The Lie in the Legend

Cato twisted around, aiming her hand down to where she had kicked the phantom, an orb of energy shimmering to life in her palm. But when the phantom dissipated, she held off, letting that power wisp away into the air. She caught herself in mid-air, following Lottus towards the spire atop the palace.

"She doesn't seem that intimidating to me," Cato stated, matter-of-factly. "But I sort've assumed that's what she was. That's why she's guarding you, right? ... Unless she's there to actually guard you. Maybe Taori is an optimist."

Though Cato addressed Lotus calmly, there was still something else to her gaze: a violent edge that was clearly being restrained. It wasn't targeted at Lottus, but more--at everything. The primal mind of the Oozaru that she had struggled so much with months ago plagued her in this transformation, as well.

She had learned to control it, just as she had learned to control her ancestral transformation. Yet, she was wary that control could always shatter.

"Vocado is good," she said, diplomatically. "But you can tell from the way he fights that he's spent too much time scheming on the battlefield. His talents in an individual fight falter when he doesn't have anyone to command."

It wasn't meant as an insult: if anything, Vocado's skill as a commander was what had ensured him the second rank spot in the Kingdom. But, it meant he had been woefully ill-prepared to fight her. If she had her mind under control at the time, it would have been all the worse for him.

"When you're healed, come find me. We'll fight for real. This time, I'll win. I'm not just some bright-eyed exile anymore."

Cato stared, a blank expression crossing her features as she witness... whatever it was she just witnessed. She stepped forward and tried to grab Rucola by the hem of her armour to pull her off of Lottus, aiming to set her off to one side. While Lottus may have let his transformation fade, she didn't.

"You're brave, if nothing else," she said, glancing down to Lottus with a wry sort of smile. "I guess she's not your nurse, is she? She's your fan-girl."

She didn't bother to elaborate. Cato might have guessed there was some kind of romantic inclination there, but she didn't want to drudge up any bad memories for Lottus in a meeting that seemed like it was going far better than she could have hoped.

"Don't worry about what Taori thinks," she said, airily. "If he assigned you to guard Lottus, then he knew Lottus was going to find a way to worm his way free. You have a lot of spirit, but..."

She trailed off.

It was a curious pick, and she seemed to be doing a better job of containing Lottus than most people her level would--but it was still an impossible task to ask of someone.

"Besides," she continued, her tone taking on a somewhat more uneven edge to it. "If Taori has a problem with anything I do, he can pry himself up off of his pretty little chair and tell me himself!"

Her eyes glinted as she settled her gaze on Rucola, looking positively murderous now.

"After all! The only reason I'm not your Queen is that I don't think a crown would sit well on my head!"

She began to giggle to herself, her eyes steadily losing more focus. Then, abruptly--

--the golden aura faded from her, and she powered back down to normal. She couldn't hide the faint blush of embarrassment after that particular sidetrack, but she did her best.

"... Anyway."

"It sounds like you're a fangirl to me," Cato accused, in a somewhat mild tone.

After returning to her base form, her mood had cooled considerably, but the weaker Saiyan's antics did stick out to her. She was probably just brave. She might also be a little stupid. She supposed Maesi hadn't ever demonstrated much fear around Cato either, but Cato considered herself thoroughly more stable than Lottus.

She regarded Lottus next, and shook her head.

"No, I don't... I don't actually want to be the Queen. It's a load of responsibility I don't want. It sounds all impressive, but really, what does the King or Queen even do? You're basically just trying to babysit a bunch of egos all the time."

She wrinkled her nose.

"It was just something I said."

She took an idle glance across the capital. She wondered if they had been spotted at some point, but since nobody seemed to be rallying to confront them, they had either gone unnoticed--or Lottus was right, and nobody really cared to begin with.

"I don't know, really. It's hard to tell how many of Vocado's schemes are with or for Taori, and how many are behind his back. He has plans, but those plans seem like they could benefit Taori's reign greatly."

She returned her attention to Lottus, forcing a weak smile.

"Or they'll get us all killed, and Plant will end up being ruled by some alien overlord from a part of space nobody cares about, or Earth. Why--what did Vocado want with you?"