Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Sing No Songs ❯ Visit ( Chapter 17 )

Chapter 17

 

His right hand had become useless. It had started with a tingling down his shoulder, and a numbness on the surface of his skin. He touched the hand and he couldn't feel it. Just a dull pressure, a dull, dull pressure that soon went away. His fingers had curled into his palm and stayed that way, petrified.

 

Vegeta laid down on the floor and placed his arm over his eyes. He slept. The sleep was empty and dreamless. Whatever images that appeared behind his eyelids, he pushed them away. He was aware of them, the images, but he wouldn't let them come close enough to touch him.

 

This was his cave.

 

---

 

Bra walked down the corridor, Levi at her side. In front of her was the Reader together with three uniformed men. Bra had recognised one of the men the moment she laid eyes on him. It was the one who had introduced himself as Captain, the one who had said that he had came “on a mission of peace”, and then proved himself to be anything but peaceful. She watched his back, dark and straight next to the flowing robes of the Reader.

 

The Captain was saying something, and Bra walked a bit faster, hoping to catch a few of his words.

 

“…highly irregular,” she heard him say. His voice was hushed and agitated. She couldn't hear the other man's reply, but it made the Captain glance back at her, just once, and they both fell silent.

 

Bra walked on, and felt the silence deepen around her, isolating her from everything but the echo of her own footsteps. The air was cold, and glowing stripes along the roof placed everything in a muted light.

 

She had once walked into the chamber underneath a pyramid. She was reminded of this now, although she had been alone at that time, and the passageway had been narrow and cramped. But the feeling had been the same, this sense of invisibility that she couldn't shake, this sense that nothing she did was actually happening.

 

No. She reached out and felt Levi's sleeve brush up against her hand. His presence was good for her, she thought. It put a weight on her shoulders and forced her to accountability. She couldn't just drift.

 

She wondered about this, about this sense that she wasn't quite there. She had thought she had grown out of it by now.

 

“Here we are,” the Captain said, and she snapped to attention.

 

They stopped before a large door with a handle shaped like a wheel. The guards moved to stand on either side of the door, and the Captain and the Reader turned to face her in a way that once again convinced her that they knew.

 

“We would like to go in alone, if you don't mind,” Bra said. She had saved her request to the last minute, hoping to avoid any questions or confrontations. All that could wait. First she had to see her father.

 

Reader Rok was silent way too long. He tucked his hands into the sleeves of the opposite sides of his robe and pursed his lips. Bra resisted the sudden urge to punch him.

 

“Very well,” the Reader finally said. He stepped to the side, and the Captain closed his hands around the handle. He started to turn it, with some effort it looked like, and the lock opened with a heavy thud.

 

Darkness. She could see nothing except darkness inside the room. She stared at the opening, and found that she couldn't move. Her feet were frozen to the floor.

 

“Shit.” The mutter came from Levi, barely audible, just a hissing through his teeth. Bra turned to look at him. He swallowed, and she could see surprise and confusion on his face. It was the air, she thought. Something in the air that she couldn't taste or feel, but it was there all the same. It was a resistance, a reluctance. Looking into the open doorway she knew it clearly. They were not welcome here.

 

“Oh, well.” She smiled at Levi, a small smile that relaxed the lines of her face and spread calmness through her body. She felt the tension in her stomach lighten. “Here we go then.”

 

Sorry, Father, but we have to disturb you now.

 

Levi nodded. The strange light in the corridor had deepened the colour of his hair, and his skin looked pale, almost white. Every crease in his clothing stood out, gleaming, while the shadows were black like the surrounding walls. It looked special. It made her aware of herself, of the way she stood, of the way she held her arms down her sides. Like every movement counted for something. She stepped forward, and saw in her mind's eye how they entered the room. Levi walked beside her, and she saw his slender neck and her slender neck, and how their hair looked in the dark. She heard the door close behind her, and the sound - the boom - removed the distance and the fancies.

 

There she stood, looking at her father.

 

He lay on his side. One arm was folded under his head like a pillow, and the other arm was hiding his face. He didn't stir and he didn't look up. Between them, splitting the room in half, was a wall of shimmering glass. A few more steps, and her hands were pressed against the glass. It was smooth and not as cold as she had expected. She lifted her right hand and brought it back with a slap. She did it again, making her palm sting. “Dad… Dad.” Could he even hear her?

 

She remembered when she had been a teenager, pestering her father, pushed him and pushed him to acknowledge her. “Dad!” She saw him move. He lifted his arm from his face, and lay there, staring straight ahead. She tried to meet his eyes, but they were hidden in shadow, and why did it have to be so cold and dark in here?

 

“Father!”

 

He pushed himself up to his knees, and started to stand. His movements were slow, and painful enough to make her gasp. “Wait…” she whispered. “Wait...” She hadn't meant to push him, she hadn't meant for him to struggle. He stood, leaning against the wall. As he walked towards her she though for a second that he might fall. He caught himself heavily when he reached the glass, and she placed her palm next to his. His other hand was a loose fist that didn't look right, too clumsy and too stiff. His face, hard and set, was very close to hers.

 

“Dad? It's me. Bra. I've come to…”

 

“Go home.”

