansive palace hallway.

The giant, werewolf-like skeleton was a nightmarish conglomeration of the attendants' fused bones, its form held up by glowing, blue-white energy. The black soil still eddying in low swirls around the creature's feet, it crept up its legs before racing up its back and down its tail. From its back, the black matter wrapped around its throat, shoulders, and head like a cowl, its skeletal face and ribcage exposed. The matter became rotted flesh that hung from the beast's bones in shreds, patches of matted hair growing here and there and a pair of pointed, raggedy ears forming atop its head. Within its ribcage of glowing, pale blue energy, were the trapped princesses.

"Girls! Turn into snow or something and get the fuck out of there!" Touketsu shouted up at them.

"We can't!" Zeema yelled down. "It's disrupting our power!"

The eye sockets of the wolfish Gashadokuro flared with icy light. Before any could blink, its skeletal, clawed hand shot out and snatched up Touketsu. Its other paw drawn back to strike, it slammed into Nappa and Raditz and sent the surprised Saiyans tumbling down the hall to crash into a wall. Touketsu burst out of its grip, shattering its bones and landing to the floor in a crouch as its hand reassembled. Fast as a viper, its jaws came down over him as he rolled out of the way.

"Don't let it eat you or you'll be stuck in here too, Touketsu!" Zeema yelled from its ribcage.

"Yes, I figured that!" he snarled as he leapt backwards to dodge again. "Svaroken!" He swung the blade through its incoming hand, but just like the attendants, its body quickly reassembled. "What the fuck are these bastards made of?!"

"Mother's Magic!" Kuma shouted. The palace attendants are conjured from the soil and atmosphere of Nav!"

Touketsu grit his teeth. "Great." Marenna's attendants weren't truly alive; they existed through her magic and were dictated by her will. Combined, this golem would be even more resilient. He caught the Gashadokuro's jaws when it tried swallowing him, and he was blasted with incapacitating, icy energy. He felt his body freeze up and begin to buckle, and he roared in determination. His body darkened as his Berseker aura flared to melt its effects away, but its hand grabbed him before he could do a thing more. Its jaws swung open.

Its head was blasted to pieces, its arm next. Touketsu unleashed a burst of power as he fell to the floor, and the cadaverous hand that still gripped him disintegrated to bits. He looked in the direction the blasts came from as the creature reassembled.

Nappa and Raditz. Scuffed, bleeding, and breathing heavily, the Super Saiyans' arms were still held out after their attacks. Out of the corner of his eye, Touketsu saw someone round the corner of the hallway behind the Gashadokuro. He turned and saw her some distance away from between the giant creature's legs. It was Likha, the effigy clutched in one hand. Cradled in her arms was Bra, frozen in sleep.

Touketsu's eyes widened. "No! No, get her out of here!" The creature had finished reassembling, and its head swung over in Likha's direction. It bounded towards her. Horrified, Touketsu looked on. She was just standing there!"Likha! Get out of!-"

The beast's jaws swiftly swallowed them up.

"NO!" Nappa and Raditz ran up as they charged another attack. "Hold your fire!" Touketsu shouted at them. "You could hurt Bra!"

The beast turned towards Touketsu. He could see the princesses within its glowing ribcage, huddled together around Bra. She'd intentionally let it capture her and Bra! Why?! A rictus of pure rage and betrayal tore at Touketsu's features as the beast jumped over to him in one leap. "DAMN YOU, LIKHA!" Faster than his men could act, the beast's jaws came down on him.

The creature of soil and snow suddenly blasted outward, and the men shielded their eyes as diffuse particles of mud flew past them. They looked, and Touketsu caught his breath. The three princesses were standing in the middle of the hallway. In Likha's arms was Bra, unharmed. He ran to them and stopped short as Nappa and Raditz jogged up.

Likha approached Touketsu, silent. She transferred Bra into his dumbfounded arms. "I suddenly remembered something Kuma said," she told him quietly as she put the effigy in Bra's bathrobe pocket. "It takes all three of us to match Mom's magic."

