Well, that's awkward! [Zerori]

After returning from Other World and feeling a little bit lighter about things, Zerori had intended to make her first stop back on Plant to be a visit to the Queen. Except, when she returned, the Queen was nowhere to be found. At first, Zerori was concerned since the last time she’d met with Rosemary, she’d been kind and helped her to get through the pain of the Contract Recoil that plagued the hybrid. Zerori decided to chalk it up to the fact that she likely had things to do and might even be off planet now. She’d expected her mother to give her the third degree for leaving back Home without saying anything but, stranger still, she seemed… fine with her leaving.

It left Zerori feeling bewildered but relieved that she wasn’t in trouble, even if she was sure that this strange feeling of peace wouldn’t last. She couldn’t quite get it off her mind how things had been!

That was when she felt it - the familiar ‘zing’ of Azoth’s energy and flew over as soon as she could. Imagine her surprise when she realized that she was on the Tuffle side of the planet that was covered in vegetation and trees. When she got close, Zerori spied the taller Arcosian and smirked before floating until she was just a few dozen feet from him before-

“DAMN, Azoth, you got really strong!” She yelled!

From above the levitating Arcosian, Zerori could be seen floating in the air with her legs crossed as she looked down at him. Devilishly smirking, she cocked her head to the side, “Hope I didn’t scare you,” She teased, floating down to sit on the ground beside him, her tail wafting back and forth contentedly behind her. Whether he stayed floating in the air, joined her or stood up, Zerori would raise an eyebrow at him as she spoke, “What are you doing on Plant? The war here makes a lot of tourism kinda dangerous, though I imagine you already knew that,” She laughed, bumping her elbow into him good-naturedly. It felt like no time at all had passed for her as she looked at the Arcosian, even if it had to have been months since they'd spoken back on Arcose.

A lot had happened and it was a struggle to imagine where she should start. The best place, it seemed, was right where they left off.

With a laugh, Zerori gave Azoth a sarcastic ‘uh huh’ at his insistence that he wasn’t scared. She had eyes and she totally saw him lose concentration! Instead, she spared him the mercy and responded, “Well, I started young! You’re older than me so of course it’s going to be harder for you,” She scoffed playfully, even if she could feel his power was far stronger than her own. She was about to tease him some more until the answer to why he was here was answered and what Zerori was hearing was NOT what she was expecting.

Her eyes widened, mouth dropping open, “Y-...You’re WHAT?!” She expected him to be part of the Royal Guard or something equally as fancy but, Emperor? Shaking her head a little to come back down from the shock, Zerori laughed nervously, “Wow, you certainly rose up in the world! C-Congratulations,” She forced, a sense of anxiety weighing on her heart as she digested the fact that she was now speaking to… well, a celebrity, basically. She knew he was still her friend, but Zerori knew how power could change a person - even if they only had good intentions. Yangcong was living proof of that. Well, if he was still alive.

When Azoth asked how she was doing, the casual way he asked and playful manner in which he spoke eased Zerori’s anxiety somewhat and helped her to answer, “Tch, you’re not far off!” She smirked, ignoring the little voice in the back of her head that told her Azoth had better things to do now than talk to someone like her. “After I left Arcose and came here, I met a lot of strong Saiyans and, well… let’s just say I’ve only gotten stronger, aight?” She dared him to say more on it as she tossed him a look. “After that, I uh… well, me and Ise got a little closer, I think and I made a few friends. Zuqetta, a Saiyan here, is like a sister to me. Mom spoils her, too!”

Zerori realized she was speaking as if Zuqetta and her had only stopped talking for a few days and not months, her expression falling a bit before she pulled her legs up and wrapped her tail around them. In a somber tone, she added sadly, “That was actually months ago, though… My mom thought I was getting into too much trouble and confined me to our home and it was only a few days ago that I ran away to find answers for myself after… well, after I went through this thing called ‘Contract Recoil’,” She looked back to Azoth, suddenly serious. “It’s when a Chakkapak Demon’s contract is broken on the mortal’s side and let me tell you - it hurt like a BITCH.” She shuddered at the memory.

