With the silence and stealth that one could only compare to Piccolo, ChiChi crept out of her dark, damp room and into the hallway. It was nighttime now, and the large, oval shapes lights overhead were blackened, leaving the hallway so dark that she couldn’t even manage to see her own hands, inches before her face. She closed her door behind her, feeling her heart shudder at the creaking sound it made before softly falling back into place. She turned and placed her back against the door, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the deep blackness before her.

It always seemed like she was doing this, waiting for the light to appear in dark situations, her back always up against the wall. Whether she was on Earth, or on Sukuashi, there always seemed to be something more out there, some special purpose that she had yet to grasp in her tiny hands or see with her eyes. The feeling that she was missing something had begun to strike her ever since Gokuu had left to train Ubuu. It wasn’t just Gokuu, though she missed him so much it nearly killed her; it was something more than that, some intangible thing that she had lost in some subconscious struggle.

She sighed, forgetting where she was, and then straightened up suddenly, hoping that no one in the hallway had heard her. When her eyes finally adjusted enough so that she could barely make out the walls of the hallway, she began to walk to her right, down the spiraling hallway.

“The castle is built like a cylinder with hallways corkscrewing all the way around it. The top part is where the Sukuashi and the Council live, and the middle part is for high ranking officers and special foreign prisoners.” She remembered Potuto, the almost kind doctor saying.

If she kept heading down the spiraling hallway, she would eventually end up at the infirmary again, and she could speak to Potuto once more. She knew that Potuto could be of some assistance to her, she saw enough kindness in his eyes for that. Her steps quickened, but she was careful not to make any noise as she descended down to the infirmary.

About halfway there, she saw a small flicker of light from down the hallway that could only be a torch, some distance away. It was moving closer now, casting an orange glow across the far wall, no more than ten feet away from her. Her breath caught in her throat and she whirled around, looking for some way to hide, but saw no shelter in the bare stone walls. If she were to crouch down at the ground level, the guard with the torch would be sure to see her, a light like that in a hallway as small as this would light up everything.

She wildly looked around, and then finally, she noticed a door about five feet ahead of her, towards the area that the light was coming from. Without a second thought, she ran towards the door and opened it, managing to close it just as the hallway became flooded with light and a two people sauntered into the hallway area. They paused for a moment, talking quietly outside of the door that ChiChi had just ran into.

ChiChi knew something was wrong. The light that was coming in from under the door was not going away, but instead remaining in one spot. Either they knew that she was in here, or they were going to enter the room. She turned away from the door and squinted her eyes, trying to make out what was in the dark room so that she could find a hiding spot. There was a tiny window near the back of the room, and the reflection of what appeared to be outside lights on the snow cast a little bit of light into the room.

Several aisles of books stood before her, in perhaps the smallest library she had ever seen. She tilted her head in confusion, remembering that Vejiita had said Saiya-jins weren’t that greatly intellectual. Completely forgetting the danger of the situation, she wandered over to one of the aisles of books and ran her finger over their spines, trying to read what was written on them in the faint light from the snow outside. A great curiosity was eating away at her, as if she absolutely had to know what kind of information those books held. It appeared to be written on in strange symbols, but she couldn’t decipher whether or not the symbols were meant to be words or merely just symbols. With a curious hand, she took a book with a crescent moon shaped symbol on its spine off of the shelf and cautiously opened it, looking at the yellowed pages.

The sudden click of the door opening startled her, and in her confusion, she almost dropped the book on the floor. The two that had just entered the room paused, looking around cautiously, and then shut the door behind them. ChiChi hugged the book to her chest and scampered off to the far end of the room. She crouched down against a shelf of books and prayed that they wouldn’t find her.

“If there is any record of it, it would be in here.” A smooth female voice said and small footsteps sounded across the stone floor. ChiChi pressed herself further up against the books, hoping to blend in somehow.

“In here? Sukuashi wouldn’t be so stupid as to keep something that valuable in a place as easily accessed as this, would he?” Another voice answered. “He must have known long ago the value of that log.”

Curiously, ChiChi barely peeked her head around the corner to see the two of them, and her eyebrows rose in surprise as she saw them, one placing the torch in a holder on the wall.