"We need to be close together to cast spells with enough power," Kuma told him. "It was a gamble, but from the inside we were able to break the Animus spell."

Touketsu looked at Bra, then Likha. "Likha, I…" he wasn't sure what to say, guilty that he'd doubted her. "Sorry."

"Well, I'm sorry I took Bra in with me. It just…everything happened so fast," she said as she shook her head. "And, um, I'm sorry about that night. In the bathhouse." Behind Touketsu, Nappa and Raditz glanced at each other and cocked their eyebrows.

Likha's sisters stepped forward, somber. "We're sorry too," they said in unison. "We know everything about Mama now," Zeema said quietly.

Touketsu's eyes flicked down for a moment. "Yes, well…perhaps if she'd confided in you, things would have been different. She should have had more faith in her children."

"Come on," Kuma said as she strode ahead. "Mother won't stop. We have to get you and Bra out of here." She and her sisters flew forward, the men running after them as they blasted through another false exit. The group of seven turned a corner, and it became apparent where they were when they came upon a familiar inlaid mosaic: It was the moon in its three phases, the waning crescent facing them, the full moon at its center, and the waxing crescent facing the throne room.

They were in the Grand Hall of the palace. Kuma threw a magic blast to reveal the hallway to the east exit, but nothing happened. The three sisters did it all at once, still with no results. Their mother was stronger here. The princesses looked at each other. "We'll push her away," Kuma said. Her sisters nodded. Zeema threw a hand out in front of her, palm down. Likha slapped her hand over Zeema's, then Kuma slapped a hand over Likha's. They shouted in unison.

"DEFLECT!"

The three dropped to a knee, their stacked hands hitting the checkerboard floor of marble. Flashing waves of energy in blue, rose, and green rippled out from beneath their hands in concentric circles. It traveled across the floor and down the halls to climb up the walls. The princesses again all threw a blast of magic in hopes of shattering their way to the exit. It began to work, but then quickly closed.

"She's pushing back!" Likha shouted.

The walls began rattling as though something was trying to break through, the closed doors to the courtroom and throne room doing the same. Suddenly, the group heard soldiers running down the hall towards them. Facing the hallway, Kuma unleashed a blast of energy and formed a solid wall of white ice, sealing them off.

"We need to do more!" Likha shouted as she faced the courtroom. Zeema facing the throne room, the three sisters forming a triangle. They each placed a hand over each other's shoulders. Their respective auras burst forth, spinning clockwise to feed through them as they each threw out a hand.

"SHIELD!" they shouted. The three blasted their barrier magic towards the direction they faced, the energy combining all three of their powers. The moment the multicolor beams struck, concussive waves of energy spread out to collide into each other like rippling water. Every surface became coated with translucent magic that flashed like white opal.

"We've deflected mother's influence over this part of the palace. Our shield will keep her out, but it won't last long," Kuma said grimly as she turned to Touketsu, her sisters likewise turning around to face him and his entourage. "If we try to break our way to the east exit, we'll break our shield in the process, and Mother will regain control. She'll just keep moving the palace halls in an endless maze until we're captured. The sisters looked at each other, loathe to say it. "We're cornered."

Touketsu looked disbelieving at them. "Well then we fight! She's not getting Bra!"

Standing across from Touketsu, Likha's eyes were filled with regret. Then, her expression lightened as she looked past his shoulder. "You're not fighting, Touketsu," she said, and her countenance hardened with resolve. "You're running."

"What?"

She swept her hands outward, and Touketsu felt a blast of heat behind him as heavy doors swung open. He turned, his face illuminated with aqua light as his eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

His head snapped back to Likha. "YOU WANT ME TO GO RUNNING ACROSS THAT FUCKING BRIDGE?!"

"Kalyna Bridge is the only way out of Nav!" she implored to his horrified face. "You have to escape with Bra to Toska. There are hotspots there, they're all over Other World."

He shook his head, incredulous as he looked at the princesses. "Your mother herself told me it's no way out. She wasn't lying, I couldn't cross it. I did everything I possibly could." He tightened his grip on the little girl. "Bra will be incinerated on the spot!"