Having felt like she talked a lot about herself, Zerori gestured with her chin back to him, “What about you? Becoming Emperor sounds like a tough job and all that political stuff sounds really complicated. Did you have to fight anyone for it?” She imagined if it was anything like the Saiyans or Demons back home, he had to fight a proverbial HOARD of people seeking to become Ruler or Arcose.

The smirk on Zerori’s face was persistent through most of the conversation; as he accepted her commendations and when he mentioned that he also knew Zuqetta as well. It faded a little as he mentioned that her friend had been brainwashed by Yangcong, a figure she was very well acquainted with, before the worry faded with the realization that Yangcong wasn’t an issue anymore. They had Amara to thank for that, even if it did cost her her life. Ironically enough, the mention of Yangcong was nearly prolific as Azoth had asked on which side the contract was broken. “Uh… well, it’s a long story but the short of it was because of my Mom thinking that it would be a good idea for me to make a contract with Yangcong and I didn’t want him to kill anyone so that’s what I asked of him,” She crossed her arms, frowning deeply, “He killed Amara, someone I first met here but it was… well, he died doing so. It ended in a stalemate, I guess,” The facts of the matter still bothered her but there wasn’t anything she could do about that, either.

Still, it didn’t put a hamper on her mood too much since she’d gotten to talk to Amara in Heaven about it. She was pretty stoked to catch up with Azoth all the same!

As Azoth hesitated to answer her question, however… a cold feeling washed over the young girl as she looked Azoth with a confused expression that fell more with each second that the recognition gradually donned on her. General Hibernal? Where had she-

Wait… Wintergreen?

Her blood ran cold, confusion all but missing from Zerori’s expression as she stared at Azoth in disbelief. “H… Hibernal?” Azoth continued, making the claim that Ise’s father was a genocidal tyrant. The very statement nearly had Zerori’s blood boil from the suddenness of it. “He wasn’t-!” She started to argue, stopping only a second later to hesitate. She didn’t actually know Ise’s father. She never got to meet him! She’d worked so hard to try and make the potion to help him heal and restore some of his youth, but… things happened and her Mother forced her to stay away from everyone.

Anger surged through her as Zerori stood up from the ground and took a step back from Azoth, heart pounding in her chest as she struggled with the friendship she felt for him and the guilt that if she had been there. Given Hibernal the potion when she’d showed it to Ise-! He would be alive. Sure, he would be a tyrant - if what Azoth said was true - but he would have been ALIVE!

It was her fault Ise was without a father.

She wasn’t going to blame Azoth for winning the right to rule Arcose… but she wasn’t going to just let him think it was okay.

Zerori turned to Azoth, a conflicted expression on her face as she spoke, “You killed her Father. You… You could’ve had him imprisoned. Or exiled or-!” She stopped, her fist clenched at her side shaking violently. Shaking her head, she turned away, “This is my fault…” She didn't even have the candle to let Ise see her Father in the Afterlife...

Ise should have hated her, instead.

She knew Azoth had the right to say it, saying that he was glad that Yangcong was dead. He’d hurt a lot of people, including herself! Yet hearing the words come from the guy she thought was all about doing the right thing and being a kind person - it was like seeing him from a different angle, somehow. She even knew that he was able to make the difficult decisions from his training back with the Guard.

It didn’t make it any easier to hear from him a ‘secret’ that Hibernal hadn’t even fought back. He died, leaving Ise behind, on purpose - it wasn’t even a fight where he defended himself. Zerori looked at Azoth in disbelief, her mind painting a colorful picture of the more powerful Arcosian sending a blast at an older, crippled opponent and that very same blast obliterating an elderly Hibernal into nothing. The very thought was horrifying, eliciting a scoff from the girl as she had to turn away before she said and looked more disgusted.

