Saiyan just a bit longer

How long had it been since the last time he saw Central City with his own two eyes? Just passing by here it was easily one of the most nostalgic moments for him to endure, given the fact this was the second planet he ever visited in this quadrant and straight away after meeting Cheri. By now it was far more uneventful given the fact that last time they were here, a strange attempt in trying to get the Arcosians to help them was made. Of course in the end it did not matter much because of the way things ended but at the time it was quite important, and whatever came after. In the end he could smile over those memories, in somewhat of a somber memory if nothing else.

The winds passed by him yet once more and he enjoyed that sensation. By now there was a staleness in his life that he had felt in the latest time, it was a very positive thing because it meant he did not have to fight anyone seriously or have to go through suffering and yet there was a candle that begged to be lit inside him, almost as if his engines were starting to grow rust. He killed this feeling a bit with sparring most of the time, he would just find the nearby martial artist and go at it, but it was not exactly what he sought.

As if he had a whole dragon beast to unleash. But that was only a metaphor and in the end, the peace was good. Maybe it was the Saiyan blood that just kicked in at times and wished for something a little more dynamic, but the current state of things was for the best. By now he simply walked through the streets, not having much more on his mind and nothing better to do than just enjoying some of the quiet before he would fall back into his training regimen to keep kicking for the greater heights in the name of the peace that he sought with the restoration plan.

It was then that the first thoughts of this plan began to overwhelm him; how could he help it progress? Since he was on Earth, could he not try and talk to the leaders of this world about it? Maybe some Earthlings could see some value in having some Saiyans leave for a distant world, so that they may not bother them. Yes, he could most likely see that. Many of this world’s inhabitants hated danger and wished to avoid it, while not all of them were like this he would say it was a good majority. Maybe that was good food for thought.

But then a distraction came: food. Exactly. He spotted a restaurant on his right and decided to just kind of go for it. Earth’s food was above most other things that he tasted, therefore he dived in and pretty much went ahead and tried to kind of spy for a good table. He could see a few empty ones, and then ones with an individual that looked lost in their thoughts, to him at least. He stopped to think about it; this would be the second if not third time he randomly tries to talk with a stranger sitting at a table. While this time it would mostly be to kill time, maybe he could as well try and indulge.

“Hello. Is this seat taken?”

He said. Of course he did not quite recognize the stranger from sight alone, much less because he did not exactly feel any kind of aura from him, but Nasu was pretty much identical to the way he was on Namek.

“You look like you could use a distraction. Maybe a talk.”

Thread Power Level: 90,000

WC: 632

The man did not expect even a nice answer, not because the other person did not seem like a welcoming presence or anything of that kind, but rather he would understand if anyone was to shake off the invite of a stranger.

It was completely understandable, but it looked like he would instead be welcomed to sit at the table with this stranger. For one, his senses could not exactly tell anything; this could have meant a number of things, but he did not exactly feel the need to feel alarmed or anything alike. It was a rather common trait amongst many he had met before, but what always occurred was that the people with this trait were the out of ordinary kind.

“Well then, thank you for having me at the table.”

What did that mean? The out of ordinary kind was not any special category, for he was part of it as well. Those kinds of people that had power, of course, that was what he realized. Some were either machines or fighters in one shape or form, therefore surely this kind of individual had to be one such individual and of course he confirmed it somewhat.

“Demonic scientist? What is the difference between that and a regular scientist?”

He doubted he meant that he studied demons, there was probably some term for that which ended with -logy as suffix, no rather there was the chance this person was a demon. He could kind of tell by looks, but of course Nasu bore no immediate hostility for demons, not when he was saved by one in the past. Nevertheless, he was not sure if he heard the name Kamae before, and given he could not sense him, he could not exactly make a connection and yet he believed that face was familiar still. He had seen him before, but the person alone he associated with the image of that grotesque, blank faced being. Perhaps the only instance he saw of him must have been after he had been defeated, but by the time everyone was jumping Kamae, he was the first to turn and leave given the emergency had passed.

“Anyhow. I am Nasu, formerly a knight and now only a warrior.”

That was likely the best he could give. Anytime someone used titles, he felt a little unease down his spine, as if he was meant to probably respond in kind but there was a high shortage of words he could use. No one really called him anything in particular anymore and he did not have a career. Therefore there was not much he could add.

