A Long-Awaited Battle [Closed]

One breath after another, the man slowly replenished his stamina that had been spent in the past hour through his training session. It was not to say that he was already tired, but if anything his mind was now slowly thinking over all the possibilities that were possibly ahead of him. What could be next? He had to pretty much figure out a couple of new attacks if he wanted to be fit for combat, and alas of course chance for combat itself came at his door nearly on a whim. Not that he noticed immediately, obviously.

He did not exactly have much in mind other than what was a brief overview over his arsenal. He had already spent a short time on Konats to try and refine something decent, so he could probably try and utilize that experience while thinking of the next steps to take. But of course even such a moment would soon be interrupted. A sneak attack as his opponent would call it, aimed specifically for Nasu alone at the back of his head that nearly sent the man with his face down on the ground if he was not agile enough to grip onto the stone he sat upon to hold himself in place.

First things first, he stood up finally on both feet, before he turned around to face whoever was foolish enough to attempt such a thing, even screaming the attack’s name in doing so. Once he did turn, he found a familiar individual, although she looked somewhat different from the last time they happened to meet. Strange. But maybe his memory was just failing him for some random reason, nevertheless he did not seem naturally aggressive or prone to attack just because of that.

“Right…”

Now that he thought about it, did he not tell her something along the lines of striking first if she wanted to pick up a fight? He nearly snorted, did she hold that grudge for that long? A hand reached for the back of his head and rubbed away the numbness, before he sighed and formed a small smile.

“Alright, you got me. I will say I was not myself when I was that rude. Rosemary had somehow manipulated my mind, long story short. An apology is in order, whether you might care or not.”

She could probably tell he was different from when they had first met. The other Nasu would have likely jumped and attacked her right away, instead he was far more polite and kind. Now there was only the question if she was actually looking to fight him or not.

WC: 438

Total WC: 1,348

Power Level: 95,000

HP: ▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰ 237%

KP: 6/6

MP: 1/6

OOC Notes/Items Used:

He sighed shortly when she confessed that she did indeed do that on purpose. Well, in any case he could not be upset, for Nasu had decided that he would be responsible for the time he was possessed nevertheless. Thankfully he did not manage to actually harm anyone, but still even being rude to someone was not nice and not part of his nature. Unless you pissed him off, certainly.

“Yeah. I had reached quite a low point in my life because of the demon possession, and at the end of it, something seems to have transformed me. I have a very faint idea of what happened, but I should be fine now.”

Saiyans were not of course meant to change hairstyles. Actually, they were definitely not supposed to, but apparently the dragon blood in him must have awakened after he finally woke up from all that ordeal. It was a gradual change ever since he woke up after the Namek incident, first was his physical appearance and then his spirit seemed to have lost any kind of ‘potent’ emotions.

Since then, his latest time on Namek apparently healed him so he could definitely not complain anymore.

“Familiar form? Why, what other forms do you have?”

He did not really understand what she meant but his answer came shortly as he was nearly blinded by some light, he could not quite sense ki so she was definitely not about to strike him down but something else was indeed familiar. No, not familiar, but rather a sensation that he could pick up… was this magic? He had been exposed to it because of the demon and had managed to pick something up himself, but he was no magician in any case.

“Ah, so that was it. Wait, so you can transform into whatever you want?”

Zuqetta went on to introduce herself as the Saiyan Monarch, which of course raised a few red flags within his mind. He was pretty sure that Amara had won at the end of the day, did they fight again already? No, she called her the ‘face’ of the people, rather. Strange.

“No need to introduce yourself. I remember quite well, on the third time at least. Can you explain what you mean by this whole monarch business? I do not think I get it.”

Not that it made any difference to whoever was the Queen. He was not a Kingdom soldier, but he would admit that he could be prone to assisting Amara if she needed the help given the fact that she was Cheri’s daughter.

WC: 431
Total WC: 869

All of a sudden something new came into sight. It was not one person or any other creature but a table, out of nowhere even. He did not have to be surprised, however, definitely so he had witnessed her transform not a second ago and change appearances. If she could do that, having her spawn objects of that sort was probably not the weirdest thing he had seen that very day. One chair also appeared right in front of him, even if her game was still unclear to him. He supposed she did not want to fight actually then, otherwise she would already be punching him most likely. No, instead even a tea set suddenly materialized itself out of nowhere.

“Alright. Why not?”

He did not hesitate much, only because in truth this was nothing strange. He came from a world where fantasy and medieval were strictly entangled, and tea was somehow that popular across space and time that he did indeed have some in the past. It was a rare occurrence, however. He was a Knight, he was not supposed to slack off like royalty even if he possessed noble blood. The man was familiar with taverns for the most part, but something this formal would also be fine.