Zeema put a hand on his shoulder. "Ok, so you couldn't cross it yourself." She looked at Likha. "You're thinking of using the spell on him, aren't you?"

"What spell?" Touketsu asked.

"It's a concentrated form of our shield spell, designed to protect whoever it's cast upon," answered Kuma, uncharacteristically anxious.

"Does it work?" They hesitated. "Does. It. Work?"

Zeema twisted her fingers together. "We've gotten better at sustaining it…"

Touketsu stared at her. "Better doesn't cut it."

"Touketsu, we're out of options!" Likha said. She turned to her younger sister. "Kuma. We have to make it work."

Kuma took a breath and nodded. "O…okay." She looked at the prince, silently awaiting his answer.

Touketsu looked out at the bridge again. Bra could end up burning after all if this didn't work…and then she'd just be dead. He looked down at her and saw Bulma. He had to bring Bra back to her mother, and they were all out of ideas. "Alright," he said as he turned back to the princesses. "Alright, I'll do it."

"Before you cross, we need to lift Mom's Suspension Spell." Likha said. She looked at her sisters. "Faster if we all pitch in."

Kuma nodded and placed her left hand over Bra's head, her other on Likha's left shoulder. Likha stacked her left hand over her sister's and placed her right on Zeema's shoulder. Zeema laid a hand over Likha's. They closed their eyes and within seconds the icy pallor lifted from Bra.

Touketsu's expectant expression dropped. "She's not waking up," he murmured anxiously.

"Don't worry, she will. Ok, let's go," Likha said as she looked at her sisters.

Nappa and Raditz stepped back as the sisters faced each other. Each planting a foot behind them, they leaned forward as they raised a fist in the air.

"ONE!" They all brought their fists forward. "TWO!" They repeated the action. Nappa and Raditz stared as Touketsu's eye twitched. It was the Ginyu Force all over again. "THREE! GO!" They brought their fists together one last time. Zeema had rock, Likha paper, Kuma scissors.

"Damn, a tie," Nappa grumbled. "Better make the next round fast."

Blue energy lit up Zeema's hand, Likha's hot pink, and Kuma's brilliant green. A spindle of spinning energy emerged from Zeema's fist, and Likha turned her glowing hand palm up to catch the thread of blue energy that floated over. It passed over her hand, picking up the energy before floating over to Kuma as a thread of two intertwined colors. Her right hand held as scissors and glowing green, the energy passed between her splayed fingers to emerge as a thin braid of all three energies.

Kuma caught the braid in her other hand, and she put her glowing hand on Touketsu's shoulder. The energy quickly spun around him and Bra, beginning to burn white, when it abruptly went out.

"…What happened?" Touketsu murmured.

"Darn it, why can't we make this work!" Zeema whined. She bit her lip. "Maybe we can imbue an object? You know, the way we use our Shield spell on walls?"

Likha nodded, thinking. "Yeah, yeah like something portable and protective in purpose - something personal would be best. A…a shield or-"

"Armor." Everyone looked at Raditz as he quickly stepped up to the little girl sleeping in Touketsu's arms. He put his hand in the pocket of her red fleece robe, hoping it was still there.

Touketsu's mouth dropped open at the sight of the capsule that Raditz pulled out. He raised his eyes to him. "Didn't I tell you to get rid of it?" he asked, his voice low.

Nappa walked over to stand next to Raditz. "Princess's orders, Vegeta," the general rumbled, "and you ordered us to follow them." Touketsu looked between the two for a moment. He wordlessly handed Bra to Nappa and took the capsule from Raditz. Pressing the switch, he tossed it to the floor. With a 'bom' the white and gold Saiyan style armor Bulma had fabricated appeared, and Touketsu quickly put it on.

The sisters again recited their uncanny rock-paper-scissors chant and reattempted the spell. The thrice imbued thread in Kuma's hand, she reached around Touketsu's back and touched the armor. Immediately, it became imbued with magic that scintillated with the brilliant multicolor fire of a diamond. From it, a white aura emanated to surround his entire body. Flashing with the colors of the auroras, it felt like a winter breeze.

