Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Mystery Within ❯ Uninvited ( Chapter 3 )

The Mystery Within

Part I - Prelude to Terror

Written by Namek Kaia

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except original characters and attacks. And don't use them without my permission. You won't like the consequences.

Chapter Three

Uninvited

Three days had past since her encounter with Piccolo, not to mention the death of her sister. She had spent most of her time packing their necessary possessions. All that remained unpacked were personal items. Her father walked up just as she was wrapping the last of the dishes in paper. He hugged her from behind and spoke softly in her ear. "You know we could just stay here. We could fight them. Who knows? We might even win."

Niko sighed loudly. "Father, I want to stay here as much as you do. But I'm tired of fighting just so we can live our lives. You know what would happen if we stayed. I don't want that for these people. They don't deserve it. We can just as easily go somewhere else, find a quiet place to live, and hide our energies so no one will notice us. You know that we have to do this."

"Yeah… I know," he admitted and kissed her temple. "But I guess we don't have to worry about anyone sensing my ki."

"Don't worry, Father. No matter what happens, I will always protect you. I would never let anyone hurt you," she said and smiled sweetly.

"Did you finish packing things from the kitchen?" he asked, now relaxing in one of the few chairs they had in the nearby living room.

"Yes. Everything's packed except for personal stuff. We don't need to pack everything, so just take what you must, got it?" He nodded in response. "Good. Now, I have to make a quick trip into the city to get some things we'll need. You can go ahead and start packing if you want."

A worried look spread across his now old and weary face. "What are you going to buy? We don't have any money. How are you going to pay for everything?"

"Calm down. I'll just take some things to barter," she reassured him. "I could take it to a pawn shop and get some money that way."

"Here. Take this," he suggested sadly, slipping a gold band off his left hand, "… in case you don't have enough. It should get you a promising amount of money."

"Father, no," she replied sternly. "You keep it. Mom gave you that. I won't take it from you, no one will. I know how much it means to you," she said refusing his outstretched hand. He slid the ring back on his finger as Niko left to find the box of things she had collected.

"Okay," she said when she returned, adjusting the weight of the box in her arms that was filled with things she intended to pawn. "I'm off. You know what to do if there's trouble, right?"

"Yes. I know what to do. I'm not a child you know. I can still manage to remember an escape plan."

"Well… you still act like a child sometimes," she added playfully. "I'll be back soon okay?" she said and kissed her father on the cheek before walking out the door.

*****

A couple of hours later, Niko walked along a dirt road toward her home. She carried two grocery bags and another two from the local discount store. When she thought she had traveled for enough out of the city, she leapt into the air and flew the rest of her way. Usually she wouldn't take the risk of someone seeing her fly, but she had to get back home as fast as possible. If Zia knew where they were, chances were that someone else knew too. She was determined not to lose her father and she wasn't about to take any more chances.

As her small house on the outskirts of the woods came into her view, her heart dropped from her chest... she had come too late. The scene before her was horrifying to the very bone. Two men were in front of her small home, beating her father relentlessly. His body ached so much he was no longer able to defend himself against their nonstop attacks. She could only imagine the expression of anguish that twisted his face as the blows came on after another, with no hope of stopping until he would breathe his last breath. Noises could be heard from inside the house, most likely more soldiers ransacking the place for any valuables. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of her mother's things in the hands of those... animals.

Her anger swelled. Her blood boiled. She powered up to a level she hadn't yet had a reason to reach. Once again, her hair grew to a flaming red-orange as her fiery red aura created lightning in all directions. "Why can't you people just leave my family alone!!" she screamed and charged the two men who continued beating her father. She landed a punch on the first's jaw and turned halfway to connect her foot to the back of the second's head. At the sound of this fight, the others came from the house to see what was wrong. Just as she suspected, there were two men in similar armor standing at the door. Only, to her surprise, they were standing there empty handed. It didn't matter to her... they would die anyway.

