Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Through A Mirror Darkly ❯ Seige Of Fire! ( Chapter 5 )

So this is thisworld… Vegeta mused as he walked along beside the girl who more than just resembled him. They had neither of them slept the night before, it being way past midnight when they'd come, very undignified to say the least, into this world. They had, instead, spent the remainder of the night and the wee hours of morning seated in a semi-circle on the grass of the surrounding forest, talking.

Vegeta figured that as long as they were going to be stuck here until and if the girls decided they wanted to check out his demision…otherworld…as they called it, he may as well learn all he can of this demision and these people just in case they one day end up as enemies. He glanced over at Piccolo and saw the namek warrior was glancing side-long at the green-skinned female next to him every few moments as they were led through a quant little villa with gardens and waterfalls and fountains everywhere. The scent of heavily perfumed blooms assaulted the saiyan prince's nostrils at every turn and the blazing sun with a crystal azure sky was almost blinding to look at.

"Where are we going?" He asked, feeling very much like the proverbal lamb being ushered into the mouth of the bear's cave…

Toshi glanced at him, walking a little bit to the side and ahead, she smiled and her dark eyes glittered. Her tail was wrapped safely about her waist. He knew that should he reach out and grab it roughly she would be in a great deal of pain. He wondered if she'd ever changed upon glancing into a full moon…

"First we are going to Mara's so you can meet her parents…and then I must take you both to my house." Toshi explained, "Don't worry, no one will harm you here. We have a rule against violence against others…"

"Hmm." Vegeta breathed, seeing all the people around and none of them were fighting or ever quarrelling. Everyone seemed…so…happy. He clenched his fists at his side. No combat? No yelling obsenities at each other while fist were flying? "What about sparring? And training?"

Mara glanced back and looked at him in confusion, "For what?" She asked, "If we never go to war or fight anyone…what would the point of training for it?"

"There is more to it than that." Piccolo said, "We train to balance our minds, spirits and body. We learn how to fight so that we don't have to fight. Understand?"

She shook her head, her dark green hair falling over her eyes. "I understand. We are connected. What you know and understand, I automatically know and understand."

Piccolo nodded. Perhaps.

Vegeta couldn't wait to leave this world!

They arrived at the first dwelling. It was a small, roundish shaped house much like the capsule houses of their own demision, with a pink door set against a white washed exterior. Mara stepped ahead and opened the door, pausing to do something odd with her fingers in the air. Before any questions could be voiced, Toshi explained breifly before Mara opened the door; "Warding spells…Mara just unlocked her front door for us, allowing us to slip past the guard spells…"

"If you have no violence here, what is the point of guard spells for a house?" Piccolo asked, ducking his thought the small enterance behind the others.

"We said we have a rule against it," Mara said as two impossibly beautiful women appeared from the other room, "It doesn't stop thieves from trying to gain access to our homes."

"Besides," One of the women spoke and Mara embraced her and then the other, "Most of our thieves are harmless, if you stay out of their way…still, who likes to wake up to all of your valubles gone?"

"Mara, honey, you've changed!" Maria cried, touching the girl's cheek and looking over at Piccolo, her eyes wide.

"Your twin?" Lucia asked, her voice barely a whisper, "After all this time, child…can it really be?"

"He's here, isn't he?" She said, "Mothers, I want you meet my twin soul, Piccolo and that's Toshi's; Vegeta…"

Vegeta nodded, but he was standing with his arms crossed and looking like he was nearly bored out of his skull. He wanted nothing more than to leave. As soon as possible. Piccolo bowed graciously to the two women and they smiled kindly back at him. He could feel a great strength eminating from them, a gentle, subdued strength, but strength none-the-less.

"My name is Lucia," Lucia said, and indicted the woman at her side, "And this is my twin self, Maria."

"Lucia is the one who bore me," Mara explained, "But both are my mothers."

"Where…?" Piccolo began and Mara interrupted him, since she all ready knew what he was about to ask,

"Where my father is?" She said, "My father died a while back, he never found his twin and…" She faltered, but Piccolo read her thoughts as they passed through the forefront of her mind and did not probe further. Such memory was a painful one, he could see.

"What of your parents, Toshi?" Piccolo asked, unable to read her as easily as he could Mara, "Do you have two sets of parents? Two mothers and two fathers?"

"I used to," Toshi said, as they settled into the livingroom. Lucia and Maria went to fetch refreshments and came back with a tray of finger food that Vegeta sniffed at but did not stop himself from helping himself to most of it and Piccolo only took a glass of water with a nod of thanks at the two women, who left to allow their daughter and her friend to continue their conversation with their long-awaited twin selves. "But, after having me, My parents and their twins decided they wanted to see what your world was like, so they left me in the care of my grandmothers and ventured forth through the mirror. I've never heard or seen them again and most of us think they are dead, killed somewhere in your demision."

Just then something rang and Mara blinked, holding out her hand and a device like a telephone appeared in her palm. She flipped back the cover and spoke into it. After a moment she gestured towards Toshi, who had been seated up on the arm of the sofa next to Vegeta, her tail tickling the back of his next annoyingly. He's been about to slap it away from him when the phone rang.

"It's for you, Toshi." Mara said, "Your cousin."

Toshi rolled her eyes heavenward. That's all she needed. Her gossipy little cousin's voice to grate on her ears. She lifted the phone to her ear and said; "Kyoko! What a pleasnant…Yeah, it's true…how'd you know? Oh, uh-huh…No you can't come over! Kyoko! Wait…don't…" She took the phone away from her ear, "Hang up."