"Oh my gods," Zeema breathed giddily as she continued spinning the magic. "It's working! The armor is generating the shield!"

"Yes, but I want to charge this armor as long as possible before he sets foot on the bridge," Kuma said, her face the picture of concentration. She glanced up at the prince. "You've got a long run ahead, Touketsu. Cutting the thread will release the full potential of the shield, but then it will start wearing off. The longer we charge the armor, the longer the shield will last."

"Will it protect Bra?" Touketsu asked anxiously.

"Anything that comes in contact with the charged object should share the shield," said Likha.

"Give her to me," Touketsu commanded Nappa, and the general handed Bra to him. He held her to his armored chest, and sure enough the glow that surrounded him enveloped her, too.

There was a deafening 'boom' on all sides of the protected walls. Tense, everyone looked up and around them. Another bang, then another, powdered masonry raining down on them like snow. "Mother's coming," Kuma said anxiously. "If she disrupts the spell, all our progress will be lost. I don't want to cut this thread until we've imbued the armor as much as possible."

"We've got your backs," Raditz said, stepping in front of her and her sisters.

"Right," Nappa affirmed as he walked in front of Zeema to stand next to Raditz. He took his battle stance. "You girls do yer thing. We'll hold 'er off."

"What?!" Touketsu said incredulously. He'd never been able to defeat Marenna, how could his underlings stand up to her? "You two have some idea how powerful she is, don't you?"

"We know, Vegeta," Raditz said. "We're just buying you time."

"…She'll send you back to Hell."

Nappa shrugged. "We've been there already."

The banging continued, the sound reverberating on all sides and the very space around them contorting with every assault. "Touketsu," Likha said, "be ready to run." Bra held tight and the thread of energy tethered to the back of his glowing armor, Touketsu began edging backwards towards the open doors.

Bang!

Holding their battle stances, Nappa and Raditz powered up to Super Saiyan 2.

BANG!

Touketsu looked anxiously over his shoulder, sweat beading on his forehead. Raging with blue-green fire, the burning bridge yawned open for them.

BANG!

His head snapped back to the courtroom wing when the entire thing exploded outward in a violent blizzard. With a roar, Nappa and Raditz flared their auras, pushing the blizzard back before unleashing broad blasts of power that destroyed the courtroom in front of them. Touketsu stood dumbfounded. How were they withstanding her at all? She was undoubtedly the strongest being in Nav, stronger than even Zeygorn! Nonetheless, his men's fortitude against her was proving short-lived.

"We can't hold her back long!" Raditz shouted as he and Nappa maintained their enduring beams of energy.

Touketsu's eyes ticked to the side for a moment. "This shield," he said, addressing the princesses, "is it strong enough to cross the bridge?"

"What?" Likha shook her head, her brows drawing together. "No. No, if we cut the thread now, it could wear off before you make it to the end!"

"What if you don't cut the thread?" They looked at him quizzically. "Will the shield be strong enough so long as you keep feeding power into it? I could get a head start. Marenna won't disrupt the spell once we're on the bridge."

They looked nervously at each other. It was a good idea – so long as the shield was strong enough. "It could work," Kuma said as they looked back to him. "It could be enough."

They had to take the gamble. Marenna was closing in. He took a breath. "Alright," he nodded. "Nappa! Raditz!" he called to his cohorts before looking at the princesses. "…Girls." He looked at them all. "Thank you." Nappa and Raditz nodded, grim smiles on their faces.

Touketsu turned and ran towards the burning bridge.

The thread of energy feeding into the armor, Touketsu held Bra tight against him. Everything seemed to slow down when he went through the open doors of black and white, his cohorts' gold energy spilling out behind him like sunlight. He closed his eyes as he approached the bridge. Protect her. Please protect her!

He suddenly found himself awash in heat…but he felt no pain.

Touketsu opened his eyes. Blinding, aqua flames were pushing against the protective aura surrounding them. The intense heat of the raging fires could be felt through it, but he and Bra were unharmed. "Gods," he breathed as he picked up speed. "It's enough."

