Back inside the ship, Lila and I sat on our respective beds, me casually leaning back against the wall of the ship with my foot propped up against the bed's metal frame as she asked me questions about the history lesson I had just given her.
"So the Saiyans are a warrior race who went around conquering planets by killing slaughtering the inhabitants, and then they would later sell the planets they conquered to whoever paid them the most for it?" Lila asked.
"Basically." I replied casually, as if being genocidal planet conquerers was just a normal day job. "Though there are a few times we didn't exterminate every single life on a planet, but those are few and far between."
She paused, probably letting the full picture of what I had just said run through her mind for a bit before continuing, "And then the Saiyans were eventually enslaved by someone called Frieza, who used your race to do the same stuff you did before, only this time it was for him?"
I nodded once more and added, "Well, technically we were enslaved by his father, King Cold, but he later stepped down and handed us over to Frieza. Some type of passing of the torch, daddy's boy nonsense, it really doesn't matter."
"So after being enslaved, you eventually staged a rebellion and fought Frieza, which made him so angry that he destroyed your planet?" She asked.
"It wasn't really a rebellion, but I guess you could say that." I said with a small shrug. "And he didn't destroy the planet at that exact moment because Cooler had taken ownership from him."
She slowly nodded and then asked, "Okay, and his brother is Cooler, who is also a tyrant?"
"Yup." I replied simply.
"But he's a better tyrant... somehow?" She asks, wondering if there even is such thing as 'better' tyranny.
"You would rather work for him than for Frieza, yeah. Trust me, Cooler is the by far the best option between the two of them."
Is there a difference between one tyranny and another? Yeah, basically.
One might argue that trading one tyrant for another is still living under tyranny, but to that I'd respectfully say that they could go fuck themselves. Lesser evil Cooler may be, but he's drastically better than that midget with a napoleon complex he calls a brother.
"Okay, but how does Super Saiyan factor into all of this?"
"Before coming to the planet, Frieza hears some rumors about a Saiyan warrior being the Super Saiyan of Legend. Since Frieza was afraid of the possible existence of the Super Saiyan, he went to Planet Vegeta in order to kill me." I explained to her.
"But you weren't a Super Saiyan yet." She said, her face making that thoughtful expression that I'm seeing more and more of in the passing days.
"No, but it wouldn't have mattered. Frieza wouldn't have let me live anyway." I tell her, trying to find some way to explain it to her in simple terms. "It's like... when a usurper of a throne finding out that the ruler he killed had an illegitimate son. There's no danger, but it's better not to take any chances"
"Okay, and just so we're clear, the Legend of the Super Saiyan is completely different from the Legend of the Super Saiyan God, right?" She asks.
"Completely." I nod my head.
"Okay, so tell me about this Super Saiyan Legend first." She said.
"I mean... you've seen it. You've seen both of them." I say to her with a raised brow. "Why would you want to learn about the legends?"
"Just tell me. I want all the facts." She says, waving her hand dismissively.
"Alright..." I muttered, not really seeing the point, but I tell her anyway. "It's believed that once every one-thousand years that an exceptional Saiyan will be born on Planet Vegeta."
"The Super Saiyan." She says.
"Mhm." I responded with a hum. "And when that child is born, he will have power greater than all other Saiyans."
"And that child is you?" She asked.
"No, that would be my little brother, Broly." I replied.
"Alright then..." She nods, seemingly still following along, "And the Legend of the Super Saiyan God?"
"Long ago, during a time of civil war, five Saiyans with righteous hearts came together and poured their energy into a sixth, creating the first Super Saiyan God." I said.
"And that first one was Yamoshi, who was later killed by Cumber, who had both Super Saiyan and another transformation called Evil Saiyan, but not Super Saiyan God?" She asked.
"You got it." I nodded.
"Okay, so did you undergo the same ritual as Yamoshi did all those years ago?" She asked.
"No, I didn't. I obtained the form another way." I replied, shaking my head.
"And then you changed the name from Super Saiyan God to just Saiyan God, because there's a transformation above a Saiyan God that the Saiyan God goes Super Saiyan whilst in the Saiyan God form already...?" She says, struggling a little bit to word the sentence correctly.
I had to admit, even my own head was starting to hurt trying to keep up with it.
"Yeah. And that level above Saiyan God has blue hair instead of red." I tell her.
"And the one called Cumber, his Evil Saiyan transformation can be fused with all these other transformations?"
