After being thanked profusely for almost half an hour, the group of Namekians finally decided to stop holding me hostage and walk out of the Grand Elder's house.
"Thank you again, Grand Elder." I said, looking towards the giant man standing beside me as we both stood on the edge of the cliff his house was built on.
"Please, we are past the point of titles, young Zyleth." He says, looking over at me with a fondness I couldn't quite place.
"Then thank you, Guru." I said.
It's honestly quite amazing just how friendly and accommodating the Namekian people were. I didn't expect it. A stranger, who was from a race that is pretty known to kill and conquer, comes along and asks for their most sacred treasure, and they just give it to me.
Granted, they did ask what I was going to wish for, but the entire conversation was only like a minute long.
They are way too trusting of others. Or maybe I'm just too jaded. Unconditional kindness was never something I experienced a lot of during my past life, so maybe that's it, I'm not entirely sure.
"I should head back." I said, stretching my arms over my head. "Lila's probably wondering why I'm taking so long."
"Then I hope our paths cross again, young Zyleth. I will wish thee well on your journey. Remember, you will always be welcome here on Namek." Guru replied.
I respond with a simple nod, to which he nods back.
"Until then, Guru. Take care." I said, waving goodbye before suddenly disappearing away with the use of Kai Kai.
---
[General POV - Namek]
As Zyleth suddenly disappears, Guru's eyes widened for a moment before he shook his head, a small smile adorning his face.
"The secrets that lay within that boy grow more and more in number each time I meet with him..." He muttered softly.
He looked down at his youthful body, feeling more energetic and spirited than he had in several decades.
"Though I do wonder who that extraordinary woman was..." Guru mutters to himself.
Although they only met for a brief moment, Guru sensed something wasn't quite normal about Lila the moment she stepped through his door.
"Well, if I am fated to know, then I suppose all will be revealed in time." He said contentedly as he walked back into his house.
---
[Zyleth's POV - Apophis]
Teleport myself back to Apophis, I made sure to teleport myself just outside the cave where my ship and Lila are waiting in order not to surprise her by just popping in out of nowhere. As I was walking up cave and about to enter, I suddenly hear the faint sounds of someone crying coming from the cave.
A woman's cries.
"Oh, fuck..." I whisper softly to myself as I cautiously enter the cave, making sure to not make any noise with my steps. "Please just be the last remaining Foolat trying to lure me in and take revenge..."
My hopeful wish was soon squandered as I quietly snuck to the door of my ship, peaking in to see Lila crying into her hands and knees.
"God-fucking-damnit..." I mouth in frustration.
Emotions are not my forte.
Even in my past life I've never been comfortable being in these types of situations, which is why I usually either avoided them altogether or let someone else to handle it.
Up until this point, the only emotional person I've had to deal with in my new life was my mother, and she lived halfway across the galaxy. Everyone else either never talked about their feelings or were nothing but a bunch of unfeeling sociopaths with a lot of unresolved issues.
Never would I have thought that I would miss the sociopaths...
I don't have to deal with this situation, do I? I mean we've only just met. I don't necessarily have to go inside and comfort--
As I thought that, the sounds of her sobs get noticeably louder, causing me to curse whoever it was that caused this situation.
Which, now that I'm thinking about it, was me. Since I was the one who brought her back to life in the first place...
Guess I can just go fuck myself then...
Letting out a quick sigh, I walk into the ship and plop myself down on the bed beside her without saying a word. The sudden shift in the bed caused her to look up at me in shock before trying to wipe away the evidence on her face.
"I-I didn't-"
"What's wrong?" I asked, stopping her from trying to deny it.
"Nothing... I-I just got something in my eye..." She said, looking away from me.
Oh my god...
"You are a terrible liar." I told her bluntly.
To my surprise, she actually let out a small laugh at my comment.
"Yeah..." She said, her tone almost reminiscent. "Daikaioh used to say the same thing..."