The princesses watched him race down the bridge until he disappeared from view, the flames barely repelled by the magic. "It works! They're alright!" Likha shouted.

Nappa and Raditz glanced at each other, the relief on their features fleeting. Their energy blasts were decreasing in power, and they were losing their footing against Marenna. The whirling mist iced over and glommed together to become hailstones. They suddenly blasted outward in a flash of white light like an exploding claymore bomb. Nappa and Raditz were thrown to their backs. Supine, they looked up to see Marenna reform.

Nappa and Raditz leapt up and rushed her; Marenna could well have the power to follow the prince and Bra onto the bridge. Not looking at them, the queen blocked Nappa's incoming fist and knocked away Raditz's kick with her staff. She sent a stream of icy energy at Nappa when he followed up with another strike, encasing his right hand in ice. She struck it with the staff, shattering it as he roared in pain. His eyes flared purple.

With a roar and a burst of blinding, green-yellow energy his already huge body exploded in size. His eyes flared white for a moment before his pupils reappeared, a burning purple in color. He plowed his single fist center-mass into Marenna, and she exploded into water droplets. Raditz looked on, dumbfounded.

The princesses had glanced over before hunkering down on their spinning magic, their eyes wide. "Mama's going to be so mad," Zeema whimpered.

Not enough dark energy remained to affect Nappa's full transformation, but it was as powerful as Super Saiyan 3, and he'd retained his cognizance. In all the other instances, the negative energy Touketsu had inadvertently transferred to his cohorts was burned away in the Fire of Life; his influence still circulated within them.

"Raditz!" the general shouted. "The power Vegeta gave us – there's still some left! Connect with it! Transform!"

"…Right! Raditz connected with the rage-inducing dark energy still circulating in his being, and the power flowed through him. In a burst of light, he ascended back to Super Saiyan 3. His irises purple but his aura now gold, he maintained mental control. He completed the transformation just as the winds picked up.

Raditz stood in front of the princesses. Spreading out his arms, he generated a barrier that wrapped over and around them in a semicircle, the thread of their spinning magic uninterrupted. Nappa readied for another offensive.

The droplets of water whirled around, turning back into snow and condensing as the winds became freezing. The maelstrom whirled outward, the stone walls cracking and chipping under the cold. In a lightning-like flash of white light, the palace walls around them exploded outward, the vaulted ceiling of crystal fracturing to pieces to cyclone up into the stormy atmosphere. Hovering over them was a writhing, white dragon, its mane floating about its antlered head and its eyes a blazing blue topaz.

Nappa leaped through the air towards it, his arms raised over his head and his left hand gripping the stump of his right. Energy blasted through his arms, the blinding gold power taking on the form of a massive war hammer. The ki weapon crackling and flashing chaotically, he brought it down over the dragon's long muzzle.

The princesses flinched when the dragon was driven into the floor with a deafening crack behind them, Nappa landing across from it. "Mom won't be mad," Likha said, cringing. "She'll be pissed."

The dragon's head became translucent, its watery flesh rippling outward in concentric circles from around the glowing war hammer embedded within. The watery hide quickly grew opaque again as though frosting over. Nappa's arms now encased within its mouth, his eyes widened as white frost crept up his arms. He looked over at Raditz, and he gave him a strained smile.

"Up to you now, Runt." The frost sped over his body and turned him into a sparkling white sculpture as though he'd been dipped in liquid nitrogen. The dragon's jaws swung open and snapped down over Nappa's frozen body, completely disintegrating him.

Not looking, Zeema flinched. A tear rolled down her cheek.

"No!" Raditz shouted. He drew back his hand as he charged. "Riot Javelin!" The crackling energy spear manifested, and he thrust it into the creature's side. Its scaly, pearlescent hide shimmered at the spear's point of entry, the flesh growing translucent as it rippled outward in concentric circles. The serpent's watery body ballooned out around the spear point, and the entire thing exploded outward like a bomb going off at sea.

Raditz caught his breath. He looked at the princesses before his gaze settled on Kuma, his eyes uncharacteristically apologetic. Kuma shook her head, her voice anxious. "Raditz. Don't let down your guard."