All four men attacked her at the same time. She took to the air avoiding their attack, but they soon raced after her. She easily blocked all their attacks simultaneously. Expanding her aura, she knocked all her opponents to the ground. Three recovered and charged her, still in the air, while one remained unconscious on the ground. She relentlessly beat the remaining three, just as they had done with her father. When they began the offensive again, she constantly dodged their attacks and countered by swatting them back towards the ground with nothing but her energy. They were persistent, always coming back for more. 'What idiots', she thought, 'they actually want to die. Oh well, guess it's better than having to chase them down.'

As she blocked and dodged all three fighters' useless attacks, a flash of light, which she soon recognized as a ki blast, came from below her followed by a cry of pain. The sight below was worse than she could ever have imagined. Her father stood on his knees grasping his chest. Blood poured through his fingers and down his hand. As he took his hand away, she could see a hole where the blast had hit. It had gone completely through. His attacker lay in from of him, hand extended, panting with exhaustion. It was the soldier she had knocked unconscious before. He had regained consciousness and attacked while she wasn't looking. After her first reaction of taking her father's attacker from existence, she inwardly scolded herself for being so stupid as to allow something like this to happen.

"FATHER… NO!!!" she shrieked as tears welled up in her eyes. Her powerful aura grew smaller, but was far from fading away. Her current opponent took this opportunity to try and land a punch on her. The punch connected with her face, but she remained unfazed. She continued as if the action never happened and descended slowly from the air, her eyes never leaving her father. Niko landed by her near-dead father and gathered his pale blue body into her arms. Tears now flowed freely down her cheeks, as she could no longer hold them back. "Father no. You can't die. You're all I have left. Just hang on. I'll get you help. Just hang on, please," she sobbed.

"Niko," he said, lifting a hand to hold her face. "You look so much like your mother," he said with the best smile he could manage, causing her to pause in her sobs, "you always have. Niko, listen to me. There's a jewelry box hidden in my room. Inside, there's a necklace with a crescent moon charm. You must find it. I… want you to have it. Always wear it close to your heart. It will give you strength," he said, forcefully paused by a violent cough that erupted in this throat. "I gave it to your mother when she told me that we were going to have a child together… you. Now it's yours, my daughter." He stopped once more and coughed hoarsely, causing more blood to run from the corner of his mouth. Niko could only watch as her father drifted further away before her eyes. "They'll keep coming after you. Don't you let them take you. You deserve to be free. Don't let them. You fight. Promise me."

Niko could only nod her head in response, the lump in her throat creating a barrier for her words. "Goodbye, daughter. I will always be with you," he finished, letting his hand fall from her face before his body went limp.

"NO!!" she cried in a prolonged, agonizing scream and hugged her father close. She remained that way for quite a while, crying into her father's shoulder with her body shaking from the sobs. Eventually she let his body go, laying him on the ground gently. She stood slowly and faced the three men still hovering in the air. She powered up, her body captured in her fiery aura and her tears flying from her cheeks and swirling into the air around her. Charging a blast in each hand, she sent her energy flying toward the two men on each end, disintegrating their bodies instantly. The one she had spared shrunk back in fear as he looked on either side of him where his companions once stood. She flew at him with neck-breading speed until she was face to face with him, their noses almost touching. "You tell your people they just messed with the wrong bitch! Go... now!" she ordered.

As he flew off in fear, she looked over her shoulder, toward the ground. "You still want a sparring partner?" Piccolo almost looked surprised that she was aware of his presence. He only nodded in response, crossing his arms and leaning against the house. "Well you've got one," she said, letting her aura dissipate and descending to the ground. He smirked, nodded once again, and walked deeper into the forest without saying a word.

*****

The next morning, Niko woke at sunrise surprised she had slept at all. She got out of bed and managed to drag herself into the bathroom to take a shower. She stood still, letting the water rush over her tired body. As she stood there, visions of death plagued her mind. Involuntarily, she fell to her knees holding her head in her hands, trying to block out the horrible images.