 

She couldn't hear a trace of warmth in his voice. His eyes made her shiver. There was something missing, she thought, some spark that should have been there but wasn't. She opened her mouth, but she couldn't find a word to say.

 

“We won't leave you, Grandfather.”

 

Levi… Exactly.

 

She took a deep breath of the chilly air. “He's right. We won't leave you, we're going to help you get out of here. Not right now, but soon.”

 

“I don't want your help. Go home.”

 

Bra watched him brace himself against the wall. He lowered his head, like he was dizzy, and she got a close look of the band around his neck. It was a metal that shone like silver.

 

He glanced at her, a dark glance, filled with… what? Malice? Resentment? He must hate it, that she was seeing him like this. She remembered the times when he had locked himself up in the Gravity Room for several days in a row. Even her mother wouldn't approach him then.

 

“You should never have left, Dad. You should…” You should have been there when we buried her. And was that all she could come up with right now? A funeral? A grave? “I want… I want you to come home, Dad. For me.”

 

“Me too.” Levi placed his hand on the glass, next to hers. “I want you back too.” He sounded so young and earnest, and Bra felt a wave of gratitude towards him, her brother's son. “I want to learn things from you, Grandfather. And if you go somewhere, then I want to come with you.”

 

Vegeta looked at them with a slight twist on his mouth. I'm not going anywhere, he seemed to say. I'm not going anywhere, so you might as well leave me alone.

 

“But, Father…”

 

But, Father, what? She knew this silence, knew this look in her father's eyes. He wouldn't listen to her. He'd care nothing for her comforts or her accusations.

 

There was a long moment of silence. When she spoke next it felt like a retreat. “I can't believe this. They locked you inside a… a dungeon, leaving you to sleep on the floor. They haven't even given you a blanket.”

 

He shrugged, like he understood everything that she didn't. “I don't need a blanket.”

 

“But you're a prisoner. They're giving you poison… poison! And what's the matter with your hand? Can't you move it anymore?”

 

He looked at his hand, held it in front of his chest like it was some alien thing that didn't belong to him, something of no value. “It's the poison, as you say.” His voice held very little inflection. “Don't worry about it, child.”

 

Child. She clung to that single word of endearment. Nothing could change it. She was his child.

 

She leaned closer. “Why did you let them do this to you, Dad? It's all wrong. You don't belong here.” Her voice was soft.

 

“But I do.” His answer was equally soft. “It fits so well.”

 

“Is it because of Mom?”

 

“Hm.” There was a change in his expression, a relaxation of his shoulders.

 

“I won't think badly of you, Daddy. I… I understand.”

 

“I used her.”

 

“What do you mean?” Soft and slow. Her brow was only a few centimetres from his.

 

“Her life… I borrowed it from her. Her death… took it all away.”

 

“It's not the end, Dad.”

 

“It is. There is such a thing as finality.”

 

“The afterlife…”

 

“I've been to the afterlife, and it is not eternal, not final. Her death, however, was. Even with the Dragon it wouldn't be possibly to bring her back.”

 

“You don't know… you don't know…”

 

“I do know. Don't cry. This is the way it is.”

 

Was she crying? She hadn't been aware of that.

 

“That might be,” she said, closing her eyes. She turned away, took a few steps into the room. Felt like she was waking up from a dream. She saw Levi look at her, and she wiped the tears from her cheeks. Took a deep breath. “You believe you'll never see her again.” Her back was still turned towards Vegeta. “I wouldn't know about that. Maybe you will and maybe you won't, but that doesn't really matter right now, does it?” She turned around. “We'll get you home. Everything else can wait.”

 

Vegeta took a step away from the glass. He didn't look like he was listening to her.

 

“What are you thinking about, Dad? The threat to Earth? Don't worry, we'll work it out. Okay?”

 

There was no answer.

 

“We'll get you home. Do you hear me, Dad?

 

Vegeta was walking away from her. His steps were slow, but they seemed more steady than before. He reached the far wall and leaned his back against it, crossing his arms over his chest. In the darkness she could only see the outline of his body.

 

“Hey!” What was this? What the HELL was this? “Don't go. At least talk to me, Dad.”

 

Her bitterness was fully tangible, like a bad taste in her mouth. She gritted her teeth, and waited, and waited, but his silence didn't break. Was he putting an end to her visit now? Was he going to make her leave with the image of him standing there, shutting her out? She might… she might never see him again. It was entirely possible. Goten and Pan might not arrive in time, and even if they did… she wasn't sure anymore. It occurred to her, with a sinking feeling in her stomach, that she was standing on a ship. What was there to prevent him from disappearing for a second time, with no hope of finding him again?

 

Father…

 

She was as close to him as she could, reaching for him with her body against the glass. It had seemed so reasonable. Visit him, and leave. She wasn't fit for any rescue missions, she knew she wasn't - not if it involved fighting and bloodshed. But then again, she wasn't fit to walk away either, to leave him with his silence and his shadows. Not now. Not ever.

 

“Dad… Dad… Aren't you ready to get out of here? I could break the glass. I could do it right now. Say the word and I will.”