Wind whirled around them, droplets of water forming before becoming a blizzard within a second. it coalesced around Raditz, and there was a flash of blinding light. Raditz was trapped in the dragon's constricting, pearlescent coils, white frost crawling up his body as he struggled. He lost hold of his transformation.

"Your loyalty to your prince is admirable," the dragon softly intoned through unmoving lips. "But your efforts are misguided. He and the child have a home here. They will be forever loved."

Raditz looked desperately to the princesses still spinning their protective magic, their features as anguished as his own as they looked back at him. "Princesses! Please don't let her!" he shouted at them, but he was looking at Kuma.

"You have violated Nav law, and you will reflect on this in a lower purgatory." Raditz was covered in rimy, white frost, his body completely frozen from the outside in. With one powerful squeeze of the dragon's coils, he exploded into powder and disappeared.

"No!" Kuma cried out, her sisters looking on in horror.

There was a flash of light, and in the place of the dragon was Marenna. She approached her daughters. "You know I will not let them come to harm. I won't disrupt the spell while they're on the bridge."

Zeema's blue eyes were filled with tears. "Mama-"

Marenna placed a gentle hand on the shoulder of her eldest. "I'm bringing them home."

The spool of light blue energy emanating from Zeema's fist darkened to sapphire. It began spinning in reverse. The sisters looked on horrified as the thread, now encased in deep blue light, passed through their hands in the opposite direction. Touketsu and Bra were being reeled back in like fish.

On the bridge, Touketsu raced on. "How the hell long even is this bridge?!" he gasped. His thoughts were disrupted when he found himself inextricably slowing down as though he was wading through tar. Then he completely stopped. His horror-stricken eyes went to his feet; he was sliding backwards. What?! Straining against the pull, he looked feverishly over his shoulder. "What the hell is going on back there?!"

The sisters locked eyes with each other. Kuma's brows furrowing, she looked at the glowing thread passing in reverse between her two splayed fingers.

She cut it.

Touketsu stumbled forward, turning awkwardly in the direction of the palace when the resistance suddenly disappeared. His eyes widened at what he saw: The energy thread was whipping towards them.

…It's been cut, he thought disbelievingly. Run. Run!

He turned and plowed forward as the skein of energy trailed after the pair like an ever-shortening fuse. The bridge was far longer than he could have imagined. This shield had to hold out! The thread reached them, and in a burst of blinding white light a flare of protective power pushed the flames back. Cool within the large sphere of protective magic, Touketsu ran on as the blue-green flames swirled around them some distance away.

Then, the fire slowly began to close in. Touketsu was moving at an incredible speed, but the bridge was incredibly long. The protective sphere continued to shrink, the flames growing closer and the heat beginning to seep in. It soon became searing. He ran faster. Shit. Shit! They weren't going to make it.

"No!" Marenna cried in anguish. Her daughters threw up a barrier against their mother; if she had the strength, she'd pursue Touketsu and Bra if they didn't stop her. Furious, Marenna pushed back with her own magic. "I'm proud of you, my daughters, in spite of your disobedience. Together your strength has matched mine."

"And that's how we found out the truth!" Zeema cried out.

"We combined our efforts to cast a spell on the effigy," said Kuma. "Through it we witnessed everything." Marenna's eyes widened.

"We found out how we were born," Likha said. "We learned about your past and why you want Touketsu and Bra. We won't let you do this, Mom!"

Marenna's eyes blazed. "My affairs…are my OWN!"

With a final blast of power, she overcame them. Frozen statues of triple goddess stood in their place, as transparent as crystal. Marenna sank to her knees. This would hold them until she lifted the spell. She loved them dearly, but they were so disobedient. The meek disposition of the vessel for her grief would be a welcome change.

Marenna's hands went to her mouth, her eyes welling with tears of agonizing loss when she considered the possibility that Touketsu and Bra were dead. "They can't be gone," she whimpered, her face cracking as a sob escaped her lips. "They must be alive."