Her family, what few friends she had made, anyone she had ever cared about… they were all gone. She was all alone. 'And all of it's their fault. Those bastards have taken everything from me… my loved ones, my life, my pride, everything. And what did I do? Nothing. That's all I could do… nothing. I wasn't strong enough. I tried, but I just wasn't strong enough,' she thought as tears started to flow down her cheeks, blending with the water that poured over her. "NO MORE!!" she said aloud as she pounded her right fist on the shower floor. 'It stops now. They'll never be able to take anything from me ever again. They will pay for what they have done. They will pay for my father's death!' she thought.

She stood, her anger still growing, turned off the water, and stepped out of the shower. Without bothering to dry off she got dressed, pulled her dripping-wet hair into a ponytail, and headed for the door. As soon as she stepped outside, she instinctively launched a ki blast to her left, sending her target stumbling back.

"What the hell was that for?!?" Piccolo shouted as he recovered from the sudden blast.

Niko's eyes grew wide with surprise. "Piccolo! I… I didn't know it was you. I thought you were one of them. I guess I wasn't thinking," she explained as she smiled inwardly at the sight of his singed clothes.

"That's your problem, girl. You don't think! If you used that brain of yours…"

"Well excuse me! But I'm not the one who snuck up on someone at the ass-crack of dawn! You could have told me you were going to be here so early, or at least decided to stand in a place that didn't look like you were going to attack me!" she argued. "What are you doing here anyway? I don't remember inviting you," she finished with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face.

"You agreed to spar with me. It's best if we start now… to get your mind off things," he replied, actually making a slight attempt to be polite considering her situation.

"Well I guess you're right. But we're not training here. I'm not allowing my house to be destroyed more than it already is," she said and ringed the rest of the water out of her hair.

"Fine. I know a place. Now let's go… and try to keep up!" he yelled as his aura flared and he launched into the air. Niko smirked to herself as she followed. 'Soon, Piccolo… soon.'

*****

The sun was shining directly above them, signifying that it was almost lunchtime. They both gasped for breath, standing still and watching for any aggressive movement by the other. They had been sparring for hours and were both considerably tired, the hot sun only adding to the exhaustion. Piccolo noticed that Niko had become somewhat sluggish in the past half hour. He could feel her energy fading faster with every second. 'So her power does have its limits… although, I expected her to last longer than this. I can tell she's not using all her energy against me. I know she has more power than this. Why is she holding back?'

Piccolo left his fighting stance and stood with his arms crossed. "Take a break. Wouldn't be much point in killing you on you first day, though that wouldn't be too difficult in you current state."

"You're not even worth arguing over," she replied. She turned and started walking away from him. Soon she started to stagger, in one direction, then another. Finally, her legs caved under her weight, but she managed to catch herself with her hand. Piccolo looked at her with a confused look. 'Surely she's not that exhausted. Is she drunk? No. But there was nothing for her to trip over.'

"Uh, are you… okay?" he asked with a confused tone. He walked over to her, to make sure she didn't need to be carried back.

"Yeah I'm fine. I just need to get something to eat. I haven't eaten in almost two days. I'll be fine as soon as I get some food. When we get back, I'll cook us both something," she offered.

"No thanks, I don't eat. I only drink water," he replied.

"What? You don't eat? That's crazy! Everyone has to eat to survive," she stated.

"Well, I'm not everyone. Nameks don't eat. We are able to make our own food," he explained.

"WHAT?!?" she exclaimed.

"Never mind, it's too complicated to explain. You probably wouldn't understand anyway," he finished.

"Fine," she sighed, too tired to even plead with him to explain to her about the Namek nature. She would just find out later. The rest of their journey home was spent in silence.

**Author's Note** (yes, again)

Just in case you were wondering about Piccolo's last couple of statements, allow me to explain. I was surfing through Piccolo shrines, as usual, when I came across this really cool website. On said website, there was a theory on Namek nature and origin. I read it and it really made some sense. The author, jasper-chan, backed up her theory with actual scientific facts. Visit her site at http://www.jasper-chan.home.dk3.com. I'm not sure if the theory is still posted on her site, but it's still worth a look. Oh, and if jasper-chan is reading this, if I said anything that you don't agree with, email me and I'll change it. Until next time…!!