 

She didn't mean it… yes, she did. She slammed the heel of her hand onto the glass, and felt it shudder. It was so fragile. She wasn't trying to break it, not yet, but if it should break from such a small impact it couldn't really be helped, could it? What had they expected, placing her father behind such a fragile wall and proclaiming it the division between life and death? It was a joke - a big, not so funny joke that grated on her nerves like so many lies and so much falseness.

 

She raised her hand again, ki running through her bones and crackling around her fingers.

 

“Careful there.”

 

She thought it was Levi at first, Levi who was holding her wrist in a firm, callous grip, twisting her elbow and piercing her skin with nails sharp as needles. No… She glanced back, and come face to face with the Reader.

 

“You might not want to do that,” he said, somehow managing to sound good natured even as her blood was trickling between his fingers. Claws. But more important than that: ki. It was building between them; two separate fields of power, battling, repelling each other… making her heart race and her body tremble. She gathered more of the power, and more, and he followed, all the time keeping himself one step behind.

 

Wha…?

 

She held still, ready and motionless, and felt him do the same. One step below her, not threatening, just waiting.

 

“Let go of her.”

 

Vegeta. He had approached without her noticing. He glared from her to the Reader, his presence so unyielding she could almost forget he couldn't touch them. She felt the Reader start - surprise, fear? - and in the middle of it all she found herself smiling. This was her father.

 

The Reader released her wrist. His arms fell to his sides, the wide sleeves covering his hands. He bent forward slightly. Bra blinked. What was this? Was the Reader… bowing to her? His power was dropping, she realised. Now, she thought, now would be the time to strike, to get him out of the way. It was the perfect time. Why then wasn't she moving?

 

“Forgive me,” the Reader said. He straightened his back, his gaze wandering between her and Vegeta. “I meant to stop you, not injure you, but I can see that I did. I trust it is nothing serious?”

 

“I'm fine.” She was. His claws had only scratched her, and the bleeding had almost stopped. Right now she couldn't even feel any pain.

 

The Reader turned to Vegeta and bowed, like he had done for her. “Again, I'm sorry. You can rest easy, Vegeta. I mean no harm to your daughter or to your grandson.”

 

“Who are you, and what do you want?” Spark, she thought. The spark that she had been missing, it had come back in him now.

 

“I'm Reader Rok, a servant of the Law.” He closed his dark eye-lids briefly. “Hate me if you will, Vegeta, I'm one of those responsible for keeping you here. As for what I want…” He turned to Bra to Levi, and raised his voice. “It might turn out that what I want and what you want are not all that different.”

 

“Eavesdropping, were you?” Bra was surprised at the amount of hostility in her own voice.

 

“Indeed.”

 

She thought she saw him smirk, just slightly. Smug bastard.

 

Had she mentioned Pan and Goten during the conversation with her father? She didn't think she had, but she wasn't certain.

 

“It's a good thing I stopped you in time,” the Reader said. “Otherwise you might have done something regrettable.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Tell her.” The Reader directed his words to the Captain, who cautiously stepped into the room. Bra moved to the side, uncomfortable with someone coming up behind her.

 

“The glass is linked to the computer that controls the collar,” the Captain said. Asdef. His name was Asdef, she thought. It was hard, for some reason, to concentrate on what he was saying. “Breaking the glass would automatically raise the drug dosage to a lethal level, and the prisoner would die.”

 

“You lie.”

 

“I don't.” The Captain almost sounded apologetic. “It's a standard security measure.”

 

“Why didn't you tell us sooner?” She looked at the Reader. “You knew all along who we were, don't try to deny it.”

 

“If you wanted to hide, you should not have come in a vessel adorned with the same markings as the house where we found Vegeta.”

 

Bra almost growled. She felt a burst of aggression, all directed at Trunks. Why oh why did he always have to mark everything with the Capsule Corp logo?

 

“Other then your connection to Vegeta, I didn't know anything about you,” the Reader said. “I didn't know what you were capable of, and I didn't know what you were planning to do. I'm still not sure. Tell me, what are you going to do with that… rather impressive amount of ki you're holding?”

 

Bra flexed her fingers. Rather impressive, he said. If she had been able to transform into Super Saiyan, not that would have been impressive. She sighted, and released her hold of the power. The atmosphere in the room changed, become dimmer and much calmer.

 

“Good.” He smiled. “That's what I was hoping you'd do.”

 

She couldn't figure him out. One minute he was speaking about his loyalty to “the Law”, and the next he was acting like their co-conspirator. She didn't trust him one bit.

 

“It's time to be on our way,” the Reader said. “We have much to talk about before the morning. I hope you can do without sleep for one night.”

 

“What… what will happen in the morning?” This was going all too fast.

 

“Oh, nothing much.” He winked at her. “Just a meeting with a bunch of politicians. The topic of discussion… is you, daughter of Vegeta. So you see, it wouldn't do if you came unprepared.”

 

“But why…” She closed her mouth. All right. All right. They knew who she was. All that was left was to accept it and move forward.

 

“Dad…”

 

Vegeta looked at her. He inclined his head in a slight nod. Wordlessly, Bra returned the nod.

 

And then they left.