Potuto and Koronu stood together in the darkness of the Saiya-jin library, frowns on both of their faces. It was surprising that basically the only two Saiya-jins she had met here besides Sukuashi himself actually knew each other. She felt that Potuto would help her, that was in fact, why she had traveled down here in the first place, but now, with Koronu at his side, the Saiya-jin looked a lot less friendly. And more than that, it appeared as though they were planning something, or doing something highly forbidden here. If she happened to overhear and they happened to find her, they just might kill her.

Koronu reached for a book on one on the shelves and took it out, holding it delicately in her hands. “Sukuashi knows that Saiya-jins here no longer value the breadth of intelligence that they did at one time. In the beginning it was accepted, even encouraged, but the council begin to argue that the increase of intelligence caused a lack of strength.”

She looked up at him. “And losing strength is a Saiya-jins greatest fear.” She smirked and placed the book back on the shelf. “No Saiya-jin would be caught dead in this library. That’s why Sukuashi felt it was safe enough to keep it here.”

Just what is so valuable? ChiChi wondered, and listened intently for clues.

Potuto picked up another book. “We’re running out of time. We have to find it before daylight, or the hallway will be crawling with gaurds.”

Koronu frowned at him. “What fear do guards cause? I am Sukuashi’s mate. I can order them to do whatever I wish.”

He didn’t look up at her, but a grimace appeared on his face. “Mother, you no longer hold the same power you used to have. The guards have been paid to revolt against you; you know that. You’re about as safe as the Earth woman when you are out in those halls. Why risk it?”

“Damn it, Potuto!” She cried. “I am a lot stronger than you give me credit for. Isn’t that the whole point of this plan? The fact that I am strong enough?.”

She grabbed another book off the shelf. “Now quit talking and start reading. If we are going to organize this assassination, we need that book.”

Assassination?? ChiChi let out the breath she had been holding. They’re going to assassinate Sukuashi? That means I’ll be free! If he’s dead there is no more use for me! I’ll be released!

She resisted the urge she felt to jump up and down, and merely sat there with a grin on her face, listening to them speak. The plan had to be urgent of course, and Sukuashi could be assassinated any day now, and any day now, she would be released! She felt tears of joy beginning to form in her eyes. She had hoped so much since she arrived here, praying for some way, any way out of having to be here, and now, it looked like her dream had come true. She was going to be free. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she lay her head back against the books on the shelf and smiled.

“We’re running out of time….it’s almost light outside.” Potuto stressed, looking over the books more quickly. ChiChi could hear their footsteps quickening as they walked along the aisles faster, and knew that she would have to move soon, or else they find would her.

“I know, I know, just keep looking. It has to be here. Somewhere.” Koronu answered, bending down to look at the bottom shelf. “It is probably the only book with that crescent moon on the spine.”

ChiChi froze. Sweet Kaiou! With trembling hands, she looked lifted up the book that lay in her lap and looked at the crescent moon symbol on the spine. She had the book that they were looking for!

Out of all the books in this library, why did I have to pick this one?! She thought, looking down at it in horror. What am I going to do?!

“We aren’t going to find it, Kaasan.” Potuto said somberly. “We don’t have enough time to do a thorough search.”

Koronu sighed bitterly. “It will be months before we will have another chance like this. Months. I may not be alive to look for it again in a few months. We can deal with the guards.”

ChiChi gripped the book tighter. Months?

Potuto grabbed her arm. “No, we can’t deal with the guards. We’d arouse too much suspicion, and you know it. We need to get out of this library now and into someplace safe before the guards start to patrol this level.”

I need to tell them….I have to stay something….I can’t let them leave….If they leave, I am never going to be free….

Koronu threw the book that she was holding back onto the shelf. “Fine! We’ll go now! But if I am killed before we get a chance to look for the book again and carry out this plan, then I will hold you entirely responsible in death.”

Koronu began walking quietly towards the door, her head held high, a scowl on her pretty face, and Potuto followed, placing another book back on the shelf.

It was one of those poignant moments in life, when all senses seem to freeze up and fall to the floor, shattering like a million shards of ice --- leaving you with nothing. The fear was so great and so consuming that it was overtaking her hope and shoving it down to the deepest, darkest reach of her soul. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t think, and she couldn’t let the words that could save her life stumble out of her mouth. ChiChi sat there, hearing only the beating of her heart in the chest, seeing only the soft sparkling of snowflakes out the window, the book clutched in her small hands.

The door opened, and the door closed, and the room was left dark once again.

Chapter 20
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