“You can disguise yourself as an animal. I feel like that is plenty already. It would be quite dangerous if you could transform into other people.”

Nasu stated clearly, he did not exactly like the idea of somebody going around with his identity either, so this was a reassurance if anything. He stopped only to grab himself his tea cup and sip quietly, with his eyes that blinked in mild confusion when she stopped only to reassure him that she was ‘entirely Saiyan’.

“I can not say I assumed anything like that. Neither do I care much for what anyone is. I have bad history with Rosemary, but one of my good friends is also a demon.”

He smiled shortly before he rested his tea cup on the table, just below him. Surely he could tell maybe where she was coming from, a lot of these people were entirely going off the notion of warriors and the like. But he had to yet find one in the midst of all this.

“I do not hail from Plant to begin with and I used to be a stranger to this corner of the galaxy. I cruised the lands of my world in my youth, putting my life above all as a Knight for my kingdom, and now I continue to fight as a Warrior. Here, instead, I have yet to find what I consider to be a warrior. All I see are Saiyans thirsty for blood. That is not a warrior, that is a fighter. They are very different things.”

The man retrieved his tea cup and took another sip. So, she saw herself as some kind of guidance from beneath the curtains. Someone that pulled the strings maybe? He could not tell, but he was not shocked that Amara won the fight because it was scripted, he couldn't care less about the tradition. The only reason he ever stepped into those challenges was to make sure no harmful force to the Tuffles would ever ascend.

“I would have taken the crown already if I believed that strength is all you need. But I do not and honestly I have no interest in the throne. That kind of leadership is not something that is part of me, despite having been born to the King of my world. Of course if you see yourself fit for wanting to… achieve your goals whatever they may be, I do not think you need a neat title or position. At least to me, it matters little. I trust Amara and I believe she will do her best for Plant but I follow no one. I fight for what I hold dear.”

If Amara ever needed help, though, he would lend it. She was Cheri’s daughter, that was a given.

WC: 675
Total WC: 1,544

Nasu did not do much more than sip on his tea, quietly while Zuqetta spoke. He knew what it was like to be young, full of emotions and dreams and ambitions. In the end, he had been a young man himself once upon a time. By Saiyan standards, he was not old yet but surely he had gathered a bunch of experiences in the last twenty summers. But he knew how strange it was to also have this view of oneself, where you could recognize your flaws and yet not fix them, all too prone to anger and basic instincts, was it only a Saiyan thing? No, surely not.

“That is part of being young, it is true. Emotions are the source of Saiyan power, in the end. Of course, it does not mean that losing it each and every time makes you any stronger. On the contrary, when you become only an instrument of your own ambitions, you end up destroying yourself in the process.. And countless others in the wake of your path. Exactly because you are young, you should give this some thought. At some point, it will become too late.”

Nasu too was likely on the edge of that very rift at some point. If it was not for a lucky one in a trillion chance meeting with the right person at the right time, he finally managed to pull himself together after so long.

“We should return a hundred years back. Our people still lived on Sadala when the planet began to rot in cataclysms and endless destruction. Some of our own chose to evacuate earlier than others, one of those people was my very grandfather. Him, alongside others from several elite and low-class alike fled and found their way at the edge of the universe, on a planet nearly bereft of technology but filled with magical wonders and mystical creatures.”

He rested the tea cup back on the table, before a closed hand wandered closer to his mouth. As far as he could remember, he did not know a lot of details but he could tell her what he knew.

“I am not privy to how, but in the end my grandfather chanced to marry the Queen of the most influential Kingdom in the world. Thus I was never free. I was the second son, born to become a Knight that would serve the crown. In my childhood I have been deprived of nearly anything expected of a child. Especially because I was born stronger than my twin brother. The one source of comfort for me was my grandfather. My father was always a strange figure, and in the end I would figure out why many years later as my own father had been carefully plotting a calamity in the hopes the blood lust would summon a legendary golden warrior.”

From there, he had already anticipated most of how the story had gone back then, during the throne challenge.

“To realize one’s mistakes is fine, and I am not sure if you intend to act this way to kind of make up for your own mistakes. But if I were you I would also stop to think about what others’ feelings are in this. Are you sure Amara is content having to deal with this? Whether you are involved or not in the politics of this planet, for all the Queen is Amara. That is no small endeavor.”

While it was true that he received a compliment, he did not seem to quite think that much highly of himself in that regard. To him, it was only experience that spoke for him.