If they'd survived, they were getting away while she recovered her strength. She needed all her power to cross the bridge. Battling the two Saiyans and overpowering her willful daughters had taken everything out of her.

"Zeygorn," she sent telepathically as her tears flowed freely. "Touketsu and the child escaped over Kalyna Bridge. As a fire daemon you can withstand the flames. Apprehend them. I must have them back!" she implored, her face twisting in apprehension. There was no response. "Zeygorn!" she cried.

The protective aura around them thinning by the second, Touketsu looked down at Bra. Shadow Cast. It protected his body on more than one occasion, but it had been no match for the fires of the bridge. So long as the protection spell still encompassed them however, it could be enough. He could divert it to Bra, but would she survive? His aura was toxic - the move could kill her.

He looked up. He couldn't see the end of the bridge. Please survive this, Bra. Please! His body darkened in its protective shadow. After a moment of focus, it leached from his darkened hands over to her, encapsulating her in a black shroud. His feet pounded over the flaming timber of the wood bridge, the fires licked at him and closed around his dark form. Squeezing his eyes shut as he clutched Bra close, he cried out as though to drive himself on and the insatiable fires back.

All at once, the flames were gone. They tumbled out into long grey-green grass under the sliver of moon in the night sky, plowing through bones scattered about in the field and crushing red poppies along the way. They rolled to a stop, disturbing a collection of black, red-eyed cicadas and sending the insects buzzing into the night sky. All was quiet. Timidly, the 17-year cicadas resumed their whirring calls.

Touketsu lay on his side panting, still clutching his bundle as Shadow Cast left him. His eyes cracked open, his pupils dilated within their red irises as they adjusted to the darkness. The eerie, yellow-green glow of fireflies floated about them. He blinked and realized what he was holding: A smoking, pulsing shadow.

Terror gripped his heart as he sat bolt upright. "Bra! No!" he cried, ripping the wafting darkness from her as though pulling off cobwebs. Half expecting to see a pile of diminutive bones tumble from the dark parcel, he didn't breathe until the last shreds of melting shadow were pulled away. She was whole, her eyes half open. She blinked slowly.

"Bra," he breathed, hugging her against him without thinking. He pulled away to inspect her. She appeared to be unharmed, but she seemed completely out of it. "Bra, are you alright?" His brows drew together in concern when she didn't answer, and her eyes slid closed again. "Bra!?" He checked her pulse; it was normal. His head snapped over to the burning bridge. Marenna could well pursue them onto Toska. With a curse he lifted Bra up and tore through the grass with her.

He didn't know what was wrong with Bra. It could be that she was still coming out of Marenna's spell, or it could be Shadow Cast or the effects of being on this plane too long. All he knew was that he needed to create distance between themselves and the bridge. Then they had to find a hotspot…and quickly. Touketsu covered miles in minutes, racing past dim balls of pale, blue-green light that bounced and floated low along the ground. The aimless spirits didn't seem to even see the two strangers, so stuck in their personal worlds of sadness.

Held against Touketsu, Bra began to stir. She blinked and groggily looked up at him. Her eyes began to widen. Touketsu glanced down at her and slowed to a stop, his eyes brightening. "Bra! Are you alright?"

She shrieked and pushed away from him.

His grip tightened around her. "Bra, what-" She continued to flail and shriek. "Bra, calm down! It's alright, it's only-" She threw a ki blast at his face. "Gah!" He dropped her in surprise and she scrambled up, backing away from him.

Bra whimpered. Like some sort of nightmare, blackness was ripping at the edges of her vision like tattered sackcloth whipping about in a storm. Her mind was being affected by Shadow Cast's residual energy. She pulled the hood of her red robe up as though it could hide her from the monster standing in front of her. It looked something like Touketsu, but it was monstrous in size, veins popping out against its bulging muscles. Its eyes were a blank, glowing red, its fangs and black claws like sabers. The sight of her father's familiar armor on the hulking creature looked completely wrong. It was growling at her.

Touketsu looked at her, perturbed. "Bra," he said firmly. "It's only me. It was dangerous to stay in that palace." He took a small step towards her, and she stepped back. He slowly brought his hands up, a vain attempt to calm her.

