Bringer of Death

*Immortal Saga, Part 4: A Soul On Fire*

*Immortal Saga, Part 4: A Soul On Fire*

The prince of Saiyans stood transfixed, his son's body hanging in his

arms. Moments earlier, he had felt his son's untrained but still-vibrant

energy signature pulsing out into the universe...but now there was

nothing. His fingers trembled; his ears burned. Each heartbeat felt like

it was shaking the entire planet.

'/This...no...it's not possible...it can't be...'/

The world around him blurred...this reality was worse than any

nightmare. All the hopes he'd held for his firstborn, the last in a long

line of royal blood, fell to pieces before his eyes like shattered

glass. It wasn't merely his own legacy; it was so much more.

Trunks was...a boy of merely three—the child had already dedicated much

of his young life to becoming strong. Sure, much of that power had been

inherited, but it all the more proved his potential in his father's

eyes. In his dreams, Vegeta had practically planned out his son's whole

life...training, fighting, and learning what it meant to be Saiyan

Royalty. The Empire itself would've known and feared his very name

before he was even ten. From his mother, he'd inherited a brilliant

mind, and Vegeta intended to apply every facet of that intelligence

towards the boy's abilities as a warrior. Such potential, a force like

the galaxy had never seen...

Vegeta's eyes watered as rage and anguish overcame him. It didn't feel

real! There had to be some mistake. Had his son merely been killed, he

knew there was still hope—he could be revived. But this was it, the

definitive end, an irreversible atrocity that robbed him of something

that could never be returned.

The truth was, he hadn't even realized until now just how much he cared

about his son. It came as a bit of a shock. When he'd sacrificed his own

life to destroy Cell, he now realized his greatest comfort had been

knowing that his son lived on. Perhaps having met Trunks from the

future, learning to respect and care for him had made his expectations

unrealistic? Having seen his son turn out to be a Super Saiyan

completely on his own, Vegeta had simply assumed that his guidance and

training would make this younger Trunks become so much more. Had he

taken his future for granted, risked too much? All that had happened,

down to his continued resistance against Majcnavn, it had led him to

this point. Was it his own fault? Why had this happened? What could he