WC: 609
Total WC: 2,153

Nasu usually did not just state things just out of necessity of saying anything. He truly believed that in the end Zuqetta could possibly have any cool or good intent in her head, if not directed well, it would just end up harming herself and others in her way. He did not really mean to undermine her efforts or whatnot, but surely growing up was not just about changing features or being a little taller, one had to also grow up mentally and realize that actions had consequences.

Of course he witnessed Zuqetta going through just that. He did not know what kind of thoughts passed through her mind, he could technically read her mind but it was not quite ethical and thus he simply stopped to sip once more at his tea while his mind longed for a reprise of ease and quietness, until at least she finally snapped out of it.

“I hope so, otherwise I would not serve much of a purpose at this moment.”

She cut him off short and instead returned to a topic he had ended previously, which was the matter of his home and another detail; the very dragon that appeared around him at times. Now, that was a weird story. Not too long ago it would have served as a vessel for the demon entity, but now it was… just an empty vessel, one he could control to his liking, still there was not much more to it.

“You could say it is a technique I stole from Rosemary. Hers was more, ape-like. As for yours truly, I did tell you that my home was filled with mystical creatures, amongst them were the dragons of eld. They had both human and wyrm form, and had their own disputes. When I was still a trainee, me and a couple of my companions happened to find ourselves headfirst into a strife between these dragons and their factions. Delusion, despair and death was all we knew for the next years, for the dragons would band against our own Kingdom to reclaim the land that was rightfully theirs, in their words.”

He gazed into his tea shortly, it was not anything that he could just make a summary of; this lasted years, and ended when he would already become a young man.

“I told you I was made to train and learn. I could not play. As such I was not all too willing to do anything much. You could say I did not try on purpose, as a childish way to rebel against those traditions. Until this moment. Having had to experience betrayal and death for the first time granted me focus unlike anything else when I was but a boy, to the point where I would begin swinging massive swords and attempt to develop techniques capable of slaying dragons. I guess that theme stuck with me, for even to this day many of my techniques are similar to those I employed when I was young.”

So that explained a majority of the themes behind his techniques. Man was not made to fight dragon kin, until certain events in his life changed him and made him a warrior.

“In the end we won. At the cost of my dearest friend. His last words still echo in my mind… a smile better suits a hero.”

He smiled fondly, just a bit before he put away his tea on the table. He could understand that hearing someone else’s stories could perhaps be comfortable, but in truth there was not such freedom in his past.

“I fear I can not quite talk about it all without keeping you for hours. In short, mine was indeed a beautiful world… but it was not much kinder than this one. In the end, all of us end up having to face our own ordeals. It is life. I understand if you would hold a grudge against the Tuffles, but in the end, none is the wiser… and as long as we will not work together, there will only be further death.”

WC: 681
Total WC: 2,834

Nasu tilted his head shortly at the notion of parallel lives. Did she find some semblance of familiarity in his experiences? Perhaps, but he did not think anything strange of it, he did not really see himself as unique in any shape or form. If anything it would have been weird if he had been the only one to confront such obstacles and thematics that would have one sooner lose their mind than coming out on top of them. No one ever had a choice when it came to all this, either. It was the way of things and all would do well to accept it, they had no power to shape such destiny.

“I am sorry that you had to go through similar things. I would pray you tell me more of your predicament, should you choose to do so, of course.”

She saw the entire conflict with the dragons as something that interested her. Well, not that it was that difficult finding a dragon. He was pretty sure he had already met a few in his past time in this universe, so he did not see why she would not be able to meet one herself.

“We fought them out of necessity, really. But if you want to find some dragons I spotted one big evil one on Earth. I even had a little fight with him, perhaps about a year ago at this point. Or two, maybe. I do not remember.”

Did anger and grudges get any better with age? He would disagree. If a person went to the point of nurturing a grudge that long, then they would keep it close to the grave. It was almost like a parasite attached to you, one that would grow that much attached to you to the point where you could not get rid of it, ever.

“Maybe so. But it is a little harder than that. Perhaps you should try befriending some Tuffles.”

Perhaps a risky question that could upset her, but nevertheless it was better not to let such things stall and remain stagnant. If he could help Zuqetta get past her Tuffle hatred, he would be glad to do so.

“I believe that technique is kind of magic, yes. I would not know, I am not a self-taught practitioner. Once the Rosemary incident happened I was forced to coexist with a demonic entity for a while, and from this entity I seem to have absorbed some manner of affinity for such things. Most of the things I can do I acquired without even realizing it at times. Even now that everything is back to normal it seems I have made those abilities my own.”

WC: 448
Total WC: 3,282