The growling beast brought up its viciously clawed hands as it readied to spring.

"Look, I'm sorry about what happened in the graveyard. I know what went wrong. I can get you home safely, you have to trust me." He took another careful step towards her.

Bra stepped back when the growling creature advanced.

"Bra…"

She threw a ki blast at it followed by another and another. It snarled and went completely black. A red-eyed shadow, it absorbed her attacks.

"Bra, STOP!"

She shrieked and fled when it roared at her. Unable to fly in her panicked, darkened state of mind, she tore through the woods just behind her. Touketsu ran after her and balked when he heard her high-pitched scream. He stiffened in alarm; her small ki signature had suddenly dropped to nearly nothing.

"Bra? Bra!" He plunged into the forest after her, the brush whipping past his face under the crescent moon when he skid to a stop: The woods had given way to an abrupt ravine. He broke out into a cold sweat. "No," he muttered anxiously as he peered down below where her ever weakening ki was. Steam rose from far below, obscuring even his night vision.

Suddenly he spotted her: a tiny body lay face-down on a cliff ledge directly below, limbs sprawled out awkwardly and her aqua hair fanned around her.

"NO!" He leapt down to the ledge and fell on his knees beside her. Putting two fingers to her neck, he felt for a pulse. He could feel it, but it was weak and fluttery…and it was beginning to slow. "No. No, no, no," he muttered. "Not again, not again." Gingerly he scooped her up, cradling her head. Her fine, blue hair was matted with blood, and he released a cry of disbelieving grief, his eyes starting in horror. "Not again!" he sobbed, his eyes squeezing shut as he held her against him.

His eyes cracked open, and they began to widen at what he saw below the rising steam: A wide lake of milky water, its scent like that of earth after a spring rain. Clutching Bra tight to his armored chest, Touketsu stood and took a running leap off the ledge. He straightened his legs as they plummeted, and they plunged through the pearlescent water.

He kicked his way back up, and the two breached the surface. Bra clung to his armor, coughing and sputtering and fully healed. Wiping away the wet hair that clung to her face, she looked around in startled confusion before her eyes settled on her savior. Her blue eyes widened in surprise and recognition, overwhelming relief lighting up her features.

"Daddy!" She flung her arms around his tanned neck, hugging him tight as she collapsed into sobs against him.

His shoulder-length hair heavy with water, Vegeta rubbed her back in comfort. "I'm here," he panted. He would explain later. Right now, she just needed her father. "I'm here, Princess."

So Vegeta ends up being a knight in shining armor after all, lol.

There were a few fairy tale references in this one. You may have caught on to the ongoing Sleeping Beauty (Snow White?) reference. Then there's the Little Red Riding hood reference when Bra sees Touketsu Vegeta as a monstrous version of himself.

The princesses' protective spell was once again a reference to the Greek Fates (also the Thread Spinning Norns of Nordic mythology). Said to spin out the length and quality of a mortal's life, the cutting of the thread signifies its end.

There was a very subtle reference to some totally obscure Slavic mythology when Likha opens the palace and doors, and Touketsu goes running out with the gold light of the Super Saiyan behind him. Slavic mythology is all over the place since it was never written down, but there is a mention of the Zorya (The Auroras). In some stories, the Zorya are associated with the Fates. They are 3 sisters: the Morning Star, the Evening Star, and the Midnight Star. They open and close the gates for Dazbog, the Slavic Sun God, and they keep watch over a demonic god that is chained to the constellation Ursa Major. If he escapes, the world ends.

Some may know of the Gashadokuro, a Japanese yokai. Said to haunt crossroads and eat travelers, it is a giant human skeleton that is sometimes depicted as a conglomeration of the bones of its prey. I'm already predisposed to wolves, but the underworld Norse goddess Hel and her wolf steed Garm were the inspiration for the Gashadokuro featured in this chapter. Hel is said to be half white and half black, symbolizing life and death, which I embraced; Hel already played on the whole ongoing theme of Marenna's palace.

Thank you for reading!