Azoth was confused by her statement, wanting to know what she meant, but Zerori didn’t feel like he deserved to know. His justification didn’t make her feel any better, after all! Still, she forced herself to speak - if anything, because he’d explained himself. “I… Mom and I had been working on a potion. Magic that could give Ise’s Father his youth back. Ise said he was sick and didn’t have very long to live…” Zerori clenched her fist, shaking her head, “I didn’t want Ise to be without a Father.” She turned to look at him, tears threatening to fall from her eyes as she did her best to force them back.

“You got any idea what that’s like, Azoth? To not even have a Dad?” Maybe it felt worse because Zerori didn’t even know what it was like to have someone that was never there, but that made the feeling of failure even worse. She sighed, shaking her head and running a hand over her face, “I ran out of time. Mom forced me to stay out of the action because I wasn’t ‘strong enough’ but because of ME, Hibernal didn’t even stand A CHANCE!” In her anger, Zerori threw her hand out and blasted the air with a burst of magical fire - the flames roaring loudly in the air before harmlessly dissipating.

And just like the flames, Zerori’s anger dissipated just as quickly back into guilt. As wretched as she felt, she knew the rules she governed herself didn’t apply to anyone else, “I know you were just doing what you believed was the right thing to do… but I can’t help feeling that there was another way. Azoth, I like you but Ise is-”

Someone precious to me. Someone who is gonna be hurt because of what you did. Because of what I didn’t do.

With a groan, Zerori fell back onto her ass in the grass, holding her head in both of her hands.

Zerori felt her blood run cold as Azoth sighed, the feeling that washed over the hybrid feeling dreadfully close to regret just before her friend began to speak. And the way spoke to her, as if she were a child that didn’t understand the world, nearly had Zerori want to hit him instinctively out of anger. While she didn’t know that Hibernal was a dictator and genocidal man, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that it would have been bad for him to rule over the Arcosians! However, that wasn’t the issue Azoth was presenting to her. He was making it clear that Ise was the reason he’d killed Hibernal. Something Zerori hadn’t even thought about.

Ise spoke about her father with respect and had even told her that as much as he’d cared about Ise - she was still a soldier to him. He wanted her to assist him in his affairs and Ise did so as loyal as any child to their parents would.

Zerori’s face fell as he told her Hibernal was a monster and that he would eventually use Ise to make her just like him. Until now, Zerori didn’t even think of Ise as someone that could kill others knowingly - she had these times where she lost control but that wasn’t because she was a bad person!

Azoth wanted her to become Ise’s family, along with her mother, but Zerori wasn’t going to just take Ise in as her family. Well, she would but what if that wasn’t what ISE wanted?! What hurt the most, putting things to perspective all the same… was that Azoth was willing to lose Zerori as a friend just to keep Ise from becoming like Hibernal. It took her a solid few seconds to even comprehend what he meant by that, guilt surging up at the idea that Zerori was wrong for how she felt.

Aggressively, she stepped up toward Azoth and yelled up at his face, “I don’t WANT to stop being your friend over this, Azoth! Look, I-! AUGH!” Zerori turned around and stomped on the ground multiple times before she turned back to him and pointed aggressively in his face, “I’m going to protect Ise! From herself! From Vocado! And if it comes down to it, I’ll protect her from YOU! But don’t-” She choked, angry tears gathering in the corners of her eyes as she glared up at him.

“Don’t just act like some kind of hero when you kill people… Don’t push me and other people away when you do stuff that hurts people. You gotta protect people? FINE! But if you’re gonna be great at all, you gotta make the impossible - POSSIBLE!” It sounded stupid the moment the words left Zerori’s mouth but she was beside herself with anger. And fear. Fear that Azoth was becoming more than just a leader among his people...but a man willing to do whatever it took to keep the peace.

Two people or not - Azoth was still willing to kill.

This wasn’t going the way she hoped; as a matter of fact, Zerori might have even made it worse somehow. She didn’t know that it was Ise that confronted him, but it sounded like something anyone would have done once they found out that their Father was killed. Zerori tried to be more clear, “I know you wouldn’t hurt her on purpose, but if she tried to kill you-” She wasn’t sure if he was getting it, but upon mentioning that he couldn’t make Ise stop wanting to kill him, Zerori just threw her hands out, “I KNOW! What I’m saying is-” She was getting frustrated, stopping short and rubbing a hand over her face. Something was getting lost in translation and Zerori was fairly certain it was her anger and Azoth’s defensiveness.

