Author: Here’s the new saga. You guys will finally get to meet Frozena and more romance is on the way as well. Just to let you know, I’ve been posting poetry as well. Not that I’m begging but please read my poems? And in answer to a question, I like to build romances slowly. And I believe friendship comes before love. There are some exceptions but not in my story.

Close

So very close is she

With hate filling her soul,

And vengeance her only purpose.

The ship was silent and empty. Unlike her consort, she preferred doing all of her work herself. Especially when it came to fighting. Hired lackeys never did anything right. She adjusted the ship’s instruments, making sure they were on the right course. After all, it had been quite a few decades since she had gone to Earth and she had been so furious at the time she hadn’t really noticed the coordinates she sped towards, as she was preparing to extract a painful punishment from her husband at the time.

The regal creature gave un-regal snort of contempt. An Akidaian planting his seed in a weakling human, tainting his powerful and pure blood. She had really chosen a pathetic spouse. Well that human and her whole pathetic, weak race would pay. The creature clutched her fists tightly, drawing blood with her sharp nails. They would all pay. Especially that whore of a human. Queen Frozena admitted that that strange human with an even stranger marking had surprised her but she wouldn’t underestimate her again. The Queen slowly smiled as she began glowing, reveling in her power. No, it would not happen again.

Kyloa had said that Queen Frozena would arrive tomorrow, so she had insisted that everyone take today off and rest up. Goku and Gohan had gone back to spend time with Chichi and Goten, after not seeing them for a whole year. Sixteen at first was going to spend the day alone but Eighteen had insisted he spend the day with her and Marron and Krillin.

Piccolo chose to stay with Kyloa, feeling that she shouldn’t be left alone, after being alone for so many years. The defense lessons he had been giving her for the last few months had gone pretty well. She had become an extremely fast runner and flyer, but then dodging his ki blasts was a great motivator. She was nearly as fast as him, surpassing Krillin and Eighteen. But she refused to learn how to fight or send energy blasts. She had learned to suppress her own ki quickly, to the point Goku couldn’t find her but he himself could still find her. Piccolo attributed it to spending so much time teaching her to use it.

Today Piccolo decided they should work at her blocking energy blasts. He had been trying to teach her how to create a ki shield but for some reason she was having trouble. After a couple of hours getting nowhere, Kyloa decided to suggest an idea she had been brooding over for awhile.

"Piccolo," she said, panting from the exercise. Piccolo crossed his arms and looked at her, waiting for her to say what she was going to say.

Kyloa stood straighter as her breath calmed. "We both know that I can disappear into the ground fast enough to dodge blasts if I can’t run. But becoming air is too slow and if the blast were strong enough I would boil to death as water. I was wondering; could I absorb energy blasts as fire? I mean, energy is another form of fire, isn’t it?"

Piccolo raised an eyebrow at her. He hadn’t thought of that before. "I thought you said becoming fire was difficult for you. I’ve never seen you do it before."

Kyloa’s mouth twitched. "I can become fire really quickly; it’s not difficult. It’s just . . . uncomfortable."

Piccolo uncrossed his arms. "Do you want to try it?"

Kyloa nodded and stepped back several feet. Within seconds her skin was aglow from a deep scalding heat within. Piccolo could feel the heat from where he was standing and became slightly worried. Suddenly, Kyloa burst into flames. She still kept her shape though and didn’t seem to be in any pain. "Now, Piccolo."

Stretching out his arm, Piccolo sent out a moderately strong energy blast her way. Kyloa stood her ground and as it hit her, it disappeared, becoming part of the fire. Her flames leapt up even higher and brighter than before. Piccolo heard a cry and watched as Kyloa quickly reverted to her normal self and fell to her knees.

Concerned, Piccolo strode forward and helped Kyloa up as she rose to her feet. During his time with Kyloa, Piccolo had become a little attached to her. So far, only Gohan had noticed and Piccolo would prefer to keep it that way. Kyloa let Piccolo hold her up as she shook her head, trying to calm her thoughts.

"Are you all right? What happened?" asked Piccolo, as he looked her over, checking for burns. Kyloa looked up at him and blushed as she realized she was in his arms. She hurriedly pulled away, and tried to regain her composure.

"I’m all right. When I become fire, it feels like a roiling chaos has entered my mind and I have to struggle to keep my form and not go lose and burn everything near me. When you fired, I loosened my grip and let the fire reach out and it grabbed the energy, almost eating it. It felt so, so . . . I can’t describe it! If the blast was any stronger, I would have lost control completely."

Piccolo frowned at her. "You should have told me. I don’t want you to ever try that again, is that clear? Just stick with dodging energy blasts."

Kyloa gave him an inquisitive glance. Since when did he get so protective of me? Kyloa gave an inward shrug. "Maybe we should take the rest of the day off."

Piccolo tilted his head in consideration and then nodded. Kyloa glided towards the river and took a seat upon its bank. Relaxing, she let her legs dangle in the river. Piccolo floated above in his usual meditative position but instead of meditating, he was quietly observing her.

Peaking an eye at the green alien above her, Kyloa showed him another one of her timid little smiles. She didn’t smile often but when she did, Piccolo felt like he was receiving an honored privilege and it made it him feel uncomfortable while at the same time it gave him an unusual sort of serenity.

The tranquility only lasted a few moments before Piccolo broke it. "You know we might die tomorrow, right?"

Kyloa scrutinized him, not revealing what she was thinking. "I know I will probably die. But you and the others have a very good chance of surviving the fight and actually beating her."

Piccolo gave her a questioning glance. "And what makes you think that we will live and you will not?"

Kyloa sighed, closing her eyes. "I trapped Queen Frozena in a rose and was able to keep her trapped for over a hundred years. The first thing she will do when she gets here is hunt me down and kill me. And then the rest of the planet."

Piccolo lowered himself to her level. "Then I’ll just have to protect you."

Kyloa’s eyes flew open and she turned to look at him with pain in her eyes. No! I don’t want you risking your life for me."

Piccolo gave her a disbelieving glance. "I’m already risking my life for the rest of the Earth. Why can’t I risk it for you?"

Kyloa turned away to study the water. "Because mine isn’t worth it."

"That’s not for you to decide. And don’t you dare blame yourself if any of us die tomorrow. Understand?"

"I understand." Kyloa gave him a cursory glance. "But I don’t know if I’ll be able to obey." And with that, she disappeared into the river.

"Kyloa!" Piccolo scowled in anger. She’ll argue with him on everything else but when it came to herself, she always slipped away. He had a sinking feeling that she was resolved to die tomorrow if it would prevent them from getting harmed. Something else happened besides being imprisoned that Queen Frozena is angry about. What is it? Why is Kyloa hiding it?

Ghosts of buried years are rising

As an old terror returns

Will I be able to face it,