“Have we met before? Surely you are a peculiar individual, but my memory is failing me right now.”

WC: 457
Total WC: 1,089

Oh.

Well yes, he did figure out it was possibly only a matter of calling himself a demon and a scientist but he figured he could also try and make sure of it. Otherwise he would have forever remained with such a doubt; this was the scientific way of doing things, right? Besides that, of course there was the point that this man was indeed a demon. Nasu himself did not have the slightest problem with it, frankly while he knew what most Shinjin said about their kind, he did not fear them for the most part now after the experiences he had to live through.

“Figures. I should have probably expected it. Nevertheless, that is quite alright. I am sure one of my kin would also define themselves as a Saiyan scientist.”

The notion itself of a Knight was of course an extremely relative and subjective one. He was a Knight by career, for it was exactly what they assigned and defined them as, but one could also just see them as a soldier under a different coat of paint, from a different era. Nasu was not surprised he had heard or seen knights, he had enough knowledge about Earth’s history to know that such notions existed here as well.

“It has been a while now. Back then we were soldiers with a creed, our oaths and our choice of honor. Perhaps I could still define myself as a remnant of those times because I was raised through such ideals, however you could say that in truth it all fell apart. A kingdom needs no Knights to serve it when the castle falls apart.”

Nasu tapped the menu idly until his gaze inadvertently stopped on him when he made the fuzzy memories in his mind clear enough for him to see; this man was indeed the one that caused all of that some months ago. He did not exactly recall this form of his, but he could believe him by word alone.

“I will have a steak.”

Perhaps, unlikely from what the demon could have possibly expected, the man did not exactly jump off his seat to take him on. He was pretty sure that he had made himself clear that day; if he was ever to hear or witness any such incidents to take place again, then things would be different. That of course meant he could not just go against his word and investigate if he was planning something similar on this planet, that would just make him a giant hypocrite. He had made his statement and he would respect it.

“I am no hero of justice. You did what you did but I would be wrong if I simply blamed you for the rest of your life when you are out here just having lunch.”

Of course, that was because this was Nasu. Had it been someone such as Ollo, he could very well respect the fact that he could possibly jump on this man given he lost his friend to him. Nevertheless, while he would not threaten him with not doing what he did again a second time, he could at least take this opportunity to try and understand him more.

“What did you get out of that episode on Namek, in the end?”

He asked, purely out of curiosity.

WC: 556
Total WC: 1,645

A title to hold with respect. He did not necessarily disagree with that, but the man also felt like there was no further need to really hold onto something that passed and died nearly twenty years ago, but perhaps Demons had a different idea of time itself. They lived for way too much time, did they not? He could figure out that some of them would have a different idea of time, where Nasu would most likely discard something and focus on other things such as because of his short time in this world as a mortal, other living beings would most likely see things differently.

“It was a fine life indeed. It has taught me a lot, for sure.”

He started with a quiet tone of voice, before of course Kamae decided to open up about the truth and meaning of all that happened before, leaving him to be mostly listening to each and every strange fact. To believe it was a ghost was not all that difficult, to be frank he has had too much experience with incorporeal things for the past year not to believe that, which led him to a slightly confused realization, however.

“Did you lose your body or did it die? Does that mean you were dead and you revived yourself?”

A little afterthought, but he wondered if he could not just swap bodies at will at some point. If he was a ghost, was he bound to one such body or was he stuck after retrieving it? But he believed he spoke of that other form; the one he turned into during the tree episode, most likely. He remembered it distinctively well, which was why he did not exactly recognize him immediately.

“Talk about twisted, does that not mean that as long as there will be such people, you are kind of immortal?”

He did not think Kamae meant that kind of immortality. He was pretty sure the demon was subject to death just as much as most others, but perhaps there was something else that came with said effect that could perhaps treat him a little differently at death’s door. Nevertheless, of course, he could not actually try and understand it. Nasu was a mortal first and foremost, his knowledge of the Afterlife was as little as the Shinjin told him, therefore he had no idea what actually happened once you were stuck on the flip side.

Nasu thought he had seen quite outlandish things in the past year, but Kamae was surprising him a little with all this information, even this Sobi that had apparently some kind of condition where her soul did not allow her to live.