She sighed and Mara shook her head; "Kyoko's on her way over?"

"Yes." Toshi said, now she really felt sorry for their twins, "Sorry about this, but my cousin is a bit…overzelous. I'm just warning you in advance…"

"It's funny how different in temperment her twin is to her." Mara said, as she took the glass from Piccolo absently and finished the last half of the water, plucking out an ice cube to suck on it as she thought, "She should be here soon. How'd she hear about us so quickly though?"

"Oh, don't be stupid, Mara." Toshi said, sitting back down on the arm of the sofa next to Vegeta, her tail swishing back and forth behind her and rustling the hair at the back of his neck, "We just paraded ourselves through the villa, and this is a small villa, word spreads fast."

"And Kyoko always has her ear to the lines," Mara nodded, "Oh, I hear here coming now!"

About five minutes later there was a breif rap of the front door and Kyoko along with twin Mariko nearly skipped through the hallway into the livingroom. They paused long enough to shout a greeting to Lucia and Maria and stopped before Vegeta and Piccolo, who had rose at the sound of the front door opening.

"So, it's true!" Kyoko said, clapping her hands together, her black fox-like ears on the top of her head twitched back and forth, her bushy silvery-black tail was wrapped about her twin's as they shoved slivery black locks from their faces and awaited a response.

Toshi shook her head at her cousin, she knew they'd only worn their fox-shapes to impress the newcomers and it sickened her. Normally, they wouldn't be caught dead in their other forms as they liked to look as human as possible. Toshi never understood why, if she had the ability to change back and forth at will into a human form an half-human form and an fully beast form she would be all over that! But not her cousin.

Kyoko and Mariko had the ability to change into full black foxes if they wished to do, or remain half and half, as they were now or fully human girls as they appeared when they'd sat next to Toshi by the pond the other day talking about Mara.

"Kyoko!" Toshi cried, "Stop trying to impress everyone! No one cares about your stupid ears and tails!"

"Well, you know we are the only ones in the entire villa who are kitsune!" Kyoko said, "Your just jealous!"

"Can we please stop this nonsense all ready!" Vegeta cried, losing patience, "I don't give a rat's ass who's what or who's jealous of who, I just want to get out of here!"

Vegeta had stood up and was facing Toshi, who was glaring up at him in much the same manner as Bulma. She said; "Don't yell."

"Don't tell me what to do, woman!"

"I'll do as I please!" Toshi cried, unphased, "And don't yell!"

"You're the one who's yelling, moron!"

"Idiot!"

"Female!"

"Saiyan!"

"Enough!" Piccolo exploded, Mara at his side, her face wore the same expression as his, "You two are hurting my ears! You can fight with each other later, we have more important things to worry about, or didn't you notice the strange looming shape that just appeared in the sky…"

"Oh, yeah…" Mariko said, her face flushing, "That was the other thing we came to tell you about…"

They could hear people screaming outside and glass breaking.

"Legendaldan's back." Kyoko said, "We heard him arriving in here…" She touched her brow, her twin touched her own, "And thought we'd have enough time to warn everyone…but…"

"He arrived sooner than we thought he would." Mariko finished, "Looks like this is it. I'm happy you found your twins at least, but we have no time to go through the mirror and escape…"

"And those poor people…our friends…" Kyoko said, her eyes blinking back tears,

"And families…" Mariko said, "We can't leave them to die alone…"

"What's all this crap about dying?" Vegeta asked, his fists clentched as he heard an ear-splitting roar and saw flames errupt thought the window outside, "Who says you just have to give up and let yourselves be killed and your homes destroyed! We can fight this thing…Legendaldan…"

"We can't fight him!" Mara cried, "He's the biggest, most fearsome dragon in all of thisworld! Those who have tried, have all been turned to crispy critters by his his flames or suffocated on his smoke…and what he does with the bodies…." Mara shivered at the memory of the last time the great bloodthirsty dragon ravaged their villa. They were still, after twenty years, cleaning up the mess…

"Just because you don't know how," Piccolo was saying now, "Doesn't mean he can't be killed."

Kyoko screamed and hugged her twin as the glass from the livingroom window shattered and a blast of heat rushed through. Maria and Lucia raced from the back room and huddled near their daughter, both of whom seemed to know that the end was near.

Mara looked from Toshi to Vegeta and Piccolo and was amazed when she saw her friend shake her head and say; "Piccolo's right. Just because we don't know how, doesn't mean he can't be destroyed. We have to figure out a way…"

Mara nodded, feeling terrified but deciding not to allow that to hinder her, she swallowed; "It is time to learn to fight."

"There is no time to teach you!" Piccolo cried, crashing through the all ready busted window and taking to the air, "Vegeta! Come one! We have to put an end to this monster right now!"

"Wait!" Mara said, pausing for a moment to connect herself with her twin, figuring out how, exactly, he knew to fly, and suddenly after it clicked in place in her mind, followed him though the window. She knew Toshi was doing the same, "For us!"

"No! Go back down and find a safe place to hide!" Piccolo yelled back at them, as they spied the dragon, huge and terrifying, scooping up random fleeing people and chomping them between numerous rows of blood and gore dripping sharp teeth, "We can't fight and protect you at the same time!"

"You don't need to!" Mara cried, at his side, "We are connected to you, remember. What you know, we know."

"We will fight with you!" Toshi finished, "And nothing you can say will change our minds!" She said as she she shot a ki blast at the dragon and watched as Vegeta shrugged and did the same, seconds later.

"But…"

"Don't argue with them, Piccolo!" Vegeta said, "If they want to get themselves killed that's their decision! Let's go!"