His direct questions were making her nervous, as well. Would she be at Ise’s side? Would she be able to tell Ise that she didn’t want to fight Azoth?

Hesitantly, Zerori stuttered, “I-I… I’d have to try and stop her somehow,” She looked down, pain welling up in her chest as she imagined how well THAT would go. Zerori shook her head vehemently, “I’m not SAYING you should just die! I dunno HOW and I dunno WHEN, but I’ll find a way to calm her down! She’s angry and she deserves to feel that but I dunno how far the anger goes.”

It was just so much all at once and Zerori wasn’t sure where she fit in all of this. She didn’t want to lose Azoth and knew that he was strong enough to protect himself against Ise, but for how long would that last? She knew how angry Ise could get and that was without a very strong reason.

She looked up at Azoth as he expressed how scared he was; to lose everything because of what he had to do. Her shoulders slumped, feeling just how hurt he was. “Azoth… you’re not gonna lose me. I’m upset and I know I upset you too, but friends fight, right? Heh,” She forced a laugh, stepping forward to throw a teasing punch toward his stomach that even a child would hardly feel. “That’s normal, even if you ain’t a Demon. So just… believe that I ain’t gonna abandon you. I ain’t gonna lose Ise, either, but if there’s a way to keep her from losing herself to this - I’m gonna find it. Trust me on that, okay?”

Taking a step back, Zerori would find herself finally overwhelmed by the exhaustion of the emotional turmoil. Still, she had to be clear. She looked down, “I know you had to do what you did. That doesn’t make it any easier for Ise to swallow and we both know that but I ain’t stupid.” She totally was. “Hibernal was a bad dude. Maybe she’ll understand that someday, but… I gotta be there for her until she does.” She looked back up at him, “Just promise me… Promise me, Azoth that if she loses herself - you know her out and you give her back to me!” She thrust up her hand toward her best friend, forcing herself to look as determined as possible.

“A-And if she won’t listen to me, either, I’ll… I’ll beat her up myself!”

Zerori gave a nod, grateful that he could promise her that in spite of how weird and complicated everything about this was, bumping fists with him in a bit of sentimental gesture. She didn’t give a shit, though, because after the insanity that was their argument, Zerori honestly could have used some immature stuff like this. Even so, while Zerori was nervous about his feelings on anyone following Ise and how he’d deal with them, the little hybrid couldn’t help but wonder if this ‘Vocado’ guy really was bad news. If he was trying to make Ise more angry than she really was and possibly trying to manipulate her-?

A low growl rumbled in the back of Zerori’s throat, likely surprising Azoth in it’s spontaneousness, “I won’t stop you if you need to knock some heads around. If anything, I might just give this ‘Vocado’ guy a visit and see what his deal is. If he’s anything like some of the Saiyans I’ve met,” She grimaced, shaking her head at the memory of Pitt and his strong opinions. She still liked him, of course, but ‘sensitive’ was not an adjective she could ever describe him as. “He’s probably a ‘hit first, ask questions later’ kinda guy. I mean, I respect it, but-” She trailed off, laughing a little at how much she’d changed since coming to the Mortal Realms.

Which reminded her…

Looking back at Azoth, Zerori remembered something he’d said in passing after he told her he became Emperor, “You said Zuqetta joined your ‘group’? That mean she a noble of Arcose or something? I don’t think you’ve ever told about your group before,” She’d heard of Ise’s New Space Force Warriors but didn’t really think much about it since Zerori was more of a solo (or duet, if you counted her Mother?) act.

With a different topic to focus on, Zerori allowed herself to sit back down on the ground with her legs crossed, “What’s Zuq doin with you, if you don’t mind me askin’? I… I haven’t heard from her in a while and I’ve been kinda missing her, if I’m honest.” Her face was a little red, embarrassed to admit something like that out loud but if it was Azoth, she was okay with it.