Ah, now I get it. I suppose it was dumb of me to assume that she would just be fine with all of this. If the Afterlife is how I remember, she probably wouldn't have been able to see what happened after her death.
She'd most likely would've thought that the South, East, and Grand Supreme Kais had succeeded in defeating Buu since they never showed up, not knowing that they were absorbed instead.
"Seems like you two were pretty close." I said, to which she nodded.
"All of us were. They were my family..." She replied softly.
"I see." I said, taking a second to think of what else I can say before saying, "They sound like they were good people."
"The best..." She says.
I don't know what to say after this, so I just didn't say anything and let silence reign over.
God, I fucking suck at this...
"I'm sorry. I'm not very good with these things. Comforting, I mean." I say to her, telling her how it is.
"It's fine." She says, chuckling as she wipes the last remnants of her tears. "You actually remind me of one of them now that you said that..."
"Really?" I raise a brow curiously.
"Mhm." She hummed as she nodded her head. "Good ol' South. He wasn't very good at emotional stuff either, but he was always there. Right beside you if you needed him."
Heh... Reminds me of an old friend...
A couple of them, actually...
"Seems like I would've liked him..." I muttered softly.
She laughs and says, "He would've asked you to spar with him before inviting you to try your strength at the Z-Sword."
"Z-Sword?" I asked, tilting my head in feigned curiosity.
My question causes her to finally lift her head, looking at me with a happy expression.
"Oh, so I finally found something you don't know about?" She said in an almost teasing fashion.
I roll my eyes at her, but I let a short huff of amusement.
"The Z-Sword is a sword embedded into the Sword Plateau in the World of the Kais. Legend says that whoever pulls the sword from its place will gain extraordinary power." She says.
"The World of the Kais and The Sword Plateau?" I asked with a bit of a chuckle.
"Kais are not particularly good at naming things, okay?" She says, chuckling along with me.
"No judgement here." I tell her, shrugging my shoulders. "I'm not particularly good at naming things either."
"Uh-huh, says the man who came up with, Bahamut, the Dragon of Death." She says as she rolls her eyes.
"Actually I just stole the name from another dragon." I told her.
"Another one? How many dragons do you know?" She asked, gazing at me curiously.
"Only two. The one on Namek, whose name's Porunga by the way, and Bahamut. The one I stole it from was fictional." I replied.
I wasn't lying. I got the name from an anime. Even some of the words I used to create him was taken from the chant the main character used to summon him.
"You're joking..." She says with an amused smile.
I glance at her with a knowing look and she busts out laughing.
"Oh my Zeno..." She muttered, trying to contain her laughter.
"I told you, I'm not a very creative person." I said, smiling at her amusement.
Seems like I actually managed to stop her crying. Lucky me.
"You weren't kidding." She said, calming down a bit. "If it's any consolation, it's still a good name."
"Thanks. I'll be sure to give your compliments to the author." I tell her, which makes her laugh again.
I can't remember the last time I ever sat down and joked with someone. Sure, I would visit my family from time to time, and Cooler was not as much as a hardass as people think, but it wasn't like this.
I probably haven't done anything close to this in years.
All it's been this entire time was constant training, meditation, sleeping, training, meditation, sleeping, training, meditation...
But actually sitting down and just speaking to someone? It's... fun. I enjoy it. More than I thought I would.
"Hey, why don't you tell me more about this family of yours?" I said, looking at her with a small smile.
"Really?" She asks, looking at me with a bit of surprise.
"Sure, why not? I'm sure you have plenty of stories to tell." I reply.
She continues to look at me with widened eyes for a few moments before she shakes off her surprise and returns my smile, happily nodding her head.
"Where do I even begin..." She muttered.
We sat there for hours. Lila just telling me story after story, all about the endless experiences that she and the other Kais had been through. The ups, the rare few downs, and the pranks.
And through all of that, her spirits seemed to have lifted completely.
All in all, I'd say that it was a day well spent...
[Word Count: 1,658.]