Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Mystery Within ❯ Mindscapes ( Chapter 4 )

The Mystery Within

Part I - Prelude to Terror

Written by Namek Kaia

Disclaimer: I own nothing except original characters and attacks. And don't use them without my permission. You won't like the consequences.

Chapter Four

Mindscapes

When they reached her small home, Piccolo said he would leave her to herself. She agreed, but with hesitation. She was accustomed to being alone, or without much contact with other people. But, to her, there was a big difference between staying alone the entire night in the middle of nowhere and sharing her space with only one other person. The fact that someone was trying to kill her wasn't much of a comfort either. She nearly asked him to stay, but knew that would be an awkward situation for the both of them. After the polite good-byes were said, Piccolo flew off to the lookout. Why he chose there to sleep for the night, he didn't know. It was as if his subconscious was telling him to go there. All the same, it was in that direction he flew.

*****

The next morning, Piccolo woke with a jerk. His eyes flashed open and he sat straight up in bed as if he'd just missed something important. Him and his sheets were drenched in a cold sweat and he was still breathing heavily, although he didn't know why. Had he had a bad dream? He tried to remember what he saw in his dream the night before, but he couldn't seem to recall everything. He did remember being in an enormous white room, one that resembled the hyperbolic time chamber. Faint cries came at him from all around, telling him to 'Help her'. He didn't know what it meant, but it was driving him insane, the noise painful to his sensitive ears. The voices kept repeating themselves, making a cycle of their ghostly pleas. They were only getting louder and louder.

Then suddenly, it all stopped. The noise still made a pulsating ring in his ears, but wherever it was coming from, it had stopped. Subsequently, a single voice revealed itself, also seeming to come from nowhere and all around him at the same moment. The voice flowed through his ears like cascading silk, speaking to him in an emotionless tone. "I want you to see," the voice spoke. I want you to see what has happened... and what is to come." The white room then dissipated, crumbling like paper in water. He couldn't remember anything past that. Piccolo still wondered what the strange dream had meant, or whether it had meant anything at all. What did the source of the voice show him? He struggled to remember, but it was useless.

He rid his mind of such worthless thought and threw the covers off of him and began preparing for today's sparring session with Niko. He froze. Niko? Could that be whom his dream was about? Was someone trying to tell him that something had happened to her? After all, he had left her alone the night before. Someone could have tried to attack her again. The thoughts rushed his brain all at once. He had to get to her to make sure she was okay. Without another thought, he rushed into his clothes and hurried outside, leaping of the giant floor's edge and down towards the earth.

He had even stopped to question himself as to why he thought Niko needed protection, or stranger yet, why he felt to take it upon himself to be her protector. It wasn't that he really cared for her; it was that… there was something strange about her. She was familiar somehow, although he had never seen her or felt her ki before. He had to find out who she really was and what she was doing here. And he couldn't very well do that if she was dead. So he had subconsciously decided to protect her somewhat, until he could find out more about her. Although he couldn't admit it, not even to himself, the mystery that surrounded her actually intrigued him. It was, in a way, alluring.

His subconscious's contemplating was interrupted as he saw something in his path. From this distance it was a mere black dot. But as he got closer, he could see the outline of a persona. He was unable to make out any of its features. Its body was completely covered with a large, black cape; it's face hiding in the shadows of a hood. Piccolo stopped about ten feet in front of this strange figure. "Who are you?" Piccolo asked harshly.

"Do not fear me. I am a friend," it spoke. Piccolo was taken aback. The voice he heard was not of another man or woman… it was his own. How could that be possible? There couldn't be another person in this entire universe that had a voice identical to his, could there? This situation was getting too weird for his liking.

"Alright, I want to know who you are and what you are doing here this instant. Take off that ridiculous hood so I can see your face, you coward."

"Please, I mean you no harm. You are a friend of Niko's, are you not?" the figure asked.

"What's it to you?" Piccolo responded. "Are you one of the one's that are trying to kill her?"

"No, no, my friend. I am merely trying to help her… to keep her safe. But I cannot reveal myself to her. I need you help."

"For what? Why me? Can't you bother someone else?"

"You are the only one she has made a peaceful contact with since she settled here. She trusts you, to a certain extent. And if she trusts you, I guess I trust you too. That is why I'm asking you to help me. Or rather, help me help her. I need you to protect her, perhaps even with your life if it comes to that. I believe she is capable enough to defend herself, but I'm asking you to watch her and make sure no harm comes to her. She may even come to a point where she wants to harm herself," the strange form finished sadly.

"Why would she want to do that? Surely she has more sense than that."

"She does. I'm just saying that it's a possibility. She's had a hard life, and now she has no family left. Just promise me that you'll protect her, from anything. Please. I'm asking you as a friend."

"You're no friend of mine, I don't even know who you are. You hide your face behind that pathetic hood. Tell me who you are now!!" Piccolo shouted.

"I've told you all I can. I must go now," the figure said quietly and made an attempt to leave.

"You're not going anywhere until you tell me who you are!" he said and reached for the figure's arm. Before he could grasp it, the figure turned toward him.

"LUNAR FLASH!!!" he screamed. Suddenly, a brilliant light blinded Piccolo. When his sight finally returned, no one was there. The strange being was gone.

"Damn him. Where did he go?" he asked angrily. Piccolo hovered in the air momentarily, searching the ground below with his eyes and ears. Nothing. No sign of the strange thing anywhere. It was as if he was never there. With an angry grunt Piccolo left, knowing they would meet again. 'Next time, that thing's identity will be revealed,' he thought.