“Strange. I have seen countless die for their body collapsing apart, but this Sobi you say her very soul was the one breaking apart? What symptoms would one with such a condition even have?”

The man found it fascinating, even if truth be told, he was a little confused about this Sobi. If she was connected to the tree, that most likely meant that in a way she was connected to what happened, but of course came the question: was it on purpose? Did she seek to do all that before dying because of her soul or was there an actual reason?

At the end of it all, the man was slightly relieved Kamae was not just a mass murderer. At least from his insight, it did not feel like he was one. While the man himself would not resort to such methods, he could understand that if you were lacking a body you would probably seek one out. Did that excuse what happened? No, not quite, but of course he wondered what exactly this demon meant with further experiments. In a way, he felt a slight note in his mind that would have possibly meant similar accidents to what happened earlier on Namek.

But he decided to humor Kamae with a little story, instead of potentially trying to press him for details. He did not feel like he had to, even if he planned something, Nasu would intervene, so it was not like he really needed to ask if he was going to plot something similar. In a way, while he was indeed glad he was not just some insane dude, honestly he found such meticulousness to be far more unnerving than having to deal with some dude that just enjoyed killing.

“It has been more than a year. One day a demon tried to take the Saiyan throne. I was investigating the situation in the capital at the time and I decided to confront her. The battle continued and stalled for a while, until she awakened the darkness that rested within me. When that happened, it created a living being, a demon without a body stuck within me. In a way you could say this entity was both myself and something else entirely, due to him being made out of my darker side.”

The man raised a hand, it remained open much like a lotus flower, while he quietly gazed into it. He always found such moments to be quite retrospective, whenever he remembered what he had been through.

“For a while I was not under control of my body. I lived through simulations of my memories, time and time again. I witnessed my family and friends die over and over. All the while this entity sought nothing more than pure destruction, because it suffered just as I did. He believed that destroying the living world and the afterlife alike, making the universe a blank place, was the only way to achieve peace.”

A foolish thought, in truth. It was not like anyone had the strength to achieve such a feat; to erase all life in the universe and the afterlife, pretty sure no one could even scheme for something like this. Of course, however, he could not exactly speak to what lengths this entity would have gone if not stopped.

“In the end it was locked away by another demon, until it got purified by Nero himself. I have quite some history with demon folk by now, but even before that I feel like I have been on the verge of losing myself before, when I lost my home world to my own kin. So, in a way, truth be told, I can kind of tell where you are coming from.”

He did not sympathize with Kamae exactly, it was more like he could understand how such things came to fruition. If Nasu pictured himself as a ghost, something without a body, he was pretty sure he would have gone insane after a couple of months. Having had to endure it for god knows how many years would most likely push you to any length. That was how he saw Kamae, whether it be for necessity or experiment, the scariest insight Nasu had gotten so far was that he was most likely ready to do whatever it took to achieve his goal.

“If I had been in your place, then perhaps I would have also gone to such lengths. No, perhaps, even without being in your place. I was not too far from breaking apart until one such Tuffle saved me by setting me on the right path. For all I know, right now I could be trying to level down my own kin or something worse if I did not win over my darkness.”

Therefore, while waiting for this steak to arrive, he decided instead of seeking more information, to kind of test Kamae to get a better read on him. Of course he was not going to actually ‘test’ him either physically or mentally, it was not like he had some personality quiz or anything like that on him, but rather he was mostly interested in a chance. Just like Nasu had been through so much and had managed not to take certain actions that would likely earn him a spot in Hell right away, what would this demon have done if he had the same chances? It was not so much to make conversation, he believed he had already gotten an idea of Kamae but of course there was only so much he could understand about him.

“If you would have had the chance to retrieve your body, or heal Sobi, without having to sacrifice so many lives, just like others have helped me before, would you have taken that path instead? In one way while I am glad you are not just a typical warmonger, my ethics would never justify such methods nevertheless. As a Knight, my life… no, all of my men’s lives were meant to possibly be sacrificed anyday to potentially aid the realm or the good of the people. So I might be conditioned anyway when it comes to the morality behind anyone’s actions.”

WC: 1,484
Total WC: 3,129