"Yeah, basically." I replied.
"And you also have this Evil Saiyan transformation, but even though you have it, it doesn't necessarily mean that you're evil?" She asks, wondering how that works given the name.
"Mhm." I nodded. "Evil Saiyan is just when a Saiyan forgoes all else and pursues power."
"But why call it Evil Saiyan?" She asked. "Couldn't you just call it... Wrathful Saiyan?"
"Nope, that's the name of another transformation." I tell her.
"Okay then..." She mutters, looking as though she's mentally exhausted. "Is there... anything else I'm missing?"
"Uh... I don't think so..." I responded, thinking of anything I might have missed. "Oh, Super Saiyan has multiple levels."
"How many?" She asks.
"Three or four, depending on how true some of the old folk stories are."
I still don't know if Super Saiyan 4 was possible, so I'll just keep that under wraps.
"And what are they?" She asks.
"Oh, they're just named Super Saiyan one through four, the only difference is how they look. You've seen how Super Saiyan looks like. Super Saiyan 2 has spikier hair and lightning sparking around them. Super Saiyan 3 has longer, spikier hair with alot more lighting sparking. And Super Saiyan 4 may or may not exist."
Lila looks at me, taking in all of this information before taking a deep breath, standing up and walking out of the ship.
"Where are you going?" I asked as I stood up and rushed after her.
"I just... I just need some air..." She says, her hand motioning for me to stay back.
Yeah, I probably should've expected that...
I watch her walk out of the cave and I wonder if I should've just lied to her instead... Whatever, no use in pondering over it, it was too late for second thoughts.
As I watch her leave, I think about going after her anyway, but I just decide to give her the space she wanted and walk back towards the ship.
Laying down in the bed, I wonder what it was that made her so uncomfortable. Maybe it was the part with the Evil Saiyan transformation? Or maybe it was the god forms? Hell, it could be all of it for all I know.
I don't know what goes on in the mind of a Kai.
---
Minutes went by and I thought about going after her again, but I relent once more. But as time kept ticking away, I keep thinking about what she could be doing.
Thirty minutes went by... then a hour... and then two...
She still wasn't back.
"Screw it..." I said to myself, getting up and exited the cave.
Using my Ki sense to try and find her, I feel a feint power level coming from the nearby mountains that were just a few miles away.
I immediately fly upward into the sky and blitz towards her location.
Arriving there in only a few seconds, I spot her sitting down on the edge of a cliff, overlooking the land below. I land a few feet behind her, my feet sinking into the the snowy surface.
"I said I needed some air..." She says to me, but her voice didn't sound angry.
I walk over to the edge and look down at her.
"It's been two hours." I told her, crossing my arms over my chest.
"It has...?" She muttered softly. "Sorry..."
Seems like she's been up here, engrossed in her own little world without realizing just how much time has passed.
"It's fine." I replied in the same tone. "Mind if I sit?"
She motions towards the spot beside her and I thank her softly before sitting down, taking in the view she had been so lost in.
"Breathtaking, isn't it...?" She asked.
Lush green grass, streams and lakes filled with a slightly pink colored water, mountain ranges as far as the eye could see.
It was a beautiful planet now.
Nothing like how it was before with all that... darkness. Though the lightning storm surrounding the planet was still raging above. Actually, it seemed to be even more violent, which was good.
Don't need any unwanted guests.
"It is." I nodded in agreement.
"I used to love doing this before I... died... Going to distant planets and looking down on them from their highest peak..." She tells me.
"I can understand why." I say to her.
Before, the landscape looked nothing short of post apocalyptic hellscape. But after making my wish, it turned into something you can only imagine in your dreams.
"I guess I'm gonna have to workshop the name a bit, huh?" I asked lightheartedly, smiling a small bit. "Apophis doesn't really fit with all this nice scenery."
"I guess not..." She mutters.
Her tone causes my smile to falter and I turn to look at her with a worrying gaze.
"Zeni for your thoughts?" I asked, leaning in and nudging her shoulder with mine.
"Hmm?" She looked up at me with a confused expression.
"It's a type of currency on... Y'know what, never mind." I said as I shook my head. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing. It's just a me problem. You don't want to hear about it." She replied softly, hugging her legs into her chest.
I look at her sympathetically, a slight tugging sensation in the pit of my stomach forming. I slide a bit closer to her and nudge her with my elbow, which gets her to look back up at me.
"Try me."
[Word Count: 1,814]